Monthly Archives: November 2018

Rainy Wednesday

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The storm door is open and the rain /snow is here. We had some rain yesterday but more is slated for today and the next week almost. My daughter is going to stay in Truckee for a night or two due to the snow. It’s just not worth her driving for 3 hours just to turn around the next morning and so the same.  The snow starts tonight and will continue so she can just stay at a hotel.

The BMB went very well and I have to say I am completely impressed with Sutter’s services. The procedure went very fast and we even stopped for soup at our local cafe and were home by 12:30. Now we just have to wait for the bad news. Yes, I know that’s pessimistic but I don’t think with all the low counts that’s it’s going to be positive. But we will move forward. We haven’t heard from the specialists yet so if not by Friday, I’ll have B call.

Today is a gym day since yesterday was busy with the doctor appt.

I have some butternut squash baking and I’m going to make a puree for soup. I’m planning to freeze it and then make soup this weekend.

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Simple Sunday

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We had a delicious thanksgiving dinner. It all came out excellent and was one of the simpler ones we’ve had. I used the dry brine technique that Ina Garten suggests. I’m not sure if that’s what made the turkey so good or it was just a good turkey. The nut loaf was delicious too. All in all, a lovely day.

The rain has stopped but is supposed to be back tomorrow and then on and off for the next 10 days. We need it so no complaining. It does make feeding dogs and chores more challenging but that’s ok.

I had B go get the Christmas tree and so that’s up and I’ve put a few ornaments up and again, I’m not doing ALL the ornaments I have. I just want the tree to have our favorites this year. Definitely a decision in keeping it minimal and honestly, I’m not into the maintenance or look of a whole lot. Actually, I think it’s kinda exciting to make choices like this as it does confirm our minimalist lifestyle.

We went to the infusion center Friday so B got another infusion. Tuesday we head to Roseville for the BMB procedure. I expect we’ll be there most of the day.  I’ll probably hang out and then maybe go over to Trader Joes for some groceries.  I’m hoping we get some diagnosis by Friday which is definitely pushing it.

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A happy moment !! I think this was when we went to the Seattle Cancer Center for me.

Well, ciao for now.

1000 + posts

Posted in cancer, cooking, minimalism, Uncategorized, Walking by

I don’t look at stats much only blog but happened to see I had posted 1010 posts since I been this blog in 2012.

That’s cool!  I started this blog as an online journey with cancer, myeloma. But then, on and off when I’ve been in treatment and in remission, I’ve added in simple living and minimalism. Both I am passionate about. Oh, and cooking! And The just keep Walking Project that ended this past June after 5 years.

I write for me as a way to process life. I’ve met some terrific on line people and value their cyber friendship.

eve-1071355__340.jpg I love champagne but we didn’t have any on Thanksgiving. I forgot to get it but we had wine!!

So onward to more posts about life, how shit happens and the good stuff too!!!

Happy Thanksgiving…

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I hope it’s a great day for everyone and you are doing what it is you want.

So a small update. We saw the hematologist/medical oncologist today. She is very with it and I felt very good about how she’s handling things.  He will have a bone marrow biopsy  on Tuesday to determine the blood cancer. It’s all very surreal. How is it that we both end up with something like this.

When we went thru this with me, we were scared and didn’t know anything. We had hardly ever went to doctors. Ever. So this time around we at least know what to expect. I suppose that’s something.

 

My new legal name…

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Well, I’m officially my new name which is my 3rd name of my old name. Are you confused? So Christina is my 3rd listed name on my birth certificate. I have only ever used that name. But my request to NYC records ended in it being sent back as Aurora is my first name on my birth certificate and I have NOTING that ever lists that except my marriage certificate which they would not accept. So 4 months later I have legally changed from Aurora to Christina.

It actually went very smoothly and the judge just granted the request. There were no questions. So the next phase is requesting the records be changed in NYC. I’m hoping for the best but we shall see if it gets kicked back again or not.

