Oregon Living 2025 – Blog #48 – Decorating & a Visit With the Littles

 

 

Sunday, December 7^th., 2025…… HAPPY BIRTHDAY RAYMOND!! Cat slept in today. I was up, showered, went out and got breakfast and coffee, and fed the dogs before she even got out of bed! She was happy to have some sleepy time!  Later, she put in some laundry and then sat down and reviewed my blog before I posted. The rest of the day was spent working on the new tree. The tree is 7.5 feet so, before we even took it out of the box, we decided to try something new. Our ceiling in the living room is pretty high so we thought we’d use our old - and no longer used - round coffee table as a base to elevate the tree. I took it out to the shop and cut a wooden top to replace the glass one. Then, we assembled the new tree on the table. We’ll get it decorated later….    

Monday, December 8^th., 2025…… After getting up and showered, we headed out to walk the dogs. No rain today and it’s actually rather nice for the season. They say we will have a few dry days but I don’t hold up too much hope that the lawn will dry out enough to mow. Bummer! We fed the dogs and then took off for town. We hit the gym for our workouts and then had breakfast at Kevin’s and then came back home. I worked some more on the well house. It’s close to being assembled. I had to figure out the angles for the roof and got that framed. Next up will be the hinge for the roof. I want that so I can get to the insides to check things out periodically. Meanwhile, Cat worked some more on the decorations. She decided to go through the many totes we have and set aside those that we don’t use any more. She hopes the kids will want them. I think after the day was over, she had three totes! We did have issues with the tree decorations. We couldn’t find them! I made another sweep of the racks in the shop garage and there was a tote I had overlooked! Yep, there they were!        

Tuesday, December 9^th., 2025…… I was up early this morning because I had a 7:30am dentist appointment. It was only down the street so I didn’t have far to drive. Today was only a cleaning and I was out of there in 30 minutes. I stopped and got breakfast and coffee which was good because Cat had slept in!  Nothing else on the agenda today. Cathye got everything up on the tree and it looks great!

I especially like the light control. After the three pieces go together, one control works everything. This one has 8 settings!  We are trying out each one to see which one we like. We also added two new ornaments this year. I had seen this online and ordered a couple for us.

Later, we settled in and watched tv before calling it a night.   

Wednesday, December 10^th., 2025…… Today was a Costco run. So, we walked and fed the dogs and headed out, stopping at Rogers in Albany first for breakfast. Next stop was America’s Best so Cat could schedule an eye exam. When we were last at Costco, she found out they would not take our insurance and her attempt at going back to her last optometrist wasn’t successful – they said their next appointment wasn’t until January! – so she went where I went to get a test. She goes back tomorrow. We stopped at Lowes and I got a piano hinge and some drywall screws for the well house. Then we went to Kohls. She wanted to pay off her Kohls card and did that. Of course we shopped there too! Then we finally went to Costco. This was our cheapest trip there so far this year. She tried to get an appointment for a hearing test and was told it wouldn’t be until April!  Wow!  Anyway, we got everything done and came back home for the day.     

Thursday, December 11^th., 2025…… This morning was my appointment in Corvallis Hospital for my heart echocardiogram. It was another 7:30am appointment but I was there in plenty of time and was out in quick order. The guy said everything looked ok but I will wait until the results come in later today. I got back home and found Cat had another sleep-in morning!  She got dressed and fed the dogs then we left for the gym and Kristi’s for breakfast. Later, I got the results. Of course they were in medical terms and showed some abnormalities (mild dilation in right atrium, mild regurgitation, mildly thickened valve leaflets)  but those were what we wanted to have checked again, and overall they seemed ok. It goes from there to my doctors so I should hear from someone if there’s an issue(s). Later, Cathye took off to go do some shopping. I worked on the well house and got the hinge on roof and it works well. I also got all of the siding on. Next up will be the roof and then the shingles and then the insulation. After that, it can be painted and will be done!  Cat got back and we relaxed for the rest of the day. She also told me that Corey and Vikki and the kids will be coming over tomorrow for Lasagna dinner and will get their totes. They are coming down to check out an adoption for a dog from a shelter close by here, so that saves us a trip up to Salem!  Later, Tv, spa and bed!

Friday, December 12^th., 2025……  Today is Jama’s vet appointment. We wanted to have the fatty tumor removed since it’s on her neck right along her collar line.

We left with Rylee too because I wanted to put her on the scale at the vet’s office. When we got there, I put her on the scale in the lobby. She weighed 90.9 lbs. That’s 1lb. short of the vet’s goal for her ideal weight. So, the absence of treats seems to be working – although Rylee’s not too happy about that!.. I took her for a walk when Jama went in. Later, when she was done, Cat brought out the estimate to remove that tumor. They drained it and found it was mostly water but it will go the lab to check.  They said it will come back unless they remove the sac in there. Since it’s in the neck area, we went ahead and scheduled it for 12/23. They will also remove any other skin tags and such at the same time. When we got back, I cleaned up around the house while Cat put the lasagna in the oven. The kids got here a bit later and we played until dinner.  Later, after dinner and playtime, everyone left and we settled in to tv and then the spa before bed. Here are pics for the evening....

Saturday, December 13^th., 2025…… This morning we were up early and walked and fed the dogs. I took off in my truck to head to Albany to go to Habitat for Humanity. I was looking for roofing material for the wellhouse. I stopped and got coffee and a breakfast sandwich and drove over. Habitat had a lot of stuff!  I hadn’t been in some time and was surprised to see the inventory had grown! I did find three-tab shingles for $25. a bundle but they didn’t have any roofing paper for the underlayment. So, I decided to skip buying there until I went to Lowes to see what I could find. Turns out they had a partial pack of solid slab shingles that I was able to get for $28. after my military discount. I ended up having to buy a whole roll of roofing paper ($35.) just for 4 feet! Plus I got a 4x8 sheet of foam board for insulation.  I came back home and put everything away. Later, I went out and finished the roof and got half the insulation done. 

Cathye went to work on our new 'Charley Brown' tree.  Kinda funny.....

I came in and rested and have dinner before it was time to go the Christmas Dance in Corvallis. We had a nice meal and danced for most of the night. My back is still giving me fits so I took it easy for the most part. After the dance, we headed back home and got in the spa for a bit before going to bed.