Monthly Archives: November 2023

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, Myeloma by

I am glad to be alive after driving in the weirdest traffic I have ever driven in. First, the drive to infusion went fine. (almost, and this is #1) I could see an older truck merging from the on-ramp behind me right at the exit to Infusion. He pulled up very close to me as I approached the 4 way stop there. He sped through the stop sign and just shook my head in disbelief.. But the best is still to come. I was in and out of infusion in 30 minutes. And the nurse had said she always takes the back road back to Auburn, and since I wasn’t in any hurry I decided to do it. Big mistake. The #2 incident was right after I took the exit which is called Twelve oaks, another older truck with some Maga looking guy comes up and is tailing me, mind you I’m doing 60. He crosses the double yellow line and speeds ahead. I get to the stop sign and there he is behind 2 people. huh?? Really?? #3 I’m on a very windy road now up to Newcastle and 2 white cars are tailing me, mind you, I’m doing 45 and it’s a windy road. There are 2 construction stops and the white Civic behind almost runs into me as she is looking at her phone. Then after the 2 stops the white Lexus behind the Honda zooms out crosses the yellow lines and goes screeching down the one straight part of the road at least going 65. Then the Civic is still tailing me and #4 is she screeches out and passes on a double yellow line and speeds away thru a school zone doing 60 at least. #5,Finally, I get up to Newcastle and decide to get back on 80. So I’m coming up to the next on-ramp and I see this older red sedan about to merge but they don’t see the truck right there and just about runs into it( mind you this is all in front of me happening), and he tries to overcorrect and almost flips over. Then #6 the work truck that almost took him out merges into the middle lane and is swerving back and forth. Believe by this time, the atheist in me is going ‘prayers’ ???? No, I just kept on with some very fine JFC’s the rest of the way home. I think there was one other but by this point I was frazzled. So weird, I don’t think I’ve ever had such weird driving incidents like that.

I’m thankful this was my last shot in cycle 2. It does seem to catch up to me by this 4th shot. My neuropathy is a little worse, my taste buds are shot, I have styes, and I’m sure there’s more. I have next week off and I’m very glad of that.

I’m grateful November has been a good month and am looking forward to December. We really had beautiful weather in November. Now it seems we’re in for cooler days and cloudy too.

I’m done with most Christmas things. I still have a few GC’s to get, my brother, and Heidi’s husband Richard. I’m not planning anything for Hannukha except lighting the last of the beeswax candles I have.

Today is my home Dex day so I’m just doing a few things and then just reading or something.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cooking, meal planning, swimming, Uncategorized by

It was a cold morning walk with lots of frost at the park but no one else was there. 🙂

Yesterday, I baked 6 of the small sugar pumpkins and then made puree to freeze. I have 3 small ones left and I may or may not do them.

Then I made ‘Goldies Spinach Soup’ from the mystery book series by Diane Mott Davidson. It’s a great soup although she doesn’t puree hers and I do. No cooking today so I’ll just pull something from the freezer. I have a curry to use and some jasmine rice I froze so I think that’s what I’ll do.

Today, I plan to go to the Auburn gym and do upper body weights. After that, maybe put up some Christmas decorations. We’ll see.

This week has only my Velcade appt, a Roseville gym/library day, and one swim day.

We watched ‘Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, a classic Thanksgiving movie. Then the other night we watched ‘Knives Out’ which is one of my favorite Thanksgiving movies. It’s not really about Thanksgiving but it’s fall back East and looks like how it did when I was growing up.

We’ve finished all the leftovers from Thanksgiving and I made up 2 freezer meals. I’ve made some notes for next year to further simplify the meal.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, Credit cards, meal planning, swimming by

I have the budget set for December and it all looks good. I do need to order propane next week so that will be an added expense. Plus we will have property taxes to pay.

We had to buy a battery for the VW as it the cold mornings were taking a toll and the battery was 3 years old. So that too was an unexpected cost. I used cash from my home EF for that.

I have one more cc payment for Barclays crown and then that will be done. Crowns are so expensive( it was $1800) and we do not have any dental insurance. We were paying for California Delta Dental but then almost all the dentists here have stopped taking it including ours, so everything is OOP.

We’re set with food for at least a few weeks except for salad stuff and some fruit. I’ll probably stop at Winco for that when I swim next. I plan on using lots of the freezer/pantry meals to use things up.

Today is still a home / dex day so I plan on doing some tidying and putting away fall stuff and maybe get out a Christmas box or two. It seems like the dex is hitting me harder on the day after ( like last night) and my face is pretty red still. But it is what it is so onward I go.

Thanksgiving was lovely and the Diestal turkey breast was perfect. I’d highly recommend ordering from Diestal to get it. It was shipped with ice packets and was still frozen when I got it. They do a very good product and it’s not factory farmed.

