Oregon Living 2024 – Blog #6 – A Lot of Breakfasts Out & A Couple More Dances to Attend!

 

Sunday, February 4^th., 2024…… Today would be busy. But we still slept in late this morning. But when we got up, we moved quickly and had the girls walked and fed. I went out and got us coffee and breakfast. Weather is getting colder again. Temps back in the low 50s. I guess the ‘heatwave’ is over!  Cathye put out all of our stuff to wear to the dance later and then headed off to church. I was able to relax and watch a little bit of my races. – Yeah! Nascar is back! I was dressed and ready when she returned. I had her petticoat and the cake she made already in the car and we left. We were needed early to go help set up the hall for our dance. The Club has decorations plus they added many depicting our 75^th. Birthday. We set up the room and we were ready when the crowd showed up. We had 11 squares and they were happy to help us celebrate. My friend Paul and his son-in-law Rob came from Paul and Alice’s home in Dallas OR to visit us. Robbie is a caller and was up visiting from SoCal but didn’t want to make a deal about it. He could have called for us. Here are a few pics…

 

A couple of these show celebrities that were born in 1949 - the year the Club started. I said they need to put MY picture up there because that was the year I was born too! 

Once the dance was over and we got everything cleaned up - thanks to all of the Club members for pitching in to make quick work of that! - then we all headed over to Pizza Hut for dinner. That put us home later than normal to feed the dogs but they were still happy to see us - and eat! We changed and settled in to some tv and then the spa before bed.           

Monday, February 5^th., 2024…… Today we were treated to more rain. The forecast shows rainy days through the week. Makes us glad we got the potting shed roof fixed already! We walked the girls anyway, then fed them and headed off for our morning. We needed to stop at Walgreens for some meds for Jamie, and to get cash for breakfast at Kevin’s. We hit the gym then went to eat. We stopped at Jamie’s on the way back. We also picked up Lona as well. They dropped me off and then went on together to Sweet Home for the dog groomer and some shopping and just some time together. Meanwhile, I worked on last week’s blog and got that posted. After that, I was ready to relax and got some more of my races caught up. Cat came home a while later with teriyaki for lunch. Yummy! Since the weather is pretty dreary out there, we are both in for the day. Dinner later and then tv.   

Tuesday, February 6^th., 2024…… This morning we braved a few sprinkles and took the dogs out for their walk. We fed them then headed off for our morning. We didn’t have anything to do this morning so we drove up to Sweet Home to go to The Point for breakfast. On the way home, I drove us past Camp Koinonia where we are camping in April. I had never been but Cathye was familiar with the place. We drove around and looked at the main building…

and the parking and the rest of the facilities. I think we can fit our motorhome in there although we won’t have much in the way of electricity. The Club goes there each year and they say it is a fun weekend so we’ll go and try to squeeze in! . The weather was pretty nice by the time we were out driving and the day was pleasant. Foster Lake is clearing up. They have been draining it and Green Peter Lake for the past 5 months or so and the water was muddy to say the best!  It’s getting better but still pretty low and icky. When we got home we did some laundry and hung around the house until it was time to go to our square dance workshop. I stopped by the sleep clinic and picked up my mouthpiece and a home sleep apnea testing kit. Later, dinner and tv until bedtime. I had to ‘condition’ the mouthpiece and then headed off to bed. Later in the night, I woke up and had severe discomfort on my gums. They were rubbing on the plastic and were bleeding. So, I took the unit out and went back to sleep. I didn’t want to do the sleep study until I had the mouthpiece issues resolved. That will happen tomorrow…   

Wednesday, February 7^th., 2024…… Today was Costco day. But before that, we gathered up our four bags of recycle cans and bottles and headed off to turn them in. I think Cat said we got $53.30 for what we had today. After that we went to Roger’s for breakfast. That’s three days in a row we’ve had breakfast out!  Later, after we got back in from the spa, I set up the sleep test equipment. It’s a watch and has attachments for your fingertip and one lead that goes under your sternum. I linked it up on my phone and started it. I decided to sleep in the guest room so the dogs wouldn’t be waking me in the night to go out. It took a while, but I finally drifted off to sleep. I got up at 3:45 to go to the bathroom and Rylee wanted out. I guess I went back to sleep.

