Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #50 – Projects and Chores

 

Tuesday, June 23^rd, 2020……  This morning I was up early and walked Rylee and then made myself some breakfast and then headed over to Janice’s house. Yesterday, at Penny’s, Janice had some questions about a couple of projects she needed done at her house and asked for my opinion. So, I stopped by to take a look. She had a screen door that she wanted installed and we looked at that. I took it back to the house and cut off a sliver so it would fit better in her opening. It worked but the door is a bit racked (not square in the opening). She needs to get some L brackets to reinforce it before I try to install it again. She also has some laundry cabinets she wants installed and I will help with that when I get the screen installed.

Later, Kirk, Carter, and Caleb (fresh out of college for the summer) came by and attacked and sprayed the weeds. They have really popped up quickly in the last few weeks! They did get a lot done but didn’t make a dent in the property. I need them here a couple more times this week!

Jody and Sis stopped by to say hi. Charlie dropped Jody off and is now road-tripping it back home to UT. She will stay a few weeks with Penny then jet back home.   

I had a nice (not) conversation with my auto insurance company today. I did exactly what was required of me to notify them about removing Lydia from our policy. I had to call because when I got the updated premium for 2021 renewal, it was higher than the quote with Lydia on the policy! Doesn’t make sense to me and they are looking into it but they warned that I am now “a widower on his own policy”. Like I said, logic would tell you that it is less risk to have one person insured than two. We’ll see….

Wednesday, June 24^th, 2020……  I got up and going early today and then headed over to Janice’s to finish her project. She bought the L brackets and I got them attached and re-hung the door. It helped but this screen is the not the best quality and will be up only until she can afford to purchase a nice (and not cheap) storm door with screen, maybe next season. I also looked at her cabinet install. I can do the job but I told her I was not a pro and, since she’s in a new house, I would rather she find a professional handyman to install these for her. She is ok with that and will plan on having other work done by that person down the road.

I have not heard back from Travelers/AAA so I am now looking into other insurance companies. USAA was a possibility but when I input for their quote, it won’t let me add the motorhome plus the result just for the three vehicles without the rv is already more than the others.  

Tonight, was dinner out. The girls have invited me to join them at Game Time. We had a nice meal and I had a made-in-house beer that I liked. Hopefully, I can remember that for next time!  I also heard from Janie. She says they get the motorhome out of the shop on Monday and will get busy reserving rv campgrounds for stops on the way up here. They hope to come up and be here around the 4^th of July. It will be nice to see them.     

Thursday, June 25^th, 2020……  I had a telephone meeting with social security this morning. They already had been notified by the mortuary about Lydia but I wanted to see if I needed to do anything. Turns out I had to have an ‘official on the record’ telecon and answer some official questions. I also have to fill out one form which they are sending me. Meanwhile, the Boeing Pension office is mailing me paperwork as well.  But I think I am closing in on getting everything in order. Wheew! 

Jody and Sis came by and they went through Lydia’s clothes and got out just some of her shoes. 

Jody can wear her size so she got a few plus some shirts. Meanwhile, I am working on yet another box of pictures I found out in the garage. 

This box turned out to be Grandma Mac’s and also had some jewelry in it as well. The girls looked at a few pieces and will go through it later for the yard sale. Speaking of that, they have been busy at sis’s house sorting and tagging and pricing the stuff ahead of time. They plan on doing the sale on July 3^rd, hopefully just for the one day. There won’t be a ton of stuff this time. I brought over a table saw and a few odds and ends that I don’t need/want anymore. But I am waiting on Lydia’s clothes. I have plans on bringing some of it down to Calif in the fall for the girls down there to go through. Plus, Frances and Cherrelyn will need to look through it again. I don’t remember if I mentioned anything here yet about the $386. order Lydia had placed with Blair for new clothes. These were all in a smaller size since she was losing weight pretty quickly. Anyway, we managed to get them all returned a few weeks ago and I saw the credit show up in the account which was nice news.

Dinner tonight was stuffed salmon. I was tired and fell asleep in my chair which is bad for me since that makes it really hard to fall asleep later, in bed.        

