Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cooking, Walking by

Well, plans change. My son ended up not feeling well (sore throat), so he didn’t come up. I told him he should go to Urgent care and make sure it’s not something like strep that needs an antibiotic. He said he’s see how he is today. Stubborn! Anyway, I missed him and hope he can come up soon.

Today is another hot one. I really hate this 100 degree weather. The house is staying cool though but I do not look forward to our PGE bill next month. I think it’s hot today and tomorrow and then we drop down to the 80’s.

I really don’t feel very motivated when it’s this hot to do anything. I’ve been practicing some Sashiko stitches.

I had a nice walk this morning and only 2 other people there. Nice. The geese are learning to fly and most of the first batch of babies are flying away. There’s 2 more that are just starting to fly across the park to the upper field. Another season of life.

Yesterday, after the pool, I went over to Winco. It was busy as it was Saturday morning. I spent @ $50 for food. Then over to Trader Joes and spent @ $75 for food. I picked up 2 bags as one is a gift. I was pretty wiped out after I got home.

In my last post I mentioned the tax deductions for single( which I guess is what I am). Vicky commented that although the standard deduction is $16,100 there are 2 other deductions that are available until I believe 2028. I haven’t plugged anything in yet but if I owe, i think it’ll be very small. Or hopefully nothing. I guess I’ll find out next year. 🙁

This week, I again don’t have any appointments,so I’ll plan a Costco trip for coffee and TP and a few other things like some fruit.

Last night we just had a TJ’s salad and it was plenty. I have some mushrooms to use and spinach, so I might make a curry with some chicken.I’m not sure how the mushrooms are since I bought them on my last Winco shop.

Pictures of Gus. He does not like the heat, and so this chair is in the direct line of the window cooler. He’s chlling!

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This picture was from my 2010 on my son’s birthday. We went out for pizza! How young we look. I still had a good amount of hair which from 4 years of Velcade has thinned considerably. Barclay always had a great head of hair, so curly!

Friday Things

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The tree people showed up yesterday to limb one of our big pines. I had specifically said I didn’t want it limbed but removed, as it has quite a lean. The lean isn’t toward our house, but it is across the lines. So they left, and then later the supervisor (I assume) came back, walked around, but didn’t come to the door to tell me what was up. I walked out there later, and there is no different mark that I can tell. We’ll see. Taking trees is hugely expensive and I still have at least 2 that I will need to pay for at some point.

It’s another super hot day. My son and his partner are coming up though, to celebrate his birthday. My sweet boy is 32. I didn’t get him anything special but will give him some money to help with his Japan trip. We’re doing something for lunch but I’ll let him decide. Since that’s most of the morning and early afternoon, I ‘m not going to the pool or town. I do need a few groceries but I may hold off till tomorrow.

Another thing I I found out about taxes, is that since this is the first year I’ll file single, my standard deduction is half of what it was. So 16500 approx and i think there is another senior something. But i may have to pay a small amount of tax which I’m pretty flipped over. I don’t even have enough with what I get to save anything. Well, I guess that’s fucked up.

That’s it for now.

Thankful Thursday and a day trip to Napa Valley

Posted in books, budgeting, budgets, California, Gratitude, Sashiko, travel, Uncategorized by

I am very thankful we had a wonderful day trip to Napa. I’ve wanted to go back since B died and show my daughter some of our favorite places. We didn’t spend the night, as that would have added to the expense, but we did some fun things. First and foremost, we did the Napa Valley Wine Train for their 3-course lunch.

It was such a great experience and something Barclay and I always wanted to do. the food was exceptional.

First, I showed them the RV park where we stayed in Napa. Such a great place. This time it was packed due to the fair but they got an idea of what it was. Then it was off to Oxbow and Modele’s bakery. We loaded up on goodies to bring home including their famous English Muffins.

Again I’m grateful to still be able to do these things.

It was a long day, but I felt pretty good overall.

I’m thankful we have window coolers as this heat and now the smoke from the fires is terrible. Today and tomorrow look like the hottest days.