Well, off to start my day.

Happy Thanksgiving and Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, cancer, Gratitude, MDS, Myeloma by

As always, I’m very thankful we are all in good health. Well, both my children are healthy and B is almost in what they call the ‘cured ‘ phase from his allo for MDS. I think they place that at 5 years. In spite of going thru chemo again I am healthy in all other aspects. No anemia, fractures, etc. all common with Myeloma. The 16 mg of Dex is helping make more tolerable.

I am so grateful for all the outside stuff B gets done, processing wood, raking, fence building. I used to love raking but really can’t do that side motion any more. So what he does is amazing.

My daughter does all the gardening and I am thankful she loves plants and growing things. BTW, the squash came out really good but not a lot on each one so I scooped it out and put it in a bowl and will reheat later. . No one really likes it but me and her.

Our Thanksgiving is small. There’s only us four and my son’s friend. My brother always goes to his handicapped buddy’s and takes him out for dinner.

This is the second Thanksgiving for my sisters family with out her. I’m sure they miss her a lot. As they are all good Catholics ,the 5 children all had lots of kids so it’s a big gathering for them.

I’m thankful I can go to the store and buy food and it’s abundantly available.

I’m grateful the 2 nurses at infusion are efficient, kind and friendly. It makes a difference. Being an oncology nurse must be difficult.

11/22

Posted in California, cancer, cooking, home stuff by

The day Kennedy was assassinated. I was in 5th grade and we all got sent home from school.

It certainly changed us as a nation. I doubt we’ll ever really ever know the real story behind it all.

Today is my Velcade shot so I’m going straight there and back. I thought of going to the gym /library but I don’t really want to be out in the pre-Thanksgiving crowd.

When I get home I am going to bake a pumpkin pie with puree I made last year. I also am going to bake some squash that we grew in the garden. I’m not sure how they’ll come out. It’s a variety we haven’t had before but I figure either they will taste good or the chickens will like them.:)

I went down to our Holiday Market yesterday and picked up some extra things for Thanksgiving like rolls, some deli ham to put out on a veggie tray, ranch dip to make , and other random things. We’re very lucky to have a store that sells lots of organic stuff right in town here. It is more expensive but the convenience sometimes out weighs the cost.

The pool is closed all week so I wouldn’t have a chance to get into Winco anyway. ( Winco is across the street from the pool just for reference.)

I finished my Japanese fabric quilt. I do like the indigo colors. It didn’t come out perfect and some of the quilting material bunched a little after I washed it but I don’t care. It was just a fun project. After Christmas, I’ll put the quilting frame on Facebook no buy group as I don’t plan on doing another quilt. This was just a fun project. I still have some Sashiko patterns to do and will start them now that this done.

Simple Sunday

Posted in bread, California, cooking, swimming, Uncategorized, Walking by

We had a ton of rain yesterday but this morning is clear. We had a lovely walk in the park and I did a mile. I’m not back up to 2 yet with my knee.

The pool was quite busy yesterday and will be closed all week. Maybe that’s why it was so busy. I got in and out ok but did ask the guy in the lane closest to the stairs whether I could share as I didn’t want to try and crouch down to get in over at the far lanes. So that worked out well.

This morning I have my mammogram, I know on a Sunday?? But they had an opening so I thought that’ll work out ok. I’m not sure whether I’ll go to the gym or not. I also want to bake some brownies today and then I have some more reorganizing in the kitchen I want to do. I also want to bake a loaf of WWW sandwich bread on the dough cycle of the bread machine and then bake in the oven.

This will be a different week with Thanksgiving on Thursday. My infusion is Wednesday and I’m hoping traffic won’t be too bad.

Friday Things

Posted in budgets, California, cooking, frugalism, meal planning, Pantry, swimming, Walking by

It’s been one of those up and down weeks. Overall, a good week but still some down time. Maybe because my routine with swimming and walking being interrupted, I felt out of sorts.

We did a walk this morning and it was very nice. No one there and it was just light so no stars to speak of. I got around twice so I’m pleased with that. Tomorrow I plan to swim although it will be short, I’m thinking 20 minutes to see how my knee feels after that. Next week being Thanksgiving will also change things up.

Frugal-wise, I’ve been home more so less gas in the cars being used. Plus we’ve doubled up going to Costco with my infusion shot so that saves gas too.

Costco was $400 but that included B’s case of Sierra pale Ale and about a $100 in nonfood. So actually pretty good. I bought extra holiday things like smoked salmon, biscotti on sale, extra butter, and a lovely English cheddar that I plan to make Welsh Rarebit with, and I can’t remember the other stuff but it was a good haul. I also went to Winco to get 2 gift cards for my son and his friend for Christmas. Food wise I spent $18 on some ramen, chocolate, and boxed stuffing for Thanksgiving.

