Monthly Archives: December 2019

Simple Sunday on Monday

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The days of the week are a blur with Christmas last Wednesday and now NY on Wednesday this week. I am definitely off track.

Yesterday was a nice day though with going to the gym and then doing the LR zone. If you do Flylady there are 2 zones this week LR and then on Wednesday Entryway. That should add to all the confusion.

I made a broccoli cheddar soup for dinner last night and tweaked a Moosewood Cookbook recipe. I added some cream cheese to the soup as I didn’t have heavy cream. It came out really good although it was as thick as Panera’s it still had excellent flavor.

Today I’m going to brave driving down to Galleria area to Old Navy to pick up a partial order. I’m going to try their leggings and I also got two dressy blouses to wear on our dinner date in Chico. Well, I’m only going to wear one, of course. I had hit up Goodwill and Cancer thrift to find something and there just wasn’t a thing. Our Goodwill has gotten so bad. it’s mostly junk and things are picked over daily. I’m not sure what is happening in that store. There isn’t another Goodwill nearby so maybe that’s it. Plus our Salvation army store closed this year as well. I was actually trying to find something by JJill which is one of my favorite but no luck. I like Old Navy and the price, with sales, is pretty good. Anyway, I think I will try them on before I leave and if they don’t fit right I can return right then and there without a second trip.

Then that will be my big excursion. Tomorrow I am getting groceries for NYE ( we always do sub type sandwiches) and for the Chruscikis. They are Polish or Russian or basically European cookie that is a very rich dough that is fried.  They are not sweet but powdered sugar is sprinkled on top. My brother loves these and it’s one of the good memories he has of his childhood. So I’m the only one in our family who makes them.

I’m determined that we will do some traveling this year as we are both ( hopefully ) well enough. I’m going to plan our annual Santa Barbara trip that we missed last year. Of course this year B’s company won’t be paying the hotel for work. But that’s okay we will figure it out. Santa Barbara is about 7-8 hours drive but it’s doable. We have the things we like to do there and the beach trail is the best.

 

All tidied…

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I took down the Christmas tree and B took it back out to the barn. Then I put everything I used as decorations in one bin along with leftover bags to be reused. Just one bin and I labeled it Christmas 2019, what I used.

It has been quite freeing to have Christmas be so minimal. It used to take me 2 days( of course, just pacing myself) to get everything put away right. This has been an eyeopener. I’m planning to go thru the 2 bins out in the barn sometime this summer( when it’s warm out there) and check if there was something else I would have liked to use. The rest, including all the Hallmark ornaments, will just get labeled for my kids whenever they have a place of their own. cdafb2f3-5d12-47d5-a1b9-0eb08ae93aa7.jpeg

The lights will be put in the tree bag so everything is together.

I need to have cleared off surfaces and very little on the table as it just feels like a fresh start. I’m thinking of getting a fresh new orchid though as I like that they last a really long time.

Our weather is quite cold, 30 degrees this morning but sunny. Tomorrow it’s supposed to rain.

Today I’m going to do a freezer inventory and see what needs to be used up and then plan some menus. I’m thinking of doing a No Spend January but I’ll think about some more. I have done these in the past and although I do get a lot out of it, I also seem to delay getting things that are needed and then it seems I spend money on them eventually. I think what I will do is do No Spend on anything extra like the other space heater we need. But things like household I will still buy( like dishwasher soap). Well, I’ll think about it till January 1st.

As 2019 comes to a close

Posted in Bone marrow transplant, budgets, GoFundME, husband, social security, travel, Uncategorized by

It has been a year of highs and lows.

Lots of things were awful with B’s diagnosis and then being transfusion dependent. Lots of chemo visits weekly. But in spite of that, there have some great things. His brother was a 10/10 match for the BMT and that was amazing.

Being at UCD med center in the BMT unit for a month was hard, very hard, but it all went way better than expected. Staying at the Kiwanis in our friends RV was also great and made the whole experience of having to be there almost 3 weeks delightful. Being able to be just minutes from the clinic made it all worth it.

Recovery and gaining strength and energy back has been slow but sure. B is doing amazing and he is almost 7 months post-transplant.

There has been no major graft vs host although he must remain vigilant as that can happen even down the road.  Now he is tapering off immunosuppressants and that means less prescriptions. He will still need his vaccinations sometime next year.

So the year really was a mixed bag of emotions but overall I feel very positive about it. We did fine financially with the extra GoFund Me and the SDI. This week will be his last SDI and I am totally grateful to have had NOT to worry about money. After my transplant in 2006 and that following year, we were in serious,serious debt and it was awful. There were no GoFundME things or networks to receive financial help. I did have 2 friends that were very generous and that was a blessing.