I’m thankful that I have this time.

Today, is a home day except having to go down to the post office as a piece of important mail was put in our box by mistake and I want the person to get it ASAP.

I don’t have anything else much to do but need to tidy up some. Yesterday, at the library I got some non fiction books so I’ll look through those. One is on Sashiko, which I did enjoy doing. Maybe I’ll order some new thread. I think I got that from Etsy.

Anyway, the road goes on and on…


  (?)

J.R.R. Tolkien

“The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say”

― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

tags: road

Simple Sunday and Lammas

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, Uncategorized, Walking by

Yesterday was Lammas, or the cross-quarter on the Celtic calendar. I didn’t bake bread although I probably could have cooked it outside on the patio. Lammas celebrates the harvest, thus the wheat has come in and there is bread making. It was strange how, I was sitting on the couch looking out the window, as I do a lot, and I instantly knew the light had changed. It was about 4:30, and I said to my daughter, look how the sun angle is different on the driveway. Then I realized it was August 1.

Anyway, it’s hot and going to be hot all week. I guess, I’m resigned at this point. We do have the little pool my daughter set up and it’s nice to float in it. It’s only 3 foot deep but on a little floatie, you don’t know the difference.

I’ve also had terrible allergies these last 3 days.The only thing I can think of is grasses outside. I rarely have allergy reactions so this was a bit annoying especially since I have sneezing and blowing my nose all day. I did take an allergy pill and that helped.

I finally got out and did a walk this morning. I haven’t been very motivated this last week. Maybe when the temperatures drop I’ll feel more motivated. It was a nice walk though. Even a little cool.

I do plan on going to the gym this morning.At least I can get doing my weights in. I think this coming week, I’ll get over to Mahaney gym and do weights there and treadmill. Plus, I’ll get to pool. At least, I hope to do that. With this heat, I am definitely not too motivated to go out.

I need to plan some meals for the week. We never had the tamales, so I could do that, some chicken, and I did make some coleslaw so I can add that in to whatever else I’m making. We’ll see, meal planning is low on my priority list right now. My son’s birthday is this week too, so I’ll check in with him what he might want to have to celebrate.

Friday Things

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, budgets, California by

Boy, it’s hot. I hate the heat. At least, knock on wood, no fires nearby.

I was planning on meeting my library friends this morning but the cafe was closed due to a water leak. So I went down to the pool and then came straight home. I was home.maybe 10 minutes and my one friend called and said she was at the cafe and where was everybody? Apparently she didn’t get the memo, but at that point the cafe had reopened so I popped down and had an iced tea and we caught up. They just moved house into Auburn so that they’re closer for her husband’s medical needs. Ahhhh, getting old is something else.

I’ve worked on August’s budget and nothing unexpected so far. I hope to make a bit of progress on my CC. We’ll see.

I keep checking LLS but no luck yet. I’m guessing it’s going to be a while. But there is a change that will affect quite a few people coming. They are now only going to give awards to people on Medicare,Medicaid and Tri ? something. So that is going to cut out a lot of people. I wonder what their reasoning is?

My labs came back and they are the same as last month,kappa at 34.7, so I’ll take it. My ratio went up due to Lambda going up but that’s ok for now. My ratio definitely goes up and down. So another month of not stressing,for now.

Last night I just made us a couple of cheese quesadillas and had some potato salad from Ikeda’s. Tonight we might have the cheese tamales but I’ll see what my daughter wants.

Monday we are going on a bit of an adventure so that will take the whole day. I’ll take some pictures. Also, Friday is my son’s birthday. He’ll be 32. Where does the time go?? I know he and his partner have plans for Saturday but I’ll see if he’s coming up on Friday. With it being so hot, it may be better to wait.

Is it hot where you live? And what do you do to keep busy or is it watch TV/youtube??

Thankful Thursday

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, budgets, California, Gratitude, home stuff, swimming, Uncategorized by

I’m thankful it’s been a good week without any appts apart from my lab appt. I did that early yesterday (7:30), and then went to the pool.

