Almost time to leave for the Great Southwest!

It is almost time to set out on our latest adventure. This time, we will be joined by Sunny and so all three of us will explore this area of our country together. We had a great CHRISTmas! We spent CHRISTmas Eve at our daughter Richelle's and on CHRISTmas morning, the kids and grandkid came to our home. The ONLY way to celebrate this holiday! Carol had a bad cold and we didn't get to see her dad on CHRISTmas and I caught if from her, I guess. She spent a lot of late CHRISTmas in bed and the next day and I spent yesterday mostly in bed. We are recovering now, hopefully, and still hope to leave Sunday or Monday. The only delaying factor should be the weather. When we see that we can make it to Berea, KY on our first leg of the trip, withoug snow, we are out of here. We love our home and close proximity to our children and grandchildren but are ready to explore. Traveling with a new (to us) Greyhound may prove very interesting but we eagerly await seeing how it goes.

Merry CHRISTmas to all!

'tis CHRISTmas Eve day and Carol and I wish you all a Merry CHRISTmas and the Happiest of New Years. We will be joining most of the kids and grandkids tonight at Daughter Richelle's and then tomorrow, after opening their presents from Santa, they will come to our home. Later in the afternoon, we will go to Westland to visit with Carol's dad and sisters. We are so blessed to have so many family members so nearby. The huge storm that is ravaging so much of the midwest now is supposed to turn to freezing rain and sleet - ugh to travel!

Great Day!

Sunny is getting used to us and coming out of her shell. She was romping around today playing with her toys. We took her to see the Vet - Nothing wrong but we wanted her to see that going there won't always be a bad experience. The staff at the Vet's office showered her with love and she returned it ten fold! Tonight we attended granddaughter Brianna's Choir concert and it was great and she was tremendous! We were gone for a little over 3 hours leaving Sunny alone for the first time and there were no problems. She was so happy to see us that, when we released her from her crate, she ran into the front room and spun around in a circle a couple of times, almost knocking things over with her wagging tail. All in all - a GREAT DAY! Now it is less than three weeks until we leave for Texas. Because the temps have been so cold here, I am sure that Sunny is as ready to escape as we are.

Sunny's getting used to us!

Sunny is getting familiar with us and our home. She, like all Greyhounds, sleeps a lot in her crate but comes out to see us whenever she gets curious about what she hears us doing. If she hears the leash rattle, she comes with her tail a-wag. Carol and I went shopping today at Toys-R-Us and took Sunny. This was the first car ride since we brought her from her foster home so she was quite apprehensive at first. When we arrived at the store, Carol went in and I waited in the car with Sunny. She missed Carol and would alternate between lying on the rear seat and jumping up to investigate any noise she heard in the parking lot. I would have taken her for a stroll around the area but the cold and wind made it not a great idea. Maybe next time. She soon calmed down and enjoyed the trip. She is so comfortable around home that we are very pleased. She slept through the entire night and eats regularly and voraciously. Look at this photo - does she looked stressed to you? Not to us either. Getting closer to Christmas and then the great journey to the Southwest. We never traveled with a pet before, let along one this big, so we eagerly await the adventure. When we told Sunny we were going to Texas and Arizona, she asked us what the hold-up was!

Sunny's Home, Sunny's Home!

Today we went to Ann Arbor to pick up Sunny up from her foster home. It was a rainy, starting to be sleety day but Mark and Mary Varney have been fostering Sunny since September and have done a great job so the day turned warm instantly, when we arrived. Sunny was awake all the way home but was quiet and probably wondering what her new home was going to be like. Once home, she wandered the home going repeatedly into all the rooms and after a half hour or so, went to the family room and played with some of her toys for a while. She then crashed on her mat in the family room where she nervously has been sleeping for some time. What a good girl she is. This is going to be great. The organization GEM, GEMgreyhounds.org, has been great throughout this entire process. They assure the good health of the hound and are set to continue follow-up for a long time to be sure that all is well. The Varney's are now left with only Ernie, a 90 pound GIANT Greyhound. Everyone we have met from GEM has been really great with and for us. We appreciate all that they have done and are looking forward to meeting with many more as time goes by. In the meantime, SUNNY IS HOME! Yesterday we saw children and grandchildren and today Sunny - Life is Good!

