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Lebanon, Oregon, United States
We are Terry & Cathye Kinkelaar. If you've followed my blog in the past, you know that Lydia, my beautiful wife of 52 years, and I made the lifestyle choice to move to Oregon in 2017. You've seen my posts about losing her in May 2020 to cancer. Although I was left alone, I am pleased to say that I have found happiness again. In April 2021, I met Cathye, who also lost her longtime husband in 2020. Well, we fell in love and were married in April 2022. So, if folks are still interested, I will continue to post here as we move forward with our lives and adventures!

Tuesday, March 5, 2019

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #21 – Dealing With the Snow, and Dealing With Taxes


 

Saturday, March 2nd, 2019…...  Rylee got me up super early this morning (2:30am) to go outside. She investigated the grass and remaining snow piles a bit before doing her business and coming back in. But I was able to go right back to sleep. Guess I was tired! She woke me up about 6:30am and wanted out again. This time for number two! We played a bit and around 7:00am I fed her her breakfast. We didn’t have much on the agenda today so I went back to bed and tried to go back to sleep. No way! She eats and then wants to play! So, I was toast!  I got up and showered and dressed and then took her out. We still have a lot of snow up and down our street. But it was all on the side so walking was easy. We have winds coming in from the west with really cold air so it was more than just chilly this morning. Rylee doesn't care but I bundle up with earmuffs and a scarf and gloves to stay warm. Lydia had gotten bacon out and once we got back, I finished cooking it.  After eating I cleaned up the kitchen, and we rested for a while, then started in on cleaning up the house. I got the vacuum out and did the floors and the carpets, while Lydia changed the bedding.       

Sunday, March 3rd, 2019……  I got to sleep in this morning! Lydia got up and let Rylee out then fed her. I stayed in bed and got a few minutes more sleep. After walking her, I left and got us breakfast. This was going to be a typical Sunday for us – a lazy day. We spent most of it watching tv. I did go out to the shop for a while to work some more on dismantling my recliner. Since it is broken beyond repair, my plan is to recycle the wood and metal and dump the material in the trash and not have a bulky carcass to dispose of. Problem was that the shop has been too cold to be out there for any length of time, unless I start the Buddy heater. Today I was only going to work on it for a short time so I didn’t bother to warm the shop. I also got Rylee out for a run. Even though most of snow is gone (it’s only still around in the areas that don’t get much sun) the ground is still real soggy so I don’t want to tear it up too much. So, we found the driest area and only played for a short time. She was ok with that and spent the time exploring and smelling everything that has melted after the snowfall. We went back in and I relaxed and watched my Nascar Cup race. Later, Lydia fixed steak with pasta and veggies and we watched Guys Grocery Games and got caught up again.        
                 
Monday, March 4th, 2019…... Still waiting to receive the year-end summation records from our mail-order pharmacy so we can complete our taxes. Lydia called OptumRx last week and they were going to re-mail them but the nice lady there was able to give us the totals over the phone so we could use that for our input. I made a quick spreadsheet with that and the rest of our medical totals for last year to take in to Claudine. She has everything else done so I expect she will call us later today to pick up the returns. Of course, I had to walk butthead before I did anything! She enjoys her walk but would rather have Quincy come over so they could play. They came over this morning and she was happy!  Since we stayed at home most of yesterday, I took Lydia (and my sister) out this morning for breakfast. We drove to Sweet Home and ate at Skyline, which we always enjoy and haven’t been to in a while. While we were sitting there, we made plans for tomorrow. Penny has a Dr’s appointment tomorrow in Salem. We drive to Portland early for a 9:00am appointment with the surgical team. They want to do a consult and an exam prior to any surgery. They have scheduled March 21st as the tentative surgery date. We have to go to Portland because they have a kidney transplant center there and they will be brought in for the consult. Lydia has been doing better each day so we think the antibiotics are finally starting to clear up the infection. She still has discomfort prior to and during bowel movements but she says its way better than it was. After the tests tomorrow, they should be able to determine next steps. So tomorrow, Sis will bring Quincy here so she can come back here after her appointment and take care of both dogs at one time.
Once we got back from breakfast, I waited til the mail was delivered (yep, got both sets in one day!) and then took the documents we have, plus my spreadsheet, back to Claudine for her to factor into our return. She said no problem, and took my spreadsheet only. The documents go back to me and are support docs only and I will keep with my paperwork.
Later in the afternoon, while we were on the phone with our friends Janie and Rick, I missed a call that the returns were ready. I jetted back to pay and pick them up. I forgot that Lydia needed to sign the return so I called her and she had to come down as well. But it was worth the time and effort because we got a refund (from Federal) this year! Yaaay!  But it turned out all of the medical didn’t total enough for the state after all. But that was ok - we only ended up paying them a whopping $5.00!  So, now we are done with that task for a year!  We went back home and fed Rylee then decided we would go get dinner so we went right back out and went to Oregon BBQ. Note – if/when you come up to visit, please remind us to have Oregon BBQ while you’re here. It’s not fancy but it’s the best! It’s all take-out there so we ordered and brought it home and ate and then finished the evening watching our programs until bedtime.        

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