Oregon Living 2023 – Blog #54 – A Nice Christmas With the Family & Recovery Days

 

 

Sunday, December 24^th., 2023…… Today the Portland kids were coming down. Tait has a new boyfriend, Shane, and he is driving and they will be bringing Josh too. We ran some errands and then went to church. Yeah – I went today!  Once we got back we set up the blowup bed for Josh in Cat’s office. The kids will be here only for Christmas eve and will leave midday tomorrow because Shane’s family is having Christmas dinner at their home in Portland. Cat bought enough ham and scalloped potatoes and green beans for both dinner tonight and tomorrow. It was great! Here’s a pic from the dinner.

                                             Terry, Josh, Tait, Shane, Cathye
 

We really liked Shane and we think they make a cute couple!  Cathye gave them a project decorating cookies but Tait wanted to show Shane family pics from her grandmother’s collection. They found some old pics and letters from her mom and Cat said she could take whatever she wanted. They hit the spa and watched a Christmas movie and then we called it a night.    

Monday, December 25^th., 2023…… MERRY CHRISTMAS!  We were up and going early. Cathye put together a breakfast casserole and we ate that up! Yummy! The kids opened up gifts from their parents in NH that were shipped ahead for us to hold. It was a great morning! Shane fit right in! Later, Penny and Cherrelyn got here and we opened up gifts with them.  Corey, Vikki, Baylee, and Brandyn picked up Jamie on their way and got here about 1:00pm and we repeated the process. Cathye gave them all the  Christmas cookie decorating project and they all enjoyed that. They made store-quality treats!

Problem was that they are from a kit and the cookies are terrible! So these will never get eaten. Cat wants me to drill a hole in them and see if they stay together for next year’s tree decorations! We’ll see…

Josh, Tait and Shane hit the road around 1:30pm and headed back to Portland. It was just sprinkling so hopefully that will be all of the rain they will have to encounter.  Later, we had a nice dinner 

and then rested for a while. The grandkids played outside.  After a bit, Corey and family left to go to yet another meal for them!  This time it was at Corey’s mom’s house. But she only lives around the corner from us so we got to see them for most of the afternoon. Cathye took Jamie home and Penny and Cherrelyn were left. Cat had a ticket for a carload for the ‘Magic of Lights 2023’ at the Salem Fairgrounds, so we took Penny and Cherrelyn and went up there. I liked the Portland Zoo lights better, but it was still a nice drive-thru show.

 

Once we got back and the girls left, we watched tv for a bit then hit the spa early and then bed after a long day! 

Tuesday, December 26^th., 2023…… We both got up with headaches this morning. Not sure why because neither of us had much alcohol yesterday. But a couple of Tylenol and we were good to go. We walked and fed the girls then headed off to the gym, since we didn’t go yesterday. After that, we went to Apple Tree for breakfast before coming home to clean up around the house. We had the blowup bed to deflate and a bunch of boxes and Christmas wrap/boxes to discard/recycle. We also washed bedclothes and I worked on the last post. The weather is overcast but no rain so far today. They say it’s coming again tomorrow. The group voted last week at the senior center not to meet this week and next, so no sd workshop this afternoon. We got the laundry caught up and that was about it for today. Leftover ham for dinner then tv and spa and bed.   

Wednesday, December 27^th., 2023…… Another day to rest and relax. I went out and cut some 12’ pieces for the car shelving in my room, but that was about all I did. We have come to an agreement that we would start soon on the Christmas stuff and get it boxed but the ‘snowpeople’ could and will stay out until the first of the year. So that said, I would need to bring all of the empty boxes to the back porch to bring in as needed. I got a couple of loads brought in and that was enough for now. 

Thursday, December 28^th., 2023……  The weather is still pretty chilly in the mornings. We had cloudy skies and a little sprinkle or two this morning but that meant it was a bit warmer. We had the girls out and walked and fed. We wanted to hit the gym again this morning but we decided that since we couldn’t go on New Year’s Day, we would go tomorrow and Tuesday and that would space it out. I got the rest of the boxes brought to the back porch and Cat went to work on her closet in her office. We store the blow up beds and pillows and blankets in that closet plus she moved in a display cabinet for keepsakes and records and such.  She wanted to bring in the petticoats that we had stored in four plastic tubs and use that closet from now on. The cabinet was really not a good fit because it was way too deep and clogged up the space, so we decided to move it out and cut a few inches from the depth to make it fit better. Once we had it out in my shop, I pondered how to proceed.  Cat came out and suggested that we just put the cabinet out in the shed and move her boxes out there. We went online and found stackable cubbies that will work perfectly for each petticoat. She has 13 petticoats so I ordered one with 16 cubbies that can be arranged in any configuration - so we can build up whatever she wants. They will arrive in a few days so we went on to other projects. I did get my Christmas gift out of the box and put together. I got a DeWalt 20v pole saw.