At the end of this year, I feel grateful for my health and my children’s health. Both of my children have excellent jobs that they earned this year.

B will also officially retire as going back to full time just isn’t going to work for him. I will miss the paychecks and being able to travel with him, but honestly, he is 69 and with everything that has happened, life is just too short to go back to a job even if it’s only for another year. Who knows what will happen and he has this chance to retire. Social Security will be tough but hey, so what! We have struggled before and made it and if we can only do so much then so be it. Actually, I’m just grateful we have the little we will have coming in as it will cover our basics.

WE didn’t do any traveling and that was okay. We are planning something once a month for  2020. Next month we are planning an overnight to Chico where B has a free room at one of the nicer hotels downtown. We are planning to have dinner at a place I’ve wanted to go forever called the Red Tavern. I can’t remember where I read about it over 5 years ago, but it’s supposed to one of the best restaurants around.

House wise, we didn’t do anything major except outside and tree removal.  We did replace two windows and they look great. Next year we will replace a few more windows in the bathroom and kitchen and my daughter’s room as well. Next year, we hope to work on the kitchen and do a minor remodel( mostly the sink and counter as it is 25 years old this summer and the sink connections are pretty rusty.

So life keeps on keeping on and it really is a wonderful life.

Happy Hanukkah

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We had a nice dinner of latkes, roast chicken, nut loaf( from thanksgiving) with sour cream and the last jar of my homemade applesauce from last fall.

We lit the candle ( one, for the first night). Then we each had a little gift of cash, and B got us 1 lottery ticket. I never win anything so… but he actually recouped $6.00. Still, it was fun to chat and share this time with Sachi and Zephyr and Barclay. My family.

Today I’m doing the Flylady bedroom zone. It’s pretty much done as I change the sheets on Sundays. But I will dust and tidy.

Other than that, just a nice quiet day home.

Yesterday I did make another batch of homemade peanut brittle. I had bought a candy thermometer and it was a great $10 buy as right on it is the temperatures for hard brittle etc. Well worth it to have.

I might make a soup tonight or just something light. Latkes are fried and although not really heavy still fried!! So I have a butternut squash from our garden to use so I think that’s what I’ll make. I found a recipe that was butternut squash and red lentil soup. It’s kinda a curry so I might do that.

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Almost ready!!!

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The mix that was done in the food processor. And of course, the wine glass!!

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Frying up the Latkes

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This is my red fiesta ware that I use at Christmas. Oh, in the background you can see the peanut brittle.

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This was our Solstice fire.

 

Winter Solstice

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Finally, the darkest day of the year!

Now it will slowly turn around and the days will get lighter. I’ve actually looked at this over the years and the sunrises and sunsets don’t change a whole lot till around January.

So today we will walk. We’ve been going out around 6:30 am and it’s still darkish and then by round 2, the light is showing.

Yesterday, my daughter and I drove up to Truckee to the library as she had a bag of goodies for her ex- co-workers. I loaded up on cookbooks and I even found on the FOL shelf Comey’s book from last year. the summit had snow at 7300 elevation but around Truckee, there wasn’t that much snow. another storm is headed in this weekend. We had a lovely lunch at Wild Cherries and headed back home.  I’m so glad she is not driving that daily and driving to Sierra College is like 22 minutes and no snow. So she just needs a few more hours to be able to buy into their insurance. I think she said at 22 hours. So one more shift.

I also had an appt to meet my new PCP with Sutter. He seems nice enough. I’m planning on the colonoscopy for the end of January or beginning of February sometime. Oh well, I guess I can suffer thru.

Hanukkah begins tomorrow night and I have the Menorah ready. Although we are not Jewish, but Atheists, I still like the idea of Festival of lights and candles and little presents.

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a lovely new platter( stoneware ) and our very own lemons from the greenhouse!

 

Rainy Day

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It was a rainy day and I had to drive to Sacramento for my oncology appt. The drive was slow but not too bad. My appt went well. I’ve had Dr. Laptalo as my medical oncologist since I was diagnosed in 2005. He was a fellow then and then later board certified. He’s a good person and I trust him. Again, it’s really just waiting till my numbers are higher to start anything. That’s ok. He did recommend I have the colonoscopy after the diverticulitis bout. So I will schedule that for January or even February. I had him look at my CT scan with contrast and he said there was nothing unusual. So that’s good.

Then I came up to Rocklin and went to Walmart to exchange the flannel shirt I had picked up by accident in XXL. That is way too big for B. Then home.

Tomorrow I have a gym day and then some errands. I need a candy thermometer to make the peanut brittle and I need to go to the bank.

I am feeling somewhat frustrated with the house and it starts to feel really small this time of year. It’s usually when I start looking at decluttering more or at least moving some things around so there is more space. Winter/rainy days do make things seem closed in. Well, that too will pass.

