That’s mostly due to the cost of having the trust redone in my name. It’s actually reasonable at $300 plus county recorder fees. It should be done late next week. I’m not sure it was all that necessary but I feel better knowing it’s done.
We had incredible thunder and lightning last night and a huge amount of rain. It’s over for now, and only a sprinkle is happening.
Update: it’s pouring down rain.!!!
I decided to go to the pool and not the gym. I really would like to up my swimming. I popped over to Winco and spent $60, but $10 was on wine. I’m not sure where my grocery total is, but I think it’s low. I just did a rough tally, and I’m at $300 with another week or so to go. Some of that was Costco and long-term food items, so that evens out the costs.
I was able to throw a few extra dollars on the cc, so that felt good. Probably by the time I catch up, the next round of annual bills will show up. sigh:( Oh well, such is life at this point.
I’ve been using the new Rubbermaid containers, and I really like them. I can see what is inside each one. I did a bunch of food prep yesterday and used them. What I haven’t been using is the Chef Preserve that I bought. It’s like a hand-held vacuum sealer. I’ll probably see if I can sell it on Marketplace. The idea is great, but the usage is not so much. That’s ok, I’m all about trying new things when it seems like it will help. It wasn’t expensive, costing about $60. still …
That’s about it on the frugal side of things. How is your frugal life going? Where do you save money?
I am thankful my kappa light chains at least went down a little, 2 points. So that does show the Dex had some influence. At least there’s no increase, so I’ll take it.
I’m thankful for a day to be home and do some more reorganizing. I’ve made some progress. I’m also going to see an estate planner today to find out what needs to be done for the trust. She is not an attorney, but a legal aide( or something). Still I hope to get what I need to file the trust with just my name on it.
I’m thankful to see the new baby geese at the park. they must have just hatched.
There are way fewer pairs of geese this year, so it makes me wonder if the park is doing something to keep them away?
I am relieved and thankful that the AAA house insurance and Fair plan got figured out, and now have me as the insured. What a PITA>:(
In the whole political arena, it is such a shit show with the orange idiot saying he’s going to wipe out an entire civilization. Why doesn’t someone do something about him? It’s a disgrace for our country. Well, there’s nothing I’m thankful for there, that’s for sure.
I started watching a fun show my son recommended called Resident Alien. It’s on Netflix and really is quite funny. If you’re looking for something new, that could be it. I need a break from the intense ones like Dark Winds, which I adored.
I went to the gym on Sunday and then did some decluttering when I got home. I have a bag of books to take to the pet bookstore and a bag of odds and ends to go to Goodwill.
Monday, I continued decluttering out in the garden shed and a utensil drawer in the kitchen. I looked at things I’m not using, as I prefer to not have single-use things. I wrote out the menu ideas for the week too.
Mostly, using things I have in the freezer /pantry, which included using up the turkey chili, a box of cornbread mix, a jar of home-canned kidney beans, and some ends of cheese( cheddar and comte) to make a baked macaroni. Today I plan to prep what veggies I have and put them in glass containers. I have broccoli, beets, spinach, some lettuce, and carrots. I’m sure I’ve missed a few. My plan is to wash and put them in containers so I can see what I need to use. Too often, things in those new produce bags just get pushed behind things, and I don’t see them ( refrigerator blindness). To help, I ordered some containers from Amazon. They’re the brilliance Rubbermaid. Costco has these occasionally, but not right now.
We also had leftover Easter tofu, potato salad, and deli ham. I didn’t buy a ham since that would be too much for us, so I got some sliced ham, and it worked fine as a side dish. ( We mostly want the southern fried tofu with tartar sauce.)
Rest of the Week menu ideas:
BBQ chicken
One freezer meal
Bean burritos with toppings. This will use a can of refried beans in the pantry, and some of the toppings will use things up, too.
a pizza night
Orange chicken with rice and broccoli
TBD
After my labs on Monday, I went and got the Santa Fe smogged, so that’s done.
Tuesday, I headed to the pool, and it was quite mellow. I stopped and got some cash from the teller, as I want to give my son a few dollars to help offset the cost of the weed eater and the motorcycle class. I also stopped at Winco for spinach, broccoli, bananas, and a few other things. It was less than $40.
