Monthly Archives: December 2024

Goodbye 2024!!! Hello 2025!!!

Posted in budgeting, California, cancer, cash envelopes, cooking, decluttering, Political things, swimming, Walking by

Well, we made it to the end of the year. After the election, I pretty much haven’t read too much news. Little blips come in now and then but overall, I think my mental health is better for it.

I’m dreading frump taking office. It’s beyond comprehension how he can stand at that podium and take the oath of office after everything he’s done. I’m convinced he’ll go down in history as the worst president EVER. It’s going to be a shit storm for sure. Well, I can only control myself and my little world, so I’ll focus on that.

I was planning on staying home today but I need to return an Amazon purchase. I accidentally clicked on 2 of a calendar and I don’t need two calendars. Since I’ll be in town, I’ll get the veggies for the fondue tonight. if my daughter comes with me, she mentioned needing to go to Target.

The dinner menu was simple for the week :

Pasta bake from the freezer

Costco’s vegetable soup and rolls

fondue (tonight)

nut loaf and potatoes from the freezer

pizza of some sort

something else from the freezer

tofu scramble with leftover veggies

Lots of simple meals this week.

I have a few goals for 2025 but mostly it’s maintaining my swimming, gym workouts, and walking.

I’d like to add finding one new place to camp with full hook-ups and going to the coast, but so much depends on how the surgery goes and recovery. And as of right now, we don’t even know if that’s what will happen. If he gets the green light then we need to plan hotel stays and how that is going to all work out with me staying there. As far as we know B would be in the hospital for probably 2 weeks and then I’m not sure if he needs to stay within 15 minutes of the hospital like he did at UCD. If so we will need something like an extended stay hotel. I guess we’ll know by mid-January as that’s when Dr. Lee is back from vacation.

I could think of lots of other things I’d like to set as goals but I don’t want to commit to anything.

Around the house and yard, we need another carport as the one over the VW broke in the summer. We need to budget for garden stuff.

The VW needs a starter and battery so that needs to be budgeted.

I’d like to start painting some of the rooms, especially the living room.

Anything with remodeling the kitchen is totally on hold as we just don’t have money but we do need a new stove so that will get budgeted. Our stove has knobs on the front and because it’s about 10 years old the knobs will turn on if you lean over the stove and that is way dangerous. We’re all aware of it, so we’re careful but it has happened and then you can smell gas. I think I can find a good stove for around $1000. The one we have is Whirpool and it’s been a great stove except for this knob issue. I’ll check Costco first and then Lowes or Home Depot.

Of course, I’d like to keep minimizing things around the house and making sure we have only the things we need, use, and love. Mostly, that’s just keeping on top of hot spots like the entry way because things do pile up there.

Financially, have most of my cash envelopes fully funded for annual bills. That does take some effort as SS only goes so far. Right now, I have $70 for car maintenance so that needs some money for the VW repair. I’m sure it’s going to be around $1000.

As always, we’ll see what happens.

Wishing you a happy new Year!! “let’s hope it’s a good one without any fear” John Lennon.

Chester helping me at my desk!!

Simple Sunday

Posted in books, California, cancer, cooking, home stuff, reading, swimming, Walking by

Wow, 2024 is coming to a close and Wednesday is 2025. I still need to write a few goals for the year. Nothing monumental, just things like keep walking, keep swimming, and up the number of times a week. Stuff like that.

A very very rainy morning. No walk again, so I’ll use the treadmill. I might try and walk tomorrow but I’ll wait and see. I was planning on going to the Roseville gym and the library. I have some books to return and a hold to pick up. The rain is supposed to stop later and tomorrow looks sunny so that may be the deciding factor.

Despite the rain, B and I went to Costco. He needed the protein drink and he wanted cereal too. We bought some of the sale items, dishwasher pods, and Swiffer dusters, and it seems there was something else on sale. We got a rug for the entry way as we’ve been using a towel and that gets old. I picked eggs, tofu, milk, bananas, and salad mix and they had microgreens which I love. This was a new item. Oh, we picked up the vegetable barley soup for an easy dinner.

Yesterday, I did most of my house chores, so today is an easy day. For dinner, I made brown rice, sweet potatoes, grilled tofu, and broccoli, and there’s enough for lunch today or even dinner if I add something extra.

I started reading another Baldacci series, the Camel Club. So far I like the characters and the plot. My son gave me a great Christmas present of 6 or 7 Baldacci hardcovers he got at the thrift store. They are in almost new condition. What a great gift. He always zeroes in on the right gift for people. Plus he said he didn’t want to buy anything new but used/thrifted. Very Cool. He found the graphic novel, “March” by John Lewis and others at the thrift store too, and that made a great gift to B.

We’re halfway through Hanukkah and I only did a card and cash for each person. The cash was only a $2 bill which believe it or not are very hard to find. So I’m definitely winding down the gift-giving which is my goal.

We finished the “Astrid” series and it was really good. Now we need to find a new series to watch. Does anybody have a recommendation?

Well, off to read.

