Still having sinus issues and coughing some.
Did a few things, but not much.
Back tomorrow:(
Monthly Archives: December 2017
17th of December
Today we’re heading down to Costco, mostly because I need laundry soap. I like their unscented environmentally friendly soap. So while we’re there I figured I’d get cheese, bagels, and whatever else I have on my list. I’d like some Meyer lemons if they have any. I love Meyer lemons. We usually have a dwarf Meyer but the dwarf we bought a few years ago is just a regular lemon. this spring I’ll need to get one. As long as they are covered they can winter over here.
My sinuses are acting up and I hope it’s not going to be more than that. I could tell walking this morning that I was coughing up stuff which I don’t usually do. Plus I have a sinus headache:(
Still working on the Minimalist game, and my daughter loaded up a ton of stuff so I’m counting that in. I think at day 17, which would be 153 things, I must be about 250, so I’m ahead for now. I start to lose count after a while. There are 14 more days in the month. I still haven’t gotten in my file cabinet but plan to this week.
Dinner is ?? Since I’m not feeling super, I’ll see what I come up with. maybe soup.
16th of December
A brisk day with a north wind. Chilly but sunny.
We had a lovely walk this morning. It was nice to walk together.
I went to town and dropped another GoodWill load of the things I’d gathered from doing the minimalist game. Then I went to drop off food pantry stuff at our credit union that had a barrel out for our local food bank. It was a hefty bag of stuff that I gleaned from my own pantry. I’m trying to have only enough in our pantry that we use regularly. I guess if the apocalypse happens we’ll just have to make do. We do keep emergency water and some canned goods in the barn but it’s not in my regular rotation.
Then I went to Target to get some colored twinkly lights and there was not a one. But I picked up a candle, a white basket to hold some pantry goods, cat food(of course) and something else? Oh, there was a little artificial plant (tiny) in a white pot 1/2 off so it was $ 2.50. I put it in the bathroom as real plants have a hard time in there during the winter as it’s pretty cold.
So, home again and putting together my sisters christmas box of goodies to send. Then I put a gift bag together for our garbage guy. A target gift card and a bottle of maple syrup. Next up is our UPS guy. Proabaly another Starbucks gift card. That’s it. Oh, B picked up the GC for my brother at Tractor supply.
Dinner is a potato kugel and a cornish hen and a kale salad. My daughter said she’d cook. Yay!!! The potato kugel is from Smitten Kitchen so undoubtedly, good.
15th of December
Five things I learned from Chemotherapy.
Some things you just wish you didn’t ever have to go thru and Chemotherapy is certainly one of them.
But you don’t have a choice if you’re faced with cancer. Well, you do have a choice not to go thru chemo but more than likely it will end in death. Of course, there’s no guarantee even with chemotherapy but the odds are better. But generally, with today’s amazing drugs the odds are pretty good.
so,
- Your world gets smaller. You really just don’t go out as much. Partly because you feel lousy but also you want to avoid crowds, germs etc. I remember sitting in the car while my husband would go into the store for a few things and I would look around at all the people coming an going and thought, “wow”, “it’s all so ‘normal’ for them.”
- You realize that most things aren’t that important. So you ran out of eggs, figure out something else to eat then. Oatmeal? Just an example.
- Time slows down and you just drift from appointment to appointment. Time definitely was different. I didn’t keep a schedule as such and it wasn’t till I found FlyLady that I started my routines.
- Normal things become a big deal, like taking a shower, or getting out of bed. It wasn’t till a year and a half after my SCT, that I realized, I wanted to be normal again. I am forever grateful to A.L that hired me as a Library helper and equally profoundly saddened that S. S., ended that 8 years later by not stepping up to the plate to library administration. But life moves on.
- Your relationship to food, money, life, shifts and you realize life is just a fleeting moment and You learn to live in the Present. Even after being a meditator for 35 years, living in the moment with cancer taught me more, than all those years combined. You just had to be in the moment no matter how you felt.
It’s a strange place to be but then life moves on and you get back into the rhythm of it all when you hit that wonderful moment of remission or for some people and actual cure.
Today was a gym day,( yes, I love routine).
Dinner is homemade pizza.
14th of December
Minimalism is different for everyone. some people want 100 items, others just a clear, uncluttered space.
As I’ve written before, my minimalist journey started after I relapsed the first time in 2010. I had been drug-free for 4 years(2006). Then when my myeloma started surfacing I went on a chemo drug called Revlimid. In addition to Dexamethasone.