It will come in handy to trim high branches on a few of our taller trees. We also put together Cat’s garden wagon.

She picked it out because it folds up nicely so we can use it whenever we go to farmer’s markets. Later, she made another chicken pot pie from our leftover chicken. It has become one of my favorite meals! Tv and spa and bed.       

Friday, December 29^th., 2023…… Today was our day for the gym. We got up and showered and dressed and walked and fed the pups, then headed out. After our workout, we went to Kristi’s for breakfast then stopped by Walmart for a few items. I don’t know about other stores, but our Walmart has really cut back on customer service! Today they had closed both of the express 15-item checkout areas, leaving only the cashier service (which had only two open!) and the self-checkout lanes (which we prefer now). Well, the lines were way long when we came in. Luckily, they brought more checkers in and opened one of the express areas, so we got out pretty quickly. Still sucks though!  We needed to get home because Cat was leaving at noon with her girlfriends, to drive up to Wilsonville to visit an old local friend who relocated up there. Meanwhile, I took the time to work on re-boxing my Christmas Village. I still keep each one in the original packaging so it takes a bit of time to get everything unplugged and boxed up. Of course I took some time out to rest and watch some of the bowl games on today. We also had laundry going so I worked on that as well.  Since she texted saying that she was eating a late lunch up there, I had leftovers for both lunch and dinner. When she got back later, she had a small plate of the rest of the chicken pot pie and we settled in for tv and spa before bed.

Saturday, December 30^th., 2023…… We slept in later this morning. That’s ok – the weather is not conducive for walking early in the chilly air! But once we got up and going we did take the dogs out, fed them and Cat made coffee and breakfast burritos. We decided to tackle the rest of the Christmas stuff and at least get it boxed up. Remember, we (ok, Cat) had decided that we would leave the ‘snowpeople’ decorations up into January. So, we were at least 95% done with the boxing and had all of them out on the back porch. Now it’s a matter of hand-trucking them to the garage and getting them put away.  Almost there! We finished up the day just hanging out around the house – until later, when we decided to go out to Mexican food for dinner. A couple of margaritas and a tasty meal later, and we were back in for the evening.         

 

Oregon Living 2023 – Blog #53 – A Medical Issue, Helping the Needy & then a Fun Party!

 

 

Sunday, December 17^th., 2023…… Another cold day! Temp in the morning was 33-35°. We were out and going early. Cat walked the girls while I went out and got us breakfast. She would be leaving for church this morning while I will be heading off to another dance.  They are doing a play at church today and her friends are in it 

and she doesn’t want to miss that so I get to take the girls and go dance! A bit after she left, I took off and picked up Judy and Lynn. We drove back up to the Salem Dance Center. Today’s dance was for beginner’s classes and was sponsored by the local callers and cuers association. Since it wasn’t a Club dance, it only gathered a small attendance. There were a high of 6 squares at one time. We had a great time and the girls did well!  Next up will be our own Club’s beginner’s dance but that will be January 7^th. I got everybody dropped off and got back home. I changed my clothes and we ate leftover pizza and headed to class. It was our last class for the year. We will have two more of the senior center workshops but we are getting close to graduation (January 14^th). Pizza after then home to the spa and then bed.

Monday, December 18^th., 2023…… Cathye woke up this morning not feeling well. She is very in tune with her body and told me she hasn’t been right for a few days now. She says it’s a bladder infection. So, no gym and no going out to breakfast. She went in to the doctor’s walk-in clinic and they took a sample. Yep, it was an infection!  They gave her a prescription for antibiotics which she stopped and got on her way home. We spent the rest of the day at home. She rested and I did laundry and used the blower to clean up the driveway after Corey worked on the flower beds this last weekend. We had a quick and easy chicken alfredo heat-and-eat for dinner and watched tv. No spa until she gets to feeling better.   

