Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #14 – A Little Snow and Colder Temps

Saturday, February 9^th., 2019…...  No snow. Just a lot of rain last night. Our back lawn is a mushy swamp!  The field behind it is different grass and is a bit higher so out there is not as bad. Penny came by with Quincy and Lydia let Rylee out while I took off to get breakfast/coffee/tea. My favorite stop is always at Starbucks, where I always get chai tea for Lydia and sometimes coffee for me. They are always so friendly and sometimes we talk about the upcoming day. Jade asked about my plans for today. I told her not much planned and I mentioned my blog. I gave her a card with the blog site on it. Maybe she’ll check it out sometime.

Sis left Quincy for the day. She fed her and left and Quince always gets up on our bed and vegges out for the day.  After their morning run, Rylee leaves her alone and they both rest in separate rooms. As I said, I had no plans. I did go out to the shop to start to take apart the broken recliner. But I didn’t fire up any heat so I didn’t stay out there too long. By the time I came in and settled in, Lydia had started dinner. Once we ate, I only had to let monster puppy out once or twice and then it was time to go to bed.  We let super pooper out for one last pee and found that the snow was just starting up!

Sunday, February 10^th., 2019……  I woke up around 12:30am and went to the bathroom. Then it was butthead’s turn. The snow was only about an inch at that time but it was coming down hard enough to scare Rylee. She didn’t even leave the porch. We went back to bed and she woke me up about 3:30 so I knew she had to go NOW. It had stopped snowing but there was probably 2” on the ground. She managed to do both businesses and then I wiped her down and we went back to bed. This morning the snow had totally stopped, but it left a nice white canvas out there! I got showered and took the monkey butt out for her walk. She totally now loves the snow! Plus, she’s found it tastes great!  We saw tons of deer tracks and what I thought were tracks from a dog that went right through our front yard! But I don’t think Ollie was here this early. Next, I thought cougar but now think they were too small and could be just coyote tracks. It was only one but, still – in our front yard! We don’t want coyotes here! That’s why I bought my new pellet gun!

While I was out on my walk, I took this pic of the front of the house.

We face north so most of this snow will hang around even after the backyard melts. I have a 2x6 out in front of the rv garage as a transition piece. There was 2-3” of snow on it so we did get a bit more than the last snow.  Last year we had one snowfall at 1”. This is the second snowfall so far this year and the most we’ve seen (so far).   After we got back in, Lydia made breakfast, but stopped for a bit so we could call and wish Bill & Treasa a HAPPY 40^th ANNIVERSARY!  We talked for a bit and she told us she was hanging around the house recovering from her recent knee surgery. They’ve had their share of snow too (they live in Springboro, OH) but it’s just rainy there now. They get more snow plus their temps get down into the single digits and sometimes lower. Brrrr!

I spent my day watching tv. Motocross was taped plus the Nascar season is getting started.  That kept me entertained. Of course, Rylee wants out every ten minutes. When Lydia is sitting in her chair, she can keep an eye on her and I also get up often to let her out. She’s made yellow snow and ‘poopsickles’ several times just this afternoon!

  

Monday, February 11^th., 2019…... No more snow. What we had on the ground yesterday was gone by day’s end. We did get some high winds and a bit of rain throughout the night. It was sprinkling when I took Rylee out for our walk this morning.  The winds were blowing and it was enough to get my pant legs a bit too wet, so I changed. Lydia had labs to do this morning so we headed off for that around 9:00am. Since we were out, we decided to stop for breakfast. We chose Kevin’s and it was very good, as always! After we got home, I went out to the shop and worked on dismantling the old recliner. It was raining off and on and I decided to shut down and came back in between showers. I was in for the afternoon. I changed out of my jeans and put on my sweats and relaxed in my recliner and watched tv.  But it turned out that Lydia didn’t get anything out for dinner and we didn’t want leftovers tonight, and she was hungry for Mexican food, so she decided that we should go out to Ixtapa’s. Yep - I changed again and off we went. Dinner was good and we both ate a lighter meal. Nothing else planned so we came back home and I let muttley out to pee. The sprinkles continued through the evening but that was fine - we were done for the day.  We watched a couple more Guy’s Grocery Games and before turning to our delayed tape of America’s Got Talent. 

