Oregon Living 2025 – Blog #45 – Dealing With the Cold and Helping to Get Better!

 

Sunday, November 16^th., 2025…… A pretty quiet day. Temps are in the 40s most of the time. Some 50s but the nights are now getting down in the 30s. No snow yet. Rains are coming every few days and other times it’s just overcast and gloomy. I had absolutely nothing planned. I took some muscle relaxers last night and I plan on doing that again this morning and just chilling. Cathye came home to shower and we talked about her day. Penny is doing really well and she said she will be ok by herself. So, Cat will come home and stay here again! Yesterday Cherrelyn came by her house and we all got to visit. Next door neighbor Mariglee is back from her trip and is looking in on her as well. The plan is for Cat to go back 2-4 times a day to help with bathing and also getting her sling back on when she does her scheduled exercises and to fix her a meal if she wants and clean up as needed. So, we hung around the house until she had to go back over. The last trip I went with her and we visited for a while.   

Monday, November 17^th., 2025…… Cat took off to go take care of sis while I walked and fed the dogs. Then I left for the gym to workout. I did all of my machines but took it easy on those that worked my back. When Cat got there I was about done.  We left and met up again at breakfast after.  This afternoon, Cat has to go take Jamie to the local pizza parlor. Seems he signed up for a free luncheon and that comes with the price of sitting through a presentation promoting LifeFlight helicopter evacuation service. This is offered here and works for those folks on farms who may need to get medical help quickly.  You pay a fee (monthly or yearly?) and they will respond as needed. But Jamie is in a support home in town and this really doesn’t apply to him at all. But – he will get a free meal  - so he’s in! And poor Cat has to go with him there! 

Ok, she’s back now. I guess he got what he wanted – free pizza!  Cathye said he paid attention to the sales pitch (as did she) but managed to get out without getting signed on for anything! Plus, Cat brought back pizza for us and an individual size to take over to Penny’s.

Later, I worked on my blog and some more on the procedures manual and then, later in the evening after she got back from her 6:00pm run to Penny’s, we spent time catching up on some of the taped shows we always watch together. Last night it was Dancing With the Stars (yes, hurray, Andy finally got voted out!), the finale of The Golden Bachelor (we were sad for Cindy but happy he got Peg). Tonight it was Survivor and The Amazing Race.

Tuesday, November 18^th., 2025…… Cathye went back over to Penny’s after we walked and fed the dogs. I had made coffee and she heated up my leftovers from Kevin’s and then left. Today was bath day. I worked some more on the blog and then added some more to my procedures manual. Our Board meeting is tomorrow so I want to be able to say it is done. I need to ask some members to be on the committee and then get some meetings going for next steps. Cathye got back and we hung around the house for the rest of the day and evening.

Wednesday, November 19^th., 2025…… Nothing on the agenda today except for the board meeting later tonight. We vacuumed and then that was about it. I redid a few items on my manual and then printed a master copy. We also got an update from Vikki about how her and Corey and the kids are doing. We haven’t seen Vikki and Corey and the kids in a few but some folks aren’t up to date so she posted a nice item about how they are all doing. Baylee is excited to be getting back into cheer and Brandyn is running cross country and will be going into wrestling soon. Corey is putting in a lot of hours at Walmart. The littles are doing great!  Both are eating solid foods now. And both are crawling!  Watch out guys, they’ll be off walking soon! Here are some of the pics she posted….

 

Later, We headed off to the Chinese restaurant and then remembered it was closed for remodeling and the meeting was at Appletree. The meeting went well. Turns out my item wasn’t on the president’s agenda. I was a little put off so I decided not to bring it up.  We came home and watched a little tv then went in the spa before calling it a night.

Thursday, November 20^th., 2025…… I was up early this morning. I had an 8:00am doctor’s  appointment in Albany this morning. This one was with my urologist. Last week I was only successful in finding out that my prostate mri was being held up at OHSU only because the hospital didn’t have specific direction as to what anesthesia the doctor wanted used! You would think someone would have the initiative to make a call to get this little item resolved! They said they would be in contact with the urologist. So, when I got there – and had filled out the forms and given a urine sample, the nurse (Lydia) said this was a follow-up after the mri!  Well, I was a little upset and let them have it!  This whole process started back in July for a simple (ok, not so simple) mri. She said she would contact them and get it straightened out. I got my copay returned and went home. Later that evening I got a call back from Lydia saying she made all the arrangements and the hospital in Portland would now be working to get me on the schedule. They are up to December timeframe so they will be calling me in a week or so to firm up. Wow, talk about full service healthcare for seniors! Not! 