But, I digress, starting chemo again was scary but something shifted in me. I didn’t want clutter around me or useless stuff or really come to think about it. any stuff that seemed useless or just filling up spaces.
Thus started my whole minimalist journey. Not to get to 100 things but to really have our home feel spacious. Since our house is very small, I got rid of extra couches, chairs, piano, bookcases, tables and thousands of things to open up space.
I can still see down the road having a smaller dining table, maybe a few less bulky items. maybe even getting rid of a Heywood. Well, that might be a stretch but still, it’s openness I desire and white space to enjoy with green houseplants scattered around.
Right now I’m playing around with the Minimalists rule of 90/90. Have I used this in the last 90 days? will I use this in the next 90 days? This helps simplify the ‘hanging on to stuff for the what if ‘factor. It’s actually quite powerful when you look at a bookcase for instance. I have some cookbooks I like the covers of and the pictures are nice. But have I made a recipe out of them in the last 90 days, well no? My go-to for recipes is Kichtn on line or just doing a Google search. So I will remove those 3 books I’m looking at.
We aren’t going to be able to change our house structure or build an addition. This is what we have to work with and so I want to find that balance of useful things and space.
‘Space, the final frontier.’
13th of December
YES! YES!YES!, Doug Jones won. I am beyond excited that he beat that racist, pedophile Moore.
I love this quote and that it’s by Einstein.
I actually decluttered a few things that just don’t have a home (ie, a toothbrush thing that came with the sonic care). I haven’t used in in year so I put it in the thrift store box. There were a few other things too, like 2 small snow globes that really don’t have a place for.
I walked alone as B is on the north coast. Then I sliced cheese and prepped sliced meat for the FOAL luncheon.
Then I started laundry and made polenta. I didn’t go to the gym yesterday so I went today and just did a 30-minute workout.
I’m heading out to the luncheon soon.
I received a pre-release e-book of ‘ The Minimalist Kitchen’ and it is absolutely fantastic. I love it. I would highly recommend buying this book when it comes out it in March.
I still need to get a gift card for my brother at Tractor Supply this week. Other than that Christmas is going to very simple and minimalistic which I am thrilled about.
12th of December
Happy Hanukkah!!
We will light the menorah and have latkes (potato pancakes) with applesauce and sour cream.
Let me be clear, we are NOT Jewish, but I really like many Jewish traditions and Hanukkah is one of those. This year I got some beeswax candles and I think they will smell wonderful burning.
Try going slower this Christmas season. I think, is essential to living more simply and consciously. Maybe you could be done with shopping, maybe you have enough already. Think about it.
Dinner is latkes, applesauce, and ?
11th of December
So, when I checked my blog this morning yesterdays post was gone except for the title. I’ve gone everywhere to find it and even had my tech-savvy daughter check it and she couldn’t find it either. So, I’ll at least post the pictures.
These are the coconut macaroons, and there’s the first wreath.
So first off, I did the bathroom zone. Then dusted everything. Next, I made the peanut brittle. Yummy!!
So I just received my copy of the new book”The Art of Doing Nothing” by the blogger of Minimalist Mom. I love reading her blog. But the book, in my opinion, is just lacking something. I get she’s talking to a broad audience with ideas of how to lighten your schedule, do stuff for yourself, say no to things. I get it, but the book just seems to drone on and doesn’t really bring anything new to the table. I’ll give my copy to the Truckee Library. Maybe, I just already do most of the ideas so I was hoping for some new stuff.
Dinner is going to be a garbanzo curry stew.
10th of December
Somewhere in the universe is the blog I posted. Not sure what happened but it’s not there now. 🙁
9th of December
Another nice day here in Northern California. It’s so horrible what’s happening around Santa Barbara and southern Ca. B was supposed to fly down Monday to work the co-ops but cancelled due to the fires. I’m glad he’s not going. Just too dangerous.
I’m planning on making the 2 wreaths with pine boughs this weekend. I’ll post some pictures when they’re done.
We’ve been watching on Amazon prime’ The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”. It is so great. If you need a show to watch this is just about as good as it gets.
I made some rice crispy treats for everyone. My daughter is going gluten free after a breakout of hives from gluten( we think) so we’re trying some easy treats. I also made some fudge that I will use some of in Christmas gifts. (Unless we eat it all first). Then I may try some coconut macaroons tomorrow.
Dinner tonight is a potato leek soup and a green salad.
this was my bird tree from a few years ago. Since minimalizing even more, I just have one tree. I did want to get another live tree because they smell so great, but I wasn’t willing to spend the money.