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #13 – Dealing With the Cold and the New Meds

Wednesday, February 6^th., 2019…...   Nice weather for sleeping! I wanted to just stay in bed this morning but Miss Alarm Clock likes to keep me on a schedule. So, I got up and fed her and then went back to bed for a few minutes. After she eats, she wants to play so I mean a few minutes! I got up and got showered and dressed and took her out for our walk. Quincy was already out in our field and Rylee doesn’t care for a long walk once she sees them out there. She pooped and turned around and started pulling me back toward home. I brought her back and got barely in the driveway and let her off leash to go play with the Quince. Of course, she ran through the water again and again so my sister hosed her off and I had to dry her before she could come back in the house. You’d think the cold water would bother her. NOT!  After that, I took off and got breakfast and coffee/tea and came home to relax for a bit. After lunch, Lydia had a nail appointment and took off for that. I only had one item on my agenda for today so I went out and started the motorhome (I do that weekly) and let it run for a while. I also check inside and outside of the coach just to make sure everything is in order. All of the systems are good to go. I will need to air up all of the tires but I will have them do that when I take it in the next few months for the front tires I’m planning to buy. I ran the tv in the rv for a bit and checked to see what I had taped out there that I might need to watch. Good on that as well.

When Lydia got back, we cleaned out the fridge. Tomorrow is trash day and we don’t run any food in the garbage disposal so we just have to toss it in the trash. Lydia fixed dinner and I took the cans out and then closed up everything for the night.          

Thursday, February 7^th., 2019……  Still really cold out! We wanted to take Rylee and head out for a drive somewhere today but the sun didn’t come out and it didn’t warm up at all. The frost stayed on the ground and it’s still nicer to just stay inside. So, that’s what we did. We did go out and pick up Lydia’s prescription plus stopped across the street at Walmart to get a few things. Tomorrow is supposed to be the same with more snow possible at the lower elevations.  The news this evening said snow is probable for the entire Willamette Valley starting Friday night and lasting through the weekend. We are ok with food so we don’t need to go out for anything. This was just to get a couple of items while we were out. Later, I started dinner while Lydia went back to get the last of the prescriptions (they were out of stock on one item and it came in this afternoon). We had fish sandwiches so dinner was easy. We watched the Masked Singer. I had zeroed in on The Raven as a talk show host last time but didn’t know which one. When one of the judges guessed Rikki Lake, we both knew that’s who it was even before she got unmasked.  I think I know who the Rabbit, the Peacock, and the Bee are.  I’ve told Lydia but I won’t post here in case you are playing along in the guessing (text me and I’ll share). I’m still piecing together clues for the Monster, the Alien, and the Lion. But if they turn out to be new gen millennial pop artists, I probably won’t have a clue. I missed on Antonio Brown, but I got Tommy Chong, Terry Bradshaw, Margaret Cho, and Tori Spelling. Some I got from the clues, but for Chong and Bradshaw, I figured out by voice and mannerisms.            

  

Friday, February 8^th., 2019…... Just a dusting of snow here this morning. No black ice so the roads were fine to drive on. We left a little before 9:00am to meet my sister for breakfast. We wanted to try J&C BBQ. They had a food/catering truck before and have moved into an old café here in town. They serve breakfast and so we went there this morning. The food was really good. The prices are kinda high. I had chicken fried steak, 2 eggs, hash browns, toast for $15.95. When you think about it, I guess that’s not too much higher than the other places up here. But they also have a lite menu so we’ll check that out next time. Plus, we need to come back and try the bbq. Thanks for breakfast, Sis! Lydia is on her new meds and they cause her some bathroom issues so we stayed close to home today. The breakfast trip was the only time we left the house. Also, heavier snow is predicted in the valley this weekend. I spent some time gathering up my files for taxes. Even though we have a nice simple filing this year (one residence), I think we’ll still go to our tax lady because she knows the state better than we do.  

Turns out we had no more snow today. Lydia made her squiggly noodle casserole and since I skipped lunch, I was ready when it was ready! Terrific as usual, plus I have some left over for lunch tomorrow! We ended up the evening watching our taped programs and then went to bed early.      

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #12 – Super Bowl, A Surgery Consult, and Baby’s First Snow!

