Friday things

Posted in California, cooking, home stuff, Uncategorized by

The snow has stopped, and today is cold but clear. I was going to walk since I didn’t yesterday, but it’s really cold, like 32 degrees, so I’ll skip it today. I guess that’s a sign of me getting older. I used to go out in freezing rain and walk. Oh well, sigh:( It’s okay, really, one has to accept where one is in life. Also, I went out to the laundry room, and the bricks had ice on them, so probably better to not walk if it’s icy.

So today I need to go to the bank and then the store for a few things. I need some cottage cheese and sour cream. I’ll have to check if there are any other small things I need.

We did really well on our menu plan this week. Last night I made the chicken enchiladas with the leftover Costco chicken. I prefer the green sauce to the red, but didn’t have any. I’ll wait and get that at Winco, as it’s cheaper there. Tonight I plan on using the frozen pizza to use it up. So today I also need to take off more chicken from the carcass and put both in the freezer. BTW, if you’re a Costco member, the Kirkland freezer bags are great. I’m not sure when they came out, but I got the gallon ones last time and the quart ones this past time. They are thick and seal really well. Plus, they are a lot less expensive than the brand-name ones.

Not much else is going on today. I’m feeding my sourdough so I can do dough tomorrow and bake Sunday.

SNOW!!

Posted in California by

It started around 8am, and it is really coming down. My daughter took the Santa Fe to go to work and got to Auburn and turned around as it was even snowing there, which is very unusual. It’s now close to 10, and it’s still snowing hard.

So I’m thankful to be home and warm and cozy. All the kitties are tucked in their beds, too.

I’m thankful my daughter turned around when she realized she wasn’t going to be able to get home at 3pm. The Santa Fe is AWD, but it still will slip when the roads are covered.

I’m thankful I stopped at Costco yesterday and got a roast chicken, wine ( 2 bottles of Kendall Jackson, my favorite), and some quinoa salad. That’s all we need for today and maybe even tomorrow.

I’m thankful I don’t need to go anywhere today, like for infusion or labs. I would have cancelled anyway, but still.

Mid-week and a break today from the rain.

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The Sierras are being hit extremely hard with whiteout conditions. We’re below the snow line, thank goodness. There was an avalanche, and 9 skiers are missing. My question is, why would they even go out in such conditions, they knew the forecast????

Hopefully they can be rescued.

Update: no, sadly, 8 were found dead, and they can’t find the other one. So Sad.:(

Today there is a break in the weather, but it’s back tomorrow, so I’m going down to Roseville to the gym and dropping off some books at the library. I also plan on stopping at the Goodwill near the library and dropping off the canning jars and a few bags.

I also want to try to find the shoe repair store I looked up. The strap on my vintage LV marly bandouliere broke. I’m not sure they can fix it, but I know LV will repair things. I didn’t pay a whole lot for this bag, so I wouldn’t want to pay LV prices.

After that, I might pop in to costco for a few more sale items. Laundry soap is on a coupon, and Zyrtec. I’ll have to see how my energy level is.

Other than that, not much. I finished the newest Reacher book, and it was good, predictable, but good. So I don’t have a new book to read.

Updated:

The freeway was closed going toward Reno this morning. Trucks were lined up along the freeway but it was an easy ride to Roseville because of no traffic.

I went to the gym, library, and found the shoe repair place too. I dropped off the Louis, so it’ll be a few weeks. All in all, a good morning.

Monday and it’s raining.

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, freezer cooking, home stuff, meal planning by

Menus for the week will mostly be stuff from the freezer/pantry.

Last night I used up the frozen shrimp and sauteed some tilapia. We had a salad pack that was almost past use by date.

For lunch, I had a Souper Cube mac and cheese. That’s used up one more frozen item. My son was still here, so he shared it with me. He brought some chili he had made, so that’s in the freezer now, too.

Monday- I defrosted some chicken, so I plan on using that. I’m not sure what side I’ll have since there’s no salad, maybe potatoes?

Tuesday- I think I’ll have the turkey chili my son brought up with corn muffins.

Wednesday- With all this rain, I think I’ll do a soup of some sort.

Thursday- Breakfast for dinner with bacon, eggs, and hash browns. The hash browns in the freezer need to be used up.

