Oregon Living 2024 – Blog #1 – A New Year Begins

 

Sunday, December 31^st., 2023…… We slept in yet again this morning! I think it’s the cooler weather that keeps us in in the mornings. We were up and going and while Cat walked and fed the dogs, I went out to Walmart and then to get us breakfast. Later in the morning, Cat left for church and I settled in to watch football. We would relax for most of the day. Later, we dressed and went to Seeds to meet up with Butch and Penny for dinner. After that, we got back and changed for our night out! We found a New Years square dance in Eugene. Since we missed out on the dance cancelled last time, this would be Cat’s first mainstream dance. They will go full on for the dancers so the speed will be at a level she hasn’t seen too much so far.

Dinner was fun and we enjoyed the afternoon. We love Butch’s company and we don’t get to see him too much these days since he’s got his son living with him now. We got home and changed and headed down to The Emerald Square Dance Center in Springfield (just a few minutes east of Eugene). I had never been and was anxious to see yet another hall totally dedicated to square dancing. Even though there were several roof support poles around the perimeters, they had it set up very nicely and had plenty of room for the squares. As mentioned, we did indeed see some pretty fast pace calling tonight!  And yes, Cathye struggled and was uncomfortable for a bit. But she got used to it and actually did well and had a great time!  We celebrated the New Year (albeit at 10:00pm!) with sparkling cider and headed back home.

We were about halfway home when Cat’s phone called me – from her purse in the back seat no less!  Yep, she left it at the dance center and someone saw it on the bench where were sitting. It must have fallen out of her shoe bag and she didn’t even miss it. She had me in her contacts as ICE1, so they called me. We thanked them and turned around immediately. There were some folks still on the premises who held it for us. No worries. We were just a bit later getting home.  We had left the girls home alone and both of them do not like the fireworks. But we were there before the major noise happened. There were no firework shows going on so it wasn’t too bad.  But they were glad when we got home! We went out to celebrate the new year with drinks in the spa.     

Monday, January 1^st., 2024…… HAPPY NEW YEAR !   We slept in and then took the dogs out. She fed them while I headed out to Walmart and then got breakfast and coffee. Cat needed Hawaiian rolls for her sliders for today’s party. We are going to an open house that one of our Club members is having today. Before that, we relaxed and watched the Rose Parade (that we had taped) and then part of the first bowl game. I had taped the two semi final games that I will watch later. We left at 1:00pm and went to Sherry’s house. There were only a few people there at first but it got crowded after a bit. We had a nice time and left to come back to feed the girls. We skipped dinner and snacked a few hours later. We went to bed early but I had a rough night. Not sure what caused it but I was not sleepy.    

Tuesday, January 2^nd., 2024…… I ended up with maybe 3 hours sleep last night so today we would wing it and see what the day brings. Cathye walked the dogs and I headed off to my dental appointment. Another cleaning. I got back and ate breakfast and we decided that since it was raining, we would hold off on moving the Christmas boxes from the porch today. We watched tv and relaxed for the day.  No naps so we hit the spa early and went to bed early.   

Wednesday, January 3^rd., 2024…… Good night’s sleep last night. We needed to go to Costco today, so we walked and fed the dogs and then took off.  We stopped at Elmer’s for breakfast then went on to have the car washed. When we drove through the Christmas light show last week, the path was muddy and full of ruts. So, the wheels were filthy!  No worries, we a re good to go now!  We stopped by Kohl’s and Cat used her gift card, then went across the street to Costco. Crystal (her son Michael’s wife) is coming on Saturday. She has family in Eugene so she will be spending time down there as well. We got our shopping done and headed back and unloaded everything and rested for a bit. Then we went out and tackled the decorations. It really wasn’t a big deal. But I will wait until the rest of the boxes are filled before putting them all back on the shelves. Later, I went out to get us take out from Carl’s Jr. Tv and spa until bedtime.   

Thursday, January 4^th., 2024…… The weather is still rainy and/or cloudy. We were able to get out with the dogs and stay dry. Then we fed them and headed off to the gym and Kristi’s. Cat spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning up in her office. She also packed up some of the holiday glassware and such so I could add them to my stack outside. Meanwhile, I spent some time paying bills and working on my check book. We are looking into square dance festivals and weekends for planning the year. We are already registered and have rv space at the fairground for Winterfest later this month. There is also an outing with the Club at Camp Koinonia coming up in April. It’s a three-day event. It’s in Sweet Home and has rv camping but I’m told amenities are crude and the spaces are very tight, so we have to decide if we want to camp or just drive there for each day. It’s a camp her church group has gone to before so she knows the place. She says they have a nice kitchen so we have volunteered to help with breakfast on Saturday. We also have made plans to go back to Diamond Lake this year. Turns out they have a square dance weekend there as well. I was able to go online and book a pull thru site for our motorhome. I also sent in the registration form and a check so we are good to go! That outing is in July and immediately follows the Vintage RV outing which Cat has already registered us for. So, we will take the Shasta to that, then come back and park it and take the motorhome (and maybe the boat) and head to Diamond Lake. We also have a Summerfest weekend coming up just before both of these events. So it’s possible we will be coming back from that only to leave again to the Vintage Rally!  I remember telling Cat that, if she wants, there is so much to do in the square dance community that it will change your life. She’s seeing that now! But it’s a fun time for me to relive all of that enthusiasm!

When we were at the gym today, we saw on their calendar that it was National Spaghetti Day!  So, I made spaghetti for dinner. Cathye made the salad and we had a nice meal. 

After that, we relaxed from the day and watched tv and then went in the spa before calling it a night.    

Friday, January 5^th., 2024…… This morning we saw sunshine!  It was unusual and appreciated. I know the SoCal folks are spoiled with all of that great weather and although I am sometimes jealous, I have come to appreciate the seasons here in Oregon. So, when we see an unusual day in winter, it comes with a positive vibe. And the plus we receive after all that rain, is that in spring, when everywhere else in the south is dirt brown, we get a beautiful luscious green landscape!

After walking and feeding the girls, we ate breakfast and watched the 2-hr M*A*S*H Memories Special, taking a break to clean the house. After the chores were done, we went back to the program. I think MASH was one of my top 3 favorite tv shows and every now and then, I overdose on reruns of the show.  We timed it so Cathye could leave at noon to go pick up Lona. They were going off to lunch together. I worked a bit on my spreadsheets for my races and auctions for the new year.  I added them to my 2024 book. Yeah I’m a nerd!     

Saturday, January 6^th., 2024…… We were up late today. No reason! I guess we are just needing more sleep. The girls let us know when they want to go out, which we take care of first thing. But we still give them their walk each morning. We cleaned up the house a bit  Crystal’s flight wasn’t until 4:30pm. Cat would drive up to Portland and pick her up. I would stay home and feed the dogs. They ate on the way back and I had spaghetti leftovers so we were good to go. We visited for a bit then got into the spa. Crystal is 2 hours ahead and she had a full travel day, so she crashed on the couch a little later while we were watching tv. She went in to her room for a much needed sleep. Tomorrow she will be taking our truck and will head down to Roseburg to visit with her father for most of next week. We could go to a choice of dances tonight but we both were ready for a night off. Our Club’s beginner’s dance is tomorrow afternoon. We have volunteered to go early to help set up the ‘experienced’ clothes racks and tables. We relaxed and watched tv and hit the spa before bed.