Today is the first of fall, and it’s Barclays ‘ 76th birthday. I’m sad he’s not here to enjoy this beautiful day. We both love fall best, and our birthdays are within a week of each other. So I’ll let myself be sad for a while. I bought a slice of chocolate cake for him, and I planned to go to Tahoe but there has been a series of unfortunate events. Mainly, my daughter has come down with COVID, so I’m waiting for it to get me. I’m actually scheduled for my shot next week so I’ll have to wait and see what happens. I planned to go to Costco to buy some covid test kits but they do not have any which I thought odd.

This picture was September 21 2021 at Nevada Beach.

I had to rearrange my dentist appointment again, as it is tomorrow. I’ll also skip the pool until I know what’s up.

My new budget starts next week, so I’m working on that, and it looks ok. I will have a shortfall for the firewood, but I’ll have to figure it out. All the important bills, like the mortgage, are covered. So I’ll see how I can adjust things for the firewood.

I’m back to almost normal sleep from Dex, so that’s a good thing. Today I’m going to get some COVID test kits at CVS, I think, and return one of the jeans that didn’t fit. It’s too bad because they are the ones I wanted to fit. They were Levi’s high-waisted. If I have time, I’ll see if there are any others to check out. They don’t do cash back, just credit.

Well, that’s all for today.

I felt good enough to go for a walk this morning. The sunrise was pretty. I need to adjust my attitude about walking a little later, as by 6:30 it was just crossing into day from dawn. When I got there, no one had shown up, but quickly there were 3-4 people coming in. I guess the ‘old days’ of when it was just the 2 of us are gone now. Still, it was nice, and I appreciate the walk always.

I feel okay today and slept ok after 2 very difficult nights. I still feel a little wiped out by dex but it should get better as the day goes on.

Last night we had some brown rice with raisins and pecans and some soy sauce. Then we had some air fryer veggie rolls to go alongside. Tonight I was going to do some chicken, but I don’t have it out of the freezer, so I’ll see what else I can find to cook.

After the gym, I went into Goodwill and found a couple of pairs of jeans. They don’t let you try anything on anymore, so you have to take them home and see how they fit. I’ll check later. I also found some Willow Ware dishes made in Japan. Since my son and his partner are going to Japan in October, I thought this would be a fun Christmas present.

After that, I intended to go into Safeway, but my energy was maxed out, so I came home. After my labs tomorrow, if I don’t go down to Roseville, I can go over there then. Mondays are iffy. Sometimes they’re ok and sometimes there’s the dex crash, so regardless, I need my labs, so there’s that.

My flylady zone is the bedroom, but I did that already, so I may just keep going and do the LR zone and vacuum.

All the coolers are out of the windows, so our PGE bill should go down. My big expense for September will be firewood. I figure $400 is probably the best I can get.

For Rosh Hashanah, I’m going to make some baked apples. Rosh H ends tonight, with Yom Kippur starting, but I will also make a round challah bread, just because. Of course, traditionally, Yom Kippur is fasting for 24 hours, but I’m not Jewish. But it is about starting the new year with a fresh slate, which I love the idea.

Shanah tovah!

There’s a blogger I follow who just sold her house and downsized to a 398 sq foot tiny house. She is a huge canner and had a huge LTFS and gave it all away, plus sold almost everything. She even gave her chickens away. I really admire her courage. It takes courage and conviction to change the course of your life. Of course, she is single with no adult children nearby so she has maybe more freedom/flexibility to do this but still this is a leap of faith. It does have me thinking about further decluttering things I don’t need anymore. I got rid of my IP a while ago because I only used it for chicken broth. I do that now in my crock pot. I’ve always made my beans in the crockpot as they taste better than then IP. so next I think I’ll get rid of my small bread maker. I have my sourdough stuff and I also knead my bread in my kitchen aid so really the breadmaker is redundant. Plus it takes up a huge amount of space in my closet. This is why I love reading other bloggers because something just strikes you when they say something or do something and you can relate. So this person, has me seriously thinking of more decluttering. Of course, I’m not moving and this is my home and besides I love California.

As usual, not the best night’s sleep, or rather, not sleeping, with dex, but I got through. I’ll just take a nap later.

The chimney sweep went well and cost $225, but it was worth it. I was going to pay with Apple Pay, but he didn’t take cards, so I paid in cash from my home money. That was fine, but I used one of my very crisp $100 bills, and they are hard to get at my bank. I’ll try next week to see if I can replace it.

My son is coming over after work. He’s back in the office one extra day a week, as the State is mandating a return to the office. He’s not thrilled about it, as he lives 40 minutes from the office and he’s driving the truck. Anyway, he’s going to get a pizza and come visit for a bit.

