Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #147 – Back to Salem, More Decorating, and Pics with Santa!

Monday, November 26th, 2018…...  This morning super pooper was ready to go early! I did my morning ritual, then after breakfast, I went out to get down all of the Christmas stuff. I usually get it all down, bring it into the house, Lydia goes through it to see what she wants to use this year, then we start decorating. This time I left it in the shop but spread the containers out on the floor. Hopefully, she will want to sort through everything out there. I did bring in the tree though, and set it up and got it plugged in and the timer set for the lights to come on and go off.  We didn’t plan on doing any more than that today. My sister has a Drs. appointment in Salem and she wanted us both to go. Since it was a 2:20pm appointment she wanted to treat us both to linner afterward. I dropped them off and parked close by and waited in the car. While waiting, I researched restaurants in the area. She asked me to look for a noodle house but the one we thought we might go to was closed. It was only about 45 minutes later when I drove around and picked them up when they texted me that they were finished. Sis got the last of the three drains removed today! She’s free to shower without any special wrapping and she’s sure happy about that! I told them what I found in my restaurant search, and we decided to head down to Corvallis to go to the Mongolian BBQ/Hibachi we visited last week. We did stop by Costco to do a little Christmas shopping on the way. The dinner was good. Lydia and Penny are pretty good about choosing their items for the hibachi. But I’m still learning which veggies, meats, and liquids to put into the mixing bowl to have them dump on the hibachi and cook up for me. You can get a different taste just by using either plum sauce or ginger sauce! On week nights, they allow seniors all you can eat and you still pay a lower price than a one-tripper for adults! Great deal, and I went back for another experimental bowl, but I ate way too much. Thanks for the treat tonight, sis!  After a nice meal, we headed home and fed muttley and then settled in for the evening.     

       

Tuesday, November 27th, 2018…...  Today I brought in all of the Christmas stuff. I decided it was probably easier to just have it all in the house so she could take her time and be out of the cold in the shop. I got the ladder back out and did the garland around the doorways and that was it for me. Lydia started with some of her table and mantle decorations and got them where she liked them. She only got about half of it done today because she went out and got her hair cut. So, tomorrow she will finish up and then we will work on the tree together. We made tacos together and ate while we watched yet another couple of Guy’s episodes (these are all taped in my room) and then she went off and left me to watch her taped shows on her tv until bedtime. Oh yeah! - before dinner, I had Rylee outside playing and we had a thunderstorm pass through.  The lightning hit and she has now heard her first thunder hit!  Even I jumped because it was really close! She took off at a dead run all the back to the house and we were done being outside! She settled down pretty quickly but stayed close to us while we ate dinner.   

     

Wednesday, November 28th, 2018…...  Today was picture day! Actually, it was in the evening. So, we had time to do some errands. I went out and got breakfast and then continued on to Albany and to the Home Depot. I needed some more rock salt for the water softener and I also needed some inline on/off switches for the star lights in the windows. That way, instead of unplugging four lights from the wall each night, it’s just one switch in each of the two rooms to turn them off. I got back and got those put together and then it was almost time for Lydia and I to go get our nails done. Jenny is working by herself (still looking for help) so I dropped Lydia off and then went over to my sister’s (just a minute from there) to get down all of her Christmas decorations. We managed to get all of the other seasonal decorations segregated on a shelf by themselves while we were doing this. Great for next season! After a while, I got a text saying they were ready for me, so I said goodbye and went and got my pedi and then a mani. I know most guys think this is a ‘gal’s thing’, but I have been doing these for years now and actually enjoy going. Plus, they can help alleviate one or two of my toenails’ that tend to become ingrown if left alone for any length of time. It’s worth the money and the time. Guys – if you haven’t gone yet – go and try it! After the appointments, we came home and each had a light linner. I had leftover tacos and Lydia ate - whatever she fixed (sorry, didn’t pay attention)!  That was done because we had to be at the Albany Carousel at 5:30pm for our Santa photo! We picked up Penny and headed west. We had received the invite from Aimee, our realtor, a few weeks ago. ReMax does this kind of thing a couple of times a year. Last year we did their fall picture. This year was a Christmas photo. This was a first for them to rent the carousel house for their special party. The carousel rides were free to all for the evening and they had cookies and hot cider and cocoa. It was a fun evening and we got our free picture with Santa Claus!  It will be emailed to us in a few days and we’ll share it then. Fun night!          

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #146 – Black Friday and Decorating for Christmas

 

Friday, November 23rd, 2018…...  Black Friday!! Although we have all of the required ads to look through, we didn’t have to go out super early this morning to shop for anything. The stores here don’t get the hysterical shoppers like SoCal, and there aren’t too many that even change their hours. Of course, a lot are following the new popular notion of being open on Thanksgiving, so that helps as well. Plus folks (including us) are doing a lot of shopping online. I did find an ad for a Werner 6-ft. step ladder on sale for half price ($35.) at Home Depot so I went and got one. It’s so much easier to have several ladders so I can put them in the garage, workshop, shop garage, and rv garage. That way, I don’t have to lug them around too far when I need one. I needed two of them today to use on the porch and the eaves on the house to put up our Christmas lights. Yep, today is the day! As I said before, Lydia won’t let me up on this roof so we are decorating the posts and the windows and I am putting the icicle lights on the rain gutters. I can get to all of those with a couple of ladders. I got some of them up today but ran out of daylight, so I’ll go back out tomorrow. Last year we only did the projector laser lights but that wasn’t enough, and we figured that since we are now here through the holidays, we would do it right. That was pretty much it for the day. We ate leftovers and relaxed and watched tv until bedtime.   