Friday, June 26^th, 2020……  I guess I got enough sleep last night because I was up and going as usual.  This morning after walking and feeding butthead, I headed off to Albany. I wanted to stop at Target and get some yarn for Dominique. They didn’t have anything so I went next door to Hobby Lobby and found what I wanted. Dominique had made Lydia a head covering from fuzzy yarn. She loved it but didn’t get a chance to wear it. So, we both decided to get her some material so she can make more for others who may need one in the future. My first try resulted in the wrong type of yarn. I did find and buy some ‘fuzzy’ yarn but it turned out it for making scrubbies! Not good for soft caps for the head!  So today, I found the right stuff and bought 5 skeins of different colors and put them into a gift bag for when Dominique comes over.

Later, I had the girls come by to help out.  Dominique got her gift from me and then I sent her into the bedroom to meet the girls and see if she wanted anything.  She also could wear Lydia’s shoes so she got some of those. Turned out she was headed from here to dinner in town with a girlfriend and found a complete outfit from Lydia’s clothes!  Since they were all clean, she just wore them to dinner!  I was glad to see her get something. Lydia really liked her and they got along very well.  I hope she stays in touch.  

I ate the remaining salmon and settled in and watched some tv and called it a night.

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #49 – Yardwork and House Projects

 

Saturday, June 20^th, 2020……  The rains that were predicted for today did come, But I had decided to get going early on the grass pickup. But first I headed off to get breakfast and then I went to the lumber yard here in town to look for some ¼” plywood for the backer on my outside workbench. I got that cut and stored away for later and then texted my sister that I was out doing the lawn. We tried something different this time – I lined the truck bed with a huge tarp and then brought out two smaller ones for the grass.

 I made my passes on the tractor and dumped each load on one of the tarps. Sis helped me dump those into the truck bed. Once I was done with all of the collection, I covered up the load and we headed off to Central Bark to dump it all.

I paid $8.50 for what I had which was more than reasonable in my opinion. It sure saved a ton of time and labor from bagging it up in 10-20 trash bags, which had to be tossed into either my trash or a bin or two in town. This way it was done and done!   

After that was done and Penny went back home (thanks Sis!), I came in and rested and then did some laundry. Sis is having a yard sale after Jody gets here (next week) so I am thinking about some things I can take over there. I do want to have friends and family go through Lydia’s clothes to see and get what they want before I do anything, but I have a bunch of my old clothes that I want to take over plus some items in the shop that I am no longer using.  I will be getting that together soon.  I watched the Belmont Stakes and then the Nascar Xfinity race before watching some of my other taped shows. I made a turkey sandwich for lunch and some mac and cheese for dinner and then had some popcorn for ‘dessert’. I wasn’t especially tired from today so I ended up going to bed after 11:00pm.

      

Sunday, June 21^st, 2020……  Happy Father’s Day to all of the dads out there!  Not much on the agenda for me today. I made a Walmart run and picked up a few things I needed. I heard from both boys and their families. Nice. I also received a couple of Amazon deliveries, both from Randy and Maryanne – one for Father’s Day and one for our anniversary. Thanks, guys!  

More races today. Well, only the stadium motocross finale because Nascar at Talladega Speedway was rained out today. For us here, the weather was cloudy and overcast for most of the morning but after noon it cleared up and actually got up into the mid 80’s. Once it got warmer, of course I had to take butthead outside and let her run in the sprinklers! Tonight’s dinner was cheese quesadillas, which was very tasty.

Monday, June 22^nd, 2020……  Today would have been our 52^nd anniversary. While this is a really emotional day for me, and I struggle every time I think about us not being together anymore, I also find I am really happy and grateful when I think about all of the great years that we had together. A lot of folks can’t say that for sure! 

I made bacon and eggs for breakfast and then straightened up the house a bit. Then I headed over to my sister’s house to work on her patio column covers. We had purchased the wood some time ago and today was a good day to get those cut and put up.

  

I had the old ones to use as a pattern so it went pretty quickly and looks good – ready for the painters who are coming next month.

I got back home and rested for a while. Penny wanted to take me to lunch or dinner later but I passed on both and just came home and rested and relaxed around the house. I have opened the large Costco bacon package so I decided to use up some more and just fix myself some bacon sandwiches for dinner. After that, it was tv until bedtime.

