It's February - More Condo Updates

Can you believe that it is February already?  We are happy to have this year moving into a new month.  January was cold here.  I know, it was not as cold as other places but it was cold for Galveston.  We actually had ice here!  Dad had two really bad days of driving on ice.

Our condo is directly over the storage area.  We enjoy not being over another condo because we can be noisy and not bother anyone.  We did discover a downfall.  The storage area is not heated which means our floor is very cold on freezing days.  We have rugs all over, but the floor is still cold.  Mom gets notifications from the electric company every week telling her how much electric we have used the previous week.  We are using a lot more electric than other people.  We think we figured out another reason other than our freezing floor.  We think a lot of those people are not even living in their units.  The majority of the people in our building do not live here full-time so they are not really heating their units.  It was warmer last week and our heat wasn't on that much and we were still told we were using more than other people.  Mom said she is just not going to worry about it. She should probably stop the notifications from coming so that she doesn't stress so much.   We keep our unit at 72 during the day and lower at night.

We have completed a few more updates to our place since our last post.  We have received several compliments on our door.  BOL!  We took down the rusty piece that was on it and Dad painted the door, put a new lock on it and put weather stripping all around it.  Mom thinks it is funny that so many people are excited about our door.

Can you believe they left the rusty piece on it when they were selling it?  They put a ton of nails in it and they probably didn't want to fix it.  This was the picture on the realtor's site.

Mardi Gras is huge here, so bought this wreath.  We like our lock system. We can lock it with just a touch of the screen.  We don't have to carry keys, but Mom does because "What if the battery dies while we are gone?"  I like it because I know when the folks are coming in the door.  They can't sneak up on me because it goes beep, beep, beep as they punch in their code.

This is our breezeway.  We take the elevator to our floor and then we have to walk on the breezeway to get to our unit. There are some days that it is very windy here.  Most people don't like the blue and there is a big debate about what color it should be.

This is our view from our doorway.  It is not very pretty.

Here is the backside of the building.  You can see our wreath - 2nd floor towards the middle of the picture.

Full view of the backside of the building.  Tennis courts are to the left. 

Okay, so back inside.  We bought new rugs to help our chairs fit in with our color scheme.

The lamp came with the place.  It will eventually leave.  We added the end tables with baskets for more storage. Tools are still being stored under our table.

We still need to add a divider to separate the rooms.  We had planned on barn doors but now I think we are going with white curtains.

Mom continues to add things our cubes.

This painting came with the place. It is of our unit.  Mom painted the frame white.

This past weekend, we added a shelf and a new microwave to our kitchen.

Before - this was before we even moved in.  Mom wanted the microwave off the counter.

Before the shelf.  We have the missing door.  Dad took it down so that we could buy new hinges.  We will be painting the cabinets soon.

After - Mom loves it! The plates and silverware are very handy in this location.

We really don't have good before photos of the bathroom.  Dad put in new lights, a new mirror and towel rack.

We still need new towels.  Mom loves the toilet paper holder.  It holds the extra rolls.

The lights and the mirror are a big improvement.

We added the medicine cabinet.  There really wasn't storage without it.

Mom decorated the jars and basket.  It holds q-tips, floss and eyeglass cleaners.  She is not in love with it.

Mom loves this night light that is in the bathroom.  It is from Switchables.  You can switch out the design. They have a few more that she would like.

The door to the right was in our storage unit.  They just had a curtain over the doorway.  Mom hated it.  The water heater is in that closet.  Dad was able to put the old door back up.  It needs to be painted. 

Mom bought some pansies last week.  She has two planters on the balcony. They are Mardi Gras colors!  BOL!

Here is our unit from the front of the building.

We are the unit on the right closest to the wall.

We had some beautiful views this week.

Mom and I don't know why our fonts are acting up on this post.  We have tried to fix it, but it is not working.  We will just live with it.

Joey,

The Greyhound Who Wonders Why It Took Us So Long To Get Here

Happy New Year!

We spent a quiet New Year's Eve at home.  However, Saturday at 4:30 a.m. we were awakened by flashing lights in our window.  A guy stole a car and drove fast into our parking lot.  He decided to get rid of the car by sending it over the seawall.  He put it in drive and sent it over from our parking lot.  He then ran into our building because he is staying here.  The police immediately found him and arrested him.  We thought it had to be a drunk driver or someone whose GPS guided them incorrectly, but no, it was a guy who stole it. 

This is the imprint of the car.  It went down nose first.  The seawall is in the background.

Yesterday, the folks were busy in our tiny condo.  Dad fixed our patio door and our front door or back door (we can't decide what it is) because they both had gaps that were letting a lot of cold air in.  When the wind blows, we had quite a breeze coming in.  He also put the cubes on the wall.

Mom has her cookbooks. CDs, DVDS, my treats and a few other things.  We are going to buy some bigger shells to decorate some of the openings.

 Mom decided to paint the kitchen.  She ended up getting white all over the top of her head  She was painting behind the refrigerator and when she looked down her head brushed the wall.  BOL!  It was pretty funny.  She still has a little paint on her head today.