       

Saturday, November 24th, 2018…...  Rylee let me sleep in a few minutes later today! Yaay! Lydia even got up and fed her. But while she was doing that I got up and got ready and then I took the white tornado out for her walk. My sister was here but she was out in the west forty with Q, so I took Rylee up the street. Monster puppy loves to run in the drainage ditches and now more than ever since they have some water in them! I got her back without too much damage and found my sister was coming back in. I let Rylee loose and she went out and played for a long time with Quincy. I went in the house and later, Penny brought back in a big ole wet white dog covered in dirt! So, I had some cleanup to do while Quincy came in to eat. They left for the day, Penny having packed up some leftovers to enjoy at her place later today. I tackled the lights again. The weather was nice today. It started out in the high 30s but got up to the mid 50s so it was pleasant outside. I got everything done, but I stopped several times to take breaks and lunch. Lydia went over to my sister’s house to help her with some of the medical bandaging she needed help with. When she got home, I had her help me with the icicle lights. Turns out they went up pretty easily on the rain gutters, although, we had to repair a couple of them as we installed them. I made all of the electrical connections and we were done with the outside! I got the stars put up in all of the windows and we got everything put away. 

Next up is the tree and the inside stuff, but that’s for another day! After we rested a bit, Lydia made dinner and we watched tv until it was time for bed.

     

Sunday, November 25th, 2018…...  Absolutely nothing on the agenda today. Lydia made omelets and I cleaned up after.  After breakfast, we just did a few things around the house. I brought in the fall decoration bins and Lydia put all of that stuff back in so I could store it away. I was going to get down the Christmas tree and the rest of the decorations but I need to move the tractors so I’ll get to that tomorrow. So, it was just watching racing and football for me and catching up on taped shows for Lydia. 

This is the view we have of the back yard:

Took this picture today through that sliding door. That’s a good size buck! 

Lydia had decided that today was bean soup day. She used the big ham bone we had left from Thanksgiving and had that going most of the day. Here she is dishing it up. Monster puppy is 'hoovering' around the floor hoping for spillage!

We ate the tasty dinner while getting some more episodes of Guy’s Grocery games watched. Still not caught up!  

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #145 – Getting Ready for Thanksgiving

Tuesday, November 20th, 2018…...  Last night we had to close our bedroom door to keep monster mutt from harassing Quincy throughout the night. I got up at 5 something and let Rylee out to pee. She missed Quincy sleeping on the coach and went out and did her business. Then l let the Q out to pee and we all settled back in until around 7:00am, when I fed super pooper then showered and then took Quincy out then Rylee while Lydia fed Q.  Then it was time for us. I went and got coffee/tea while Lydia ate her breakfast. And then I made mine and we relaxed for the morning. Kirk came by as planned and worked for a couple of hours and took the lawn clippings with him. We will have him one more Tuesday this month, then, weather permitting, maybe one more time in December to do a final cleanup. I don’t think we will have much need as the winter shuts down pretty much every aspect of lawn and garden care. We’ll plan to start up again maybe in April. It’s sure been nice to have him work for us. With him and Caleb (when he’s available in the summer) doing the big chores, it makes it easy for us to do the small ones in the flower beds and garden and neither of us has to be tied down and ‘married’ to the yard work.

The girls got back from their travels and came by about noon. They visited for a bit then took Quincy home. Sis said she sure slept well last night without her nervous puppy all anxious and such from her creaking house. I think we will plan on more stays over here because Quincy doesn’t have issues at all sleeping here.          

       

Wednesday, November 21st, 2018…...  We got going early again this morning. I fed Rylee and then walked her. I always bring the paper in when I return by the mailbox. I like to read up on all the news, both local and US.  Right now, they are running a series of articles, done by a 14-yr old Lebanon girl, traveling with her family to Washington, DC. They are following the Capitol Tree, which was cut from Sweet Home and is on the way to DC, where it will be displayed. She writes each day as they go from town to town.  Most cities on the route have special events planned as they track the caravan and the tree is almost always in a local parade as folks celebrate it on its way to the Capitol building.

I also like the word jumble they have in the paper and even went online and bought some anagram tiles to help with them. Once I finished that, I went out and picked up breakfast/coffee/tea and came home. The paper had an ad that interested us. We had both wanted to get a pair of flannel-lined jeans and Cabela’s had them on their Black Friday sale, starting today. I had bought a pair last year and I love them! They sure do help take the chill off when I’m out with the dog(s) on those cold mornings! So, I wanted another pair and thought Lydia would like them as well. So, we took off and drove down to Eugene with that item on our list. Cabela’s wasn’t crowded and we both found and tried on our jeans and then got them paid for and got out and back home pretty quickly. Later, Penny and Cherrelyn came by to drop Quincy off. They stayed a while then left us for the evening. We watched Survivor and Hollywood Game Night and then called it a night.       

