Friday Things

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, swimming by Chris N

A good furgal week overall.

I got gas at Costco, which was $5.65 a gallon, so it ended up at $40.( I usually fill up at half a tank).

On Monday, we took a fun day trip to Empire State Mine to walk the grounds. I wanted to use my Poppy Pass, but since it is a historical mine, they didn’t take that. So it was $5 for each of us to get in, and worth it. We stopped at Taco Tree for lunch, and that ended up $18. It wasn’t very good this time. Taco Tree is definitely a hit or miss.

Tuesday, I went down to Holiday Market here for romaine as I planned a grilled chicken Caesar salad. I also got some ham for sandwiches and sliced cheese. I spent $36, I think. I also went to the pet bookstore as I had books to donate. Then I found some books and a Poirot(DVD) set unopened. Total was $23.

I went down to the pool on Wednesday and then straight home.

Yesterday was a no spend/no drive day.

Today, I’m undecided if I’ll go to the pool. It’s only 6:30 right now, so I’ll think about it.

So, I’m pleased with the low spend week overall.

These are some pictures from the Empire Mine. This is the mansion; the mine area is in a different area. There is the shaft opening you can see, and the equipment. It’s amazing to see it and think men went down there to work. A bit of a dichotomy between the mansion life and where the miners were working.

The rose campion is in our yard.

14May2026

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, Gratitude by Chris N

I’m very glad the temperatures are lower than last week. High 80’s is crazy for this time of year. We’re back in the 70s and low 80’s for a while. My daughter put in the LR cooler just so we have it when needed. But our PGE bill has been so great, I hate to start using coolers.

I’m grateful for my daughter who does so much around here and actually likes doing all that stuff.

I’m grateful for the beautiful flowers in our yard. The poppies are so colorful and I love how they’ve spread. The rose campion is spreading everywhere too.

I’m grateful for my CPAP machine that has virtually cured my sleep apnea. Unfortunately, I still have some blood oxygen issues. The BO is still hitting a low in the 80’s, probably during REM sleep, from what I’ve read. So that is going to need to be addressed. sigh???

I’m actually grateful to AI Gemini for giving me some really valuable information about the blood oxygen levels and the appropriate tests to ask for.

I’m grateful as always for the pool and being able to swim. With gas prices so high, I am adjusting how often I go down to Roseville, but still, I love it when I’m there.

Today is a home day. I went for a walk and have baked a sourdough loaf. I need to mop the floors at some point.

11May2026

Menu Monday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, home stuff by Chris N

Part of a bouquet of flowers my son got for me. I separated it into 3 vases.

I hope all you moms of either humans or fur babies had a great day. My day was very nice. I went to the gym and did weights and some treadmill. Then popped over to Goodwill and actually found some stuff. Three dot notebooks,2 picture frames, a Starbucks mug, and a sweatshirt for my daughter. When I got home, my daughter made up a brunch for us, and we sat outside on the patio.

For dinner last night, I tried a new recipe for ramen. First, you blend up the veggies (carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and 1/2 apple in the food processor. Stir fry that till it’s soft and then start adding miso, broth, ginger, tofu, and some water. It was quite good, but it seemed to be a lot of work for ramen. I added 1/2 pack of ramen noodles, and we had some white rice on the side. There’s some left over, so I may have that for dinner again.

The rest of the week in no particular order:

I have some hot dogs from Costco I want to use. I’ll do them on the BBQ and have beans and sauerkraut too.

I think I’ll do a BLT night. We’ll see how that goes. I bought some nice tomatoes from Costco that are slicers, hence the BLT.

One night, I think I’ll BBQ some chicken. I used up all the salad stuff I have, so I’ll need to get something. I’ll get some romaine, so I’m thinking a chicken Caesar salad.

We had pizza last week, so I won’t do pizza again, I don’t think. I’m sure something will pop up.

Today is home reset day. So no gym and no pool. I like to take Monday to completely go through the house and make sure it all looks good, and check if any areas need attention. I know I need to water the sunroom plants. I’ll probably dust too. With the windows open now, the pollen is coming in.

I need to look at the week and decide which day to go to the pool and the gym. I don’t have any appointments, which is so nice, so I can just pick when I want to go. With gas prices, I’m intending to go down to Roseville only twice this week.

9May2026

Saturday Stuff

Posted in California by Chris N

I had a nice walk this morning, although the sun was already up and quite bright in the park. I have light sensitivity with my eyes and dry eyes( which means they tear up all the time). So I was there at 6:15 am. I may have to get out earlier or remember my hat.

My son is coming up today to celebrate Mother’s Day. He’s doing a game tomorrow at the gaming store, so he’ll be tied up all day. Actually, he’s running the game and the store is paying him, so a win-win for him.

I’ll see if he wants to do a lunch out or just eat here. I have plenty of stuff to use/make. Tomorrow, my daughter and I will do a brunch here at home and call it good. I think we’ll do waffles and eggs or something like that.