Dinner is veggies and one of the cheese fondues. It’s not the one I usually buy so I thought I try it tonight.

Things to think about for 2020

Posted in budgeting, budgets, Flylady, GoFundME, home improvement, home stuff, social security, Uncategorized by

I don’t do goals so much anymore and I try to avoid putting myself in the position of expectation on myself. I do like lists of things that I would like to do or things that need to be done.

I like Flylady as it gives me a focus on weekly chores.  And I like grocery lists and menus. I also like budgeting and do that daily and weekly and monthly. I also have annual bills tallied. ( This might be the challenging area once were on SS solely).

Now that SDI is ending money will be different.  I have saved as much as I felt I could but there were some big expenses in 2019. We had over $6000 in medical bills. The trees were almost $5000. Plus travel and other expenses during B’s transplant. We were very blessed to have the GoFundMe account which covered Kiwanis’ house for 3 weeks and other expenses.

Overall, financially, 2019 was good. We didn’t rack up any CC debt related to medical bills or anything related to the transplant. I used CC to pay things but was able to pay in a timely manner.

In 2020 we will need to be ultra frugal as there won’t be bonuses, or extra money coming in. Honestly, I ‘m not sure how it will play out but it will one way or the other.

We’d still like to take down the big tree in the back of the house and that will be upwards of $5,000 as it will need a big crane. the other big thing will be, do we want to redo the bathroom so it is ‘age ‘friendly. We plan on staying here so a walk-in shower seems prudent.

I’m also figuring that I’ll be starting Velcade sometime in the next 6 months so that’s weekly trips to Sacramento. Lots to think about.

Friday the 13th

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I love Friday the 13th. Mostly, I just like the number 13. Why? I have no idea. Well on to 5 on Friday or maybe even Frugal Friday.

Our trip to Trader Joes was not frugal but did get almost everything I need for Christmas dinner and just holiday eating. Think Brie, crackers, pub cheese, etc.

I still need the lasagna stuff but that’s an easy Safeway trip.

It’s raining today but we did get a walk-in with our umbrellas. It was only drizzling so not bad. I’m planning on going to the gym and then maybe an errand.

Barclay is going to officially retire at the end of January from UNFI. That’s his 25-year anniversary. It was a hard decision, really but I think the right one. His HR said though he needs a medical release to return to work from his doctor and then he needs to be reinstated in order to then retire. It seems like a lot but I guess they have rules. So that’s what he’ll do.  He also is going to check about the long term disability that he could possibly get for a few months but that’s pretty iffy.  I guess we’ll find out soon enough.

Tonight is pizza night and I’m doing homemade. It’s still raining:(

BTW, if you’re looking for a good murder/mystery series on Netflix,  Le Foret, which is in French with subtitles is superb and the companion series ‘the Black Spot’ is terrific. Excellent characters and the scenery, shot in France and Belgium is great.

Midweek Musings

Posted in cancer, cooking, MDS, medicare, simple foods, Uncategorized by

We had a nice drive to Sacramento yesterday for B’s clinic appt. Traffic moved fairly well thru the usual difficult areas( where I -80 merges to Business 80) and the downtown area.  His appt went well and the good news is they have reduced his Tacrolimus to every other day. This is the biggest drug that targets keeping at bay Graft vs Host. So we need to watch for any flare-ups but the NP was pretty confident that this is the time to start. So that means maybe by February he can go off Noxafil which is the Tier 5 that we are holding on to paying the Cobra for. Actually, with the plan set to restart in January, we’re not sure if the Cobra co-pay will reset( I’m assuming it will) and that means, well, I’m not sure how much the co-pay will so that’s a big question mark.

We are set up with Plan D medicare for him but that’s not what we’ll use as that immediately goes to Tier 5 and the 25% start. So way to much $. I guess we will just need to wait and see how it plays out. I’m hoping we can drop the Cobra by March.

After clinic we went to Trader Joes and OMG it was a madhouse. I almost walked right back out. But we managed thru and I got what we needed for Christmas( fondue, and ham) and lots of good food( french fries, they have the best frozen) and other things including TJ’s wine!

We stopped for a pizza slice and then headed home.

Today is a gym day. And then I need to hit Home depot for a bulb for my salt lamp.  Then home to bake some more cookies and maybe make the fudge.

Tonight is a new recipe for a spinach pie. One of the very few memories I have of my mother and this was not when I was young but @ 16, she made a spinach pie that was like a pizza. My sister doesn’t remember it so I’ve been trying to recreate it. This recipe calls for ricotta so maybe that’s what she used.

I’ll update after it’s done and give a review.