Thursday, November 22nd, 2018…...  HAPPY TURKEY DAY!  Last night we closed Quincy in the guest room (which keeps Rylee from pestering her) and she was fine until the wind picked up early in the morning hours. I opened the bedroom door and let her out and they both went out to potty. This time I closed our bedroom door so Rylee was in with us. Quincy did fine and the wind eventually died down and all was calm again. Rylee woke me up and I fed her then showered and then took Q out for her walk. Rylee came out and they played as usual and got their treats and then I took Rylee out to the street for our walk out there. Just like when we were in SoCal, the Thanksgiving Day newspaper is LOADED with Black Friday ads. I pulled those so everyone can go through them at their leisure.

Today’s word jumble:

And the Capitol Tree article:

We spent the morning getting some of the food prepped for the day’s feast. Lydia got the turkey and ham going and made the dressing, resting in between. We did Marco Polo with the kids (and the dogs!). Not the same as being together, but fun none the less!  The girls got here about noon. They had all of the rest of the yummy treats and we sure enjoyed the tasty meal!  Of course, I had to sandwich in the Thanksgiving football games before and after we ate. Yesterday, I got out the lights for the porch and checked them and then laid them out so I could get them installed (probably on Friday). I went out after dinner and checked on them, since it was so windy last night.  We’re good.  After hours of lounging around and enjoying the day, the girls went back home. We’re keeping Q, since they have to get up early so they can get Cherrelyn to the airport shuttle at ‘oh dark hundred’ tomorrow morning I did some clean up on my checkbook and then we watched tv until bedtime.  It was a fun day!    

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #144 – A Return Visitor and Getting the Lawn Mowed!

 

Saturday, November 17th, 2018…...  We didn’t have too much on the agenda this morning. Penny and Janice went to the Corvallis farmer’s market and stopped by to deliver some fresh ranch eggs they had picked up. I also showed Janice how to operate the miter saw that I had bought for her a week or so ago. I loaded that up and they left to go back so Penny could rest a bit.  This afternoon, we will be going to the Eugene airport to pick up Cherrelyn, who is visiting again. She was due in Tuesday but the fires caused her flights to be rebooked for today. The flight was due in at 2:30pm but she texted that they were laying over in Denver to de-ice the plane. We had an extra half hour so I went and picked up my sister at 2:30pm and we headed down. Further updates now showed the flight coming in at 4:30pm, but we were on the road so we took the backroads down to Eugene and made a stop at Jerry’s Hardware (to check out their impressive Christmas display area), and then went and cruised by the house on Fir Butte that we looked at to buy way back when. It has been repainted and a new garden added but the white fence out front is showing its age and made the place look tacky. We also drove by another house in that neighborhood that we looked at. That one had huge horse barns and the folks who bought it are using it for their stock. I wouldn’t have animals like that (it would be a giant rv barn!) so it didn’t work for us.  We think we made the right choice and are glad we are in this place. We timed it pretty good and only waited for Cherrelyn for a few minutes. The plan was to head back home, stopping by Coburg Pizza for dinner. It was as good as always. Once finished, we headed back to drop the girls off and then came home. I had fed Rylee half her dinner before we left so she got the second half when we got home. She was happy!  I finished watching the second of the three Nascar finals this evening. The big Cup race is tomorrow! 

       

Sunday, November 18th, 2018…...  I only had Rylee to walk this morning and got that done. Lydia cooked up some of those fresh eggs for breakfast and they were yummy! The girls came over later and brought Quincy for her walk and run with Rylee, then left for the day. I thought briefly about mowing the lawn but decided to wait until tomorrow and rest today. Between rounds of playing with Rylee outside, I watched the Nascar Cup race and then watched some Mecum Auctions (Las Vegas) and tried to get caught up on those. Then it was time for dinner. Oops, we didn’t eat dinner tonight! Lydia didn’t get anything out, and neither of us wanted to go out, so we just fixed light snacks and called it good to go!  Then it was tv until bedtime.   

Monday, November 19th, 2018…...  This morning Rylee was full of energy. She got me up early and we went out and walked after I fed her. It was cold this morning (29º) but it was sunny and it was forecast to get up into the mid 50s later in the day. Penny had asked if we wanted to go to breakfast this morning, either at Shirley May’s or Kevin’s. Shirley May is not open on Mondays so we headed off to Kevin’s and met them there. The breakfast was delicious as always. From there we went on to Albany to Fred Meyer to do some grocery shopping for the holiday. We got back and got everything put away, although Lydia did go to Safeway to get a bone-in ham. They will cut it in half for her there. The weather did actually turn really nice! My temp gauge got up to 63º!  I texted my sister that I would be mowing the lawn around 3:00pm and then we would eat dinner after that. At this time, I won’t let Lydia on the mower with her issues, but I got out both mowers anyway, one to mow and the other to tow the grassclipping sweeper. Penny and Cherrelyn came over to help. I got the mower going and did the curves and borders and tight areas and then turned Cherrelyn loose on it to finish the job. I came behind and got the grass clippings. She did a terrific job and said she enjoyed herself, although it did get chilly when the sun went behind the clouds! The only real issues we had was that the grass is still wet and soggy and it’s hard not to make indentations on the lawn with everything we rolled on it. Plus, the grass, being wet, doesn’t go into the catcher very efficiently. I will have to go back over it again when it dries out a bit to get the stubborn stuff!  With us mowing and Lydia and Penny picking up the grass clipping piles, it only took us 1 ½ hours to get everything done. They filled the trash can ½ full and then filled up 7 bags of clippings to dispose of. After the holiday, I’ll fill the can with whatever we have room for. My sister’s yard waste bin is full, but Kirk has told me he can take some when he comes tomorrow since he has a job coming up that will require him to go to the dump.