Friday- I may order a pizza, the veggie from Round Table is our favorite.

Things in the freezer that I’d like to use up now through March:

pot stickers

veggie burgers

ravioli

a frozen pizza

????

Today is a home day with all this rain. It’s raining pretty hard out there this morning. I didn’t get to the Goodwill to drop things off, so that’s on hold till there is a non-rainy morning. My son did take a big load to the dump, so he’s really getting things around the barn cleaned up. All this crap around the barn should have been dealt with long ago, but it is what it is, and I’m thankful he’s taken it on. Of course, my daughter does the bulk of the stuff around here as she’s here and he’s not. I’m so lucky to have both of them here to help.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cooking, freezer cooking, simple foods, swimming, Walking by

A nice walk this morning, although a few people showed up. Still, nice enough, and it was not really cold. The rain is expected this afternoon and looks like it’ll be all week. It’s supposed to get quite cold, too.

I’m not going to the gym this morning either. I’m pretty stiff from my swim, so I’ll rest up. The pool is open on Monday, but I don’t think I’ll go down. I’ll have to see how it goes.

My son is coming up to deal with a garbage run and work on the barn some. Most everything in the barn now is his tools and stuff. I think he’s been getting rid of things, too. Yay for that!

Last night we watched the season finale of Stranger Things ( season 4). Geez, that show is intense. I may need a break for a few days. We had fondue with veggies and some bread. The fondue was an extra that I bought for New Year’s Eve. We also had some rosé prosecco. Yumm.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do today. I have the bathroom zone to do and maybe water my plants and ?? I do need to go drop stuff off at the thrift store, so I may do that because they don’t take donations if it’s raining. It’s not a lot of stuff, but I’d rather get it out of the house and back of the car.

I do want to freezer dive and see what I’m using this week. That’s a priority since it’s jammed packed. I might need to toss some things like bananas that I froze, as they’ve been in there a while. I had been doing that so B could have smoothies, but that’s now 8 months ago, probably time to toss. I could make some banana bread, but my daughter doesn’t really eat that kind of thing, so then I would, and I don’t need the extra calories. 😦

Here’s a view from my bedroom window.

Friday Things

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, Flylady, Walking by

Since I didn’t walk yesterday, I decided to go out this morning, and I’m so glad I did. It was a nice walk, with no one around except the people who use the community center stairs for a workout. There was a crescent moon, which is my favorite.

Yesterday was a nightmare driving to Sacramento. Apparently, there was a terrible accident, and it was stop-and-go from Roseville all the way down to the I-80 split, which is quite a ways. I barely had time to check in for my appointment. And of course, my blood pressure was high. Even after waiting a bit, it was still higher than my normal. UGH, I guess I’ll talk to my PCP when I see him for my annual wellness appointment. I’ll start tracking again, which I do as a record for him to see.

Dr. Laptalo suggested I go off DEX because it could be contributing to weight gain. It could be, but I think I’m just not as active as I was with both knees having torn meniscus and my left a torn ACL. I forgot to mention any of that, but going off DEX will certainly be nice. I guess I’ll just have to take my chances with my numbers going up. Most people on maintenance don’t do dex, so that’s a positive.

After the doctor’s appointment, I went to Costco. For a moment, I thought of skipping it as I was pretty stressed out, but then I thought, no, it’ll be good to get that done, and walking around Costco would help. It did help to calm me down. So I picked up the non-food stuff, including TP, allergy pills, dishwasher pods, Lysol wipes, and a few other things. Most of that was on a coupon, so that was nice. Food-wise, I bought coffee, eggs, and their new Hawaiian ready meal. We had some for dinner, and it was tasty, but I don’t think I’d get it again. It’s a large serving, and there’s quite a bit left over, so I’m not sure how well that will freeze.

Today, I plan on cleaning the kitchen and doing my Flylady stuff there. That includes wiping all the shelves and the stove hood. Plus, using the stainless steel wipes on the appliances.

We’re heading into rain on Sunday, and the temperatures are going to get cold. We still need rain, and the ski areas really do need snow, so it’s ok. If it’s too awful out, I won’t go anywhere.

What frugal things have you done lately?