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #48 – Filing Paperwork and Doing Yardwork

 

Wednesday, June 17^th, 2020……  This morning I was up early and took Quincy and Rylee out for their walk/run. I had Q because sis had to go up to Salem for her annual bone scan. After feeding the girls, I took off and drove over to Albany to my attorney’s office to sign and pick up my estate paperwork. I have everything now and just need to go file the new deed on the house with the county. I still have to organize everything and make up instructions as to where it all is located for the kids and my sister in the future.  I boxed up all of the beta (fish) stuff and took it over to the dental office to give to Amanda and then went to the PO to mail a letter.  The weather is great today and has turned to sunny skies predicted for the next several days. I may mow tomorrow…

I got a text from Lydia’s older brother, Stan, who told me that his daughter, Nicole, had passed away on Monday. He hasn’t spoken to her in several years so he’s trying to get more info. He also said he was heading off later today to take Joy to be admitted to a senior care facility. He has a tough road ahead because right now her dementia is so advanced that she doesn’t know who he is anymore. Visits will be restricted due to Covid 19, but I feel, as he does, that she will get the care she needs from the skilled staff that Stan can’t provide. He’s sure had a tough month! Please keep him in your prayers…   

I had leftover lasagna for dinner and then went to work on my pictures - I am now working on those on both of our laptops - to sort to add to my powerpoint (I will begin that task down the road).  I only worked for an hour or so but got a good idea of how extensive this will be! 
Here's one I found of Rick & Janie and Carol with us at one of our 'pajama dances'. Good times for sure!

So, I stopped for the night and watched tv until bedtime.  Oh yeah, I watched America’s Got Talent last night and am enjoying this season, but it’s just not the same without Lydia sitting next to me! 

     

Thursday, June 18^th, 2020……  Weather is really nice today. Sis wanted some help with dropping off her tree trimmings at Central Bark. She had found that my truck load of branches would only cost $8.50 to dump there. I have a branch on one of my trees along the driveway that was dead, so I took advantage and cut it down and put it in the truck. She took the truck and went back to her place to get started.  Today is Rylee’s spa day!  She had an appointment for a bath and trim today. I dropped her off and then went over to sis’s house. She already had the truck packed down so I drove us out to drop the load off. It was quick and easy plus I found out they will take grass clippings so I might give that a try when I mow. I forgot to contact Kirk so I think I will try to do the lawn with just the one mower this time. Tomorrow. I came home and did a load of towels and called it a day. I forgot what I had for lunch but I wasn’t hungry for dinner so I heated up and ate the rest of the sourdough bread and added a couple of oranges and a couple of the babybel cheese I had. I watched the remainder of the supercross from last night until bedtime.

Friday, June 19^th, 2020……  Today I decided to mow the lawn. But first I wanted to run some errands. I wanted to go to our courthouse and file the new trust deed on the house. I paid the fees and that was that. Sis came with me and we went to Lowe’s after that. She bought a few things and I didn’t find what I wanted so we stopped at Summit Ace Hardware and I got a 4x8 sheet of plywood. I like their selection but it comes at a slightly higher price than Lowes. We came home and unloaded first at her place and then mine. We rested a few minutes and then I went out and got the string trimmer fired up. Penny wanted to do that (it was her first time using it) while I mowed. I did the yard then turned over the mower to her and she did the field. The lawn was longer than I wanted so we will have more bags for tomorrow. But we might try the bark place and just put it loose in the truck bed. It was hot today (87º) so I was glad when we got it done! Sis went home and I stuck a stuffed salmon in the oven and then jumped in the shower and then later, enjoyed a nice dinner and then watched tv until bedtime.  Tomorrow we are supposed to see a front coming in to the north of us so I will most likely get out early and get the grass picked up in case it reaches us here in Lebanon.   

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #47 – Visiting and Using Up the Freezer Food!

   

Saturday, June 13^th, 2020……  We were able to get our walk in this morning in dry weather. It is supposed to rain again today, but so far, it’s only lightly sprinkled. They are saying that it will get up into the 80s by the end of the week. I hope it does so I can mow again. I really didn’t have anything I needed to do today but I did want to work on the boat trailer painting and get something done on that project. But it rained off and on so I just hung around the house. I now have all of the photos sorted and stacked and ready to scan. I have a stack of the ones that belonged to Lydia’s mom and grandmother, which I now have boxed up and will ship off to brother Eddie in Wisconsin.  I am working on thinning out the stocked-up freezer so today I made (ok heated up) some tamales for dinner.  

