Monthly Archives: August 2019

Midweek things

Posted in cooking, frugalism, home stuff, husband, Uncategorized by

Yesterday we went to clinic and everything looks good for Barclay. Nothing new or unusual.  One of his anti-rejection drugs has been hard to regulate and its number was up again, but the doctor said to keep on the same dose. Actually, his energy level is noticeably increased and his overall demeanor is more present!!! He is now at almost day 80post transplant.

From there we went to Corti Bros. and I got some French prosciutto and some steak that ‘Mike’ the butcher recommended for kabobs. So that was really fun.

Then we hit up Trader Joes for some more groceries. This is the TJ’s near UCD med center in the beautiful Tahoe Park area. It’s a really nice store. So taking away the 2 bottles of French wine I bought I came in at $90. So my grocery budget of $125 for the week is about $20 over. Not too bad.

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Here’s the birthday boy!!! He didn’t get his height from his father that’s for sure!!!

Unfortunately, we walked out of clinic and totally forgot to get the prescriptions. So, my daughter or I will need to drive down since he doesn’t have enough to get to next Tuesday.  Bummer, but I do need toilet paper at Costco so I/she can do that too.

Today is my sweet boys birthday. 25 years ago he came into this world. What an absolute joy he was.!!! He’s a fine young man. Very talented and handsome too!!!  So I’m doing BBQ chicken and those steak kabobs. For the veggie, I’ll make tofu kabobs with veggies.

 

I’m planning on going to the gym this morning and then the bank.

A Sad Sunday

Posted in Political things, Uncategorized by

What is this country coming to?

Until we have gun control and a ban on all semi-automatic weapons this relentless killing by crazy hate-driven people will continue.

Until we completely denounce white supremacy and domestic terror for what it is, this country will continue down in a spiral of hate and bigotry.

We certainly don’t need a president that fuels this hate of immigrants and people of color.

This is just a sad, sad sad day and my friends no amount of prayers and thoughts is enough

Tidying up

Posted in decluttering, home stuff, minimalism, Uncategorized by

There are 3 things that have really been game-changers for me when it comes to tidying.

The first is cleaning up the kitchen immediately( for the most part) after cooking or prepping food. Washing the dishes in the sink then air-drying them in the rack and then putting them away soon after. Since the dishwasher still isn’t working we’ve had to do all the dishes by hand. Actually, it’s kinda nice to make it a zen moment of being in the now of hand washing the dishes. So, if there are dishes in the sink, DO THEM!!

The second is whenever I leave a room I look around to see what needs to be brought back to where it lives. For example, we fold our laundry on the bed. So after it’s done there are often piles (like dishcloths) that need to be put away. If I’m putting towels away I might not get back to the other items right away. So when I go back in the room I pick up what’s there and take it out to it’s home. I do this in all the rooms actually. I think I started doing this when I had my foot fracture so I was limiting how much I walked around and so I started carrying anything in that room that didn’t belong there out.  I think it’s a good practice and it makes sure things go back to their proper places.

Also, and thirdly, I am adamant about everything has a place to live. That’s where it goes and needs to be put back after use. In the really great book”Decluttering at the Speed of Life” by Dana  White,

she talks about decluttering in a very humorous way. But one thing that stuck with me is to ask yourself WHERE YOU WOULD GO LOOK for an item. And then to put such item in that spot. For instance, we have a drawer where ALL the batteries go. Not some here and there, but all of them. So whenever anyone needs one, they know to go to the top drawer of that dresser( it’s the one in my office area).

These are at least 3 ways that I keep( and hopefully others) the house tidy and clean.

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Frugal Friday

Posted in Bone marrow transplant, budgeting, budgets, GoFundME, MDS, Uncategorized by

No, not really. Although we haven’t been spending money carelessly. Our grocery budget is our biggest variable expense. I budget $200 a week for everything including pet supplies, non-food items, wine, food and misc. That seems to be a good amount for us.

But when you factor in Costco trips like in August, I definitely go over.  The Costco trips are often items that last a few months if not more. I’ve tried separating out non-food and then I get all confused and lose track of what was what so if I just lump it all together it works better for me.

For August I’m trying out $125 a week and I’ll see how that goes.

We aren’t going on any trips this year due to the medical stuff so there are no expenses there.

We also can’t eat out as B can’t have restaurant food yet. Although I have gotten him In an Out french fries and a shake as he needs to gain back about 20lbs. So we don’t really have an eating out budget. I have gotten a pizza or two so there’s that.

We also don’t have any big projects around the house but there are a few things. We absolutely need to fix our step coming out the door. It is awkward and has two levels so he and our daughter will put down a new concrete step that covers both and goes out farther. We wanted to build a deck out level from the front door and then a step-down but a deck would probably run us $3-5,000. So not now.

We’re on the fence about getting more trees down. I think we will call and see about at least 2 and get an estimate. We still have too many trees that are very big around the house.  But that too is a very expensive project.

We still have co-pays on the medical side too and the GFM is being used for that but it’s getting low.   The $6,000 from the beginning of the year is almost paid off. The transplant co-pays haven’t even shown up yet. Yikes, that could be scary.

Well, all in all, we’re doing okay.

Lammas, August 1st

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Lammas is the cross-quarter in the Celtic calendar year. It begins the harvest season and beginnings of fall.

It’s very weird that both my daughter and I can actually feel the shift in the air and the light. It doesn’t matter if it’s 100 degrees in the day, there’s something else there.

Try going outside and walking around especially in the early morning or around twilight and see if you can feel it too.