Thankful Thursday

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, Gratitude by

I am so thankful that there is more sunlight everyday and it makes me happy. This morning it was light at 6:20 and then sunrise was 6:58 so that is quite wonderful. Sunset is 5:38 pm so again it’s so nice to have evenings light again.

I didn’t walk this morning as I have to get ready to leave for Sacramento soon. After my doctor visit, I plan to go to Costco. I’m appreciative that the new Costco is closer to home. I mostly need coffee and a bunch of non-food things, but I’m sure other things will jump in the cart.

I am very thankful my kappa light chains only went up 1 point. So now I’m sitting at 26.3. So that’s 7 points above high normal. So I feel comfortable with those numbers, and there was no big spike.

I’m grateful that the Imodium I’ve been taking (half a pill) is totally working on bowel issues. Dr. L suggested I try that instead of a prescription for the bile malabsorption medication. So that’s very positive for me. Bile malabsorption usually occurs with some chemotherapies, and I do believe that my spat with it was a recurrence of that. So I feel very thankful that it seems to be under control.

I’m thankful we did not owe any taxes. Of course, we didn’t have anything taken out because it’s SS.

It’s a little hard to see, but that’s the flowering cherry tree with some pops of pink. In the background, you can see the ‘new’ neighbor’s garage and see that brown dirt to the right? He has had many loads of dirt brought in to fill in the gully and make a more level space. I am not too thrilled at him changing the whole hillside’s natural inclination, but it’s his property. He did put in a huge drainage pipe for runoff, but still 😦 City people trying to live in the country??

Monday menus, And Simple sunday late.

Posted in Blood test, bread, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, cooking, home improvement, home stuff, library, meal planning, Walking by

The day got away from me yesterday. I was doing some house chores, baking a sourdough loaf( jalapeno cheddar), and sitting in the sun. It was a very nice day.

I had a nice walk in the morning. Sunrise is now 7am, so I’ve been getting to the park at 6:30. Since sunrise is going to keep getting earlier, I’ll have to decide what my cutoff is for getting out. In the past I’d jump out at 5:30 am but I’m feeling too old for that.

Last night we had a frozen pizza and watched some more of Stranger Things. This season(4) is really intense, and the episodes are quite long. Still it’s keeping my interest.

Tonight, I might make a chicken tortilla soup as I made broth the other day. I also have chips I can use on top along with avocado.

Tuesday- this is my daughter’s later night at work, so usually I do something easy. I might do a grilled cheese. I also have leftover curry from the other night, I froze.

Wednesday- I need to look in the freezer and check what should be used. I know some pot stickers could be used with rice. I also have some tilapia I can grill up.

Thursday- Spaghetti and meatballs,salad

Friday- I might get takeout, tacos?

Saturday- Something from the freezer. I think I have some other soups frozen, so I’ll go check that out, plus I have lots of Souper cubes frozen of beans, chili, etc.

My son was here on Saturday and built the railing for the stairs off the sunporch. He’s been working on making sure I have handrails and grab bars for safety. It looks good. I just need to have him buy a piece of lattice to make it more attractive, and I can plant a vine of some sort to make it even nicer.

I went to Ace and had them match the house trim paint as the one I had saved must have deteriorated, as the color was definitely off. I haven’t opened it yet to see, but from the color on the top, it looks like a match. It looks like we have rain coming in so painting will have to wait anyway.

I have my labs this morning, and then it’ll be too late to get to the pool, so I plan on going to the gym and then the library. I have a few books to drop off and a hold to pick up.

I also see Dr. L this week, so that will change my routine as to the pool. I think I’ll plan Costco after I see him on Thursday. As usual, it’s coffee that I’ll need, plus some non-food things like toilet paper, paper towels, etc. I might pick up a ready-made meal there.

Here’s the jalapeno loaf. It looks good. I haven’t cut it yet, but I will slice it up this morning.

I finished the taxes, and it all looked good, and we didn’t owe, so that’s a win.

Friday things

Posted in bread, budgeting, budgets, California, camping, cancer, home improvement, home stuff, velcade by

I didn’t post anything yesterday as I had my Velcade shot, then went to Winco, and then met up with my library friends for coffee. So by the time I came home, I wasn’t into it. I did get my sourdough started, did the folds and turns, and got to bulk fermentation. So it’s in the fridge doing a cold rise.