Frugal Friday on Saturday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cash envelopes, swimming by

The rain is still with us and the storm gates are open. Santa Cruz really got hit hard with the wharf breaking off. I was hoping to walk this morning so as of 6am , it’s still raining so I see how it is in 30 minutes. I can walk a little later if it stops.

I have most Christmas stuff away. The little tree in the living room just has the lights on it, so I may leave that up a day or two more. Otherwise, Christmas is over.

i went down to the pool yesterday and it was AWFUL. I can count on one hand how many times it has been crazy busy and does not invite swimming. I waited 10 minutes and then did get a lane to share. But the coast guard was training, then the college kids; maybe 15 of them were taking up most lanes. I almost left but glad I did my swim. next week I won’t be able to go at all because of New Year’s, it’s closed and then on Thursday I have my Velcade shot. I wore my new Apple watch to track swimming and it was fun. I still couldn’t remember how to unlock the water though. ( a feature to release any water if any in the watch). But when I came home my daughter showed me. I didn’t see any water come out.

I’m mainly using it to track sleep and sleep disturbances which basically is sleep apnea. So based on a week’s tracking, I was elevated every night which means some sleep apnea. This is giving me a good idea of my sleep patterns which was the main reason I bought it. I’m trying a few things, like no wine after 7pm and seeing if I can lose some weight. The thing is if I’ve had sleep apnea for years with no problems, then I’m not sure what it all means. Well, my appt with the sleep doctor isn’t till April so it gives me time to work on different things.

Budget wise, I have January’s budget in place. I don’t think we have any annual bills coming up so that’s a relief. I’m trying to get ahead with the spring annual bills like property tax but there’s not a lot left over to add when it’s all said and done. Still something is better than nothing. I’ve set the food budget at $500 for the 3 of us. That’s a little tight but I am going to try and use up freezer stuff. So far for food, I’ve spent $139. I plan on hitting Costco this week so that’ll add up. I don’t need a whole lot but buying from Costco means each item is more expensive though you get more. Plus that’s what stocking up is about.

In January, I need to buy some clothing items such as socks and a few T shirts. I think I’m ok on jeans, but may need a new polar fleece jacket. The one I have is LL Bean and it’s held up for 5 + years so I may get another one. Since I wear the same things daily( levis, T shirt, a demin shirt or flannel and my LL Bean fleece. some stuff does wear out. I’ll try to budget a $100 for January and see how it goes.

Today is a home day for me and I plan on cooking some brown rice and tidying the house. If I can kick the cats out, I’ll vacuum.:) they are spoiled!!!

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, cancer, cooking, Gratitude, home stuff by

I’m so thankful we had a lovely Christmas and our little family was all here.

We had a very nice Christmas with our 2 adult children, my son’s partner, and my brother. We had a lasagna, some cornish hens( which I didn’t think they were worth it), an antipasto plate, garlic bread, and a tiny bit of ham for those that wanted it. I had it timed perfectly and everything was ready at the same time.

We had fun around the table and then everyone pitched in to clean up. It was really nice. My son’s partner even got us a popcorn maker so last night we used it while finishing up all the Christmas movies. I’m glad it’s over though and clean up can start.

Today I plan to get out the Hanukkha stuff as I was too tired yesterday to light the first night’s candle. I plan on making the latkes with sour cream and applesauce on the side. Maybe an omelette with some smoked salmon I have left over from Christmas breakfast. Something easy at any rate.

It was raining this morning so we didn’t walk. I plan to just do some clean up today and start putting away a few Christmas things. B has labs to go do and then pick up some prescriptions. His labs have been very good so really until the next phase he should be fine. He was able to schedule a video visit with Dr. Neal who is the mesothelioma oncologist at Stanford. Once he looks things over he’ll hand it off to Dr. Lee. It’s still going to be a hard 6 months for us but hopefully, we’ll come out of this with positive results.

I’m thankful that this year is ending on a positive note even though I know there’s some rough stuff ahead. At least as we close the year, it’s closing with lots of hope for a better 2025.

Simple Sunday

Posted in budgeting, California, cooking, home stuff, meal planning, seasonal things, simple foods by

A nice walk this morning. 6:20 till almost 7 right now is a good time. We still need our headlamps when we start but by the time we’re finishing it’s getting light.

I went to the auburn gym and then over to Bel Air. I needed cardamom for the khruchiki to drop one of my knives off to get sharpened. They are also called Fattigmands Bakkelser I think in Sweden. My mother made the these at Christmas every year. I never knew their name because we called them ‘krusts’. I think because in Polish it’s pronounced Chrusciki. Martha Stewart’s mother had a recipe but it’s a little different than the Betty crocker cookbook’s one. Anyway they are quite rich but not that sweet except for sprinkling powdered sugar on top.

We watched Elf last night and that was fun. Then we watched an episode of ‘Astrid’ . If you have PBS masterpiece theater, I believe that’s where it is. It is superb. We linked it with our Amazon Prime acct.