Sunday, February 3^rd., 2019…...   SUPER BOWL SUNDAY! I am rooting for the Rams. Not that I like the Rams (I’m a Broncos fan), but I don’t like New England and they should lose to everybody! Also, Brandon Cooks, who plays for the Rams, is an Oregon State graduate. My neighbor, Lou, knows him pretty well. I think NE will dominate the game but I have a little hope. We’ll see…. They have a couple of the bars and pizza parlors here in town having parties, and the Elks in Sweet Home will do one too, but I always try to stay at home for the Super Bowl so I can watch it without any interruptions. Lydia made steak sandwiches out of the tri-tip so dinner was easy and good.

The game went about the way I thought it would go, except that scoring was tough for both teams. The Rams held tough for the first half but couldn’t score. You can’t keep the Patriots at bay for an entire game. The trio of Brady, Gronkowski, and Edelman just were too much for the Rams to defend. I guess they now all get to go to Disney World!   

  

Monday, February 4^th., 2019……  We had a pretty good rain last night. And it was cold. But it didn’t snow - at least not on us. There is a hill back of our house, I’m guessing about a mile away that was covered with snow this morning when I took Rylee out for our walk.  We are supposed to have a few days of colder weather. Cold for us, but not near as bad as the Midwest, so I consider us lucky.

I spent some time online this morning looking for towel bars for our master bath. We have some we can buy from Home Depot but before we do that, we want to see what else is out there.  Lydia also found a wall clock for the dining room at Fred Meyer that we can buy on Amazon for way cheaper, so we looked at those while we were online.   

Today was Lydia’s consult. We liked Hanna, the physician’s assistant, who met with us and she reviewed Lydia’s history and asked all the right questions. Then she explained all of the possible scenarios for the future. After talking with her, the best plan as it stands today is to go ahead and fill out the necessary forms for surgery for the future.  But they want to wait until they can consult with their Samaritan kidney transplant team specialist for advice on possible alternatives, one of which might be a temporary reduction in dosage of the anti-rejection meds she has been taking for years. The gastro doctors seem to think that those meds are blocking the effectiveness of the antibiotics to treat the diverticulitis. If that is an option, it might avoid surgery. If that is not advised, then it is likely that the surgery for a colon re-section will take place. They said it would be probably in March sometime. Recovery is 6-8 weeks so, that means any travel plans we were contemplating can’t be made until the recovery is complete. Lydia is good with either option – she wants this to go away!

We got back home and relaxed for a while, then heated up leftovers for dinner and then watched our taped AGT until bedtime.    

       

Tuesday, February 5^th., 2019…... I got up around 3:30am to pee and Rylee wanted out. Guess what? It was snowing! Baby’s first snow!  Once I got back to bed, I wasn’t in any hurry to get up. When we did, Rylee ventured out slowly at first, then decided it was one big ice cube to lick!  But thankfully that stopped after a bit. It had dropped about one inch on the ground overnight. Although it had stopped snowing (nothing in the forecast today) it wasn’t going anywhere. So, I waited until around 11:30am to take pooper dog out for her walk. We found out that Rylee is really NOT a white dog! Compared to snow that is. You can actually see her in the snow.

After about 12:30pm the sun peeked out through the clouds and it warmed up enough to melt it slowly away. By 3:30pm it was gone! We saw on tv (on our Portland feed) that they were having tons of trouble up there. They had way more snow and colder temps than we did and they had black ice during rush hour. They just kept getting more and more reports of accidents. You’d think folks up there would have learned to drive in it by now! Back here at home, we had no place to go so we just waited it out and watched tv and worked the jigsaw puzzle for a while.  Later, Lydia got a call from her dr. They want her to do a new round of labs so she had to drive to the hospital to do that. But she said the roads to and from were dried out and she had no issues. I helped her with the defrosting of the pork chops (yeah, I know – big job!) and when she got home, they were thawed. She did get a call from her Nephrologist. Turns out she was the first call the surgeon’s office made on her behalf. After conferring, the decision right now is to reduce the dosage on her anti-rejection meds. Dr. Leonard agrees that it might be blocking the antibiotics. She’s called in a prescription for the lessor medication.  Lydia fixed the pork chops with mushroom gravy and the rest of our smashed potatoes from the other night.  After dinner Walgreens called and she went to the drive-thru and picked it up. Once she got back, we relaxed, watched tv and then called it a night.    