Tuesday, December 19^th., 2023…… Cat’s feeling a little better this morning. Still some pain though. But I walked the girls and she hung around the house and took it easy this morning. She still wanted to go to class later though. But when we did the first workshop, she needed to stop and sit out for the day. We got back home and rested for the afternoon and had dinner and watched tv until bedtime.   

Wednesday, December 20^th., 2023…… Cat’s feeling much better this morning. I think the antibiotics are starting to get into her system and work. But I walked the dogs again this morning just to give her a break. We needed to make a trip to Costco today but waited until later in the evening. We had to make our ‘Christmas Tree’ and get it in the oven. It was made with two layers of dough with pesto and parmesan cheese in the middle. I had to be her ‘sous chef’ and help with the project. I think it turned out amazing!  Pics later.  We hit Costco and got what we needed and then went to The Depot for a seafood dinner. Then it was back home to watch tv until spa and bedtime. 

Thursday, December 21^st., 2023…… We have a lot on our plate for today. We would go out with the dogs, then go to the gym, then breakfast, then drive over to Sweet Home to her church for a morning of boxing up food and gift boxes for needy families around town. Problem was we slept in this morning! By the time we got up, we decided to let the girls out and then feed them, and then go to breakfast on the way to work. We got served quickly and had time to stop at the store in Sweet Home on the way. We spent the morning working with our crew. Cathye decorated packing boxes and the rest of us loaded them up with items from our lists. We had 11 boxes total. Other churches were given lists as well so I think we helped over 100 families with boxes!  The boxes contained either a turkey or a ham, veggies, potatoes, stuffing, cranberries, and dessert. They were super heavy and I was the only guy there, so my back ached after moving them around the room and then into several cars for delivery. We volunteered to deliver to three of the families. We got to all of the addresses with no problems and everyone was overjoyed to get the boxes. It was a great morning. We got back home and cleaned house. Tonight was Cat’s Christmas party for her girlfriends. She would serve chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy and the Christmas tree. Here are pics from the night.

Around the table: Cathye, Cherrelyn, Nancy, Lynn, Judy, Misty, Lona, Robin, Penny.

After everyone left, we cleaned up and watched the first part of the Survivor finale. We hit the spa and then bedtime after a long day!   

Friday, December 22^nd., 2023…… Nothing on the agenda today. Rain was pretty steady so we skipped the walk this morning. I forgot to take the trash cans out last night for today’s pickup so we did that and the dogs did their business while we were out. We fed them and had a quick breakfast and hung out in the house after our last few busy days. Cathye got caught up on her segments of The Voice and later, we watched the last part of the 3-hour Survivor finale. Cathye was ok with Dee winning.  I wanted to see Austin win but she played him and then came on strong. He never saw it coming. They did end up splitting the jury votes and it was the closest margin in many years.  

Saturday, December 23^rd., 2023…… We are going to another dance tonight. This one is a regular Mainstream level dance, not beginner level. So Cathye will be tested because there are going to be full on speed and all of the calls. She says she’s ready though! But first up today was massages. Emily wasn’t feeling well last week so she rescheduled us for today. I went first. Cathye got there just as I was leaving. Later, we both got back, I rested while Cathye went off to Walmart to get some last minute gifts for Jamie and then went to visit Lynn and Judy. They said they would go with us to the dance tonight. But later Lynn called back and said she wouldn’t be going. She slipped and hurt her ribcage and was in some pain. Judy cancelled as well.  But we would go anyway. But later we got an email from our club rep that the dance was cancelled tonight due to illness. The only other dance going on tonight was in Boring, which is over 110 miles from us, so we’ll just stay home and kick back tonight. Oh well, just tv and spa. We did watch the finale of The Masked Singer. We only guessed one of them this time! We got John Schneider. We both had thought we had the donut too. I thought it was Billy Porter. She thought Engelbert Humperdinck. We were both wrong. It was Ne-Yo. The rest we had little clue. But it’s still fun to watch and guess!    

Oregon Living 2023 – Blog #52 – A Busy Christmas Week Schedule!

