Monthly Archives: July 2018

Retail Shock

Posted in Flylady, minimalism, Uncategorized by

Yesterday my daughter and I went down to the Apple store in the Galleria Mall. This is quite a nice mall with tons of high-end stores like Louis Vuitton and Tiffany.

My daughter needed to get a new battery put in her iPhone 6.  Now, I haven’t been in this mall in maybe 5 years except to go once maybe twice to Crate and Barrel and then I would only go in thru the doors on the outside. ( not in the mall itself). Well, I tell you, I was completely in overload, shock and, amazement the sheer number of people there and the amount of consumerism going on. Really I felt like my head was going to explode.  There lines of people for 2 things we saw. Finally, I asked someone what they were waiting for. He was so excited,” Free Lipstick””.  JFC!!! Free lipstick???? the line was halfway down the mall.  Then the other huge line was ( I’m guessing here) for Nordstroms’s annual sale. They must have a limit of people in the store at any one time so, there was another huge line.  Really,????? Really???

Then inside the Apple store, it was like an alternative universe. It was so completely shocking the number of people just in there playing with devices and waiting for service.

The other thing was we had come from the gym so we were in gym clothes ( which is generally my uniform of black cotton capris and a white T-shirt). But it looked everyone, was dressed for something I don’t even know what.  I didn’t see one person carrying a water bottle but me. It was really a culture shock.

My daughter and I had a nice lunch though, at Plutos. Pluto’s has great salads and actual roast turkey(real).  We had a lovely turkey sandwich which was delicious, so I guess that’s one thing that was fun.

The parking lot had people circling like vultures. Honestly, if I never go back I’ll be happy.  Anything I want or need really, even from Williams Sonoma( their white kitchen towels are the best I have ever had and last years), I will just buy on- line.

I came home and collapsed in a heap!!! Fortunately,  the drive down and back was fine. My little VW( that is 18 years old), did great and the AC worked wonderfully too.

I guess after seeing this I can only say Wow, people, you need to discover minimalism and zero waste, even if it’s a just a little.  I just cannot even imagine why ALL these people would need to be there on a Sunday!!!

So, tomorrow, I have my foot doctor appt. This is the 1 month follow up. I don’t think it’s completely healed since after walking so much yesterday I can feel some stress on the top of my foot. But it is 92% better.

This morning I did the Flylady zone of the living room.  Washed windows in there and my office area. Then I made a chocolate zucchini bread. I’ll let you know how it is.

 

 

Five on Friday

Posted in Blood test, home improvement, Uncategorized by

I wanted to write this as a separate post from my good news with my labs.

But first,  I want to give a shout out to Bob over at Satisfying Retirement.

He wrote a very good post on being prepared for retirement. Or in our case, what not to do, but now scrambling to do!! ( If that made sense)!

So five:

  • my great news on my labs is top of my list
  • we went to Home Depot and bought a security screen door so we can leave the front door open at night and let cool air in!!
  • it’s been a hot,hot week, but we’ve managed to keep the yard watered and the house cool.
  • my son fixed the AC in my old van and it’s nice and cold now. so that saved us the money from taking it down the road to the mechanic.
  • we’ve had lots of zucchini from the garden this week and they have been excellent in a variety of recipes.

My sons birthday is coming up in the first week of August. He already received his present which was the trip and tickets to Elton John in LV.  But I am going to tuck a little money in an envelope for him and tell him that’s the start of his emergency fund.

Not much else going on, there are terrible fires all over but the one in Yosemite and up near Redding are especially bad. Our air quality is not so good.

 

OMG….

Posted in Blood test, Multiple myeloma, Uncategorized by

Such good news!!!!

My kappa light chains went down almost 2 points.

Lambda light chains stayed just about the same.

The ratio went down to 1.18.  The ratio is a very important piece of the whole equation.

So all in all, I am beyond thrilled. This is now month 25 after stopping Velcade.

It is so amazing and I am so grateful and happy.

Time to celebrate!!!

A book review.

Posted in books, Uncategorized by

I’m back at Netgalley reading some books and then giving a review.

This one is cover142452-mini.png The beginner’s KetoDiet Cookbook.

I’ve been curious about the KetoDiet for a while. So when I had the chance to review this I was excited.

The book is very well done with lots of interesting recipes that even if you didn’t want to follow Keto all the way they would be good. The pictures are lovely as well.

The author gives a very detailed explanation about having a KetoDiet and the many positive things about it.

I’d definitely recommend reading this book and I will be trying a few recipes myself.

 

Tahoe Blue

Posted in Blood test, Lake tahoe, Myeloma, plants, Political things, Uncategorized by

The-things-you-own-end-up-owning-you.jpg

I actually haven’t seen this movie ‘The Fight Club’ but I do love this quote.

Note: that’s just a random thing I put in there, because I saw it the other day.