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #11 – A Little Shopping, Setting up a Consult, and Picking up my Chair

 

Thursday, January 31^st., 2019…...   This morning we decided to head out to Albany for a little shopping. My sister wanted some items from Lowe’s and I needed a belt for my sander. We picked up Penny and went to Shirley May’s for breakfast.  Turns out all three of us ordered the same breakfast – three eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast. But the girls only wanted two eggs. Shirley asked me if I wanted their extra egg? "Sure", I said. So, my meal was now served with five eggs! After the predicted cholesterol jokes, I proceeded to eat up everything on my plate! It was perfect!

After that filling meal, we headed on over to Home Depot and then to Lowe’s and then back to Home Depot. The weather is changing for us. I know the folks back east are dealing with record cold, and we are lucky it’s just cooler for us right now. It was 33º when we left Shirley’s and my car beeped a warning that there may be ice on the roads.  But the sun was trying to come out and the roads were fine.  We made the rounds with no issues. My sister bought two new light fixtures for her hallway and I installed those for her and then we left to go back home to feed the butthead. I went out and installed the new belt on the sander.  It was still chilly out there and since I didn’t have any projects to work on, I came in and we kicked back for the rest of the day. With that big breakfast under my belt, I skipped lunch. Lydia hadn’t gotten anything out for dinner so I went to KFC and picked up dinner and we ate (I had a super light meal) and watched more episodes of Guy’s Grocery Games that we had gotten behind on again.        

Friday, February 1^st., 2019……  Sprinkles are back again. Nothing strong at all – just enough to wet the ground. Rain is coming tonight and tomorrow, so the temps were up to 45º this morning when I walked Rylee. They say that next week the temps are expected to drop and the snow levels will be lower. They may come down to 1000 ft. (we are at 340 ft. here in Lebanon) so we’ll see. I went to Walmart after our morning walk and got syrup and sausages for French toast. While I was out, Lydia got her call for the surgical consult. It is setup for this coming Monday afternoon. She’s feeling better this week, with only a few cramps now and then. They said they will run a few more scans but just meeting with the surgeon will ease her mind in case they might need to operate.  We also called the kids in Florida. Their new golden doodle puppy, Maddie, has had some complications from her recent spaying. She’s back in the veterinary hospital but they said she’s doing better today. We know how they feel and wanted to call to check on them. It’s tough when a dog is not feeling well. On a lighter note, I also got a call from La Z Boy that my chair is prepped and is wrapped and sitting in the back room ready for pickup tomorrow. We are planning on heading down early in case the rains come in. Yes, I have my tarp already in the truck! I spent the morning taking the old chair out to the shop. I may leave it out there for a bit but I don’t think I want to keep it in the shop where it would get dirty. Besides, it’s really jacked up - maybe I’ll just dismantle it and toss the pieces in the woodpile, recycle and trash. I came back in the house and got the vacuum out and got my room done.  I kept going and vacuumed the rest of the carpets and sucked up all the little ‘Ryleedevils’ floating around on the wood floors. Jeff texted and gave us a heads up on uploading Google Duo on Lydia’s cell. It allows real-time video between Apple and Android phones. Once installed, he called and we got to see Maddie, relaxing at home now. She’s doing well. We had a nice talk then Lydia got dinner going. We had tri-tip with a cauliflower/broccoli/cheese casserole and smashed potato dinner and watched tv until bedtime.     

      

Saturday, February 2^nd., 2019…... Light rain (drizzle) again last night. We managed to get out this morning for my walk with Rylee in between the sprinkles. Then we took off to drive down to Eugene (30 miles) to pick up my chair. We left early enough to stop for breakfast and then stop by Jerry’s Hardware before heading over to La Z Boy. As promised, it was sitting there all wrapped up. The wrap was enough and there was no rain around so I didn’t need the tarp. I covered it with the cargo net and we headed back home. I just had to back up the truck into the garage and unload it and Lydia and I manhandled it into my room and I was good to go!