The girls stayed for dinner (crab-stuffed salmon and salad). They left shortly after, to go home and rest from the day. Thanks to all for the help! They left Quincy for another sleepover because they were heading out early tomorrow to Salem for her Drs. appointment. After they left, we rested and watched the DWTS finale. We were shocked and happy at the same time when Bobby and Sharna won it all.  No way he was the best dancer (shocked!) but Sharna finally got her mirror ball (happy!). The whole thing is a popularity contest and a lot of reaction from folks online is that they won’t watch it anymore. Instead of voting for your favorite dancer, I think the vote should be like Survivor, when they only vote for the person they want to eliminate. That way, the worst dancer leaves first, etc. Or, at least have the second night show so the west coast has a chance to vote too. That would help, because in this case, no one west of the Mississippi even knew who Bobby Bones was.  Almost all of his support came from the east!         

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #143 – Mailing Gifts and Drs. Appointments

Wednesday, November 14th, 2018…...  My sister told us yesterday that she wanted to stay tonight here so we could go to her appointment tomorrow from one house. So, that got me to thinking (a dangerous thing!) that I should just go get Quincy this morning and bring her back here for her run and for the rest of today. Rylee misses her and sure likes it when she gets to run with her. So, I headed over and got her in the car then stopped on the way back and got breakfast and tea and then went home so I could take her for her walk. After feeding her, I rested a bit (it was still only 8:15am) before heading out to Albany. I wanted to go get paint matched for my angle iron shelving. I have a brace from the unit so I will have them match that. I also got a box so we could get our Christmas cards (for the Camping Squares) packaged and sent to Janie, who will take them to the campout the first weekend in December. The weather here is as expected – cloudy and overcast and a little misty at times. They say we will get a bit of rain late tonight. But 5-6 days of sun are in the forecast after that so I may get that window to be able to mow the lawn soon! I got back from Albany and started my paint project.  I only prepped the angle iron shelves today and will paint them tomorrow. Then I only have to muscle the whole thing into position. I feel it was a good project and I got some good use out of those extra uprights from the first set of racks in the shop. The pups were content to be on leashes outside the shop. Even though it was a crappy day, they like to be outside. Lydia had taken her ‘sample’ to the lab and they called today to tell her she still has an infection, this one in the colon. So, they called in a prescription and she went to go get that. When she got back, I already had the cards in the box and took off to go mail it. I found another box at the post office that is just the right size for the next mailing we need to do. Lydia is sending down her gifts for her ‘lunch ladies’ to Pat for their party next month. When I got back, we boxed and labeled that package and I went back to the post office to mail that one.  Now, we don’t that on our to-do list anymore! Not much else on the agenda for today. Just another day in the country! 

Now that we have made the decision not to travel down south for the holidays, we do want to decorate the house now. I have so many lights from the old house but Lydia will not let me on this roof! Last year we put out three of those green/red projectors on the house and it was just ok, but not what we really are used to.  So, in addition to the stars we had inside all of the windows, we have a plan this year to cover all of the front porch pillars and frame and all of the windows in lights. I can use a ladder to reach all of that. I am so glad I put those racks in the shop! Unlike the old tightly-packed Christmas boxes stored in the rafters in our Long Beach garage, here I can see and get to each and every box as needed without ladders. So, I can dig out just what we want to use. Of course, I can’t do anything until we take down all of her fall decorations, but, hey, they go back on those shelves easily too!  Lydia left around 3:30pm to go get my sister. They stopped at Jack in the Box on the way back and picked up dinner, while I fed the dogs. We settled in to watch tv until bedtime.

       

Thursday, November 15th, 2018…...  I got up early this morning. We don’t have to be in Salem until 8:40am but it’s 40 miles and there can be backups on I-5 so we like to leave early. Plus, I had the dogs to walk, so that meant I got up early. We left and stopped for coffee and that made us a few minutes late for the first appointment. Today she has two appointments with different doctors. My plan was to drop her off and then go over to the Salem Lowes, who had the sensor I was looking for. I found it with no problem and walked around the store for a bit. She texted me a while later and said she was done. After I picked her up, we went to Walmart and did some more shopping. I took her to her next appointment at her clinic. We were early but she had a prescription to fill so she stayed there for that and just went to her appointment from there. Meanwhile, I took off and headed west. No destination – just driving to pass the time. The road worked its way to River Road, and that lead me to Independence, a neat little country town of 9,650 that I had never been to before. I cruised around there a bit and found stores and restaurants that we may come visit sometime in the future.  I double backed the same way I came and got back to the clinic and hung around for about 30 minutes before she was done. It was a short drive back home and we rested. Later, Lydia went to the store and got stuff for chili dogs. I forgot that the Costco ad I was looking at expired today so we left Penny to rest and watch the dogs and Lydia and I made a quick run there. Once we got back, it was relaxing and tv until bedtime.            

