Oregon Living 2023 – Blog #7 – Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day & it’s a Girl!

 

Sunday, February 12^th., 2023…… Super Bowl Sunday!  We enjoyed the quiet Sunday morning, got up, walked and fed the dogs and had breakfast. Cathye left for church and I finished up some laundry and worked on my blog. The it was time to rest and catch up on my races and then wait for the Super Bowl to start. We were both staying home today to watch the game here, by ourselves.  Cathye made sloppy joes and we settled in and enjoyed the game (and commercials!). I really didn’t care who won but we were sort of rooting for the Eagles. Oh well, it was a pretty good game anyway!

Monday, February 13^th., 2023……  The weather this week is turning. They say it will snow, maybe even in the valley!  But today, it was just cold! The guys weren’t working today because they have used up all of the deck product. It was by design so we could eliminate overage. So, Russ had to order more. He has decided to go up to Wilsonville (about 80 miles) to get it himself rather than wait until later in the week for delivery.

Later, we headed off to get our taxes done. Cathye had finally got all of her documents back and we were ready. It would be interesting to see how we do on our first year filing jointly. Since my tax lady has passed and I did not like the other guy in the office who took over for her – he doesn’t speak and has no personality (I guess that’s perfect for a tax guy!), we decided to go to Cathye’s girl at H&R Block. She was wonderful and actually did everything right in the office. We got back money from the Federal but have to pay the State. I do have to make a change in my Boeing pension distribution and will also have them go back to the regular deductible I had when Lydia was alive. So that will make more on our return for next time.  When we got back, I wrote a check for the state and got that in the mail. It feels great to know we are done with taxes! Later, we had dinner and settled in to watch tv for the evening.  

Tuesday, February 14^th., 2023……  HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!  We woke up this morning to snow!  This was the first of the season and some areas got substantial white! For us, it was coming down really good for about 20 minutes and actually stuck and lasted for a few hours. I think it was maybe ½ an inch so it was no problem. The guys worked this morning and it wasn’t even a factor. They are 95% done with the deck now. All that is left are the steps and the “extensions” for the gazebo. There are three sets of steps. We are keeping the original ones and that is where I will have them reinstall the handrail. One will go off the back of the deck. The other one will be in between the extensions that will support the gazebo columns. They roughed in what they could and now discovered that they are short again on material. This time it’s the fascia that will tie all of the steps together.  Of course, I have made several changes (duh!) as we go forward so the gazebo support extensions took up substantial material he hadn’t planned on. Oh well. we want it done the way we want it done and I won’t settle for anything less! Later, we left to go to Costco. We needed to find a few things for the dinner Cathye has planned for us. She knows I love Costco’s stuffed salmon but they were out of it. So, we got garlic chicken drumsticks instead. Cathye’s diet has changed now with her gall bladder causing issues, so we have to limit what we eat for now, and chicken will work.  Dinner was terrific!  We had a nice bottle of wine that we have saved from a winery in Santa Rosa CA. so everything was quiet and very nice!   Tv until bedtime.   

Wednesday, February 15^th., 2023…… We woke up early and had the girls out and walked. No rain this week and the snow is gone but it was still pretty cold out!  Russ was here by himself today and worked part of the day. Again, they needed one more fascia board which he went to get. He has taxes to work on before he goes to file, so he won’t be back until Friday. He also needs to gather supplies for spraying the clearcoating on the ceiling and beams. That step has to wait until it doesn’t freeze at nights so that is not expected this week at all!  

Thursday, February 16^th., 2023……  I spent a lot of the day out in my shop assembling the parts for the gazebo frame. I am totally impressed with the quality of this product!  The instructions are pretty easy to follow and the parts are all nicely marked. I got all of the wood parts assembled for the frame (minus the support arms) for one of the gazebos. I can’t put it up until the extensions on the deck are 100% completed, but I can get all of the pieces assembled and ready. Plus, I will need help to move them out of my shop and put in place for the install. At the end of the day, I had one unit completely done.  

Friday, February 17^th., 2023……  After we took the girls out and got them fed, we left and headed off to The Point for breakfast. The guys were back today and got everything finished that they could. They got the extensions on both ends of the deck installed and detailed. 

They still have a few things on their punch list:  the handrail, sanding on the underside of the patio cover, and clearcoating the entire ceiling and columns. While they were here, I had them move the gazebo columns out and we got them staged. Jeff worked on the deck while Russ helped me line them up and get them bolted together. After they left, I fine tuned them and staged them. Tomorrow I will put up the braces and that will finish up all of the wooden parts of each one.  Next step is the frame. There has to be over 100 parts for each one!

Saturday, February 18^th., 2023…… We slept in and showered and took the dogs out and got them fed and then headed out to go to Kristi’s for breakfast. They had been closed mid- January to yesterday doing some minor remodeling but opened just yesterday. Being a Saturday, and also everyone having missed them, meant they were super crowded! It took a few minutes to get a table and another few minutes to get coffee but it all worked out and we had a nice meal. When we got home, I went to work on my blog and Cathye talked to her brother in Greensboro NC.  She is plotting now in her mind about a 3-month trip across the country!  We have tons of details to work out but we both know we will need to get out and travel sooner than later. So, after my cardiologist consults and her gall bladder surgery are all settled in and we are good to go, we may be able to seriously sit down and plan that trip!  But for today, she decided to go play with the girls. Misty and Lona are going down to a mutual friend’s home in Eugene to celebrate a 90^th birthday and Cathye is going too. The sun came out and warmed up a bit (high 40s) so I spent the morning and most of the afternoon working on the gazebo wooden braces and got those all completed. That takes care of all of the wooden parts for both gazebos. Next up is the roof. Here’s what it looks like so far…

I also included some shots of the steps and the extensions. I cleaned up and then came in and relaxed and watched the Nascar Xfinity race.  I did take a few minutes while I was out there working to join Ashley and Kaleb (Cat’s grandkids in Prescott Valley in AZ.) - who were doing a reveal on Facebook livestream. It’s a girl!

Sophia will have a little sister!  Cathye got back later in the evening. She said the party was nice but she ate too much!  I had fed the dogs and fixed myself some dinner and was relaxing watching my races. We watched tv and talked about the events today and then called it a night.