Lydia took off and went to Walmart and got stuff for spaghetti and when she got back, we both relaxed until dinner. We knocked out a few more episodes of Guys Grocery Games while we ate. Then we spent the rest of the evening watching our own taped shows before calling it a night.      

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #10 – More Drs. Appointments, a Birthday, and a New Chair!

Monday, January 28^th., 2019…...  This morning we had some errands to run. Lydia had to do another set of labs. She also had her mammogram to do today. We went off to Kevin’s for breakfast and then went over to the hospital to do the blood work. Her appointment wasn’t until 1:45 so we decided to drive up to Salem to go to La-Z-Boy to check out their recliners. Turns out the recliner I bought 15 months ago is no longer reclining! It was certainly fine up until monster puppy turned into a monster puppy! She always likes to jump up on the footrest and has done that since she was little. But being over seventy pounds, she puts a lot of pressure on that thing! It felt like a teeter totter sometimes. It finally snapped! Granted, it was a lesser quality chair, but I would have liked it to last a bit longer. We found a nice chair but wanted to look around some more plus they didn’t have anything in stock. We came back home via another furniture shop in Albany. We looked there and found they had La Z Boys in stock but not in any color I wanted. We spent just enough time there (I was delayed a few minutes to go outside and help a lady with a dead car battery with a jump start) and we were able to get to the hospital in time for Lydia’s appointment. After she was done, we went back home and plugged in our cell phones and took Rylee out for a bit. We asked my sister to come and feed the dog and we took off again, this time south to the La Z Boy showroom in Eugene. They had the same chairs and I found the one I wanted and the guy said to wait until Saturday for a 5% discount. He did take a deposit plus found one in stock. They will be adding the stainmaster treatment to it and I will be back on Saturday to pick it up. It wasn’t the cheapest chair I could have bought but I think I learned my lesson. This is the last chair I should need to buy. We stopped at Newman’s Grotto and had dinner. We got back home and rested from the long day.           

Tuesday, January 29^th., 2019……  HAPPY BIRTHDAY RANDY!!!! We called and talked with him for quite a long time and had a nice visit. They’re hoping they can get up to see us soon. Today was really nice. The sun is out and there were no clouds in the sky. The temps started out cold (38º) and then got super nice and warm (62º) so I was able to go back out and work on the grapevines again. I got all of the vines cut out of the apple tree so that’s done. Next step is to cut all of the branches off the apple trees to leave just the trunk and then either dig it out or cut it flush to the ground. I have enough kindling from the grapevines. I filled up two barrels of twigs from them that I will use for the shop stove. The apple tree branches I think I will cut and pile up and then trim down for firewood. I can then load the scraps in Kirk’s trailer when he has other debris headed for the dump. He was also here today and worked some more on weeding the blueberry cage. After I was done with my project, I came back in and rested. My poor chair is just barely hanging in there! I only have a few more days to deal with it until I get the new one! 

Later, we had leftover Mexican Crack for dinner and then watched yesterday’s taped America’s Got Talent and later, called it a night.  

      

Wednesday, January 30^th., 2019…... Another nice day!  It started out with frost on everything but as soon as the sun hits it, it goes away. I got Rylee out and walked and then went and got breakfast. When I got back, Lydia told me she heard back from the doctor’s office. They are referring her to a surgeon for a consult. I don’t think they are comfortable with her labs. And she can’t continue to take the antibiotics. So, a colon re-section may be in her future. Not what we wanted to hear but it’s something she has to prepare for.

We didn’t have anything on the agenda today so we decided to take the butthead out for a car ride. We needed to go to Corvallis to the bank and we drove from there past our neighbor, Lou’s, mink farm. We only found out recently that that’s his business, raising mink. His daughter worked there when she was growing up so it’s been in the family for many years. Not exactly the most popular type of business today, given these minks are raised only for their pelts. He said the customer base is now in Asia. The place is discreet and looks like an egg farm so I’m guessing there’s not any pressure from local animal rights groups.

We got back from the bank run and stopped by my sister’s so Rylee could get out and play a bit with Quincy. Last week Kirk redid the bark mulch all around her house and everything looks nice. He’s even added some photos to his webpage. We got home and Lydia ate dinner. Before we left this afternoon, I had the rest of the Coberg Pizza leftovers for lunch so I wasn’t in the least bit hungry for dinner. I just had a few graham crackers as my ‘dessert’. I watched the last episode of The Masked Singer, since the new one is tonight, which I will watch probably tomorrow. I missed Antonio Brown on the first reveal but have figured out the next three. I think I know who some of the others are but we’ll see how it goes as they are revealed in future shows.                 