Friday, November 16th, 2018…...  I slept in a bit this morning, then went through our routine: get up and feed Rylee then shower and walk Quincy.  Then we let Rylee out so they can run a bit. Then we feed Quincy and then I take Rylee up the street. Then it’s a breakfast choice – eat in, go get it and bring back home, or go out to eat. I ate breakfast at home today and then went out to work on my racks. I have the first coat of paint on the shelves now and the color matches perfectly. One more to go. No biggie – they are only going out to the storage shop – but, hey, I still want them to look nice! Then I will have to relocate the items on one wall in the shop to fit the racks in there. and I want to wait until a sunny day for that so I can move those things outside for a day. Meanwhile, Lydia took my sister and Quincy back home and stayed to help her with some personal hygiene and then came home. While she did that, I worked on putting that sensor back in the garage security light. It went back in easily and when I covered the sensor, the light came on! – but it only worked for a short time, then stopped. I’m not sure if I burnt it out already too or if it just needs more time to sense the darkness. I will have to wait until nightfall to check it out. Later, Lydia made us a nice dinner and we watched our taped shows. This is the season end for Nascar and tonight was the truck race so I watched that tape until bedtime.           

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #142 – Veteran’s Day & a Play

Sunday, November 11th, 2018…...  Happy Veterans Day (traditional)….

Today started bright and early. I got up around 6:30am and showered and dressed and fed Rylee and then headed out to get coffee and then go to my sister’s and walk Quincy. I stopped and got Lydia’s chai tea and then came home and walked Rylee. Then I could sit down and eat my breakfast. Later, we got cleaned up and fed Rylee her lunch a little early, because we were going to a play. It was a 2:30pm matinee in Corvallis and we decided to leave around noon so we could find a place and have lunch beforehand. We picked up my sister and drove to town and found a place to park just down from the theater. Penny asked a local couple to recommend a place to eat. They gave us a few names and we walked one street over where most of the little cafes were located. We chose a Mongolian BBQ place. You get a bowl and then go down the table and fill it up with whatever you like. They have all of the meats and some fish and shrimp too. Then you select veggies and then the sauces and finally the noodles. It goes next to a hibachi type round grilling station and the guy cooks it all up for you. It was all you can eat so we experimented with small plates each time. I tried pork once, then shrimp. Lydia and Penny had chicken and beef. After the second plate, we knew which things to add and how much (sauce, lemon water, etc.) to mix in. It was really tasty. And filling! We will definitely go back again!  Since we had plenty of time, we sat there after the meal and relaxed a bit. Afterward, we walked back to the theater and hung around the lobby until it was time to go in. The play we saw was Catch Me If You Can, and was terrific! The movie with Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks was turned into a Broadway musical and they did an adaptation of that. Like I said, it was terrific! One of the best performances we have seen to date. We got out about 4:30 and headed home. We were a bit late feeding Rylee but it’s not like she was going to waste away to nothing. Not the big cow that she is! I walked her after dinner (ok, I let her out and she ran and I watched!) and then we came in and settled in for the night.           

       

Monday, November 12th, 2018…... Happy Veterans Day (observed)… Thanks to all who served! 

Went through round two of my drive-to-dog walking assignment. It’s ok though and I don’t mind. Quincy is no trouble at all and is very well behaved on a leash. I’m just surprised that she is not affected at all by the cold weather. It was 29º this morning and I had on my sweat pants and jacket and gloves. On cold days at home I can understand how Rylee isn’t affected, no surprise, her being a giant hairball, but Quincy is aerodynamic (skinny) and short haired. But she loves going out and walks on the frosty grass – no problem. I got that done and came back home, stopping for coffee/tea/breakfast along the way. I ate then walked Rylee. By this time, the sun was full out and the frost was drying up. Later, the temps got up into the mid 70s and we had windows and sliders open for a while. But when the sun goes down – it gets chilly really quickly! When I got back, Lydia had already received a call, telling her they had an opening today for her colonoscopy consult. So, she completed her paperwork and went off to do that. I stayed home and took care of the pooper dog. I can put her on a long rope and still be able to work in my shop. I do have to take time out every half hour or so and go out and play with her. Once I do that and tire her out, she is happy to lay out in the sun and rest for a bit. Lydia got back and told me that they said, just having examined her and listening to her and comparing her pain levels from last week until now, that she is doing well. They told her they don’t want to go in at this time and do the procedure since she is still in pain and has tenderness - they don’t want to pressurize her for fear of tearing something. They want her to wait a month before the appointment. She did go over to do labs and has another CT scan to do next week. But she looks better each day and says the pain is severe at times but not nearly as bad as last week, so that’s promising! She even suggested going to the local theater to see The Nutcracker. We looked up showtimes, and found there is only one 7:00pm showing. Since it’s a holiday today, we will rethink that for today and plan to go tomorrow evening.  We had leftovers of her (now my favorite!) crockpot chicken and dumplings and watched DWTS Juniors that we taped from last night.  Later, we saw the adults DWTS show. As I mentioned before, we tape these even though we (usually) watch on the same nights. I found that I can start an 8:00pm hour-long show, like Survivor, at 8:20pm and skipping the commercials, it still ends at 9:00pm. A two-hour show, like DWTS, we start the tape at 8:40pm and, fast-forwarding the commercials, we’re still done at 10:00pm.              