Later today we both went off to our massages. My back is better but still tight. Emily said she could feel how tight my lower back was - but I felt good afterward. Cathye followed me and then brought home teriyaki from next door. too. We needed to add chemicals to the spa tonight so we had to skip it for now. Tv and bed.

Friday, November 21^st., 2025……  Penny has been going back and forth to Penny’s all week but she is doing so well that the neighbor can just come and go to help with her sling and she can use the icepack by herself. She goes in for a follow-up on Tuesday. No dances tonight but I would pass anyway because I don’t want to do anything to tweak it again. I think I just need a few more days. We left to go off to Costco. Cathye said this will be another expensive trip because she is stocking up the fridge and cupboards plus picking up the turkey and trimmings for Thanksgiving. Yep, we got stuff? I think we managed to get out with only $312.00 today!

Saturday, November 22^nd., 2025…… We decided to head out to Kohls and Lowes and then hit a couple of Christmas bazaars on the way back. We went to Lowes first. We are looking at getting a new fridge. Ours is fine but we want to change it out. I found that our make and model is selling on FB Marketplace for $300-500!  Plus, the ones we are looking at are going to be on Black Friday sale. Anyway, we saw the price at Costco yesterday. Free delivery and all.  Lowes was the same price but I think get my military discount there, even on sale items. ?  We have to look into delivery (think the latest ad I saw said it was free delivery and install). We will wait until the first of the month (unless the sale goes away). The next stop was Kohls. Cathye needs a new dressy formal type for our Club’s New Year’s Eve Dance. She found that and we also found a new Christmas tree. Ours is second hand and has served us well for many years now, but some of the wired-in lights are out now so it’s time to look at a new one. We have several gift cards and the usual 30% off coupons as well as member points accrued. So, we found one and got it for virtually nothing!  It will sit in the box on the back porch till just after Thanksgiving.

Tonight was the first of the area’s beginner’s dance level dances. We thought about going but I changed my mind later in the afternoon. I think I will try the class on Sunday night for a little dancing to see how I feel. We stayed in and watched some of our taped shows then went into the spa before bed.     

Oregon Living 2025 – Blog #44 – Veterans Day and Surgery for Sis

 

Sunday, November 9^th., 2025…… We slept in this morning. While Cat walked and fed the girls, I headed out to get us breakfast and coffee. Not a lot of tv watching for me today. Except for F1, all of my race series are over for the season. But I watched that one and then some football. Lazy Sunday. We left later for class. The group is thinning out a bit so we have plenty of angels to help at class. But we got to dance together to help out in the squares tonight. Later, we started talking to our members and I decided to try going to the afterparty again. Cathye called ahead and when we got there – guess what? They didn’t have our order! Again!  I came really close again but they took the order and came back out to the counter in a few minutes and said they had misplaced it and it was already in the oven. So I relaxed and got my beer and settled in to wait. No problems this time and we had a nice visit with our friends. We planned a party at our house for tomorrow for Mike’s birthday. Frank and Maryanne will come too for dinner and cards.

Monday, November 10^th., 2025…… Today, after our walk, we left for the gym and Kevin’s for breakfast. My tooth had been bleeding since last Monday and I was starting to get worried. But I stopped my blood thinner for two days and now it’s fine and clotting like it is supposed to. We stopped at Walmart on the way home so Cathye could pick up stuff for an enchilada casserole for tonight. Cheryl will bring Spanish rice and a cake and ice cream for Mike. Later, I got to be sous chef for Cat when she made the casserole. I made the salad. We had a nice night of visiting and cards. Tonight we played swoosh.  

Tuesday, November 11^th., 2025…… VETERANS DAY Thanks to all who served. Cathye got a call last night from Lona asking if she wanted to go over to Albany today for the Veterans Day parade. She left after we walked and fed the dogs and made coffee and had  breakfast. I worked some more on my procedures manual and I think I’ve got it all now. Next step is to make a few sets and then figure out who will be on my committee and get the first meeting going. Cathye got back and we relaxed and each watched some of our taped programs for the afternoon. She shared her pics of the day….