I have my schedule for Christmas cooking laid out. Tomorrow, I’ll make the ‘krust’ dough and keep it in the fridge till Tuesday. I’ll make the cheese lasagna Tuesday as well. I have garlic bread and I’ll put together and antipasto plate. whatever I need, I’ll go down to Holiday and pick up. I’m also planning on cooking some cornish hens that Costco had. They only have them at Christmas time. So the meat eaters will have something besides cheese lasagna.

Other than that it should be a mellow week. B contacted Stanford but everyone is out on vacation till the first week of january. So no appts for a while which is a relief actually.

Winter Solstice

Posted in books, budgets, California, Walking by

Winter begins.

Finally, the shortest day of the year. And the longest night but then we shall start to see more light. Already the afternoons are showing a bit more light around 5pm so that’s a big plus.

We had a nice walk this morning. It wasn’t too cold at all. The rain is supposed to start around noon. Today is just a home day. Yesterday I went to the gym and the library. I got the newest Baldacci book so I’m excited to start that today.

I didn’t go to Trader Joe’s so I may stop in there Monday. I still need a few things for Christmas eve and Christmas dinner. If I don’t I will go down to Holiday which I may do today anyway as we are out of half and half and milk. No one drinks or uses milk except B but since he’s really trying to gain weight milk is important to have.

I realized I didn’t have any Hannukha candles left so I ordered some from Amazon. After Christmas, I hope to only buy necessities from Amazon. Some things I just need to get from there like Simple human garbage bags. I buy these in a 4 pack. But I still want to try and not support Bezos.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, frugalism, Uncategorized by

I calculated our groceries, and according to the receipts I have, we came in at $550 for groceries. I think for the 3 of us that’s very good. I think eating from the freezer makes a difference. Of course, when that food is gone I’ll need to restock.

My new budget starts Monday, so I might need more groceries for Christmas then. I plan on making the Polish cookies and they do take a lot of eggs and heavy cream. I’ll either hit up Trader Joes or just go down here to the Holiday.

I know our PGE bill is going to be over $300 so that’s not frugal but we need to be warm when it’s 32 degrees outside:) Our water bill is way down since it’s winter but it never goes below $70 with all of the MV water fees.

My gas was around $150, probably because gas is at the lowest I’ve seen it at 3.89. I know B has to fill the truck next week which he only does once a month. I’ll fill the Santa Fe on Monday before I swim. The rest of the week will be home days so no driving for the most part.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, cancer, Gratitude by

First is that B is done with the chemo. It’s been a rough ride. His platelets and hemoglobin are coming up on their own so, he’ll have some goodish weeks until phase 2.

I’m very thankful his UCD doctor has been very supportive and proactive through this. he needs to make the consult appt with Stanford, so that’s the next step. Dr. Lee is the one to review the PET scan and labs and make a decision about the surgery. I’ll trust he know what he’s doing because that’s pretty much all he does. That consult should be a video visit because I’m not driving to Palo Alto just to talk about it. If he goes forward, the laparoscopy would require an overnight in Palo Alto.

I’m grateful for our warm house and enough wood to heat it. Our PGE bill is high this month but it always is in Dec and Jan. I like the house to be comfortable. I’m totally not into have it be 60 degrees. Plus B is very thin and the cold affects him so when needed we use the space heaters.

I’m grateful to have the chance to swim twice this week. It was mellow although all the lanes were still full. I think Christmas is having somewhat of an impact on who’s coming to the pool.

I’m thankful for our sweet kitties ( all six of them). They are not very cuddly cats but are sweet and entertaining.

I’m thankful both of my kids have great jobs they love. I wish I had found something I loved as a young adult. I mean I got my masters in counseling and did feel it was my path but I never got a regular job with it. I just freelanced. One regret I have is not getting a’regular job’ such as a school counselor or with a private practice. Well, hindsight is always 20/20.

I’m grateful to have some time before my next Velcade to do some Christmas cooking and enjoying the season without feeling the effects of Dex and chemo. My next shot is Jan 2, so that’s how the new year will start off.

Menu Monday

Posted in budgeting, California, cancer, cooking, meal planning by

Last night we had falafels with Pita bread, cucumber tomato raita, and tahini sauce. I was excited that Winco had the falafel mix in the bulk section. I’d looked a few times before so I checked this last time and it was there. Quite a savings buying in bulk over a box.

Tonight is IP polenta with gorgonzola cheese as I have a little to use up. I’m going to pair that with some garlic shrimp. I have salad mix to use as well.

Tuesday—I’ll probably have some beans of some sort, and I have an Amy’s cheese enchilada to use up in the freezer.

Wednesday- Soup of some sort. I’m leaning toward a minestrone.

Thursday-I have some stir fry veggies to use so I’ll add crispy tofu cubes.

Friday—Pizza, although I’m not sure if I’ll make a frozen one, make one, or buy one. I guess I’ll wait and see how the day shapes up.

Saturday- leftovers or FEY. (fend for yourself).

The rain was intense again this morning but seems to be lifting now.