Before

After

Before

After (Mom bought that clock for their first apartment. It has been in every place that they have owned.)

After

We are going to get a new microwave soon and it will hang above the stove.  We will paint the cabinets blue.  We were going to paint them the same color as the living room, but now we are thinking we will use the bathroom blue.  It is a little bit lighter.

Mom ordered curtain liners that are supposed to help darken the room at night.  They will also help insulate the patio door a little better.  Our curtains are supposed to be room darkening, but it is hard for white to darken.  We think these will help.  They are scheduled to arrive tomorrow.  She also ordered a new vent for the bathroom and a silverware caddy for the kitchen.  We only have two drawers in our kitchen so she thinks that will free up a drawer for other things like measuring cups and spoons and things that just don't fit in our utensil holder.  

Mom is still searching for rugs for the place.  She wants something to help our chairs fit in better with our color scheme.  

It is cool here this week.  It is not as cool as other places, but Mom is making me wear my hoodie.  It is the wind that really makes it cold.  I am still insisting that we walk on the beach every day.  We will dip below freezing the next two nights and then this weekend we may be back up to 70.  We have been told that this weather is not normal for here and that winter normally doesn't last this long.  Mom even got out the space heater today.  Our electric bill is predicted to be double what we planned.  It is not nearly as bad as in the RV though.

Joey,

The Greyhound Who Whines When He Can't Go To The Beach

We Have A New Place!

 Merry Christmas!  We haven't been around lately because we have been really busy.  We are now official condo owners!  We closed on our place on December 11th and we have been busy.  We have been painting and putting furniture together.  Grandma and Grandpa arrived on the 15th.  They left this morning.  They didn't stay with us because we are living in a "tiny condo".  Our condo is the size of our 45' motorhome.  It is 338' square feet, I think.  It is a studio which means there is not a separate living room and bedroom.  It is all one room.  We went with this option for a number of reasons. The main reason is cost.  We could have afforded a one bedroom, but the HOA dues are $150 more a month for it.  Dad wants to retire soon and we plan to have this one paid off in three years.  The one bedroom would have taken us probably five years to pay off.  The taxes and utilities are lower in ours too.  We like living small, so it works for us.

We are still working on the condo, but we will show you some photos.  There is still a lot of work to do before it is complete though, so you need to keep an open mind.

Here are the before pictures.

It came complete furnished. 

I immediately claimed this chair.

Mom said we can't keep it because it is too big.

We then started painting. We chose blues for the living area and the bathroom.  The kitchen will be white and the cabinets will be blue.

We ordered our closets and bed from Ikea.  Unfortunately, one box did not arrive. The box was box 1 of our bed We don't know if it was Ikea's fault or the delivery drivers.  We were not given anything to sign accepting our order and saying it was all there.  We called Ikea and Dad spent nearly an hour trying to get it fixed.  They said they could send us the box in a week or we could drive to Houston to pick it up. We needed a bed, so the folks drove to Houston and spent three hours with the drive and waiting in line to get the correct box. We paid $199 for the delivery and $40 for Ikea to "pick" the order and they refused to refund any of the money because we didn't sign anything when the delivery happened.  Yep, it was our fault even though the delivery person practically ran out of the condo and told us to call Ikea if anything was missing.  19 boxes were delivered, so it wasn't like it was easy to tell something was missing especially when some things had more than one box.  Mom expected only 13 boxes, so it was very confusing.   We are not sure how that is our fault, but they rudely told us it was.  Today, Mom received a call from Ikea because they are confused as to whether we received the order that they had scheduled for the since our order was messed up.  They left a message for Mom to call, so she did.  The person answering the phone refused to connect the call to the extension given in the message because Mom only knew the extension number and not the name of the person.  Customer service does not seem to be important to Ikea.

The boxes contain our furniture.

Here Dad is putting the bed together:

We bought this bed because it has storage under it.

Here is our Sleep Number mattress being assembled.

Here is the bed. Mom orderd the comforter online and it is so nice.  I love the bed.

The bathroom is painted a lighter shade of blue and it is a work in progress.  We had the tub refinished last week.  It looks brand new.

 We went back to Ikea over the weekend and spent more $$$ with them.  We like their products, just not the people.

This is our table/desk.  It has a glass top.  It is narrow, but it is what we need.  It has a drawer for "junk".

The table is a TV stand until the TV is put on the wall.  The table also has room for "junk" under it.

Dad purchased shelves for the hallway from Ikea.

The hall has the shelves and two coat racks.  One rack has my collar, leashes and beach walking items.

Today, our recliners arrived.  We had planned on getting a loveseat and recliner but decided the loveseat would make it too crowded.  We really wanted white or blue recliners, but after searching several stores, we chose these.  We could have special ordered, but the wait time was four months and the folks needed chairs.

The white cube "shelves" you see will not be stayng there.  They will be hung over the bed. Dad ran out of time.