There was no workshop this week. As mentioned before, Charlotte has called it until January. We are usually lucky to get enough for one square and she drives 40 miles to come every time. So, we’ll revaluate for next year…

Penny called and told us that her surgery for tomorrow will be around 7:30am and check-in is at 6:00am. So, I will be there to pick her up at 5:00am. She said they told her it should take 3-4 hours but we’ll see. I will stay and bring her back home and then Cat will meet us there and stay for a few days. She will be needing help dressing and such so that will work out good for her to have Cathye there.  Dinner and tv, Spa and then bed.    

Wednesday, November 12^th., 2025…… I was up and out of the house at 5:45am and went and picked up my sister to take her to the Corvallis hospital for her shoulder surgery. She had shared a video of what she will be having. It’s a total ball and socket replacement. It’s to replace the glenohumeral joint in her right shoulder.  They implant the ball into the top of the humerus and then clean the socket in the scapula and install a new socket for the new ball. They said it’s probably a 3 hr. operation.  I had her there in plenty of time and she got checked in. I was told to leave for a bit and chose to go to Elmer’s for breakfast. That killed some time. After that I drove over to Albany to the courthouse. The tax office opened at 8:30am so I had to wait 20 mins. but I was able to get in and get our taxes paid. By the time I drove back to Corvallis, I only had to wait about 45 minutes before the surgeon called and gave me the update, He said everything went well and she was going into recovery now. It was another 30 minutes before the nurses called me to bring the car around and come in to wait for her. She had to ride in the back seat behind me to alleviate the seat belt cutting across her shoulder. We stopped at the pharmacy on the way home to pick up a couple of prescriptions. On the ride and in the pharmacy line, she was out of it!  Cathye met us at the house and got her settled in. She will be staying there until she can see that she functions by herself. But for now, she has full time care. I stayed there because cat had a drs. appointment. When she got back, I left to go home and rest and look after the dogs.  I talked with Cat later and then took Jama and went over and visited for a while. Penny is still pretty groggy and needed to just sleep. She had already ordered wedges and pads to make it more comfortable while in bed. The pain meds aren’t needed right now but I’m sure she will need them when the anesthesia totally wears off! I left them for the night and went back home. Tv and bed.      

Thursday, November 13^th., 2025…… Today was a bad day for me! While I was dressing, I pulled my back again!  Not sure what is going on. Most likely a pinched nerve or a pulled muscle. The pain hits quickly which makes be think it’s a nerve. It always gets better but it takes time. I have a problem standing up straight. Sitting and lying down helps so that is what I have to do for now.

But as for Penny, she is doing better! Cat has been monitoring her meds and helps her go to the bathroom. But she is clearheaded now. She is also having some pain so the meds are needed.  She shares time with sitting up in the living room and sleeping in her bed. I come and go as needed and today I went over so Cat could go do labs and then go home and shower.     

Friday, November 14^th., 2025…… Penny is doing way better today! She’s still in some pain but now is doing the exercises she was given. Some pain there but she is taking it in stride. I was home for most of the day but went by later to visit. I have also been thinking about building a doghouse shed for the well pump out in the field. If you read my blogs, I have already had the pipes repaired 4 times!  They burst due to freezing temps. But, this last time the plumber put in schedule 80 series pipe (which is super thick) so we should be ok. But, he suggested that I build a cover and install a light bulb that will help keep it above freezing. I was ready to design and start it but thought I would search and see what’s out there already. I couldn’t find too many that would work for my application – until I searched for plain old doghouses!  I though if I could find one already built, I could cover the dog opening, remove the floor and just drop it over the pump head. I found some new plastic and also some for sale on FB Marketplace but I stumbled on to some that were free!  That would be a good start!  I found one that hinged on the roof and was in Gresham (just east of Portland). I would have to get help and drive up and check it out. I responded to the ad but didn’t hear back…