The weather is sure warming up. Looks like 85 on Monday, so warm!! We usually put the coolers in right around Memorial Day, so it seems we’re on target.

I did drop off the stuff at Goodwill yesterday, so that felt good. Honestly, where does it come from?

8May2026

Frugal Friday

Posted in books, budgeting, budgets, California, cash envelopes, home stuff, Walking by Chris N

Mostly a frugal week since I didn’t go anywhere for 4 days due to feeling lousy. Then on Wednesday, I went to the pool. Before that, I got gas, and it had gone up quite a bit from my last fill-up. Costco gas is still the cheapest, but yikes, $5.69!!

After the pool, I went to Costco as I mentioned and spent a little over $200. I took out non-food and wine, so the food cost was around $100. Non food included batteries, an orchid, and I think something else. Wine was my favorite, Kendall Jackson, which is $9.59 at Costco. Oh, and I picked up that Rose for Mother’s Day and the most expensive thing was some steaks for Mother’s Day and for the freezer. I think the pack had 6 pieces of thinly sliced rib-eye. My daughter and I will likely just share a piece, and the other counts as LTF for the freezer.

My food total so far is running around $300, so not too bad. I don’t need anything, so it may just be a small Winco trip or something.

I ordered propane and put that on the CC. I’m slowly getting the card paid off, but then something like this happens, and I need to charge another $257. Oh well, I’ll get there. sigh:(

I haven’t really been doing active cash envelopes. Most of what I get, I just use for groceries. I guess I need to try to do better, especially for annual bills. It does help when I have the envelopes even a bit filled. Well, I have a few months with just a few annual bills. Next month is the truck DMV, but my son will pay for that as he’s the one using the truck, so it may give me a chance to fill some envelopes for fall. Having lost 1/3 of my income after B died is definitely a factor. sigh:(

Well, today I plan to go to the gym and the library. I have a book to return. I don’t have any holds, so I may just browse the new items. I want to keep up with my weights as I feel they really do help. I’d like to find a new walking path for when I’m down there, so I may look at RPR (Roseville Parks and Rec) trail maps to see what is close to the gym. Sadly, the only paved trail up here is the park I walk at. Auburn has another paved trail at a park, but it’s not in my normal route. The MV park is so well used by so many people, and they come from all over because it is paved. I’m at the stage of life where I’d be concerned for my stability on an unpaved path unless I used my walking sticks. I have been taking them with me even to this park because they give me an added sense of security. It’s tough getting older.

7May2026

Thankful Thursday

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, decluttering, Gratitude, Uncategorized by Chris N

I’m very thankful to feel ok again. Whatever it was, I’d prefer it not to happen again. Next time, I will be sure to drink some electrolytes. AI seemed to think that the need for them was contributing to my overall yucky feeling.

My labs came in at 30.4, so up from 29.1, but not too bad. .7 increase, and my ratio came down to 2.65 from 2.95, so that was positive. Another month of just keeping on.

I’m thankful for a day with nothing planned. I don’t have any plans for the day, so I’ll see what I get up to. I’ve been decluttering a few random items that I’m not using and will take to Goodwill once I have a few bags.

Today, I plan on making a chicken salad with leftover Costco chicken. The rest I’ll just freeze. Plus, at some point, make some chicken broth. I think this time I’ll pressure can it, so I don’t take up so much room in the freezer. But that’s not today.

We had a dead deer in our upper yard near the pond. We’re not sure if it got hit by a car or what. My daughter called animal control, and usually, if it’s on private property, they won’t get it. But since we said we had no way to move it, they took it. Why couldn’t it die on our neighbor’s property? I’m thankful they took it, though, as a number of years ago we had a dead deer down in the woods, and it just decomposed and certainly smelled for a while. We think that one, though, was a mountain lion kill, as there were only pieces left. Anyway, it’s gone.

6May2026

Midweek musings

Posted in Uncategorized by Chris N

I think I’m almost back to normal. I feel good enough to try the pool so, I’ll report back and update.

Update: The pool was relatively empty (no coast guard). I got a lane and did about 25 minutes, and then felt done.

I need to stop for gas at Costco first. Then I’ll only try to swim for 20 minutes at most. Definitely don’t want to overdo it and feel lousy again. I will mention what happened to Dr. Laptalo when I see him next month and see what he thinks. Food has been off, and that’s not fun for me, as I love cooking, food, and eating. Maybe today my taste will come back for something. I did have a salad last night, which was the first since last Friday, so that was positive.

I got gas at Costco, and it’s up to 5.69, so up quite a bit. After the pool, I went to Costco for coffee(always), a roast chicken, eggs, WW bread, some steak seasoning, chips, and wine. I picked up a rosé brut for Mother’s Day.

Now I’m home and will chill for a bit and then see what I get up to. I’ve been doing some embroidery, which I really like doing. Very relaxing.