Sunday, June 14^th, 2020……  Nothing planned for today. I had several races to watch so I just vegged out and did that all day. I found out that they have opened the take out section in Starbucks so I was anxious to go there today. I also stopped at Taco Bell (inside) for breakfast this morning so I decided to make dinner tonight. Guess what – it was sausage and eggs!  I had a package of sausage that I had brought in from the freezer and defrosted and I had plenty of eggs, so….. It was good. Then it was tv until bedtime.

     

Monday, June 15^th, 2020……  HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHERRELYN!   After walking Rylee and making breakfast, I got a call from the funeral home that they have finished their tasks and I could come in.  So, I headed off and picked up the death certificates and Lydia’s ashes. I also chose a small heart container for some ashes that I can keep close when I travel in my motorhome.

Kind of corny but I think I need to do this. I will start tomorrow with all of the ‘official’ notifications to all of the necessary entities.  I have plenty of both the short and long form certificates.  I found out that some places will just accept a scanned copy so that is done already for both forms and ready when needed.

Penny came by and picked up some stuff for lasagna. She has Lydia’s recipe and wants to make it for Cherrelyn, who will be coming by again tomorrow on her way back to Calif.

Again, the rains are still around. They are still predicting clear skies and warmer weather later this week. I have Kirk bringing the other mower tomorrow but at this point in time, I don’t think I’ll be ready to mow then. 

Tuesday, June 16^th, 2020……  Today was appointment day. I took Rylee in for her annual physical/shots this morning. They had me hand her off to them in the parking lot but if I had a mask, I could come inside. So, I took her in. I put her on the scales and Miss Priss weighed in at 95.6 lbs. The dr. said I should probably reduce her morning food to 1¼ cups from 1½ and to get her out to run more. Plus, back off the snack treats a bit. I plan on doing all of that.  I also had them trim her nails and also got some flea meds for the next seven months.  Everything looks good. She’s a healthy girl! After that $260.00 visit, I headed over for my dental cleaning. I was surprised that they are back working but it was no problem!  Today was just cleaning so I was good to go. I told them all about Lydia and they were sad. I changed the subject and got Amanda, my hygienist, talking about her young kids and their world right now.  They have property and have all kinds of critters (turkeys, chickens, etc.) that they have to feed and take care of. The easiest to care for is one beta fish. I am going to surprise her tomorrow and bring over all of my stuff we had when we had betas. I have marbles, rocks and a couple of vases that she will like to have I’m sure and I know I won’t use them.

Kirk and Carter were here today and worked on weeding and weed whacking the newly mown fenceline out in the field. He texted me earlier that the mower was in for an electrical part which was ok because it was still too wet today to mow. Later, the girls made it to the house with fresh cooked lasagna. I cut up and buttered one of the sourdough loaves I have and we got everything in the oven to warm up. Remember, this is Lydia’s recipe and my very best favorite dish that she ever made, so I was a tough critic. I have to say though, that she got a big thumbs up for this!

I just couldn’t give her 100% but this was 90% as good as Lydia’s and hit the spot! After dinner, we watched a little tv and then they went on home. Cherrelyn is heading back home to Calif. tomorrow but is definitely moving here as soon as she can. She’s already applied for jobs here in town and in Salem and Albany and the surrounding area.  She’ll stay with Penny until she can get her own place. We are thrilled!

I heard from Janie tonight that she and Rick are making plans to bring their motorhome up and visit me soon.  I gave them some info about campgrounds to stay along the way. Hope that helps. It was a busy day and I called it an early night and went to bed.     

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #46 – Saying Goodbye to Visiting Family & Keeping Busy

Tuesday, June 9^th, 2020……  Another travel day. Kyle was going home today. We had set a time for leaving but he was ready for breakfast so we got going early so we could stop again at Elmer’s for their German pancake.

Once we were on the road, we had plenty of time to take the scenic route to Portland (via hwy 99). I stopped at the overlook and we saw this…. 

This is Willamette Falls and has paper mills and a power plant surrounding to it. Really fascinating but a lot to take in and it was sprinkling. So, we headed on. I drove us around several of the ‘districts’ in the Portland area and we saw a lot before making our way to the terminal. We said our goodbyes and he is saying he is planning on bringing Tiffany and the family back up here next year. That will be fun. I drove back home through some pretty constant rain and then did some laundry and cleanup around the house before relaxing and fixing a sandwich and watching tv for a bit.  I want to go to the store but I will hold off on that for a while. It will be just for smaller items. There are tons of things in the freezer in the garage and I need to get through all of that first!  Tonight though, it was mac and cheese because Kyle left milk for that. I stayed up later than usual tonight – just wasn’t sleepy.