Saturday, November 15^th., 2025…… This morning I got a reply about that doghouse. It was still available. So, I called Mike to ask for help. No response so later, I went over and got Cat to go with me. Cherrelyn was coming over to spend the day with Penny so the timing worked out. We made the drive up to Gresham (about 90 miles) and found the doghouse was way in the back yard down a slope and did I mention it was huge! I said I would take it and we proceeded to take the roof off and used the dolly to try to get it around the trees and pool and up the hill. The structure of this thing was crazy! All 2x4s and plywood and thick masonite inside walls with insulation between. The roof itself was probably 250 lbs.! So, I quickly told them that I didn’t think it would fit where I needed it to go and we put everything back and left. On the way home I was thinking about just going back to square on and building one from scratch. Later, I found build plans for several styles and will do that when my back starts feeling better. I dropped Cat back at Penny’s and came home. Later, I got changed and went off to our dance. We were scheduled to work the money table tonight so I got there ahead of Cathye and got everything set up. We had a club from the Portland area come down to visit. They brought 10 people and we gave them our Club banner. Now we will schedule a visit to them to get it back. They told someone later that they had heard about Shaun and were interested in dancing to him to see if they wanted to book him. I also heard from one of them that they were very impressed!

We worked until around mid-dance and then Cat went back to Penny’s and I came home for the night. I took a Fireball out with me and sat in the spa for 30 minutes. I was really relaxed and slept well!

Oregon Living 2025 – Blog #43 – Drs. and Dentist for Me, and Birthdays for Family

 

Sunday, November 2^nd., 2025…… We got an extra hour’s sleep due to daylight savings time. We have several ‘smart’ clocks around the house that reset the time automatically, but, it was still necessary to change all the others. We have a LOT of clocks! Today we are going up to Salem to celebrate Baylee’s and Vikki’s birthdays at The China Gate restaurant there. Penny and Cherrelyn were going but Cherrelyn texted she was staying home because she thinks she has a touch of the flu. We stopped by and got Penny and drove to meet at the restaurant. We thought it was just us and them but NO, we found there would be over 20 people there. Vikki wanted a party with gifts for both of them so she invited everyone!  No worries, it was still fun.  We will be going back to the place again. They have 4-5 separate tables with tons of really good food!  They even have a hibachi grill where you can have them cook for you!

We had a good time but had to cut it short because we needed to get Penny back in time for her sleep study later tonight. Plus, we needed to go to our beginner’s class tonight. We stopped back home to feed the girls and were only  a few minutes late for the session. Shaun has a good class this year and they are picking it up quickly. We skipped the pizza afterparty and came home and rested form the day and watched some tv before bed.    

Monday, November 3^rd., 2025…… Busy morning - for me anyway!  I was up early because I had a follow-up session with my doctor (to go over labs). She said they looked good so nothing new to do. Meanwhile, Cathye walked and fed the girls. She also caught up with Cori, our neighbor, who shared some info about our neighbors. Our next door neighbor Jeff, (in the Victorian house on the end), passed away last month. Turns out the grandma, who had come to stay with the girls (18, & 19) has already left. Jeff’s brother who lives near Portland, is trying to manage everything from there but the kids are on their own. On of them has a 27 year old boyfriend, who is there too. Both Cori and us are available to help out but we want to stay away from the drama. Not sure next steps but we are hearing probate for the estate.  So, if anyone is looking for a nice house on a good piece of property, it may be available in the near future! Later in the day, I had my second appointment. It was finally time for to get my tooth extracted! Cathye dropped me off and went on to Walmart, across the street. I wasn’t put out for this procedure – only a local. The whole process took less than an hour and I was ready to go home. I had some bleeding for the rest of the day but didn’t need anything stronger than Tylenol for the pain. Because of my blood thinner, I struggled throughout the day to stop the bleeding. I think I went through a dozen gauze pads. But it was gone and I will heal!  We spent the rest of the day at home, taking it easy. I was told to sleep in an elevated position so I chose to use the adjustable feature on our bed and raised up my side. I managed to sleep through most of the night with no problems.   

Tuesday, November 4^th., 2025…… We slept in this morning and I took a pass on walking the dogs and did some mouth rinsing and cleaning. I did eat a regular breakfast so that was good. Later, we went off to class. Cathye went because she heard there was a bazaar going on instead of class. Turns out the sign was outside the senior center but was for a church just outside of town. So, she had to dance with us this afternoon!  It also turns out that this will be our last class for the year. We haven’t had great attendance and are lucky to get enough for one square most of the time! We will continue next year if there is interest. Later, Cathye made a soup with rice and veggies and ground turkey. It was good but probably won’t be on the regular menu for either of us! Tv until bedtime.    