I’m thankful the guy who does my draws is quite good and this time he left NO mark, so that’s a win.

The pool was wonderful and I had a lane to myself the whole time. I’m a little stiff this morning from swimming but that happens if I haven’t been for 6 days. I am very thankful for this pool and how well it is maintained. It’s been 5 years since I started back swimming. I plan to go one more time this week. That may then exclude going to the gym as I do need to be conscious of time and gas $.

The weather is hot, that’s all I can say and it looks like this is hot and next week is hotter. Not my favorite at all. I did a little outside watering yesterday and will do some this morning. We’re not trying to keep any grass green, just watering lavender bushes etc.

I’m thankful my daughter did the Costco trip for water. We do use plastic bottles, mostly I do at night when I wake up and need a drink and also I use bottles to track how much H2O I drink. Not ideal with the plastic, but it is what it is and I have to choose my battles.

After the pool , I went across the street to Winco and got a few things. Mostly, I wanted some veggies and although not organic, they do have wonderful produce. They do have organic veggies though. I bought a cabbage for coleslaw, jalapeno peppers, bell peppers, and romaine lettuce. I picked up some corn tortillas to make enchiladas. I also picked up a pre seasoned tri tip so I might make that tonight. I don’t usually buy meat at Winco, just Costco so I’ll see how the quality is.

Today, I plan on decluttering some in the bedroom and clean out the fridge some. I think I’ll put a pot of beans on too. Later, I’m going to pop out to Ikeda’s for more tomatoes. I kinda feel like going to the bookstore but that’s on the other side of town. We’ll see, maybe my daughter will want to go.

I am thankful to have started recycling again. It’s kind of a pain to do but I’m keeping it manageable. It’s in a convenient location so I like that. I only had 3 bags, so I got back $8. Not bad. I think next time I’ll wait to have a bit more.

Simple Sunday

Posted in budgets, California, cooking, home stuff, Walking by

Well, it’s officially hot and getting hotter. I saw close to 100 next week. Yikes. Coolers will be going.

I woke up early around 5 and decided to get up instead of lying there for half an hour. I checked my ResMed, and it looked good. Good mask fit and .2 events, which is almost perfect.

I did find a cancellation for my labs on Wednesday morning at 7:30, which is better for me than 11:40. I’ll keep checking, and maybe one will open up on Monday or Tuesday. Because of forgetting to do it, I went ahead and scheduled my next labs for after my August Velcade, so that’s done.

We’ll see how the labs are. It takes 3 months of a trend to be sure of something, so I hope it goes down slightly or at least stays the same.

The gym was a bit busy, but I did my usual weights and a little treadmill. Since I walked already this morning, I only did about 12 minutes.

After the gym, I went over to Goodwill and found a few things. A new Gap T-shirt in navy, which is always a hard color to find for some reason. Then a cool Starbucks cup that is a mini coffee press. It looked brand new. That’ll be fun to try.

I have chicken for dinner, as we had the cheese chile relleno last night. My daughter did it in the air fryer, and I’d definitely recommend that way to cook it.

The rest of the day is probably spent hanging out inside, as it’s too hot already to go sit outside. I’ll send iRobot around to vacuum and maybe mop. I’ve been doing some embroidering on napkins, so I might keep doing that.

Saturday Stuff

Posted in books, California, meal planning, Walking by

Still a bit dexed out, but I think if my daughter drives, we can go to the pet bookstore. I’d also like to get the Santa Fe washed. It’s fun to go check out the books and DVDs. I did buy a Blu-ray of The Lincoln Lawyer a while ago and watched it last night. I liked it.

Still a warm day today with temperatures in the low 90s. It is nice right now, and I had a nice walk. A few people at the park, but that’s just the norm now.

I made homemade pizza last night using 1/2 the TJ’s pizza dough. It stretched out quite thin, and with just a small amount of sauce, this time I used TJ’s whole milk mozzarella. It came out excellent. Their pizza dough is a fabulous bargain and stores well. It probably upped my calorie count for the day, but I’ll consider it my cheat day. I did lose a few pounds, but it seems at least one pound came back. At some point, I will go back to my PCP and get the Zepbound prescription. But right now I really don’t want to add anything to what I already take.