Wednesday, June 10^th, 2020……  Really quiet last night with no one else in the house. I woke up early and got Rylee out and walked and then fed. I have finished up all of the photo albums and now have to sort those that I pulled out by year.  The weather here is nice today but the grass is too wet to mow again. I heard from sis that Chuck is planning on coming over tomorrow to mow the ‘west 40’. Hopefully it will be drier by then.  Because the sun was out, I did another coat of primer on the trailer parts. I have decided to use marine paint because it’s cheaper than the bedliner paint (more on that later) but I’m waiting for Sherwin Williams to allow people in their stores again before I go and talk to them. I like their paint plus Jeff has a (nation-wide) account there and I can get his contractor discount.  I have a lot of lunchmeat left plus I had bought four loaves of sourdough bread (two in the freezer) so I am making some tasty sandwiches with that! I had one for lunch so when dinnertime came, I decided to just fix a chicken pot pie. Easy peasy.  Rylee and I settled in and watched Nascar and Motocross races until bedtime. Both of these entities are trying to get their season schedule in and are doing races on Sundays and Wednesdays. No problem here – I can keep up!       

     

Thursday, June 11^th, 2020……  Chuck showed up around 8:15am and we talked for a few minutes before he headed out to work on the field grass. He was asked by my sister if she could run the tractor around the field and so she came over to do that. She did a few laps and had a good time and did a pretty good job too!  No, Sis, I am NOT buying a big tractor!

After Chuck left, Penny stayed and we talked a bit. My mail came and I showed her the letter from my estate attorney, outlining the next steps. I will be calling him tomorrow so he can officially get started. She will be calling him too, because she needs to get her estate in order as well. I ate a late lunch so I skipped dinner and just had an orange and a banana and was good to go. With all of the racing I had taped, I am behind in my regular shows. With the summer fill-ins I am still trying to catch up!    

Friday, June 12^th, 2020……  This morning, after walking and feeding butthead, I took off to go get breakfast and then head on to Albany to Sherwin Williams and then to Lowes. At Sherwin Williams, I wanted to get a gallon of gray marine paint for the trailer and a quart of  navy blue for the fenders. They don’t sell the marine paint in quarts and it turns out that a gallon of marine paint is over $80.00! Wow!  I passed on the navy and will get spray paint at Lowes. But I got the Lazy Gray color-mixed in and used Jeff’s account plus they had brought out a can that was dented and offered that to me and the total charge was only $35.00. Whew!  Then I went over to Lowes and got the navy paint and the rest of my supplies so I think I’m good to go!  The bedliner paint that I had previously purchased for the trailer will now be used in the near future on the truck bed, which needs it again. The weather is again misting so I’m not painting anything today. So, I came in and worked on the photo sort and also on Frances’ request for copies of Lydia’s recipe files from her computer. I think I will go get some flash drives which will be easy to copy and mail.  The skies cleared up a bit later, so I went back out and worked on my outside storage bench that I had put together and sat out for my painting project. It needed to be leveled and I wanted to take care of that but before I could get going, it started raining again. I also need to add a plywood top before that job will be done. I had taken out a stuffed salmon from the freezer and made that with a baked potato and green beans for dinner. Funny, out in the freezer, I found that I must have 3-4 bags each of every package of frozen vegetables there are! But it won’t take long to make all of that go away!  After dinner, I took Rylee out for a run in the yard then settled in and watched tv until calling it a night. Still hard getting used to the quiet….          

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #45 – Enjoying the Nephews & Celebrating Miss Lydia’s Birthday

Friday, June 5^th, 2020……  Today was driving day. It started out with a 40-mile drive to Eugene to pick up Andrew (who was coming in from LAX) from the airport. I drove him back to Lebanon and we stopped at Shari’s for breakfast before heading home for a brief rest. Then we took off to make the 100-mile drive up to Portland to pick up Kyle (coming in from PHX) and then we headed back home. But we got a call from sis and she and Cherrelyn hadn’t eaten yet so we met them at Dos Arbolitos for an early ‘linner’. Then we all went back to the house to rest for the evening. But the boys got hungry again and took off to go to Carl’s Jr for a late dinner. I worked on the blog and they settled in and ate and watched tv until bedtime. We will figure out what to do tomorrow. The expected rain might change our plans. We’ll see….   