In other news, not so good. My husband had some blood work done and there are some problems. Serious problems so I may be off posting for a while till we get him in to see a specialist. I have a lot of anxiety with these things but I’ve been down the rabbit hole before and all we can do is wait till we know more.

 

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cooking, Flylady, Uncategorized by

The air is pretty much back to normal here and it’s been a lovely  fall day. The leaves are yellow, gold and brown with touch of red thrown in. It’s cold in the morning but then it’s nice in the afternoon. We are expecting rain on Wednesday so that’s great news.

Well Trump came to our area and visited Paradise. I guess the jerk kept saying Pleasure instead of Paradise till someone corrected him. Geez, please try and get it straight out of  respect for these people both the living and those who have perished.

Today was a gym day and it was quiet in there.

Tomorrow is my big day to go into court for my name change. I’m excited to get this ball going to get my certified BC and then passports. Getting thru NY’s application is probably going to be a PITA but I’ll do it come hell or high water.

This week is the bedroom zone and I’ll do that tomorrow in the am.

I’ve gotten everything for Thanksgiving and will do some prep Tomorrow or Tuesday. I need to make the brown rice for the nut loaf a day in advance as it needs to be cooked and cooled. The rest will just be Tuesday or Wednesday.

Tonight is a roast chicken with roast potatoes and broccoli. I’ll also do some tofu for the veg man !!

 

Friday Stuff

Posted in Blood test, cooking, Multiple myeloma, Uncategorized by

Our air quality is much better today. But Sacramento and even San Francisco are in hazardous air quality. Also, so many people still missing and I’m afraid they probably lost their lives in the fire. Very Sad. We are updating our emergency plans and have a bin with instructions ready to go. Honestly, you just don’t know if it could happen to you so better to be prepared.

My labs came back an myKappa light chains did go up 2 points 😦 to 16.1 and my Lambda down to 12.0 and the ratio went up to 1.34. All still in the normal range so I’m not going to sweat it but still there’s a tiny part of me that wants it stay lower.  But it’s ok. It’s still well below normal (kappa is 19.1 and Lambda is 26.1) so it’s all good.

Today was a gym day so I can get back to my regular schedule after being sick those 4 days. I like to go Sunday,Tuesday, Thursday.  So I will go Sunday and that puts me back on track.

I went to Safeway and got most of the rest of Thanksgiving stuff. I just need cottage cheese for the nut loaf and sour cream and probably some salad stuff next week.

Monday is my big day in court for my name change. I’m not worried about it. It’s only step one of the process to get the certified birth certificate from NY. I’ll start that paper work Thanksgiving weekend.

Tonight is a homemade pizza. I’m doing one with sausage and peppers and one with mushrooms and olives.

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I just love this pinecone image.

Thanksgiving planning

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I have my menu planned and most of the food bought.

I decided on a turkey breast bone in. Then another main dish is the vegetarian nut loaf that has been our standard on Thanksgiving. It’s the recipe from Tassajara cooking and I’ve used it for the last 25 years, maybe more.

I’ll make our standard whipped mashed potatoes, vegetarian gravy, green beans, fresh cranberry sauce, and stuffing and some Hawaiin rolls. I keep the menu quite simple as it’s just too much to do all kinds of sides and salads.

It’s only the four of us as my brother generally goes to his buddies house on Thanksgiving.  I usually make cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then we eat our meal around 2pm. No football here. But we will go for a nice walk in the park. I’m not sure what the weather is doing next week so we’ll see.

I make the nut loaf usually on Tuesday and refrigerate. Then I make the mashed potatoes on Wednesday so they just need reheating on Thursday. I try and do all my prepping Wednesday like cutting vegetables ie: onions, celery etc for the stuffing.

I used to make pies but most of the time we don’t wouldn’t finish them so now I just buy a Costco pie and I freeze it then only serve a portion.

The key is just to keep it simple with foods you like. Over the years we have considered going out to eat or just having tacos but in the end, I like the tradition of Thanksgiving food.