I haven’t gotten my kappa light chains back yet, but my other labs are all about the same. We’ll see:)
Update: just got them and they did go down 2 points. Not a lot and I hoped for more, but I’ll take it.
Today, I plan on getting the thrift stuff organized and put in the back of the car. Then I’ll go to town and drop some stuff off. I do have a big bag of books to go also.
I got the notice of the Fair Plan being changed, so that was good news. But paying for the new auto insurance added to my credit card balance, so be it for now. I just don’t have the income to pay it from my regular accounts. I think the only other annual bills coming up are DMV for Rubi and the truck in June. That’ll give me some time to concentrate on paying more of the CC stuff over a few months. sigh:( Still, I’m thrilled the auto insurance was reduced from the Allstate quote.
The rest of the week is open, so I’ll figure out whether I’ll do another swim or go to the gym. Because of gas prices, I’ll pick one or the other.
These are roses from the back yard area and the California poppies are in the front of the house.
For those who celebrate, happy Easter. For me, it’s more about celebrating spring! Our lilacs are in full bloom and lovely. The daffodils are all done, and most of the wisteria is too. But everything is growing like crazy. My daughter is weed-eating every day. All the lavender plants are buzzing with bees.
My son did get a gas-powered weed eater on Marketplace, so that will help when he can get here to do it. I told him I’d pay half of it. This weekend, he’s doing the community college motorcycle class, which is very intensive. But if he’s going to drive the Triumph, he needs all the safety stuff. But it’s a 3 day class so he’s finishing that today.
I made it through most of my Dex stuff and was ok. My blood pressure is always a little high on Dex, but that’s normal, and it should go back to my general range today.
I didn’t drive yesterday except to the park to walk and then the market for some things for our little feast today. It’s only S and me, but I’ll do the southern fried tofu, and I made the potato salad yesterday.
There’s always the firsts after someone dies, and this is the first Easter without Barclay. Our local community center is selling bricks with names on them, so I bought one that says in memory of. I’m not sure when they’ll come in, but it will be a nice remembrance.
Tomorrow I have labs, and it’s a double whammy as it’s also the labs for my PCP. Those are my lipid tests and thyroid. It’ll be quite a few vials, I imagine. After that, I’ll decide either to come home or head down to the gym/pool. With gas prices so outrageous, I do need to be aware of how much I can get there. Even Costco gas is near $6 a gallon, so that’s steep.
I also need to get the Santa Fe smogged, so I have to plan what day I’m going to do that. I could do that after my labs. I’ll have to check what time they open. That’s an extra expense, and so are the DMV fees. Hopefully, I can get caught up by the end of April. 🙁
Last week, I gave away another 2 boxes of canning jars, and I think I’m going to relist my canner and see if I can sell that. Last time I tried, I had zero interest. But it’s spring now, and canning season will start soon. I’ve thought about getting the electric pressure canner, but I just don’t see that as cost-effective for just the two of us. I do love canning, but there is the cost, and then storing the jars, etc. So, I think I’m at peace with letting it go. If it doesn’t sell, it can just sit on the shelf.
Another orchid, but this is one I just bought at Trader Joe’s. i have at least 3 more I’m hoping will rebloom. TJ’s and Costco are the best places to buy orchids. I love them because they last forever.
After my Velcade shot, I went down to the library and dropped off my books and picked up a new cookbook and a new Patterson. Traffic was weirdly light, so I’m guessing it’s the school’s spring break. Then I came home and did a few things.
I got the sourdough in the oven to bake. This loaf did ‘spring’ much, and I’m guessing my starter was strong enough. It still tasted good, though. I feed my starter and will probably do one more before I use it again.
Then I prepped for dinner by making oven bacon( while the sourdough was cooking. I had planned on BLTs with avocado for dinner. I had gotten Dave’s White bread at Costco because it was on a coupon, so I used that.