 

                                       

Sunday, December 10^th., 2023…… We slept in this morning and woke up to another rainy day!  We decided not to walk the dogs because it was coming down pretty hard. So, Cat fed them while I went out to get us breakfast and coffee. A little later, she braved the weather and headed off to church. When she got back, it was time to leave for our next play. This one is back in Eugene and is called Oh Christmas Tea. We drove down (carefully in the rain) and got parked. We would be in the small theater this time as they had another venue in the main theater. So, we left earlier knowing parking would be tough. We wanted to go across the street to eat but needed to get parked first. So, Cathye got out and went over to place an order to go. Meanwhile, I parked the car. The lady directing everyone up the ramp saw the Honda and came up and said she was giving me a special spot if I could back in. Of course I did and we would be among the first out! Yaay! I walked down and met Cat who was just coming back. She said their computers were down and it would be 45 minutes before they could serve anyone. Whoops! So, we went in and found some chips and cookies and had a drink in the lobby. As mentioned, we were in the smaller of the two theaters and went in and got seated. We were on the right side of the main aisle and our row only had 5 seats. We were on the aisle. The other three stayed empty until the show started. Then we had to disrupt everyone when the loud couple excused their way in to our row. Yet one more thing happened! The show started and was maybe 2 minutes in when another last-minute comer went down. She was right in front of the stage and did not get up. The show stopped and it would be 20 minutes or so when the EMTs came in and took care of her. Of course our wayward couple, who had got up again and left, waited until the show was going again before they came back to the seats and did it again!  But to get back to the show!  We saw Oh Christmas Tea, which was a play with only two guys in it. They were following a script but did a lot of improv and interacted with the audience and it was hilarious!  We were glad we came!

 

After the show, we managed to get out – since we had great parking! - and drove back through the rain. I had called Penny and asked her to come feed the dogs and let them out so we didn’t have to rush home. We changed clothes and rested for a few minutes before heading off to our sd lessons. Afterwards, we went to Pizza Hut with everyone and had a bite to eat. Funny, this Pizza Hut doesn’t serve beer or any alcohol (license issues) or salad (?)!  But we found the little personal pan pizzas are just right for us.  We got back home and let the girls out again and then hit the spa before bed.      

Monday, December 11^th., 2023…… Rains have let up a bit today so we had a nice dry morning walk with the girls. After feeding them, we started a load of their doggie towels in the washer then headed off to the gym and then on to Kevin’s for breakfast.  On the way home, we stopped at Safeway to get some things for our luncheon on Wednesday. The rest of the day was spent just hanging out in the house. I did finally get a call from the procedure desk about getting me in for my cardioversion. Well, even though I was still upset, I didn’t let loose on them!  Especially since they said there was no special instruction from the cardiologist to get me in asap! Another reason to drop that guy! Anyway, since I’m back in normal sinus rhythm, I don’t need the procedure. We hung around the house for the rest of the day and caught up on some tv programs. We have another DirecTV-blocked station situation going on again. Last time it was CBS. This time it’s the affiliate owners of the NBC family of shows. This means that The Voice is now blocked out for Cathye. She was not happy! But I found it was available streaming on Peacock, which we have on one tv, so she could get caught up again. Happy wife – happy life! Dinner, tv, spa and then bed. 

Tuesday, December 12^th., 2023…… This afternoon Cat has her dental checkup. She is going to a new dentist so we’ll see how she likes him. Because it was so close to our sd class, she drove and would meet me at the senior center. During class, I got a call from my cardiologist. The schedulers reported to him that I was back to normal sinus rhythm again but they wanted me to go in to the hospital for an ekg to verify. So, I stopped on the way home and got that done.  Later, it was dinner and tv and spa. 

Wednesday, December 13^th., 2023…… Cold and cloudy but no rain – so we are happy!  We got the dogs out and then fed and then we ate our breakfast. Then we went around the house, straightening up a bit.  David and Omalea were coming over today for lunch and to visit. They live west of us outside of Philomath up in the foothills of the Coastal Mountains, about 30 miles or so from us, so we don’t see them very often. It was nice to spend a couple of hours visiting and catching up. Later, we did a bit of packing. We go up to Portland on Friday for an overnighter. We will see Josh and Tait and have plans with them. More later…

