What a nice day we had yesterday. My son and his partner brought bagels and lox and some lovely flowers. It was nice to visit, and I’ll miss seeing him for almost 3 weeks while he’s in Japan.

The wood guy showed up and the wood looked very nice. He brought his 2 young daughters who were very cute.//Anyway I’m set for wood for the winter.

I plan on going to do weights this morning. Not sure if I’ll do anything else in town but I’ll see how I feel. I do like to go the thrift store Sunday am as nobody or very few people are there. I’ll just see how I feel when I’m done.

Other than that, I don’t have much I need to do. I’ll probably do a once around the house and then look at what the week brings. I have dentist appt and my other shot so that’s two days of something planned. I’ll black out Friday for after RSV shot day.

Birthday flowers, Tasha Tudor, looking out B’s office window, and a crazy looking raccoon!! That’s out by the wildlife pond that they like to splash around in.

Well, I had one shot in the left arm and one shot in the right arm. I did ok most of the day, and even that night was ok. But then I woke up the next morning with the usual fever very slight) and a bit achy. I went back to bed for a few hours and then when I got up started to feel ok. So overall, not bad, and now it’s done. Next week is the RSV shot, so I guess it’ll be the same thing.

My arms are just a bit sore but not awful.

Today I am getting the wood delivered and tfor the price, it better be good. the guy seems very nice and has been very communicative about when he was available.

My son and his partner are coming up too and we’re having a bit of a birthday brunch. He’s bringing Noah’s bagels. He’s not staying too long as he’s getting ready to leave for Japan.

Since I don’t want to put the whole Ca fair plan on the CC, I decided to do the 3 payment option. Not what I want but needs must. The increase was close to $1K so a huge increase and that’s not even the AAA rider which comes as a separate bill. Oh well, I’ll get through 🙁

After those are carded, I’ll wait and do property tax the very beginning of December. That’ll give me time to figure out more budget stuff. Still having to charge is not my first choice or second or third, but it needs to be paid. Buying the firewood at $475 is about all the extra money I have right now. sigh 🙁

Our hot weather is back for a bit. The house gets closed up by 8 am and stays ok in the afternoon. The way the sun is angled this time of year the heat just isn’t the same as July. Still it’s too warm to have a twinkle fire outside. Maybe in a few days.

Well, I’d better get going and get ready.

Yesterday was my birthday. I turned 74.

I did what I love, and that is go swimming. The pool was a bit busy, but I had a lane to myself for most of it. Sweet! Then I shopped at Winco and Nugget. At Nugget which is a high end grocery store, their deli is top notch so I boght a few things, and then the real reason I went was to get something from their very beautiful bakery. I picked up a slice of tiramisu( my favorite) and chocolate cupcakes for when my son comes up.

My other choice was to go to Tahoe for the day but that didn’t really fit with the day so maybe soon. I do miss Tahoe in the fall.

It’s been a mixed year. Some good things and of course, sadness with Barclay not here to do these things with. It is a strange place to be in.

This coming year, I’d like to travel a bit more and figure out the camping stuff. I’d like to add in some ‘special’ things to do that I wouldn’t ordinarily do. Something like the Napa Valley wine train experience. I think I’d like to do a road trip with my daughter too. That though involves dealing with 6 cats so someone would need to house sit. We’ll see.

At least, I’ve dealt with the Triumph( which my son is taking over) and death related business stuff too. The truck is my son’s now too although I haven’t done the title part yet. The last part of this ‘what’s left’ will be the RV. I plan on selling it probably around May. Who knows though if there’s a market and I’m sure there won’t be a lot of profit. But I really want to move past it since it’s not being used except for when my son comes up to spend the night. I guess, I’d need to figure something out, maybe a sofa bed type thing. Although the studio( which is now my daughters office space) does have a bed. I guess time will tell.

Mostly, I want to keep doing the simple things that bring me joy, walking, swimming, reading, the library, cooking bread making and being present. Of course, in the mix of all this is managing my cancer and hoping the Velcade continues to keep things at bay. Life!!

Another really nice sunrise. So pretty. The park was empty when I got there, but people started coming in quickly by 7am. I was almost done, so it didn’t bother me.

My labs came back good. My kappa light chains went down one point, so that’s a win for me. I was very happy with that. It feels like every month is a crapshoot, but at least it’s keeping the myeloma down. No news on getting my LLS grant. It’s been close to 6 months since there has been funding, so I’m sure I’m not the only one waiting for it to open up. It would really help my budget, that’s for sure.

The other good news was that the prescription for Meibo was approved, and I think it’s showing up today. It’ll be interesting to see if it improves my eyes. I certainly hope so, but at least I can give it a go for the month. Hopefully, I’ll know if it’s working within a week. I think it’s one drop daily but I’ll need to check the instructions. They went me a short video on how to use the drops as the bottle is tricky and you need to prime it. Hopefully I won’t mess it up.

The rest of the day is open, so I’m not sure what I’ll get up to. I’ve made a chicken pot pie for dinner, and I have some whole wheat sandwich bread rising. That’s all the cooking I’ll probably do today. I only did the pot pie because I had leftover chicken, and I didn’t want to freeze a small amount.

I do need to dust the whole house and check when my friend can come to clean.

It’s been a quiet week, mostly being home. My daughter is still testing positive, and hopefully today she won’t. It’s been a week, so I hope that’s the case. Since she was vaccinated, her symptoms were very mild except for losing her sense of smell and taste. I guess that’s one way to lose weight. I’m going to get test today to see if there’s any change. Right now I feel fine except for sneezing and some allergy stuff.

Since I tested negative yesterday, I went to the pool, and I’m so glad I did. It was really nice, and the water was perfect. I came straight home though, as I didn’t need any groceries. I did fill up the car at Costco, and it was $5.89 per gallon, a big hike from just last week.

My son’s friend was supposed to come and do a house cleaning for me, but we cancelled due to COVID. He’s a wonderful person and does a great job. I’d like to reschedule for next week once my daughter tests negative. It’s been over a week, so I hope it’s soon.

Today, I need to go pick up my glasses and make sure the transition lines are right. I’ve only had to take glasses back once because they weren’t done right, so I hope these are okay.

Our weather today is supposed to be mid 70’s so really nice. This fall has been nice. I’ll probably have a twinkly fire outside.

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.