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #9 – More Grapevine Work and Some Cooler Days

 

Friday, January 25^th., 2019…...  It’s been a few days since the infusion and I’m doing fine. I had none of the side-effects that they listed, and only some additional minor stiffness which they said is common. Lydia has finished the last of her high-test antibiotics. She says she feels better but is nowhere near 100%. I expected more positive results but she will discuss with the Dr. next week to determine next step. This morning I got to sleep in and Lydia got up to feed the monkey butt. I walked her and then went off to get us breakfast. After that, I evaluated the weather and since it was partly sunny and warming up, I decided to go out and prune some more of the grapevines. I filled up the second barrel and then, with Lydia’s help, finished smoothing out the cut I made on the new white barrel I just cut the top off of. I think I have one more day’s-worth of cuttings to go. Then I can start to think about cutting down the apple trees. On the way out to the vines, I let Rylee off-leash for a while and, sure enough, she went out to her runway and made a few mud runs! I tied her up and went about my little task, and when I was done, I hosed her off and toweled her dry and brought her in with me and we both called it a day. We heated up the chicken and rice and then cleaned up and watched tv until bedtime.   

Saturday, January 26^th., 2019……  My sister came by this morning to walk Quincy. I was barely up and showered and was just bringing the butthead out for her walk. The weather is crisp and cloudy but the sun is due out later this afternoon. Rylee did her mud run again and we had to hose her off and dry her up again. Oh, the life of a golden retriever!

Ok, it’s later this afternoon and no sun. Actually, it’s downright cold out there! I was going out to work on the grapevines but not today! We only went out once and that was to run to Jack in the Box to get dinner. Rylee liked the ride even though we were back in a flash. Then it was dinner and tv. I am watching the Rolex 24 hours of Daytona road race. I find this the most fascinating of races. You have a team of 3-4 drivers who take turns going around the speedway/road course from 11:00am on Saturday until 24 hours later on Sunday. This year they have rain predicted to deal with starting early tomorrow morning.

      

     

Sunday, January 27^th., 2019…...  Weather is still cool here. Overcast and kind of foggy. Again, we didn’t plan to go out. I had my flannel-lined jeans on when I walked Rylee and then changed into my sweats and socks to hang around inside the house today. Lydia went to Walmart and said it was cold but not too bad. That’s saying something, coming from her! She worked on the puzzle we have going and I watched the Rolex. Those rains did hit and it caused a ton of wrecks and carnage. It was dangerous driving and they ended up stopping the race an hour or so short. Driving up here in the sprinkles and light showers is bad enough. I can’t imagine having to race in driving rain. Lydia’s trip to the store yielded makings for dinner - Mexican Crack - which was really tasty. This is a casserole with tortilla chips, diced tomatoes, chicken, and other spices. Throughout the day, the pooper dog managed to get me to take her out a few times, but I succeeded in keeping her far away from her track, so she managed to stay dry. 

The other day, when I went to Albany, I had an unexpected delay. I was going through my photo file and saw the pics and it reminded me that I needed to post these. I made a turn to go down a shortcut side road (which I usually take), and found it was blocked up ahead. A lady in a pickup was outside her truck and was talking to the two cars stopped in the road in front of me. She came back and told me that they were running sheep from one field to another and could I hang on for a few minutes while they brought them up the road? Of course!  So, I had to get out and take a few pics of this!..... It was so cool. The little guys are only three weeks old!    

Oregon Living 2019 – Blog #8 – Doctor and Dentist Visits and an Afternoon Out

 

Tuesday, January 22^nd., 2019…...  Yesterday afternoon I got a call from my doctor’s office about my infusion. They had phoned in a prescription for me for Vitamin D and Calcium Citrate. Turns out my labs showed my vitamin D at 8.7 and it needs to be 8.8 before I can do the infusion. It also turns out that the meds wouldn’t take effect for several days. So, I was told to call the infusion center, which I did. Final result is that they got together with my doctor and it’s still a go for the infusion.