Tahoe Blue VODKA!!!

So here’s a funny snippet. The other morning I come out of the bedroom and it’s maybe 6:45 am ( of course I’ve been up for at least an hour), but my son sees me with the bottle of Tahoe Blue. He says” it’s a little early isn’t it”???

IMG_1463.jpg

Well, the funny thing is I reuse pretty bottles like this one to put water in and then water my plants!!!! So I had just finished the plants in the bedroom.

I don’t even drink Vodka although with all the Trump stuff going on I may start soon.

Today is my lab day. I figure I’ll call next week or maybe Friday as it does take 3 days for the SPEP test. All I can do is just wait and see. I feel good but that can be deceiving with myeloma.

I’m also going to do some weights at the gym and then stop at the market as I need half and half and a few other things. I’m trying not to shop till Aug 1 although that is a week away and I know I’ll need some fruit at the very least.

We are in a heat wave and today is supposed to be 102. Yikes!!!

Dinner is unknown at this point.

 

Simple Sunday​

Posted in Blood test, cooking, minimalism, simple foods, simplicity, Uncategorized by

It’s a little cooler at 93 degrees. I’m still running the window coolers so I can only imagine how high the electric bill will be especially since there’s an excessive heat warning for the middle of the week.

I went to the gym and it was nice and mostly empty.

This week is my 2-month labs. I know my oncologist is in Europe for 2 weeks so he won’t get my labs back to me so I’ll need to call his nurse for the results or wait.  I don’t have any particular sense which way it will go. They have been creeping up so I guess there’s that. I’m not sure one ever gets over the anxiety of labs once you’ve had cancer.  You wait for them with bated breath.  But in the end, there’s not much you can do but accept what the results are. I feel pretty good so there’s that.

My son fixed the AC in my old van so it’s blowing cold again. He didn’t fill the thing all the way with the R 124?? so I’ll buy another can of that tomorrow.

I’ve prepped a big salad for dinner and I’m going to grill some salmon.  I might add in a carb but not sure what yet. This week with B gone to Minnesota, I’ll keep the menus easy especially since my daughter doesn’t get home till 7.  Maybe sandwiches, tacos, pancakes?? We’ll see. Nothing too heavy as it’s too hot to eat heavy foods.

I gave away 2 sets of Fiesta ware to my brother, so that’s more out the door. I gave him the peacock blue color and the dark blue. I wasn’t in love with either color although the dark blue is pretty.  I still have plenty of other colors to use. I was going to give them to the Cancerthrift but then realized I had given him 2 sets a few years ago so this would make 4.

This week I might do a little more reorganizing the pantry.  I was thinking of taking everything off the stainless steel restaurant shelves and reorganize that way. We’ll see.

 

This week is the bedroom zone in Flylady, so I’ll work on tidying the closet. Plus it does hold my pantry back up items.

Overall, it should be a quiet week except hot!!!

 

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, cooking, decluttering, Uncategorized by

All the bills are done for the month so that’s frugal or at least budget conscious.

images.jpeg

I have most of next month budget done except for a few things like planning the deck for the studio. That may end up going in 2 parts as it will be pricey.

Yesterday at Costco did add up but I won’t need some of the things I bought for at least 6 months( a 2 pack of Grey Poupon mustard), Cholula ( large size 2 bottles, a case of black olives, and a case of bar soap. The bar soap will last a few years actually.  When I was on Revlimid I  had terrible cramping in my calves and Irish Spring under my bed sheet was a miracle worker. These cramps were extremely painful and would freeze up my entire calf muscle. The other remedy is pickle juice.

I was tempted to buy the Vitamix Costco has on sale and it is a great price. but I decided to wait on it. I’d like a Vitamix down the road for drinks, soups, nut butter etc, but I have to weigh out how much I will use it. Right now I use my new Cuisinart processor and my stand mixer.  So I guess I saved $300 on that for now.

I’m going to do a few errands after the gym today including dropping off a box at the Cancer Thrift store. I have some Fiesta ware that I just don’t use( a butter holder) and a pitcher and I don’t want to drop that off at Goodwill. ( More Stuff gone)

Then I have a big stack of towels to drop off at the SPCA and maybe if someones there I can check on the barn cats.(more stuff out of my car)

It’s a much cooler morning and nice. We’ll see how later is.

It’s Friday night pizza but I’m not sure I’m making one. We decided to change it to Pizza or Pasta night so I may go with pasta and some of that leftover pesto. We’ll see …I just may order out.

 

zoodles and other food stuff

Posted in budgets, cooking, simple foods, Uncategorized by

I stopped at our local fruit stand and picked up some corn. I like to keep a few bags of corn kernals frozen so I can add to soup or whatever in the fall or winter.