Thursday, December 14^th., 2023…… Busy day today. We have the gym and breakfast, we take the girls to the groomer, we both have massages, and we are heading down to Eugene tonight for another play. We got a text that Emily was under the weather and didn’t want to risk anything so the massages were rescheduled. We got the girls in and ran a few errands (I am looking for some new black jeans) then got the call to pick up the pups. All in the same trip so that was great! We got back and had some time to rest before we got dressed and headed down to the Hult for our play. Hey, guess what! When we got to the lot I could see that MY parking space was available again!  And they let me park there again!  We hit the lobby and got drinks from the bar, then went over to the souvenir tables and got a glimpse of what the night would be like! These guys were definitely pros at drag! Some were obvious but a few were lovely. We quickly discovered that there is definitely a cult following for this lifestyle!  90% of the entire audience consisted of LBGTQ friendly activists. We saw all types of ‘interesting’ folks to say the least!  The place went crazy when the show started. We expected to see a play of some kind so we were disappointed that they showcased each performer on their own. It was interesting but not our cup of tea. Especially with all of the comments about ‘if you’re not one of us, you ain’t nothin’! I took some pics ….

 

We stayed until intermission then got out of there and headed back home. Interesting night but disappointing for us. Oh well, sometimes you get shows that aren’t that entertaining! 

Friday, December 15^th., 2023…… We were up and going early this morning. We weren’t heading up to Portland until about noon, but we still had some items to pack and load in the car. Cat is giving Tait some craft items for her new apartment plus a box of Christmas ornaments and stuff and we got those ready and loaded. Penny would be coming over later to stay and would let the dogs out. But Corey is also working here today so he can do that and Penny can take her time. We made the drive up and detoured a bit. I wanted to show Cathye the community of Lake Oswego because she had never been. We drove around the lake and she was blown away with all of the expensive over-the-top homes on the lake!

We got to our hotel around 3:00pm and valeted the car and got checked in. We rested a bit and then waited for the kids. We took some pics from our floor down to the lobby and also some in our room. ....

                               Farmer's Table restaurant on the 8th floor lobby where we ate. 

Since we had reservations for dinner in the hotel, both were working their day then commuting to us when they got off work. While we were waiting form them, we took a short walk across the street to the square and walked around there a bit... 

Only the 8th though thru 14th floors were part of the Nines Hotel complex. We were on the top floor just around the corner from the right. Nice room. You had to go to the 8th floor just to get to the check-in desk. The rooftop area on the right was The Departure Restaurant. No reservations available.  

We went down to the Farmer's Table for our dinner reservations. It was one of the best meals we have had in a long time! Everything was a separate entrée, and each item was way overpriced!  Cathye had the scallops, Tait had salmon. Both Josh and I had the flatiron steak.  We chose mac and cheese, sauteed mushrooms, puree potatoes, and carrots for the table to share.  With drinks, the tab totaled over $313.00 (plus tip).  Was it worth the money? – definitely not, but it was delicious! We got the car out and headed off to our next adventure – we were going to the Portland Zoo Lights!  All I can say is that they know how to do it right! The entire place was lit up!  We rode the zoo train then did the extensive walk around the park. The animals were in for the night (except the elephants)....

but it was magical even without seeing the others!

We had an 8:30pm reservation at the zoo so we got out just before closing and drove the kids back to Tait’s place where Josh was bunking for the night. We would see them again in the morning. We got back and went right to bed after a long but really fun day!       

Saturday, December 16^th., 2023…… Plan today was to get the kids and go to breakfast, then go tour the Pittock Mansion. We checked out of our hotel, and headed out. We got a quick tour of Tait’s new place, then left to eat. We chose The Little Grill just a few blocks from her place and had a nice meal.  

Then we made the 20 min. drive to the Mansion. Henry Pittock came here on the Oregon Trail and went to work as a typesetter for the local newspaper. He ended up owning the whole paper and made his fortune. He had the ‘mansion on the hill’ built in 1903, complete with the latest in everything. After they died, it came into disrepair. Citizens of Portland rallied and assisted the city and the house was refurbished and opened to the public as a museum. The tour was self-guided and was very interesting. Here are pics from the day….

 

We took the kids back to Tait’s and said our goodbyes. They would be coming down for Christmas eve.  We got back home around 4:00pm. So, we had time to rest before going to our Club dance tonight. But we were both super tired. Plus, I started coughing and had a terrible headache so we passed on the dance and just stayed home and rested from the trip.  

It was a fun trip!