Saturday, June 6^th, 2020……  Rains are coming today but we’re making plans anyway. First up is for me to go to the store to get a few things and get money so we can go later to Kevin’s, which is cash only. They reopened yesterday and I couldn’t wait to go there for my favorite breakfast. The boys liked it for sure. After that, we decided to just go ahead and try to walk Silver Falls. I drove us out and up there and we were not the only ones today. The weather held up and we were able to do the falls walk with no rain at all. 

As a matter of fact, it didn’t rain on us until we were well on our way home!

Next up was Foster Lake. They enjoyed this drive too and really thought that lake was nice. I drove them to the fish hatchery but it has now been closed for the pandemic duration so they couldn’t see the salmon fingerlings in there. On the way home we stopped at Safeway and the guys got all of what they needed for the next two meals. Andrew was going to make chicken and mashed potatoes and broccoli tonight and Kyle will make breakfast tomorrow morning. Once we got back home and unloaded the groceries and rested a bit, it was time for Andrew to take over the kitchen. The girls came over and we all watched him cook! His meal was really tasty and filling.

After that, we cleaned up and rested and the girls went home. A very fun day. The rains came and went but are supposed to be back tomorrow.   

     

Sunday, June 7^th, 2020……  Today was Lydia’s heavenly birthday. Not exactly a happy day for me but we wanted to celebrate her day as she would have wanted.  I was up and going early. Quincy was doing another sleepover so I got them out and walked/ran/pooped. Kyle was up and going on the breakfast because he had a lot of bacon to cook up to go along with his hobo hash. I usually don’t like bell peppers but, in this case, I made an exception. It was very good! 

We hung around the house most of the morning and left to head up to Sweet Home to go to The Point for linner. I’m glad to see they’ve reopened. Skyline, just down the road, is also open again so we will have to go there soon. 

Once we got back, Cherrelyn said her goodbyes for a few days as she was heading back up to Tigard to be with her son. For us, it was more lounging around and catching up on tv.  With family here like this, my sweet Lydia would have enjoyed this day, I’m sure.   

Monday, June 8^th, 2020……  Today was travel day for Andrew. His flight left out of Eugene at 9:00am so Kyle and I took him down there and said our goodbyes and then headed back home. But first, we stopped at Elmer’s so Kyle could try the German pancake! After that, I took him through the University of Oregon (Ducks) campus. We saw the new track and field house that they are putting the finishing touches on. First class!  Then, we headed north and came home via Corvallis. I drove him through the Oregon State University (Beavers) campus. Equally impressive. We got back and sis was there and had let Rylee out while we were gone. The rest of the day was spent hanging around the house. Sis came back a bit later and we drove over to the Tangent Inn (bar and grill) for their burgers. 

The rest of the night we watched Stand By Me because Kyle had never seen it (plus it was filmed here in Brownsville and I previously had showed him that town). I take him to Portland tomorrow for his flight back home.       

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #44 – Visiting & Meetings & a Beach Trip

 

Tuesday, June 2^nd, 2020……  Cherrelyn and Penny spent some time here with Rylee and Quincy running around.  Today I started building a list of those who I have to have a certified death certificate for - either type a and type b (I have ordered both). Some have or will be sending me their forms to be completed with the dc.

I made a call to the office of the estate planner. He will be calling me back.

I heard back from him a bit later in the morning. We talked for a while and he explained that we can meet and see what is best to do in my situation.  He is class of 61 and he said, "Looks like I have had some years on you".  The more we talked the more I knew I liked him.

Wednesday, June 3^rd, 2020……   Yesterday we decided that the plan for today would be a drive over to the coast.  The girls came by and we took off around 9:00am and went to Wisecracks in Corvallis for breakfast before heading over via Hwy 20. Once we got to Newport, I drove us down to the wharf and we went into Mo’s so Cherrelyn could get some clam chowder to take back home. Sis and I don’t care for it as much as others because it has too much bacon in it but she wanted to try it so we stopped. We had a rough time getting inside to place the order, because they did not want folks congregating by the register. But she made it in and got the soup and we left and continued down the coast. It is a nice drive going that way with a lot of roads right by the water. 

I drove them to Florence where we took Hwy 126 east back into Eugene. I stopped on the way back by the house in Veneta that we had looked at when we were house searching.  It was in the running but was more isolated and dumped onto 126 so I’m glad we passed on that one. We also drove by Fir Butte to see that one too and then made our way back home.