The recliners match my bed.  Have you noticed that I don't have a couch?  What greyhound doesn't have a couch?

Here are the closets and dresser from Ikea.  A TV will hang on the wall in the middle.

 

The kitchen still needs to be painted.  Mom is searching for rugs for the entire place.  There is still a lot to do. We will give you another tour when we have more things completed.

This is the view from our place. We have our own palm tree.

Another view from the balcony.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Probably The Newest Greyhound Resident In Galveston

We Are No Longer RVers

Our motorhome has new owners. They took ownership of it today.  They are probably reading through all the manuals and trying out all the remotes right now.  It is overwhelming how many manuals and remotes it has.  Mom thinks she may have accidentally left our Dish remote in it.  We don't need it because we no longer have Dish and we know they have Direct TV, so if it is there, they will just toss it. It is better than when we sold our house. She left her robe on the back of the door.  Dad saw it but didn't tell her. She is still upset with Dad for not telling her it was there. Anyway, it is really strange that another family has moved into our motorhome.  Another dog could be on my couch.  I don't even want to think about that.

We have not moved into our actual rental yet. We are in the one next to it.  We are beginning to think it is not going to happen. We are still waiting for the countertops to be installed.  Mom saw the condo again today and it needs countertops, a sink, outlet covers and lots of cleaning.   It really doesn't matter now if we get to move into it.  We moved here to see if we liked living here and we don't like it, we LOVE IT.  We also wanted to get the RV sold and that is done.  We are now getting ready to make an offer on a condo to buy.  We hope that happens this weekend. Mom is so scared that someone is going to buy it.  It will be nice to be settled in our own place again.  It will take a little while to get it fixed up the way we want it, but that is okay.  The first thing the folks are going to buy is a bed.  They want a bed that doesn't sink in the middle.  BOL!  I think they may buy another Sleep Number.  That is what we had in the RV and they liked it.

We definitely love our view.

Do you know what I did on Sunday?  I went island hopping!  We drove to the end of Galveston Island and then paid $2 to cross the bridge to go to another island.  We then drove to the end of that island. We couldn't go any further because the road ended at the water. We got out and walked around and watched people fish.  We then got back in the car and drove back to our island. 

Mom's favorite shell.  It is prettier in person. The base of it is shiny.

We love to watch the sunrise each day.

Can you believe that next week is Thanksgiving?  Mom is going to fix a turkey but probably not on Thanksgiving. The folks have reservations at a seafood/Thanksgiving buffet.  I hope Mom doesn't forget to bring something home for me.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Thinks The Beach Is The Best

Still Loving The Beach

We are loving living here!  Mom and I take a morning walk on the beach each day.  It is our favorite time of day.  We walk 1.5 miles.  I always think that I can go further, but it is a good thing that Mom pays attention because I am dragging by the time we get back.  We have taken afternoon and evening walks too, but I can't do those every day.  It is just too tiring for me.  We took an evening walk with Dad last Sunday and that was fun. There were lots of tourists on the beach.

This past weekend was the Lone Star Rally. It is motorcycle rally.  It was LOUD!  Mom moved my bed away from the patio door because the noise was getting to me.  I actually stayed in the bedroom quite a bit because it was much quieter.  In the evenings, the folks sat on the balcony and watched the bikers go by.  Many of them had lights on their bikes, so that was fun to see.  I did sit out from time to time with them.  The folks went to the rally on Saturday. They rode the trolley to it.  Mom said it was obvious that they didn't fit in.  Dad wore his camo shorts and Mom had a blue and white polka dot shirt.  She said she should have worn black and she would have fit in better.  They ate lunch at Willie G's which is a seafood place.  Unfortunately, they do not have a lunch menu on the weekends, so it was quite pricey for lunch.

On Sunday, the folks looked at a condo in this building that they are interested in buying.  It will be really small.  It will be as big as the RV.  We are used to small spaces though. Tiny houses are the in thing, right?  LOL  It is probably bigger than some New York apartments.  The folks have been thinking about it for a while and have some plans to make it work for us. The price and the lower HOA fees make it attractive.  It is on the second floor and we are on the fourth.  Mom thought the motorcycles would be extremely loud from that condo, but they weren't.  The patio door in that unit is much better.  Our door doesn't seal and the noise and air do not stay out.   We will see what happens with that condo.

The view from the condo on the 2nd floor.

Another photo fo the view.

The RV may have a buyer.  We are waiting to find out if they are approved for a loan.

There is always something going on at the beach.

We found this written on the beach.

We almost stepped on this guy.

I was exhausted Saturday night!

Mom and I went to Petsmart today. She wanted to find a collapsible water bowl for me to take on our walks.  They didn't have one.  We will have to order one online.  Mom has been carrying a bag with a water bowl and a bottle of water.  She is thinking of getting a fanny pack type thing to hold everything.    We stopped at McDonald's for lunch.  Yum!  Yes, she is still losing weight, but we go out from time to time and she orders something like a McDouble instead of a Big Mac.  It works.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Thinks The Elevator Is A Great Invention