Wednesday, November 5^th., 2025…… No rain so far but the winds are pretty strong. They say we will get a major storm later today but it looks like Lebanon is on the outer edge so it might be lighter for us. My tooth socket (upper left molar) feels a lot better today. No pain and the bleeding has stopped.  Cathye left this afternoon to take Jamie to lunch and to get a haircut. He asked about Thanksgiving so we will need to think about what we and the kids are planning for that. Last year we had a store bought turkey package that we didn’t care for so much. This time we may just go out depending on what Cherrelyn and the Salem group are doing. I stayed home today and worked on the blog and also on property taxes. They are due for us on the 17^th. So we need to get in gear to take them in before that. So, no big expenditures or trips planned for now….    

Later, we left to drive up to Portland area to meet up with Josh and his new girlfriend for dinner. Josh’s birthday is Friday but his girlfriend is visiting from Hawaii and will be leaving on Thursday so we wanted to meet her. We met them at BJ’s and had a nice meal. It was a fun night.

 

Thursday, November 6^th., 2025…… The weather is slowly getting colder and colder. Mornings have a real nip now when we are out with the dogs! Temps are supposed to get into the high 30s in the next few weeks. Yes, I am now officially in long pants for the winter! But there are those days (like today) when we go to the gym and I still wear my shorts! We did all that this morning and also went to Kristi’s for breakfast. Other than that, it was a pretty calm day.    

Friday, November 7^th., 2025…… HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSH!  Cat has Justin and Skylar coming over today to do some more work on the yard to get it ready for winter. Today the plan was for them to stop by the bark place and get a truckload of sawdust for the blueberries and the roses. They did that while I got to stay inside! I was asked by our Club president to head up the committee to write the new Club’s Policy and Procedure manual. I accepted  - because I already have that document built! All those years in the Rustlers (and even the Camping Squares) I was always on committees where we updated bylaws or procedures or something. I have a hardcopy of the old Rustler procedure manual. So, that will be my base document. Problem is that I deleted that file from my system. I can’t modify it so I will have to recreate it form the typed document. But I need to change it to suit the Lebanon Square Circlers so there are things to add and things to delete or modify. It will take me several weeks I imagine but that’s ok. I enjoy it!    

Saturday, November 8^th., 2025…… Today was our neighbor’s celebration of life service. The two girls came over a few days ago to tell us about it but Cori had already sent us a text with the info. We left and went there for the service. I can’t say too much about how much concern we have for those girls. As I mentioned above, they are 18 and 19 and are living at home. The grandmother was there only for a short time but has left them alone. Oops, not alone - they both have older boyfriends and also some friends staying there as well. We spoke to their uncles today. They live far away but are trying to figure out next steps. There is no will and since the girls are both of age they will most likely have to deal with this on their own. They are naïve to say the least and we hope they get some good guidance from some responsible adults and not the boyfriends. But, on the good side, it’s pretty quiet over there so far. We expected parties and noise but so far so good. At the celebration of life today, we neighbors talked amongst ourselves about what we expect to happen. But until then, we wait and see….

Oregon Living 2025 – Blog #42 – Another Day for Visiting & Getting Back Home Again

 

 

Monday, October 27^th., 2025…… We had the day free and after a nice night’s sleep, we came down to a great breakfast!  Only 6 of us today so they made us eggs and sausage with toast and jelly and orange juice. Again, all from either the farm or from the local area. We did have to spend some time with American Airlines because Cathye had originally booked Michael and Crystal’s flight and had them leaving at 6:00am tomorrow and having a 7 1/’2 hour layover in Dallas!  We managed to get that changed and they will now leave at 11:30am (we leave at 12:30pm) so it will work out. After breakfast, Terisa came by after dropping Felix off at school. We hung around the place for a while, and took some pics……

then left to go back to their house where we waited around for Felix to get home from school. Daniel brought home groceries so Terisa could make Shepherd’s pie for dinner. It was delicious!  We visited and watched tv and played with Felix. Scott and Judy, Daniel’s parents, came over to visit as well. We said our goodbyes and headed back home for the night.    