     

Thursday, June 4^th, 2020……  Today was my meeting with the estate planner. I left early to go to his office in Albany. Believe it or not, his name is David Beckham!  He says he can track his ancestry and he is related; I just don’t remember what else he said. Anyway, he got all of my pertinent info and will be mailing me a to-do list to get started with building what I need for my living trust. I also got a call from hospice – they were checking to see how I was doing and asked if I need anything. They are really a good group of folks and I am glad I chose them. I also asked about some unused items and would they like them back. I think I will drop them off next time I’m in the area. We decided to have linner tonight and went to Pizza Schmizza for a nice meal. Then it was back home and tv until bedtime. I did manage to drag a few albums in to go through while I watched yesterday’s taped motocross race. These were the two books of photos from ours and Steve and Linda’s and Alan and Barbara’s 25th anniversary trip to Hawaii in 1993. Fun times and it really did me good to look through them again. I found some good ones of Lydia to scan for my memory flash drive for the celebration.           

Oregon Living 2020 – Blog #43 – A (Really) Empty House Now & Visitors Coming

Saturday, May 30^th, 2020……  Today Jeff has a flight home. He leaves out of Portland (5:00pm) but I took him up early so we could tour around that area a bit. Multnomah Falls and Vista Point are still closed but we could still drive out I84, which parallels the Columbia River, which is really nice this time of year.  We got started and decided to stop somewhere for dinner. Red Robin in Wilsonville was open for dining so we stopped there. We got in after a 10-15 min. wait and had a nice meal. Problem was I left the house and just drove – forgetting to stop by Sis’s house so she could say goodbye to Jeff.  What a dumdum I am!  We really didn’t have time to cruise around so I got Jeff to the terminal in plenty of time for him to check in and rest for a while. He had a seat assignment for the first leg of his trip. He flies Portland/Seattle/Atlanta/Ft. Myers – yeah, I know - but that was the cheapest way to go!  He didn’t have seat assignments for the other legs so I reminded him to do that at the desk. It’s been a rainy day here today and I drove through some on the way home but no worries. When I got back home, I knew it would be to an empty house for the first time. So now it’s me and Rylee holding down the fort. I’ll let you know tomorrow how I do tonight.

Oh yeah, the obit came out today in our local paper:  

  

Sunday, May 31^st, 2020……  Yep, it was a tough night for me alright. I had two or three bawling episodes but I managed to get some sleep. I know it will get easier as time goes by but right now it’s hard.  Cherrelyn will be coming here on Tuesday, and nephews Kyle and Andrew (Frances’ boys) are coming up Friday. If anyone needs to get out of the house for a while and wants to come visit – please do!  I would dearly love the company right now.  

The weather is nicer today. The forecast is for no rain this coming week. I need to get on the mowing more often and now that the rainy season is almost behind us, I hope to stay on that. But today, I just goofed off around the house. I finished off box two of the photos. I think at least one of the others was Grandma Mac’s so that one should be easy. But I got the albums out and stacked in the dining room just to remind me to keep on top of it all. I taped and watched Nascar and Motocross, which is back now too, and sorted and did some laundry.   

Quiet, quiet day! 

     

Monday, June 1^st, 2020…… Way better night’s sleep last night!   I needed to make some calls today. I can’t remember if I mentioned this before in this blog but Lydia and I chose not to do a living trust until we got up here and got everything sorted out. That was three years ago last month and we still hadn’t made that move. Yeah, I know!  So, today I found the number of the referral of an estate planner given to me by Linda and Chuck so I made the call. They were closed so I’ll try again tomorrow for an appointment hopefully next week. I also now have a vet appointment for butthead for her annual visit and shots. Cherrelyn made it down from Tualatin and is staying with Penny. They came over and helped me go through number three of the photo bins. That one was Lydia’s folks’ and went pretty easily. Stan and/or Eddie will get that one. Some of the photos were in old broken frames and those photos were removed saving loads of space.  One more to go and then the albums!  

The girls went back home and I watched the Nascar Xfinity race then met them at Pizza Schmizza for dinner. Then it was back to the house to work on the blog and watch tv until bedtime. The weather is post-card-like right now. Just perfect!  No rains in the forecast at least until the weekend.  Plan is to mow again tomorrow before everything gets out of hand.