Hurray!!

Going into month 4 of being off Dex and Velcade, my Kappa and Lambda light chains are normal. Ratio is at 1.08, so that’s great.

I am very happy with this. I’m really hoping I can squeak out at least the 6 months. I’m pretty sure my doctor, who’s quite conservative, would not start treatment right away even with a small increase. And I agree. Others may not ,being I’m not doing any maintenance.

In the past , it’s worked better for me to go off all chemo while I can. That may not be true down the road. But I’m not down that road yet.

In other news, my sister and her 3 daughters ,show up tomorrow. First night , dinner is chili with corn tortillas and pintos with tortillas for the veges.

Then next night I’m planning butternut squash soup and a big chopped salad. WE’re going out to the winery for lunch and wine tasting.

Another night I’m grilling some chicken, and then there will be a taco night( I think).

Then this coming week is my doctor appointment. it’s so nice to just get the results on the e-portal. So much easier and less stressful.

Tonight is Friday night pizza.  A pepperoni and sausage and peppers and a cheese one.

The Gardener’s cottage

I was reading The Gardener’s cottage blog about her cleaning routines and I thought hmmm, maybe I’ll write something like that too. People do love her blog and especially photos of herself and her small house. Her house was in (I think) Country Living  magazine. So pretty jazzy.

I credit Flylady for my daily, weekly and monthly routines. She was the first person who helped me with decluttering too.  We got rid of so much in those first few years and then now that we embrace minimalism, we’ve gotten rid of even more. I still find things to declutter but not nearly as much as it was. Plus, I do find it’s a journey into your own attachments and emotions. I’m not nearly as emotionally attached to things as I was. I think the intentionalism of minimalism is loud and clear for me.

I use to do Feng Shui professionally. I think that also had an influence on clearing the clutter. I still feel there is more to go with creating the home space I want, but it is very  much a simple space. Realizing we only have so much space in our small house has been a big one, even though it seems obvious. When at the peak of clutteredness, we had a grand piano, 2 couches, a large oak table stuffed in this room. Now that was claustrophobic.

• Anyway, here’s my daily to do:
• Wake up around 5;30 and wait for coffee to be done
• If the dishwasher needs emptying ,do that, but I try and have it done in the evening
• make bed and tidy covers.
• I walk @ 6 am-or so. It’s quite dark now at 6, so I try and give myself some leeway and go 6:10-6:15
• I check banking stuff, budget stuff and blogs.
• wipe down bathroom( I use Kirkland wipes) I know not zero waste or natural, but they work for me.
• Tidy kitchen and plan what I’m making for dinner or if I need to batch cook rice or beans or bread.
• start one load of laundry
• tidy living room and other areas if needed

Now weekly, I do Flylady’s home blessing which is dusting, washing mirrors, vacuum, change sheets all on Monday. Plus whatever zone I’m in I wash those windows. since I have minimalized and decluttered it really doesn’t take me more that 15 minutes to do a room except the kitchen. The kitchen takes way longer because I wash all the cabinets, clean the stove, degrease, wash fridge etc.

Every 3-4 months I do all the outside windows using Windex’s outside spray bottle which attaches to the hose. Surprisingly, this product works great and all I do is spray the window.

Right now with the weather changing, we’ve had to move my office sitting chair into the front room. it’s too crowded and I’m just going to have to get rid of something. right now there’s 2 dog crates in my little office are. Not real happy about it but the 2 border collies are short hair and get cold when it’s raining. I still have my Heywood table I

use as a desk out there but it’s not as comfy as the chair.

This book is terrific with great recipes. John Currence is a no holds kinda guy and each recipe has a story to go with it. It’s lots of fun to read and as I said the recipes are great. His southern style cooking is  nothing short of amazing.

It is laid out really well too, starting with ‘the welcome basket’.

.There’s some great egg recipes, omelets and frittatas.  A complete chapter on waffles and pancakes.  I also like the sandwich chapter and I want to try the spicy pimento cheese and ham sandwich.

You probably wouldn’t want to eat like this every day, but brunches or breakfast for dinner would be fun too.

I can only imagine how wonderful going to his restaurant would be.

This book is a real winner.There’s some great egg recipes,

I was given this book to review by bloggingfor books in exchange for my opinion.

I can’t wait to try the black pepper buttermilk biscuits. Yummm

I am NOT Jewish, but I love the essence of Jewish Holidays.  Tonight begins Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. To me, it seems fitting this time of year. maybe because it’s my birthday time , but I think it’s more that Fall seems to me the time for beginnings. The season is changing but I like to think it’s just a new beginning.

L’Shanah Tovah!!!  Celebrate!