Tuesday, November 13th, 2018…... I had some trouble sleeping last night so I didn’t want to get up this morning. But I did and showered and went over and got Quincy and we did our river route today. It was a couple of degrees warmer but still nippy. I am wearing my sweat pants over my shorts so when it does warm up, I’m good to go! The sun never did really come out so it didn’t get into the 70s today.  The lawn is still too wet to mow. I went out to the shop and worked on the rack. Lydia headed out to drop off her lab test then stopped by my sister’s house to help with cleaning around her bandages, at least the ones she has trouble reaching. That done, she came back home and fixed us lunch. Later, we fed Rylee and ate a light dinner then went to the show. We saw The Nutcracker at the local town theater. Lydia had been there once before with my sister but I had never been. It reminded me so much of the theaters we all remember when we were kids – the one-screen old-school style. (These are file photos from their website)

It wasn’t crowded even though they only have one showing per day. Not my kind of movie but I was really surprised that I enjoyed it so much. Plus, it was $6.00 for seniors! There is another home-town theater in Sweet Home that we will now be going to check out soon.  Once we got home, I took Rylee out for a walk and then we settled in and watched tv for a short time before going to bed.       

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #141 – Dr’s Appointment, Penny’s Home, and Thinking About Christmas Already!

 

Thursday, November 8th, 2018…...  Today is Lydia’s appointment for her annual physical. But not until this afternoon. So, I spent some time hanging around the house and getting my checkbook in order. Then I headed out to work for a few hours on my shelving units. Of course, I do have to get the pooches out now and then. I took a few pics of the dogs together out playing in the field. The first one is in the west forty and they are ‘hunting’ field mice! The other two show them resting after running in the yard. It’s nice to have the space for that. I think Quincy has finally accepted the attention that Rylee ‘bestows’ on her. She actually wants to initiate the playtime every now and then.

Lydia is feeling about the same. So, Dr. Simmons had a chance to examine her closely and see her tenderness firsthand. Not much surprise to find she’s in discomfort when the colon is irritable and tender! Her UTI is almost gone now and her lab numbers looked good, so we just need to get that colonoscopy completed to see what is going on. That happens in a few weeks. Turns out it will be a consult so the Dr. is going to see if he can hurry that along. We did find out last week that our United Health Care Supplement HMO insurance plan won’t be available next year here in Oregon. I guess they don’t have that many retired Boeing folks here. The two choices are Kaiser and UHC Senior Supplement PPO Plan. We won’t go to Kaiser so we only have the PPO to choose. It will cost more for that one but we won’t have to change doctors. We like our primary care physician and Lydia likes her Nephrologist. 

Before our appointment, we took my sister back to her house. She had some things to bring back and she’s wanting to try a night there by herself. We will still keep Quincy so she can settle in and be ‘home again’. We did go over and get her to go out to dinner. She wanted to treat us. We went to The Point and had a really nice meal. We dropped her back home and came home to let the dogs out for a while. Then it was tv and relaxing until bedtime.    

       

Friday, November 9th, 2018…... Rylee got us up a little earlier that we wanted this morning (after already waking me up at 12:59am to let her out to potty!). I fed Rylee and walked Quincy and then fed her. We are definitely changing into winter here! It was cold enough last night and this morning for frost to be on the ground. Here are before and after of those same shrubs I took pics of only last month. Now no leaves and no color!

I went and got us breakfast/coffee/tea and then went back out again to head to Albany and Home Depot/Lowe’s to find a light sensor for that garage security light I had been working on. I found that Lowes carries one but they were out of stock. Salem shows they have 12 so I will stop there next week when my sister goes for her next appointment. Once I got back home, I spent a little time digging out the Christmas cards from our garage. We need to get the package ready to mail to Janie, who will distribute at the next Camping Squares (Christmas) campout. That comes up the first weekend in December, which is coming soon. We also did the other ones but will hang on to those to mail in December. But, hey, they are all done already! At the request of her doctor to have an annual mammogram, Lydia went to our local imaging center to sign a release form for her records from her last mammogram from down south. They have her on schedule for December for that scan. On the way home, she stopped and got Penny and brought her back to the house for dinner. She had a chicken and dumpling mix in the crockpot since early this morning. It was really yummy! We took Penny back home and came back and settled in for the evening to watch our taped shows.  I went out to the motorhome and watched a taped Nascar race because I had other things going on my recorder in the house. While I was there, I caught the SoCal news about the fires and evacuations going on. Devastating!  Sure wish we could give you some of our cooler weather!     

Saturday, November 10th, 2018…...  Nothing on the agenda for me today. I did my doggie routine and then and did my breakfast/tea/coffee routine. Lot’s of routines here! Later, Lydia left to go help Penny run some errands. She needed to go get meds plus she needed groceries. She’s going to stay at home now. I have Quincy but I think we can get her back over there later today so she can be back ‘home’ too.  I will plan on going there each morning to walk her, for at least the next week. She’s looking to get the ok from her doctors to be able to walk Quincy on her leash. Even if she doesn’t, she can still bring her over and let her go off leash here for her walks/runs.   Lydia got back and was pretty pooped from her morning out. So, she kicked back for the day.  I was hoping the sun would come out for the day and dry the lawn some more. It hasn’t rained here for a few days and that sunny day helps the soggy sections dry out. The sun finally came out around 11:00am and I waited until about 2:00pm or so to get the mower out and got the lawn started. I only got the west side of the driveway done. I had to stop because I was putting some deep ruts in the grass because it was still too wet. Plus, when I put the rake attachment on the tractor and then ran it over the lawn to pick up the clippings, I got more ruts. But I got that part of the job done at least. Just the main lawn to do now. The field grass is still good so I won’t have to do that section. We have rain forecast for Wednesday but sunny days after that. I need to get that one more cutting done!  If it follows the same pattern as last year, this probably will be it for mowing for the season. I didn’t want Lydia to cook tonight but she wants spaghetti for dinner and while she was out today, she bought bread and sauce - so we cooked. While she started dinner, I fed the dogs and then took Quincy home and then came home and we binge-watched 4 episodes of Guys Grocery Games and then we went on to watch our own taped shows until bedtime.  