IMG_1459.jpg

Then we went to another local market that sells farmers produce, I picked up Kirby cucumbers for some refrigerator dill pickles.  I’d like to can then but that cooks the cucumbers and supposedly isn’t as good, so I’m just doing the quick pickles.

IMG_1461.jpg

Then another zoodle dinner. This recipe is from one of my absolutely favorite You tubers, Downshiftology.

IMG_0063.jpg

The recipe alls for homemade pesto and those cute little fresh mozarella balls. Also cherry tomatoes but I dint have any. It was delish!!

Go check out her site, she is Celiac so it’s all gluten free.  I’m not but I have to say all the recipes I’ve tried are excellent. Plus she eats like we do, simple and not alot of ingredients.

I also cut up 4 of our cabbages from the garden and started some sauerkraut. It squished down to 1/2 quart Ball jar size for 2 batches. The second batch I went and bought caraway seed so that will make it tasty!

Today was a Costco day and it was a whopper. Mostly because we bought pool shock in a big box and that’s $70, a special champagne to celebrate my daughters promotion, $40, T shirt, socks, they had wild sockeye salmon so I got some to freeze. ( I should have bought 2). Plus beer for B, cheese and who knows what else. But I won’t need to go down for a while except the dog medicine wasnt ready so I know I will need to make another trip.

Dinner is homegrown potatoes in a potato salad and burgers. I need to use up some organic beef from the other day. If it’s not too hot I’ll grill outside.

 

 

 

Summer food

Posted in cooking, simple foods, Uncategorized by

 

IMG_1451.jpg

Here’s the zuchinni that I made the zoodles with.  My spiralizer is the one I mentioned before that I found at Salvation Army for $4.00. It’s brand I was looking for Paderno.

IMG_1452.jpg

Tomatoes are starting to get ripe. I probably won’t have enough to can this year but I will go to a place where I can order 2 lugs which is about 40lbs. I ask for the uglies and get a very good deal on them.

IMG_1448.jpg

This is Atlas 150 pasta maker I found the other day at Goodwill for $5.00.  I did have to go buy a C clamp to attach to the counter and that was $3.00.

IMG_1449.jpg

thats the fetticine I made.  It was SO MUCH FUN!!!! If you’ve ever wanted to try making your own pasta it is really amazing easy. I was prety shocked.

IMG_1456.jpg

Voila!!!!!  Home made pasta with plain tomatoe sauce and basil from the garden!!!! The next thing I want to try is lasagna.

IMG_1454 (1).jpg

This is the zoodles with tomatoe, olive oil, garlic, a few shrimp, and parmesan reggiano.

What fun cooking.

We did eat inside, which is rare this time of year, but it was so hot outside.

Simple Sunday

Posted in cooking, reading, simple foods, simplicity, Uncategorized, Walking by

Well, it’s been a longish week.  Hot, Hot, more hot!!

There’s not much change for the coming week either.  I’m so glad we have an Intex pool. That was one of our better purchases since we both love the water so much. BTW, this newer model came with a sand filter so if you’re ever in the market for a pool that doesn’t cost a fortune these are a great value. This pump has kept the water crystal clear with some additions of shock but that’s expected.

I went to the gym and did weights.This morning  we walked one round in the park. I wore the boot and my foot felt ok. I won’t try and push to do it tomorrow. I was just happy to go and walk around once.  It has been discouraging not to be able to walk everyday but well life happens and it’s best to go with the flow.Healing my foot is top priority.  My other foot also feels like maybe something is tweaked. I do have a bone spur and osteoarthritis in both feet and that can be a cause of foot stress fractures. I hope that’s not whats going on.. I was going to check with my oncologist next time about whether the Zometa that I use to get for bone strength could help here.

A super fun find at the Goodwill was an Atlas 150 pasta maker. I got it for $5.00.  I’ve been looking for one forever. It wasn’t till I got home though and realized it didn’t have the clamp.  But I went to the hardware store and got a C clamp and that worked. I can get a replacement on Amazon for $20 so I might do that. Then this morning, viola!!! I made pasta.  So tonight I’m making the homemade pasta and then zoodles as we have some lovely zucchini in the garden.  I’m going to use a yellow and green zucchini.  Then I thought I’d made a garlic olive oil sauce and throw in a few shrimp.

So we will see how it turns out. Since it’s the first time making the pasta, I’m sure there’s a learning curve.  I’d like to try a lasagna with the home made noodles.

I decided to order Courtney Carver’s ‘ Soulful Simplicity’

and I have to say, I’m enjoying it. It’s way better that ‘ The year of Less’ and ‘Frugalwoods’.  So if you’re looking for some inspiration for minimalizing this is a good one. She does mention ‘God ‘ a few times so far but I’m okay with that as she does qualify it with ‘spirit’ or ‘heart’.  I also like Dave Ramsey and of course he does use lots of christian things but I overlook that for the content that’s being given.