After seeing the eye doctor, he put in a prescription for an eye drop for my dry eye syndrome. It’s VERY expensive, so I checked with AI and there’s a prescription place called Blink RX and apparently they will try to get the lowest cost. When I checked, it was $300 a month, so I can’t do that, but AI seemed to indicate I should be able to get it for about 1/2 that. If it is, I will try it for a month. I should know by next week. My eyes are definitely a problem with watering( which is dry eye syndrome) even though it sounds the opposite. I have to always carry a hankie and wipe my eyes, so if this works I’d be thrilled. Yes, I’ve tried Systane Ultra and it doesn’t really help.

Next week is packed with appts too, including the dentist. Not thrilled but that’s what it is. It’s also the fall equinox and Barclay’s birthday. He’d have been 76. I’m thinking of driving up to Tahoe, but there’s been so much road construction, and there’s a huge fire that’s close to I-80 at the Nevada line. So it may not be the best time. If not, I’ll do something to celebrate his BD. I’m still trying to find a hotel to stay one night but so far nothing has ticked off the boxes I want. Or if they do it’s $500 a night which is not in my reality.

Anyway, I don’t really have anything on my agenda today. I’ll look around and see what needs attention.

Well, I’m back from my Velcade shot, and it all went well. So I am thankful that those oncology nurses at infusion are just so nice. I was going to do a bit of shopping at Nugget but decided not to.

After swimming yesterday, I went over to TJ’s and got a few things, so I’m set for now. Also, I just didn’t feel like stopping anywhere. I’m thankful that I am listening to my body and, if I don’t feel like doing something, not doing it.

So I’ll take my dex later and chill out.

Update: did some random chores like hanging my daughter’s tool belt up and getting a piece of bamboo and making a new stake for my ficus tree, which has grown a lot. I guess one thing to be thankful for with Dex is those little annoying things you keep looking at and don’t do anything about, get fixed.:)

I’m thankful to have little fires outside in my new fire pit. It’s small but works for me.

What a sad day for America. All those innocent lives lost. I’m glad tRump wasn’t at ground zero. He’d probably say some assinine thing about himself.

It’s also my sister’s birthday. Happy birthday, Heidi. Even though she’s not here, it’s still worth remembering. She’d be 78.

The heat wave we’ve had should end today. Then we’re back into the 80’s and 70’s. Nice fall weather.

I went down to the pool yesterday, and it was mellow. The Coast Guard was there, but they only used 2 lanes. I got a lane to myself for a bit before someone joined me. I came straight home.

Today, I have to do a bit of tidying, and I’d like to get the floors mopped. My son might come over after work, as he wants to spend the night in Rubi and then get an early start in the barn. I’ll probably use a frozen pizza for dinner unless he wants something else.

I had a rough couple of nights on my CPAP machine, and last night I recorded 1 event per hour. Very unusual, as it’s usually .3 or less. I’m not sure if my mask was not fitting right or what. But I’ve been on this almost a year now and have never had that AHI score. I’ll check my mask this evening and see if it’s leaking. That’s one reason for a higher AHI. But I do feel tired this morning, so?

I woke up yesterday not feeling very well. Not sure what was going on. I had a bit of a sore throat, was feeling lousy overall, and had a headache. This morning I feel a bit better but still off.

I did push to go for a walk, and it was really nice. Just me, for a change! I didn’t overdo it and will consider going to the gym later. I’ll see how my energy is and whether I still feel off; I may wait and go to Mahany early this week. I’ll see how I feel in an hour or so. I did go to the gym and just did weights. Didn’t do the treadmill. Also didn’t stop anywhere and came straight home.

I just had ramen soup last night for dinner, and didn’t feel like much else.

Today, depending on how I feel, I want to start the kitchen zone and do a regular vacuum. I send Robo and Bender around almost every day, but sometimes the Dyson can do a little more. When I went to Costco, I bought the Swiffer wet cloths because they were on sale, but they’re not specific to the wet mop I bought. I guess, I’ll keep them and use them with my other mop that holds a microfiber cloth. The price was right being on sale for $15 for 54 cloths. I did check amazon and they do carry the right ones for the Swiffer wet mop so I’ll order those soon. They’re not very expensive at $10 or so.

Tomorrow is Labor Day, so I will not go to the pool. I try to avoid the freeway on holidays. Actually, I’m not sure they are open, but they probably are.

Menu-wise, I pulled some chili from the freezer, but now I’m not sure I want that today. I also have some leftover chicken to use up. Chicken soup? I’ll just have to wait till later and see what we want.