Week 689-695 - TravelDog 2019 - 12-08-2019

TravelDog 2019

Hey guys, Mandy here.

It's no secret that the folks haven't written in a long time. So I thought I should fill you in on what's happening. Can you believe I'm 8 years old? I was born on July 13th, 2011. I share that birthday with Mom's dad Carl. I never got to meet him, but my Dad says he was real nice. Speaking of my Dad, I wouldn't be here except "H--- froze over" in Missouri.

But I digress, back to filling you in on the parents. This isn't my first TravelDog. The first time I wrote I was just three months old. Funny, back then I was also complaining because they weren't writing to you.

You guys remember my last TravelDog? I thought it was my best prose. It was four years ago when I wished you Yappy New Year!

Oops, lost my train of thought, that's right, about the parents.

We arrived back at the Atascadero house in late July. After 42 years the folks said it's time to sell the house. They worked on the house and the property for two months until the end of October. They did a lot.

Late summer and early fall is an okay time to sell a house (best is in the spring). By the time they got the house ready to sell, they had missed the best fall timing. So they listed the house as for sale by owner. It is posted on Zillow, Craigslist and Facebook. And they held an Open House on October 26th. Overall about 20 people have come to see the house. A few from each posting, a few at the Open House and a few brought by Realtors.

Not sold; no worries mate! Since Melissa has been managing their AirBnb, it has been doing quite well. We have four rooms for guests or a family can reserve the whole house.

After the house was finished, Melissa and Mario purchased their own house. Mom, Dad and Aunt Donnalee made daily trips to Paso Robles to remodel, paint and install laminate flooring at the M & M house. In just a few weeks, they along with Mario and Melissa turned the house into a home in time to host Mario's family for Thanksgiving.

So what's next? Well, I like it here because I am off leash all the time. Melissa is communicating with all guests. Mom is cleaning the house, flipping rooms and washing sheets. Dad is blowing the leaves from our 400 trees, but mostly just watching soap operas! But he throws me my Frisbee for my exercise.

They play a little pickleball but Mom's Achilles is torn again and would love your prayer for healing.

Since they have lots of time available, why haven't they written? They forgot! They forgot they used to take pictures. They forgot they used to write. They hardly remember that they used to travel even though they haven't slept a day in their house for almost 14 years!

But, I am here to remind them that they have over 80,000 photos that they can publish as Favorite Photos.

So I think I can get them get back in the saddle and write. I'm excited, are you?

Love, Mandy

Photos from Jul-Nov 2019