After a while, I took Dex and lay down for a bit. Dex doesn’t really kick in for a few hours. It was quite windy out, so I didn’t sit out very long. Today the temperature is around 70, so I should be able to sit out on the patio some.
Since it’s a dex day, I usually do those little things I see that need doing. The spot on the wall, the dust in a corner. Weirdly, Dex makes me so focused, and yet I won’t drive. Go figure. The only admin thing I need to do is call Allstate and cancel the auto insurance. I’ll do that in a bit.
My new fun hobby is getting orchids to rebloom. These took over 6 months, but I did get some!
Well, after spending more than 2 hours at the AAA office and running over to the county recorder’s office, most of the problem is handled. The young man helping me was spectacular and really handled the issue well and with confidence. We still need to wait 5 days for them( California Fair Plan) to process and approve. Why wouldn’t they? But who knows, they needed not only the death certificate but the trust record, hence the trip over to the recorder’s office. Hopefully that’s all. What a pain in the ass.
So I am thankful I followed through, and it’s done( I hope). Nothing will change with the mortgage, even with his name still on the loan. (As far as I can gather, it can stay there, and the loan remains the same. I think from what AI said, it would take doing a ‘new mortgage’ to do that, and I am completely not willing to do that. I will need to have an estate lawyer update the trust, though with just my name, but I’ll get to that eventually.
I’m thankful I got a swim in, and when I got there, it was not super busy, but later it did get very busy.
After the pool, I went to Costco for coffee, and I saw more lavender plants, so I bought just one. I also picked up the Dawn power wash, some breaded chicken on sale, and some Easter chocolates.
My Velcade is this morning, and I’m grateful it’s not raining. It was raining quite a bit yesterday, and driving in the rain is not my favorite thing to do. After my shot, I plan on going down to the library and dropping off the books because they are due in a few days. I won’t use the gym as I usually don’t try to exercise after the chemo is in my system.
From there. I’ll come home and tidy up a bit. My daughter leaves for work early, so usually there is stuff to do, like emptying the dishwasher. Otherwise, same old same old.
So, yesterday in the mail was a notice that the request I had for our California fair plan insurance couldn’t be processed. The request was to take Barclay off the insurance and just have me. We are both listed. So the letter says, now this is really funny if I wasn’t so pissed off at it, Barclay must sign the quick deed to release something or other???? Oh, right, did you not get the memo that HE’S DEAD!!!
So my plans today are scrapped, and I’m going into the AAA office to see what they say. Maybe just leave him on it, as it makes no difference really. But I was trying to do a few more admin things, and this was one.
When I checked with Chat GPT about the mortgage, it said it can’t be changed unless I get a new mortgage, which I am definitely NOT doing, so maybe insurance is the same.
When I originally called about this, I told the agent the whole story, B died, blah, blah, blah… well, apparently that memo was lost, so now I’ll just have to see what to do, but I’m leaning toward just leaving the damn thing as it is.
Last night we had the lentil salad with peanut dressing. It was ok. I got the precooked lentils at TJ’s, and that made it an easy recipe. We had some tilapia on the side with steamed asparagus.
Monday- My Daughter is going to the movies, I’ll have something easy, maybe grilled cheese.
Tuesday- Mexican-themed something. I have some cheese enchiladas in the freezer and can pair that with a salad and beans.
Wednesday- Still working on freezer clean out, so something that needs using up. ( I still have the turkey chili in the freezer, so maybe that).
Thursday- I’ve been feeling like waffles, so I’ll do breakfast for dinner.
Friday- I’ll probably spring for a pizza. My daughter gets off from work later, so she could pick something up.
Saturday- Whatever!
So far, the meals have been spot on and are using things up. For Easter, I always make Southern fried tofu and potato salad. We are not religious, so Easter is just another day, but the tradition of tofu is still there. When the kids were little, it was all about hiding and finding eggs and chocolate bunnies.
Today, I’m not going down to Roseville as I have some errands to do in town. Plus, I want to keep reorganizing the closet.
Here’s the white tree of Gondor.
Unfortunately, the cable line was in the picture too!!
The park was nice this morning. I was the only one. I’ve been getting there at 6:30, so it’s not dark at all, but light enough to walk without a flashlight. Sunrise is 6:51 am, so very light.