Thursday, February 8^th., 2024…… I woke up at 7:00am and shut down the app and sent the data in. I was done! I went back in with Cathye before we both got up and going.  One thing on the calendar today.  Cathye has a wellness telecon with our provider. We got the girls out and walked and fed, then headed off to the gym. We went to Kristi’s after that. We were surprised that it was almost deserted we came in. But folks did come in while we were there and it got busier. After that, we stopped and filled up the Buick then we hit Walmart on the way home. Cathye would be driving the car today and was picking up Lona, Julie, and Nancy. They were heading over to see Robin’s new place in Stayton, then heading to lunch for Robin’s birthday.  I stayed home and worked on my blog. Cat never did hear from the medical office. Maybe she has her days mixed up? She came home with an upset stomach. Probably from some greasy Mexican food where they ate. I had a leftover bbq beef sandwich for a late lunch so I wasn’t hungry so we skipped dinner tonight. Later, we had some grapes and peaches for a snack before going to bed.  

Friday, February 9^th., 2024…… The weather is still gloomy overhead but is starting to clear in the distance where we see blue skies!  The forecast for the weekend is sunny, which we like! We are going to a Plus level dance tonight. Our friend Cheryl has asked me to go dance with her. Her husband has some issues and is not dancing these days and she wants to go. So, I will attempt my first Plus level dance in over 6 years!  I did go on YouTube and watched a couple of the 30 Plus calls that I needed  a refresh of the definitions. Later, Cathye and I left to go met Cheryl and take her to the hall in Albany.  She told us on the way that even though this is an alliance dance (with sponsors from all of the Mid-Willamette Valley clubs), they would be lucky to get 2 squares. Well, it held true tonight!  There were just enough people there for 2 squares. Charlotte was our caller tonight. She knew I was a little nervous, I know – I always tell the new dancers that mistakes are ok and no one will worry about it – well, that doesn’t apply to ME! After the first several plus calls in the first square, I knew it would be ok. I guess muscle memory took over. I did 99% of them with no issues. There were folks in our squares that were unsure and made mistakes that I even helped fix! I was doing ok and we enjoyed the evening. Kaynor, who was in charge of the dance asked Cat to man the table and take money from anyone coming in after the first square started. She only had a few folks come in to fill that 2^nd square and then she was able to visit with the other non-dancers and watch us dance. Plus lessons start Sunday but she doesn’t feel ready yet. I will go and dance with Lynn, who wants to learn Plus. Cathye and Judy plan to go to the Round Dance lessons before our class. I have never had the desire to learn Round Dancing and that hasn’t changed. So, we will start that this weekend. She goes at 5:15 and I start at 6:30. More on that later. We got back home around 11:00am and went to bed.      

Saturday, February 10^th., 2024…… We both slept well last night. Once we woke up, we stayed in bed and talked for an hour before rolling out and getting ready for the day. There was nothing on our agenda for the morning and afternoon. I think the only thing we wanted to do if we went out for any reason was swing by Wilco for more dog food. I worked on the blog and had tv on in the background. For some reason, I chose RFD country channel. They had on a show called Classic Tractor Fever. Today’s show was called ‘Garden Tractors – Built to Work!’  Cat came in and said that the tractor shown in the background was Jim’s!  Whoa, what?  She said they came to Oregon and did a feature with Jim on one of his garden tractors. Well, I hit record and sure enough, later in the show, they did the interview. Cathye said she knew about it and does have it on a vcr but hasn’t seen it for years.  She recorded it on her phone and later posted it on Facebook as a memory.  They are re-running it tomorrow morning and I plan to tape it on a couple other TVs for her to keep. Pretty cool! I did some snapshots from the video....

 

We hung around the house for the most part but did go get the dog food. Nascar starts their season this weekend so I also checked out all of my upcoming recordings to make sure I had the Daytona races all on the schedule. Later, we ate a light dinner and then dressed and headed out. We were going to the Valentine’s Day dance in Salem!  Cathye needs her floor time! The dance was fun. Daryl Clendenin was calling and he is our favorite up here! He called a fun dance and Cathye did great! We got back home and let the dogs outside for a bit and spent some time playing with them before heading off to bed.