So, this morning I headed over to my sister’s. She had her doctor’s appointment and I went over to walk Quincy. I got her walked and fed and then headed back home, stopping on the way to get coffee/tea/breakfast. Once I got home and ate, I walked Rylee. By this time, the sprinkles were just starting. I got her back before we got too wet. Then it was time to head to the pharmacy and then to the hospital for the infusion. This place is inside the hospital but runs independently. They really have a nice place and they put me in a treatment room, with a view of the garden. A few minutes later, they put in an iv and started the infusion. It took 30 minutes. But you have to wait 30 more minutes before you could leave. No issues in the office so I was free to go. I have a list of possible side effects to watch out for. Once I left, I stopped back at the pharmacy and then went home and was done for the day. Later, Lydia came in and said she was heading to Walmart. I went with her and we got a few things for dinner plus fruit and chips and crackers for snacks. She fixed steak burritos and that was our day. We had a nice dinner and then settled in to watch tv for the rest of the evening.    

Wednesday, January 23^rd., 2019…… This is the week of appointments for me. This morning was my dental cleaning. I go every four months and today was the day. I sure like Amanda, the hygienist. She is young and friendly has a nice disposition and is very gentle. We talked about gardens and flowers. Of all things!  She was a good friend of our next-door neighbor lady before she passed so she knows our house. I invited her over anytime to take a tour and maybe give Lydia and I some advice about our plants and shrubs. She seemed excited and I think she’ll drop by.  I was good this time with just the cleaning. Next time I get x-rays and an exam from the dentist. Since the weather is still on the cold/cloudy side, I didn’t have anything planned. Lydia got out her swiffer and went around the wood floors, trying to pick up all of the dog hair. I thought dogs only shed in the summer! Guess not!  Later, I took Rylee out to let her run but kept her close by so she couldn’t make her ‘drag strip run’ and get soaked. Lydia got some leftover lasagna out of the freezer and we heated it up for dinner. I have all of my races and auctions watched so I started in on the other taped shows that are building up. The other day we bought a puzzle while we were out and we got that out and going on the kitchen table. Good for a rainy day. 

     

Thursday, January 24^th., 2019…...  The weather has turned for the better. We are supposed to have a week or more without rain. They are saying this is unusual and that this is more like Spring weather. A lot of the flowers that shouldn’t bloom until April/May are starting to open up. I like the rain and all but I get tired of it lasting for several days in a row. So, this is good news! I got Rylee out and walked and then took off to go do my Habitat tour. I took the Acadia so I could get it vacuumed and washed. Albany has the closest full-service (Thurs-Sat. only) car wash and we needed the interior vacuumed to get rid of the other puppy that Rylee shed in there. But before that, I stopped at Roger’s, a ma and pa restaurant in town, and had breakfast. I stopped at Lowe’s and bought a new doorknob for the shop door. I also stopped by Petco. I’m looking for another leash but they didn’t have what I wanted. After I got the car done, I sidetracked on the way home and headed over the bridge and on down to Corvallis. They have the local PetSmart. Still didn’t have what I wanted, so I came home. I didn’t make it to the Habitat for Humanity or Harbor Freight, so those will be saved for another trip. I got home and changed out the doorknob. Butthead was on her rope out there with me so she was happy. Lydia finished her swiffering project and will save the dusting for another day. Later, my sister came over and we headed down to Coburg Pizza. We each still had our scratch-offs plus we also had a coupon sent in an email that gave us a free classic salad with our pizza. Our scratch-off (done in-store when you order) was for a free dessert pizza and sis got a free slice of her choice of one of six specialty pizzas for her scratch-off. We did have to go to the other location (in Springfield) but that was probably only 8-9 miles farther. Our location is still in remodeling stage. We hope it looks as good as the Springfield store. The pizzas and salads were good (same as the other place) and we had to take most of everything home. 

We got the cherry dessert pizza to go. I had found a new way to get to the Springfield/Eugene area and we also drove back that way. It’s a longer route, going through the local towns and farmland, but it’s more picturesque, with some covered bridges and river crossings on the way. We got back and sis went home and we settled in for the night. But not before I had my dessert. I just had to warm it up a bit in the microwave and it was the best!