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #140 – More Errands and Drs. Appointments

 

Monday, November 5th, 2018…... Lydia slept fine last night. Rylee woke us up about 6:30am. I guess she is adjusting to the time change too. She and Quincy get let out to potty and then I feed the mutt. I shower, then walk Quincy by herself out in the field. Then they let Rylee out to join us. The dogs run for a while and expend some energy, then I bring Quincy in and feed her. While she’s eating, I take Rylee out for her walk up the street. All of that each day. Then we can do our thing. Today, I chose to check with my angle iron guy and then go get two more pieces. Lydia was feeling ok so she rode up there with me. We got that done and dodged showers on the way home. I put the pieces in the shop and I was done for the day, except I ran a few errands and also picked up some items for dinner. We drove by Kevin’s and saw they were finally open!  We ate and then watched DWTS before going to bed.    

       

Tuesday, November 6th, 2018…...  ELECTION DAY! I’m so glad that after today I won’t have to hear or see any more commercials about candidates and measures! I still have to fast forward through those on my taped shows but that's no problem!

Lydia had another rough night. She was hurting a bit so she got up and took some pain meds and finally fell asleep. I let her sleep in this morning and slipped out and took care of the dogs. After getting my duties done this morning, I took my sister to Salem for her scheduled Dr’s appointment and we made good time both going and coming. They said everything was healing fine. She still needs to take it easy and take her meds and can’t drive or walk Quincy yet. They also did not remove any of her drains at this time – too early. That task done, I went out to the shop and worked more on the racks. Kirk was here today and Lydia gave him some assignments for the shrubs. She wanted some of them pruned up a bit. He always is great to work with and set out and got all of her work done. My sister and I went out again and went over to her house. Her housekeeper comes today and has a key but the screen was locked so we had to fix that. On the way home we stopped and got tortillas and then went to Subway and picked up lunch. Lydia is feeling ok, but napped throughout the day to catch up after last night. She made tacos for dinner and we ate and I cleaned up and we all watched our programs until bedtime.     

Wednesday, November 7th, 2018…...  Same routine this morning - except, we were going to Kevin's for breakfast! They opened Monday and we needed our 'fix' after it was closed (from a fire) for a year. The meal was as good as ever and pretty much the same staff is back again. Once we got home I had work to do... My tasks today were to go look for a miter saw and take apart one of the house garage night lights. It’s been blinking for a few days now. It’s LED so I didn’t expect to have to replace it at this time. I got it apart and took it to Corvallis to Batteries + Bulbs. They had a replacement and I bought two so the light will be the same. My thought was to go back and check the bad LED in the other fixture before I cut the wires and rewired the old plugs in. I did that and found out that it worked in the other fixture, so now I think it’s the light sensor. I took a pic of that and will have to go to Lowes or Home Depot and see if they have replacements (or go online if need be). The fixtures are really nice and I don’t want to have to replace them just because of a bad sensor. I checked Habitat for Humanity for a miter saw while I was out. My sister’s friend, Janice, has asked about buying one. I told her she could buy used and I would help her look and check out what we could find. HfH had one but I had found one I liked better on LetGo site. I called and didn’t get a response right away. I got home and did my cleanup of the lights until I could get that sensor. A few minutes later I got a text that the saw was still available and so I arranged to go look at it. I drove back to Albany and checked it out and bought it. I double-backed to Batteries + Bulbs and returned the two LEDs. I finally made it back home and was done driving for the day! Lydia made some of Tim and Dana’s halibut for dinner and we ate and settled in for the night to watch Survivor and then go to bed.  

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #139 – Errands, Projects and Relaxing

 

Friday, November 2nd, 2018…... Lydia said she was feeling ok this morning. But she’s not dressed for the day so we’re not going anywhere. Or she isn’t anyway. I texted a guy on Craig’s List last evening who has some angle iron for sale. It’s cheap and he has enough for my project – utilizing the three shelving uprights I didn’t use in the workshop system. I need some load beams and these should work. I am supposed to get a text later today with his address and a time to meet him at his house.

But first I ran some errands. I took some clothes that Lydia has decided to donate to Safe Haven Thrift store. Then I went and picked up my prescription at the pharmacy. I’m trying a new asthma inhaler. I’ve been using Advair for 20+ years. But they now have more effective meds (i.e. Breo) that are less abrasive. Any of the old inhalers have potential for osteoporosis, which I have.  This one is said to be less problematic so I have one inhaler device to try for 30 days. 

I got the text a little after 1:00pm and headed up to Silverton (about 30 miles NW) and met the angle iron guy. I had brought my cutoff saw to cut the 15-ft lengths into 5 footers. I got that done and loaded and headed back home. I’m not sure yet when I will start that project but it can be done inside so maybe I’ll wait for a rainy day.

Lydia was doing well when I got back. She and Penny spent most of the day lounging around and watching tv. I got the truck unloaded and started thinking about the racks. This material is strong enough for what I need it for and should work well. I think I’m going to text the guy on Monday and, if he still has some left, go back and get enough to do the second one.        