I’m thinking tough of the fire victims who have lost everything. Thanksgiving will certainly be different for them and quite sad. All those houses are gone and the death toll keeps going up. I am grateful to our amazing firefighters for all the hard work they have done and are continuing to do. I read on the local Facebook page many evacuees are camped in parking lots all around Chico. Plus the air quality is so bad that Chico State and Sacramento State universities have canceled classes.

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On a separate note, here are a few pictures of after doing the bathroom zone. I’m totally into using these eucalyptus branches. When the shower is going I squeeze them and it smells like eucalyptus in the bathroom.

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Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, California, cooking, decluttering, Flylady, Uncategorized by

I am definitely feeling better today. This is day 4 of this head cold. I’ve had good energy all day and even did my walk this morning. I didn’t go to the gym though but will go tomorrow after I get my blood work done.

This is my 6-week labs and then I’ll do another in 6 weeks and then see my doctor in December.  With being sick there could be a variance due to fighting the infection or virus. But I’m hoping it’s just minimal.  So far, my labs remain in the normal range so that is truly a blessing.

Each morning the skies are bright blue but by 3pm the smoke comes over from the Camp Fire and the air quality goes way down. It’s been such a devasting fire. I hope the firefighters have made some headway.  I’m not sure I’ve ever mentioned that I was part of a Forest Service firefighting team when I was 26.  I spent one summer going to 2 or 3 fires and it is unbelievably hard work. I never went back. My husband had been on Helitack( first responders that jump from the helicopters) crews in Tucson before we moved to California and then after we moved here in 1975 continued being on ground fire crews.  Grueling work.

Well, today I did the bathroom zone first. I did a few extra things like washing the shower curtains and then hung in the sun to bleach. I use a shower curtain from Target that is not made with the bad stuff. It’s a waffle weave and works quite well as I don’t use a liner. We have a claw foot tub so we need 2 and it’s on one of those shower things made for a claw foot tub.

Then I started in on some cooking. I cut a sweet potato for dinner and baked that with olive oil and a little salt and pepper. Then I made millet and used that to make millet patties that I baked too.  Usually, I add an egg as a binder but didn’t this time so they are probably going to fall apart but that’s okay they still taste good. I also made a tahini gravy to go over the top. I’ll heat that up when I reheat everything.

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I also made a small macaroni and cheese as I needed to use up some sharp cheddar so I’ll pop that in the oven too.  That was kinda extra but I needed to use that cheese.

There’s a very good article over at Simplicity Voices, on Autumn decluttering.  I like this blogger and she writes very well. I’m always happy to glean a new idea or think about things differently.

Let’s hope the fires get put out soon although I’m sure life won’t go back to normal for thousands of people. 😦

 

 

 

Fire in Paradise:(

Posted in California, Uncategorized by

Paradise is pretty much gone. The fire has ravaged the entire town.

Paradise is somewhat isolated as it is up a canyon drive from Chico. Not an easy road to navigate. B used to have accounts there and I have been with him a few times. It’s hard to imagine all those houses and businesses gone. But more importantly is people and pets getting out to safety.

B helped coordinate with Chico Co-op and 2 others for donations for free food and water and other things. Briarpatch donated $2000 worth of stuff and so did Sacramento Co-op. I hope this helps the people in the next few days so at least they have food and essentials.

I cannot believe Trump having the nerve to say it’s because of forest mismanagement. He is such a F#@king asshole and doesn’t know squat about forest management. In all these forests around here, the Tahoe, Eldorado, Butte etc are managed extremely well. I see it every time I drive to Tahoe the work of crews cleaning and cutting brush and trees so there is less fire fuel.

It is climate change affecting the voracity of these fires and the wind elements.

I just hope Paradise can be rebuilt and emerge from the ashes.

My thoughts are with people, firefighters, animals, wild and domestic.  I hope there is some change for the better today. I ask you to hold them in your thoughts too, today.

BTW, are skies turned a weird yellow from the smoke. It was really eerie.