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!