Tonight I think I’ll grill up some chicken, and I have some broccoli to use too. If I don’t feel like that, then I’ll do the chile relleno from TJ’s with some home-canned beans.

Well, off to start the day.

Friday Things

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Frugally, I spent $150 at Trader Joe’s, plus some of their Charles Shaw wine. I did get several frozen things for some fun meals like chow mein, cheese tamales, and a chile relleno. A spinach pack, which hopefully is safe to eat. Oh, plus two candles, and another orchid. I was YouTubing orchids and when I can expect a spike, and mostly it’s during their active period, winter and spring. So I guess it’s just a matter of being patient.

Then yesterday, after Infusion, I stopped at our local and quite famous produce pie stand ( Ikeda’s) for tomatoes. ($39) I’ve been really craving my favorite summer meal of thick-sliced tomatoes and mayonnaise on bread. So I got one heirloom tomato and a few others that were local. The heirloom was sliced up when I got home, and it did not disappoint. I also got some of their homemade salsa and chips and a potato salad. I was a little surprised that all of it was excellent. Usually I find fault with stuff like that, but not this time. Ikeda’s was started by the Japanese family Ikeda back in, I believe, the 70’s or maybe earlier. My son went to preschool with one of the younger boys. I believe their children are still the owners/managers, as I saw one of them yesterday. They are famous for their pies and fruit.

Today is a Dex day, so I’m homebound and just chilling. Not sure what I’ll get up to. The temperatures are back in the low 90s, so morning is nice, but then by 3 it’s getting too hot to be out. I’ll probably do some watering outside early.

This is little Wormie (smudge) on the Ikea chair. He’s the one attached to my daughter. All our chairs are cat chairs, and we just have to squeeze in next to them.

Beans went to the vet yesterday my daughter took him), as we wanted to be sure he was ok, since he’d lost weight. The vet said he seemed fine and took a blood sample just in case, and said to do another round of worm medicine. He was a good boy here, my daughter said!!!

All in all, a good week.

Midweek Musings/Thankful Thursday

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I’ve had a few productive days. I mostly cleaned up the laundry room. A little left to do, as I needed the step ladder to get some cob webs down, and it wasn’t in there. My daughter must have it somewhere. But there’s one in the house I can bring out. Found it!!!

It’s really hot again (95 yesterday), and that totally unmotivated me. I think it’s the same for a while, but that’s summer in California( at least in the Sierra Nevada foothills). SF, Berkeley, Bay Area, it’s quite different, as this is the foggy time of year. ( see update)

When I was at Costco, I was getting my Swiffer dusters, which I use almost daily. I walked by the Swiffer mop set. It was such a good price ( 14.97) that I bought one. I used it once already, and it seems to do a good job. I just need a hook to hang it somewhere.

My son is coming up today, as he is taking a few days off from work to be here and work on the barn. He wants to empty one side at a time and rearrange things. The barn is really his domain now, so he can do that.

Thankful Thursday

Yesterday was cooler, and it was even nice to be outside some. I’m thankful it was, as my son was working in the barn and it was not boiling.

Today is also a very nice temperature. I have Velcade this morning, and then I’m going down to the library to get my holds. I’m always grateful for the library and books in general.

I have my August budget ready, and it looks ok so far. X amount of dollars only goes so far, and that’s it. Still, I’m grateful for what I have. I asked on the Facebook Myeloma group when the last funding was, and the consensus seemed to be a while ago. So it’s just a matter of checking daily.

I forgot to book my labs for Monday morning, and nothing is available. So I had to book on Tuesday, but much later, near noon. Not too happy about that, but it’s my own fault. I checked a few other labs, and nothing in the early morning was available. Fortunately, this is not a fasting test, although the glucose will be higher as I will have eaten breakfast.

After the library and Velcade, I’ll come home and see what needs doing.