5May2026

A rough one.

Posted in California by Chris N

MAY THE FOURTH BE WITH YOU

AND HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO

Wowza, did I get knocked out by this chemo or what? Usually Dex does me in for a day or so, but then I move past it. This time by Saturday, I was feeling a bit off but didn’t really think much about it. I was very tired, very achy, and definitely had the old chemo headache. It was awful, and I’m not sure WHY? Why would this cycle be any different? I have no idea. Today I felt somewhat better, although still a little lightheaded. I did feel like a walk, so I did that. It’s strange that I didn’t connect how I was feeling with chemo because that’s exactly what it feels like. Flu-type symptoms. Well, I’ll be better prepared next month. Well, at least I will figure it out instead of thinking I had caught a cold/flu.

UPDATE: I’M STILL NOT FEELING GREAT, SO MY DAUGHTER THINKS IT’S MOLD SPORE ALLERGIES DUE TO ALL THE RAIN. She’s probably right, the chemo effect wouldn’t be this long, at least it never has been and I am sensitive to mold spores.

UPDATE 2 Gemini Ai thinks it’s more like a dex crash and I’m getting hit a little harder than I usually do. And the mold sensitivity could be a factor.

So with that, I plan on trying to catch up on the house chores and not go to Roseville. I’d love to just drive down to the pool and swim, but I will err on the side of caution and rest more. I didn’t feel like eating much or cooking. I had some soup from the freezer. I don’t think I’ll do up a menu until I can look in the fridge/freezer and see what needs using. I think we have two salad packs.

The rain has stopped for now, and we are heading into warm weather with temperatures in the 80s. Wild weather.

Since today is Cinco de Mayo, I may see what I have for tacos or something like that. I always have beans, so I could do nachos.

I’ve been watching Star Wars, of course, and that’s always fun. No new shows yet.

Well, that wraps it up for now. Hopefully, back to a normal schedule tomorrow.

3May2026

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, home stuff by Chris N

We had a fun visitor in the yard yesterday. Big Bird!!

Mr Peacock lives down the hill from us but spent the day here in the front yard.

Today I plan on going to the gym and then home to do some house stuff. Tomorrow I have labs, so I’ll be leaving early and won’t have a chance to do my Monday reset. Hopefully, Dex will have done its magic and keep my numbers stable.

My son was over Friday night and spent most of Saturday doing stuff around here. He mowed and cleaned out the barn some more. He also took a load(another one) to the dump, and then he went up to his friends to get a truck full of firewood. Whew, I hope he didn’t overdo it. My daughter also did a bunch of mowing and weed-eating. This time of year, it’s hard to keep up with the grass growing. He’s a great thrift store shopper and found me a lovely Japanese print framed for $5.00. I’ll have my daughter hang it and then take a picture.

I went out and got gas in the VW. It was $5.15 a gallon in Auburn. Then I hit up the thrift store to use my credit and found ( I hope) an ice cream maker that works for 12.99. I actually tested it in the store, and it turned on so we’ll see. I plan on doing a simple vanilla to check it out. It’ll be fun if it works to do seasonal flavors like peach and strawberry.

We’ve been eating some rice and beans and pulled pork for the last few days, plus salad stuff. Tonight I’ll do a big salad and something from the freezer souper cubes. I need to work on a menu plan or at least an outline for the week. I know tofu will be on the menu as I have a few packs.

1May2026

Friday Things

Posted in bread, budgeting, budgets, cancer, cooking, Death, frugalism, husband by Chris N

I had a good day yesterday. After infusion, I went over to the fancy Nugget. It is beautiful, but I could definitely not AFFORD to shop there. I was going specifically to check what RG beans they had. They didn’t have a big selection, but I did pick up one bag. Interestingly, the price was the SAME as on the RG website.

I haven’t tried these, so I’ll check them out. Then I also bought a fancy sandwich to share with my daughter, Texas hold ’em. I had my half after I came home. Also bought some milk and half and half that I needed. Overall, it is a beautiful store, but way out of my price range. I picked up some radishes that at Winco would probably be 79 cents, and they were 1.99, so yeah:( I’ll stick to Winco, TJ’s occasionally, and Costco, and now using the month free trial ( actually $1) at Walmart.

I do like the Walmart delivery, and my daughter did a pickup after work( it’s right there on her way home). She wanted some Bubbly water and apples, plus she threw in a few other things. She said it was super easy, so we may do that going forward. My daughter hates shopping, so this works well for her.

After I came home, I started on some freezer meatloaf and some spaghetti sauce. Not too sure about the meatloaf. I followed a NYT recipe, but it kinda looked weird, so I won’t know till I bake it.

Since today is a DEX day, I don’t drive or get on step ladders, so I’ll just potter around and see what I get done. I have a load of laundry to fold and a loaf of sourdough to bake. I’m using a loaf pan to see how I like that rather than the dutch oven.