                             

Saturday, November 3rd, 2018…...  Lydia and I had nothing planned but my sister had a busy day. I got Quincy walked and was out on our road walking Rylee when Janice came by to pick up Penny. They were going down to Eugene to a gem show. My sister is into rocks and stones and wanted to go see what they had. Like I said, we had no plans so we hung around the house. Lydia ventured out once to go back to the bazaar where she had previously found items to give out to our friends at Christmas. She needed more and they still had some. It was a short trip and she said she was up to it. Later, when the girls came back, we decided on dinner out. So, we went to Ixtapa where we all shared a combo platter. It was just the right size and was tasty. After that, it was relaxing time – tv then bed.    

Sunday, November 4th, 2018…...  I wanted to cut some of that angle iron stock and drill it and see how it will look. I plan to color match the uprights and will get a piece from the other unit to take to Home Depot or Lowes. So, after I walked the doggies, I went out and got three of the six pieces cut and mounted. That was enough for a Sunday! The rest of the day was spent relaxing and watching football and racing. The girls kicked back as well. They made a nice meal and we watched tv until bedtime. Today, Lydia said she was still in a bit of pain. She hasn’t been sleeping well but for some reason relaxing today made it better for sleeping. She was sawing logs when I came to bed. We’ll see how tonight goes.  

Oregon Living 2018 – Blog #138 – Taking Care of the Girls, Halloween, and Running Errands

Tuesday, October 30th, 2018…...  We’re doing ok. Lydia is still in a lot of pain from her diverticulitis. She was up and down all night. The meds she’s on cause diarrhea and when she goes, it hurts more and more. Before we got out of bed this morning, we talked a bit. I am concerned that the two-month trip to SoCal we have planned will not be what we want it to be. She has to have a colonoscopy which she’s called ahead to her Dr. to get scheduled. They want to take a good look at her colon. Possibilities include peritonitis and colon cancer. We can’t, in good faith, try to take off for two months only to end up in a hospital away from home. Plus, we started adding up the cost of the SoCal campgrounds and discovered that the numbers total more than we would pay if we headed off to Florida for a 3-month trip. SoCal campgrounds are very expensive. We could stay at a Passport America park (these are member parks that are half the regular price), but the allowable days are minimum plus they are mostly out in Palm Springs/Banning areas and not in the areas we want to visit. So, I was tasked today with calling all of those parks that I just booked with yesterday. With apologies and the truth, I only incurred one park with a $25.00 non-refundable cancellation fee. Pretty good, considering there was one park that took a $150.00 non-refundable deposit but they agreed to waive that and are crediting my account for the full amount! We are surely disappointed not to be going down to see family and friends and spend the holidays. But we gotta take care of this first!

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and playing with the dogs. I went out and worked on my firewood pile to get it ready for the Thursday’s trash pickup and that was about it for me. It has been raining off and on, but not heavy. We can hear it at night but the days have been just sprinkles and mist. Lydia had stew meat that needed to be cooked so she put that together and simmered it for a few hours. With flaky biscuits, it was a tasty meal! We then settled in for the night and watched tv. Lydia and Penny turned in pretty early but I stayed up past 11:00pm. Just wasn’t sleepy!        

                             

Wednesday, October 31st, 2018…...   H A P P Y   H A L L O W E E N !  We both had a great night’s sleep last night! Lydia has been taking Imodium and it helped a lot. She showered this morning and she said that felt wonderful! I had my yearly physical this morning. It was an early appointment (8:30am) and I was out of there a little after 9:15am. I stopped and got breakfast and tea for Lydia. Then I headed out to take my sister to Salem for her follow-up appointment after her surgery. She is doing well and will go back next week again and hopes to have 2 or all of her 3 drains removed then. We got back and rested until around 3:00pm. We decided to go to Pizza Schmizza for an early dinner to get back in time for our one trick-or-treater. Dylan is the only one of the three young kids on the block who comes by. It was nice that they stopped again this year. My sister, on the other hand, gets over 400 kids on her cul-de-sac. Her neighborhood is perfect for parents to drive their kids to and let them hit the many houses in the tract. Since she is with us, her place is dark this year. I will go by tomorrow to see if there were any ‘tricks’ played on her.       

Thursday, November 1st, 2018…...  Lydia said she felt better today. I had a few items to go to Walmart for but she said she felt ok and wanted to go to Costco. Penny wanted to go too. So, we packed up a few things to take back to her house and headed out. We dropped those off and loaded up on Quincy’s dog food and then drove over to Albany and to Costco. I renewed our membership while they shopped. I found a jump pack charger (on sale for $49.99) for the Honda and I still had the $50.00 birthday gift card from Randy and Maryanne so it worked out perfectly! Thanks, kids!

We got a lot of other things on our lists and then got lunch there on the way out. We stopped by the Lebanon Hospital image center so I could sign a release form so they could get my 2016 bone scan test records from my image center in Long Beach. Part of my physical called for another scan to compare to see how I am progressing. We next stopped at Walmart and finished our day’s shopping. We went home and had the crockpot meal Lydia had started this morning. Very good. Both girls were tired from the outing but both are doing well. I did have to get after one of my other ‘girls’ though. I let Rylee out to play and she ran off across the street again to go visit her boyfriend Ollie (who wasn’t even outside!). I went and got her, leashed her up, and brought her home. She got scolded and is still looking at me to get back in favor again.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention the fall colors here! These were taken a couple of weeks ago. Most everything has turned and since we’re getting rain (and sometimes wind), most of the leaves are down by now. But they were pretty while they lasted!