Yesterday was a busy day. My daughter took down the shelf in the closet( our only closet) and repositioned it, and raised up my clothes bar.
It’s much more accessible now, and there’s plenty of room under my clothes for some banker’s boxes. The other side still needs some reorganizing. I keep my canning jars there, Christmas stuff, and 4 baskets that hold my clothes( undies, socks, workout pants. I’d like to get all the Ball jars together and put them on my Ikea shelves, which serve as my pantry, but I’d have to rearrange to make that happen.
I’ll spend some time today organizing that. I’m planning on giving away another case of quart ball jars. I might get out the paint( Benjamin Moore Simple White) and touch up the walls.
I also took down one of the velvet curtains and put up the summery ones. I had to iron them first and only got one pair done, so today I’ll iron the other one.
I made up a cabbage salad from Ella Mills new cookbook. We didn’t have it last night, but we will tonight. She’s a vegan but her recipes are quite good and I got some good ideas from it.
I’ll take some after photos if I remember.
I plan on going to the Auburn gym this morning and then dropping off a load at Goodwill. These days, I don’t have huge amounts, as most of my decluttering is done. But there’s always something.
This coming week is my Velcade and, of course, back on Dex. I guess we’ll see if it drops my kappa number, and then we’ll know that dex is important in my treatment plan. I’ll just have to relax with the dex and not go anywhere. 🙁
I think I’ll try to at least get a swim in. After Velcade, I could go to the gym to do weights, but I’ll wait and see how I feel. Other than that, it’s a normal week.
I have most of my budget ready for April. Some DMV items (Santa Fe)need to be paid for, and I need to do a smog on the Santa Fe. Also, the next installment for Allstate will come due in April. I ordered a replacement battery for my Dyson 8 from Amazon. I haven’t ordered too much over the last few months, so I’m pleased with that. Amazon is almost a necessity for things like that. I also need to order the porta-potty for camping when we go up to Tahoe because we’ll be in my son’s tent for that trip. There are very nice bathrooms at Nevada Beach, but that doesn’t help me at night 🙁
I plan on doing a freezer challenge to lower food costs. Last month(end of Feb and March through the 25th), came in right under $400. That includes a Costco shop, which usually (always) includes some stock-up items. So overall, I’m pleased.
The send Dad off in New Brighton ended up being a little spendy, but not bad considering the room didn’t have a microwave to heat food up. I used Starbucks GC when I could, and that saved some money. My daughter also paid for a few things. The biggest expense is a hotel room, of course. That’s one reason I loved Rubi because over the course of the time we traveled, staying in Rubi covered the cost of the RV vs hotels. Well, sadly, that is not my life now. Of course, I still need to sell Rubi and just haven’t bothered yet, especially since my son stays out there when he is here.
I’m already checking on hotels in Napa for a one-nighter. I wish I could stay at the Fairgrounds campground that B and I loved so much, but it’s not possible. I found a very nice room for around $200, and it does have a mini kitchen and a seating area, which is the one thing I would have liked in the other room. My daughter works T-F, so it has to be a Sunday night. I’ll have to see whether I can swing it even with it going on a card with the other things I have this month.
We have a change in the weather coming next week, cooler and rain. This has been such an early spring.
I plan on going to the pool this morning if I can get going. Since lap swimming ends at 9:15, I need to be there earlier. I’ll see how I feel by 7:30. Yesterday, I washed sheets and pulled out my summer curtains to iron. I also made up some chicken enchiladas with green chile sauce. That used up some frozen chicken. Then I pulled some black beans that had been frozen in the Souper cubes and heated them up. Very tasty.
My daughter has been weed-eating as everything is growing so fast. Last year, with Barclay in hospice, the weeds took over, and I had to hire someone to come and do it because they were out of control. This year, she’s keeping up on it. She also planted the 2 lavender plants I got at Costco. I don’t do much in the yard these days, but I love sitting out every day looking around at how beautiful the yard is and how fortunate we are to live here.
There’s Chester checking things out and the wisteria.