I had a nice visit with my friends, three of them are widows, so they understand. One of them just got a mammogram with something showing, so that is causing a lot of stress and anxiety. Why is it always something? One of them is quite wealthy and was showing us her brand new Honda CR-V. I’m thinking nice, gee, I just wish I had some extra money to pay my annual bills.

I lay down for a while after I took Dex and rested. I had some defrosted chicken to use up, so I made us a chicken curry with noodles. I used some of a recipe from ATK’s Easy Meal Cookbook, but I didn’t have garam masala, so I just used other spices like curry, ginger powder, and cumin. It came out very tasty. There’s some left over for lunch or another dinner.

After reading that Bezos fired all those WP employees, I checked whether I had cancelled my subscription, and I had, but it doesn’t go into effect till April. I read a few articles, both in the Atlantic and the NYT, about how this is a tragic thing for the WP and very sad too. I haven’t ordered from Amazon in a while, but I do have some camping stuff to get for our one night out in Tahoe in June. It’s only a night, but I still need a porta-potty and porta potty tent. I think my son said he had one, so I’ll check. Hindsight is always 20/20, right? WE had just bought a deluxe porta-potty for the tent trailer right before we sold it. Since we now had Rubi, we didn’t need it. Ha! Oh well, that’s just the way it goes. There are bathrooms at Nevada Beach, which are quite nice, but at night, I’m not trekking to a bathroom to go pee. 😦

Since today is a home day, I’ll probably keep it low-key till the dex wears off. I’ll bake the bread and tidy up. I did get out my low platform massage table to do some PT, so I’ll set that up and do a few. I wish I had room to leave it up, but in our very small house, there isn’t an extra place for it.

I started painting some trim on the house while it was so nice out, but once it was done, I could see that the paint had lost some color, as it is over 5 years old. So I need to get the color chip and get a fresh quart. I won’t do that today as I don’t drive on dex but maybe tomorrow if I can find it. Ace said they can match it, as it is a Kelly Moore paint, and they went out of business. Then I can finish some touch-ups.

Going Forward

Posted in Blood test, books, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, home stuff, library, swimming, velcade by

This week is my Velcade shot. I got an extra week(5 weeks instead of 4), so I could get back to my normal Thursday appt. I’m still having some neuropathy in my feet, even after that length of time. Next time I see Dr. L, I’ll mention this. Then Friday will be my Dex day at home. I’m curious if my numbers go higher with the extra week. I guess I’ll find out.

The pool is closed for 2 days for maintenance, so I’m not sure if I’ll go down there today. Since I’m driving down tomorrow, I sort of hate to use extra gas. On the other hand, I just don’t seem to be getting ‘ahead’ in swimming. My weights I keep up on regularly, so that is all good. Maybe going forward means accepting what I can do and what I do. (sigh) Who knows, right? It seems as if this is a recurring theme for me at this stage of my life. But, hey, I’m very grateful for what I can do!!

Going forward, I’m working on trying new things. It’s hard to do some stuff alone, but I’m determined to try. I did go out by myself for a burger, so that was a tiny thing. I didn’t sit in the car either but went in, so again, a tiny thing, but…

I wrapped up my taxes and submitted. I guess it’s next year that my tax status will change. The year a spouse dies, it’s still married filing jointly, but then it changes the following year. Hopefully, it will stay easy.

Here’s a picture of the upper patio around 3 pm yesterday. And a picture of the firepit on around 4 pm.

The book is from the library, and I was very impressed. Barclay, of course, was hugely influenced by Dylan and had a radio show for 25 years(KVMR) specifically devoted to Dylan. He would have loved this book. His last show was called Jewels and Binoculars after the line in a song.

Yesterday I made the Rancho Gordo King City Pink beans in the crockpot and had them for dinner. I may just do another bean bowl tonight. There is quite a bit to freeze in the Souper Cups. Rancho Gordo just moved into a new building in Napa. I’m curious what it looks like. We always had fun going into the other store, even if it was a little hard to find.

Well, I guess I’d better figure out the day.

What about you? Do you ever feel you should be doing more? Sometimes just accomplishing the smallest thing feels huge. 🙂