Other than that no other shopping. B and I are going out this morning to get a few plastic pots so I can repot some houseplants, and then to Target to get shower curtains, and then over to Panera for a coffee date.

I’m planning on making a pizza tonight and then the rest of our meals this week will be out of the pantry or freezer to make room. We have a lot in there. On Tuesday I used one of the shelf stable chicken chili verdes for burritos and it was delicious. I aslo had Ranch Gordo Pinquitos on the side. The food pantry is getting used and that’s a good thing.

We have rain on the way tonight and for all tomorrow but I think we’re ready for fall to kick into high gear with cooler temperatures and rain. So far it has been a glorious fall.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, Gratitude, reading by

That my knee is 95% better after the cortisone shot. I hadn’t even considered that option so I was pleased the doctor offered. The x-ray only showed minor arthritis which at my age is expected.

I am so grateful to be able to walk yesterday even though it was only 1/2 a mile. I planned on walking this morning but it’s raining. Normally rain does not stop me at all and in fact I love walking in the rain. But with pampering my knee, I don’t need the extra factor of slippery leaves on the path.

I also walked through Costco yesterday and as you know Costco is a big store and I did fine. I was grateful B was there to push the cart and get the heavy stuff. It was another expensive shop with laundry soap, TP, Swiffers, and what else was on the list. But shops like this do keep my grocery bill way down as most of this stuff is not just for this month but at least the next 3 months or more. I suppose I could try and work that out in the budget but it seems like that’s too much work. Plus I know that laundry soap is going to last at least 3 months and same with Swiffer dusters.

I’m grateful my shot went well and this time I was in and out quickly. Maybe 20 minutes at the most. I came home after Costco and took the 16mg of dex instead of 20 which he thought would make it a little easier. So far it does seem slightly less dexy.

Today is just a home day and I plan on going through each zone and doing one or two things. Like in the bedroom zone, get under the bed wipe the bins, and see if anything can be decluttered. In the living room, wash mirrors and dust. Just a few little things to keep the momentum going.

I started to read the new Ann Patchett book” Tom Lake” and couldn’t find the rhythm in it and found it boring so I put it back in my library bag to go back next week. So now I don’t have a book to read so I may need to look on my Kindle for something I’ve read or buy a new Kindle book.

Fall colors

Posted in bread, California, cooking, home stuff by

Here’s a sampling of fall colors around our house.

Rubi parked for the winter.

one last iceberg rose.

Mr. Chester in the sunroom.

I’ve been having a terrible time getting my sourdough right. I’m not sure if it’s the weather(cooler) or what. But I finally decided to go back to the expert, Tartine. And it came out perfect. It is more work and more involved than no knead but worth it.

Today, I’m going to get an x-ray of my knee. The doctor said possibly arthritis but I said well, I certainly didn’t have any symptoms before I fell off the step ladder. He concurred it could be a meniscus tear. Hopefully just resting it will make the difference. I got the compression knee thing yesterday and it does help. I do plan on going to the gym but only to do upper-body weights. No treadmill yet.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cancer, home stuff, Uncategorized by

A bit cloudy this morning and I think we’re supposed to get some sprinkles. The leaves are holding on though and all the Japanese maples are turning shades of red. The oaks are golden yellow.

I’ve been off walking since I hyper-flexed my knee again. (That was Friday). Dr. L said it wasn’t dex so that was a relief. The most I can get is when I fell off the step stool I tore the meniscus and that is what is still causing the knee and muscle pain. I have an appt with the PC to check it out. There doesn’t seem to be much you can do but keep wearing a brace and let it heal. I’ve got a compression sleeve coming tomorrow. It was supposed to be delivered yesterday but our PO sucks and doesn’t always deliver and says pick up at office. I read that walking is good for it overall and I’m gue botheredssing swimming. What I can’t do is twist or hyperflex.It does seem odd that I’ve been walking ,swimming etc and not much has bothered me till just the other morning. Oh well, getting old is not for the faint hearted that’s for sure.

Yesterday, I made a homemade chicken noodle soup. I had that for lunch and dinner. The I prepped the cheese nut loafs for Thanksgiving. I had made the brown rice the day before( you want it cold when you mix the ingredients). Then added all the ingredients and baked in 2 loaf pans. So there’s quite a bit to have for Thanksgiving and whenever. Tonight I’ll serve some slices with gravy as a pretest. I have 2 small jars of cranberry sauce left over from last year so I want to use those before I use the ones I just made. As I said before, Thanksgiving is going to be dex day so I need everything ready for the fam to cook. We’re not big dessert people so, that can just be whatever maybe a Costco pie.

I finished the kitchen zone with B doing all the higher shelves. He just finished washing the linen sheets, and I just need to do tidy up in the living room.