Tuesday, October 28^th., 2025…… We had planned to leave after breakfast (maybe around 9ish), but Michael knocked on our door at 7:45 saying we messed up the time and needed to leave quickly!  So, I started the car to defrost it, we loaded up, and then grabbed some coffee and homemade donuts and headed back to Hartford. We said our goodbyes to M & C as we dropped them off to go check in and get through TSA. I also left Cat there with our luggage and went to fill the car and then drop it off and then went to meet up with her to go through our check-in. We had time for breakfast before boarding.  Our flights back today are through Chicago again, with a 1 ½ hour layover in Chicago. We saw that we have to hoof it under the tarmac at O’Hare to another terminal. That’s a huge airport!  So, we decided to take United up on their offer to check our carryons through to Portland. That means we didn’t have to haul them through three terminals in Chicago! Our flights were unremarkable. At O’Hare, we made the 19-min. walk to our new gate and even had time to have a sit down lunch before boarding. We got into Portland and picked up our bags and made the 1 ½ drive home with no issues. The girls were sure happy to see us. We were tired but we hung out until around 10:00pm before going to bed where we both went quickly to sleep after our long day!   

Wednesday, October 29^th., 2025…… Nothing for us today. Justin was coming by to do some more yard work. So, I sat down to catch up and post last week’s blog and get caught up on this one a bit.  Cathye unpacked and did laundry and I put away the rest of our carryon items and stowed the luggage. Justin finished up and left and we relaxed for the day and got caught up on our taped shows. Tonight is a pivotal game 5 of the World Series. The Dodgers need to win to get an advantage before going back to Toronto to finish the series. Ok, it’s later now! Bummer. Now we have to win both games in their city to pull this off!  

Thursday, October 30^th., 2025…… HAPPY BIRTHDAY BAYLEE! Today, the weather was yucky!  It’s been raining here of and on. Not hard rain really, but enough to keep the grass too wet to mow. We walked the girls and then headed off to the gym and then to breakfast. Our workout was a little short this morning because we got a text from Toni and Mo saying they would meet us for breakfast at Kristi’s around 9:30am. It’s fun to sit with them and visit. After breakfast, we came back home and rested for the morning. Later, I took Rylee in for her vet appointment. The doctor looked at her hips and joints and said she couldn’t really tell if there was damage to tissue or ligaments or if it was arthritis. She wants an x-ray. She also said she needs to lose 10 lbs. On the way out, I was able to schedule x-rays for tomorrow.  

Friday, October 31^st., 2025…… HAPPY HALLOWEEN! We have no plans for tonight other than stay home. There will be no trick or treaters here again we think. All three of the kids on the block are now a little too old for that. Cathey talked to Lona and decided that she will be going over to the A&W in Sweet Home to sit and watch the trick or treaters come in there. I would stay home will the girls and relax and watch game 6. Later, I took Rylee in for her x-rays. They called later to have me come get her. Everything looked good. She said it looked like a torn cruciate tendon. We think she did it this summer when she was out jumping in and out of her pool for the day. There are no signs of arthritis or hip damage, so no surgery since cruciate tendons can’t be repaired. We got some pain pills and I was told to get her weight down a bit She was at 89.1 lbs. today and she needs to be below 80.  Cathye got back a few hours later and said they had a good time visiting and watching the trick or treaters.  

We won the game and now will face off tomorrow with winner take all!  

Saturday, November 1^st., 2025…… No rain today but it’s still really cold. Temps in the mornings were in the low 40s. We really didn’t have much to do today. Cathye wanted to get all of the patio furniture and cushions put away for the winter so we did that. I am having to leave my two projects for the season. One - I wanted to stain the front porch and resin coat the bartop. It’s too cold for those now. And two, I needed to get a coat of epoxy on the bartop but failed to do that and now it’s too cold to try now. 

Later, we got dressed up in our Circus costumes for the Club’s ‘Circus Night’ Dance. We have used these two costumes several times now. This year it was my turn to be the ringmaster and Cathye got to be the lion. I guess I was more of a lion tamer because I brought my whip too! Anyway, we had a lot of fun at the dance. During the night, I was able to keep up with game 7 on my phone. It was a nailbiter but we pulled it off! Congrats Dodgers!  Here are pics from the night…..