Our first visit with our soon to be new Retired Racing Greyhound

Today was a beautiful day - brisk, cold and sunny. The sky even had a bit of a rainbow in the frozen crystals high up. The sunny day was the ideal time for us to meet Sunny. After meeting with this beautiful 6 year old retired Racing Greyhound for a couple of hours in the home of the foster people, we had love at first sight! She is intelligent, fun and should be just right for us. We will be picking her up Monday and bringing her home. We just hope that she gets comfortable with us quickly because we all are leaving for Texas the first of January. We know that she will enjoy this trip because she does not like this cold weather any more than we do.

Now we wait!

We had our "in home" interview today with the GEM (Greyhounds of Eastern Michigan GEMgreyhounds.org) representatives. All seemed to go well. They were here for about four hours. The process for adopting a Retired Racing Greyhound seems to us to be nearly as complicated and thorough as adopting a child. When we decided to go this route we did not have any idea of the complexities but we are very happy that they do it this way. When we will see other Greyhounds in the future we will have a good idea that the owners will have been chosen carefully so that the hound has a good home. Now, we wait for a telephone call that should come tomorrow telling us that we can go visit and possibly select our new addition to our family. We were advised that there is a good chance that we will be able to see Sunny, who we have described before. If we are able and willing to adopt Sunny, we may rename her Sunshine. Carol had an Uncle Sonny and she says this is a little girl so Sunshine will be her name. Tomorrow we will know more.

Moving right along!

We have scheduled our home interview for this Friday. Allison, a representative of GEM, will talk with us and check out our home "through dog eyes." These gentle giants are apparently very inquisitive and check out all that they can. We will have to make our home "dog proof" just as new parents must make their home "child proof." If all turns out well, we will be allowed to set up an appointment with the foster caregivers that are housing Sunny. We will then go there and spend some time getting to know the hound. We then wait 24 hours and and then, if all has gone well, we can finalize the adoption. That should give us two weeks or so to allow us and the beauty to get to know each other before we go on our next great adventure, the journey to Texas and Arizona.

Gonna do it!

We attended the Meet and Greet yesterday for GEM Greyhounds and really liked what we saw and heard. We submitted an application for adoption for one of them and now we wait for a couple of days before they will get back with us. We never knew that the process was so involved. The GEM (Greyhounds of Eastern Michigan) Adoption Society will perform an "in home" interview of us and then bring the dog that we have chosen to meet us. The Greyhounds that are being adopted have been taken from tracks after their racing days are over. The one that we really like is pictured here. Her name now is Sunny for her disposition but we may change her name to Sunshine. Sunshine is 6 years old and hopefully we will know by the end of the week if she will be ours. If so, we have been advised that there should be no problems with our leaving with her the first of January for our journey to Texas and Arizona. Other owners have said that wherever we are, the dog will be fine. She will consider wherever we are to be her home. Now we have to make the house "dog proof." Just like small children, we will have to ensure that there are no items within reach of the dog that would harm it or make our life miserable, either. Now we wait!

Is there a Greyhound in our future?

About 4 weeks and we are out of here and on our way to Texas! We have been thinking and talking about maybe getting a dog for several years, now, and the thought of adopting a Racing Greyhound has been discussed as a way to do this. Whe traveling, we have seen people who have adopted these retired athletes and they say they love them. They are so gentle and athletic looking that we have really liked what we have seen. We have talked with owners who RV and they say that the dogs love to travel and do it well. We also like the short hair and relative lack of shedding. Saturday we are to attend a "Meet and Greet" in Flint sponsored by the area Adopted Racing Greyhound Society, GEM. WE have been reading the "required reading" books and will get "up close and personal" with the Greyhounds and their owners. It probably would not be fair to either us or a dog to do this until we return in May or so. We'll see!