Oregon Living 2023 – Blog #50 – Mowing & Dancing!

 

    

Sunday, November 26^th., 2023…… The mornings are getting even colder! It was 26° when we walked the girls this morning!  I went out and got us breakfast and coffee and after we ate, it was time for Cathye to head off to church. No rain in the forecast for the next several days so we’re still looking for that perfect day to mow! Turns out we got lazy today! After she got back, we just hung around inside and stayed warm.

Monday, November 27^th., 2023…… Today was the gym and breakfast at Kevin’s. We stopped at Walmart for dog treats and a few other things. Cathye made her chicken pot pie. Wow, it was the best!  

And it will now go on the list of regular dishes for us to make and enjoy. Tv for the rest of the evening.  

Tuesday, November 28^th., 2023…… Not much this morning. A few weeks ago, we had listed and sold Cat’s old dining room table and chair set. Since it’s wrought iron and glass, we had set it up on the front porch, but found we didn’t use it at all. The folks paid us extra to deliver it when they got set up in their apartment in Salem. That would be tomorrow so we loaded it up in the back of her truck because it has a camper shell.  We have class today and needed to take the Enclave to the GMC dealers for service for that check engine light. So, we took two cars and left early and dropped it off. It wasn’t ready when we were done with class so we drove back home. I got a call around 5:00pm that it was ready. Cathye was going to visit Lona and Misty and would drop me off and go see them on her way back. I went in and got the car. It was a sensor plug. But the good thing is that they didn’t charge me! He said it was covered by GM. Who am I to argue! I drove home feeling that I saved a couple hundred bucks!  Later, when Cat got back from Lona’s, we settled in and watched Dancing with the Stars. We skipped the spa and went to bed.   

Wednesday, November 29^th., 2023…… We had several things on our list for today. First up, Cathye had to go in for her annual mammogram. When she got back, I was just going out to warm up her truck. We had frost last night.  As an afterthought, I wish I would have swapped out the trucks yesterday and put hers in the garage!  So, as it turned out, I had to scrape the windshield before we could head out. We took hot coffee in our Yeti mugs and made the 40 mile drive up to Salem and found their apartment address and unloaded. Luckily, she came out and said they wanted us to just drop it curbside so we were in and out in a few minutes. Next up, since we were in the area, was The Original Pancake House for breakfast. We can’t pass up their apple pancake! It is so big we can split it. Next up was dropping off some Christmas decorations that Cathye had given to Vikki when they were here last week for Thanksgiving. They drove off without them, and we were close by, so we drove there and dropped them off.  When we got home, we rested for a bit, then Cathye went over to visit with Judy.  Later, when I went out to get the mail, I walked the grass to check it out for dryness.  It was wet but mowable. Forecast is for rain tomorrow, so it had to be today!  I went out in my truck and got some containers filled up with gas and came back and started in. I texted Cat but she left her phone in the car and didn’t get it. By the time she got home, I was almost finished. She cleaned off the mower and I got it put back in the garage. We have that task done now. Probably the last time this season. We came back in and put our clothes in the laundry. Jammies for the rest of the day and evening! Later, we watched The Masked Singer and then part of Survivor then hit the spa. Sure is cold getting in and getting out – but it’s worth it!

Thursday, November 30^th., 2023…… Nothing on the calendar today. Except gym and breakfast. We stopped at Walmart for some Mucinex. Later, I spent some time looking for my Christmas gift on Amazon. Neither of us has asked for anything but on the drive to Salem yesterday, we decided that we could find our items and order them ourselves and the other will wrap them for Christmas. She has her eye on something she found online. And I always like DeWalt 20v tools and I know what I want next for my shop so I will either go get it from Lowes or order it from Amazon.  We each have smaller items that we will get for each other as a surprise but the big stuff will be done! 

Friday, December 1^st., 2023…… Weather is not cooperating this week!  There is a large front coming in and it’s huge! Rains are forecast for the next week and then more is on the way!  I guess that’s the price we pay in order to have a wonderful green environment in the spring!  But, when it rains, it usually warms up. This was no exception. Temps today in the 60s!  A heck of lot warmer than 26°!

We have our first dance of the weekend tonight. We get to go up to Salem to the Salem Dance Center. This is a rarity for me to see!  In California, there is pretty much no way a club or even a group of clubs could purchase and maintain a hall solely dedicated to square dancers!  Down there, most clubs have to rent out a church hall, school multi-purpose room or similar.  The only one I can remember in Calif. is Cowtown Square Dance Center in Riverside that was donated by a wealthy businessman (we heard also a square dancer) who aged out and gave the local clubs the place to run. Of course that was many years ago! Doubt that could happen there now!  Anyway, I was anxious to see Salem’s hall for the first time! We ate a light dinner and fed the dogs then headed out to pick up Judy and Lynn and made the rainy 40 mile drive. The hall was very nice!  There are several clubs who dance here and they have banners hanging from ALL of the clubs who have visited here in the many years they have existed. We got checked in and had a look around and talked to fellow dancers. They told us they knew that the hall was donated to square dancers many years ago but none of those we talked to were dancing back then. But we all think it must have started up in the 50s!  The dance itself was very interesting. Because this was a beginners dance (with 13 squares) we had many dancers from other clubs in the Willamette Valley. And, we had squares with more students than experienced dancers (aka angels), so we had some really tough squares. Randy Dibble, who is a nationally known caller, lives in the area and this is his home club. I’ve danced to him in the past when he was down in SoCal, so I was not surprised at the complexity and speed of his calling. That certainly didn’t help the newbies! But, they did okay and were glad to have the experience. We are coming back here yet again on Sunday for another beginner’s dance, hosted by another club. Our home club in Lebanon will be returning the favor when we host our beginner’s dance in January. After the dance, we headed back and got home about 11:30pm. and immediately went to bed. It was a long day of exercise. Cat said her fit bit showed over 15,000 steps today! So, needless to say, we were beat! My California friends David and Margo, who now live in Albany, were at both dances last week and today. David is an avid photographer and he and Margo gave us copies of pics that he took over the course of the night and at the welcome for the new dancers. At the end of the dance, all of the experienced dancers form a tunnel and the new dancers go through. He caught Cat goin’ in!

He also took a few shots of us between tips.

 

                                                     Lynn, Judy, Cathye, Terry

Saturday, December 2^nd., 2023…… We slept in a bit this morning. But, we got up and going and went through our routine with the dogs. Both of us were a little stiff and achy but we worked out the kinks when we did our walk. We were good to go!  But we had nothing on the schedule so we were able to kick back and rest up a bit.  Cathye couldn't wait to watch the finale of the Golden Bachelor, so we did that. We weren't shocked that he picked Theresa but that wasn't our choice.  Also, we were hoping 'the big announcement' at the end of the show would be that they had chosen Joan as the first Golden Bachelorette!  Didn't happen but we're still hoping! 

The first and third Saturdays of the month are the Lebanon Square Circlers home dances. So, they would be dancing tonight. But we have tickets to a play in Albany so we have to pass. We decided to leave a little early because of the rains but we made it there with no problems. We got a parking space right across the street so we stayed pretty dry going in. We had front row center seats

 

so I had plenty of legroom! The play we were seeing tonight was Peter and the Starcatcher.

This is a community playhouse so they have a small cast, limited scene changes, etc. but we loved it!  They have a lot of talented actors and the screenplay was well written, with plenty of humor. The story is about the times before Peter Pan. It was very enjoyable.

When we got back home (rains had stopped), it was late, so we let the girls out for a bit, then went straight to bed.