Monthly Archives: November 2025

Simple Sunday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, husband, meal planning, swimming, Uncategorized by

Our weather has been cold but not rainy. The highs are at 58, and the lows are at 42. It looks to be the same for the next week at least. I’ve been using the space heaters some and the wood stove is used daily.

I had a nice swim this week and also went to the gym and library. Overall, a good week exercise-wise. My replacement Merrills are on the way, but it’s still about a week out. I’ve been wearing my Hokas in the house, and that helps some with my foot. My foot, at least, hasn’t gotten worse and is somewhat better.

We had a very nice Thanksgiving. The dinner turned out well, and it was nice. Of course, without Barclay here, it was different and sad but we all raised a glass of champagne to him:)

I’ve been writing out small lists of things to do each day, only 2 or 3 things, and it’s helped me stay on task. Nothing major, but things like wiping down the shelves, dusting the Easton Press books. Just little things. What I don’t get to, I put on a list for the next day. So far, it’s been good for me.

I made a turkey wild rice soup from leftovers yesterday. It was very good, and I put some servings in the Souper cubes to freeze. I need to do a menu for the week sometime today.

I plan on going to the Auburn gym this morning, and then I need a few things from Safeway. Mostly, salad stuff and fruit.

My son texted me yesterday with a picture of one of the truck’s tires, and Whoa!!! It looked like it had hit a pot hole or something and had a big gash in it. He’s taking it in for tires today. I’ll give him some $ for most of it from my EF, which will leave it quite low, but that’s what it’s there for.

This coming week is my Velcade shot and then Dex. I see Dr. L next week, so I’ll have new labs by then, I hope.

Happy Thanksgiving

Posted in California, home stuff, Uncategorized by

I hope it’s filled with good food and family all around.

This will be the first Thanksgiving without Barclay. I’m sure we all will raise a glass to him. It will also be strange to not have him here. After 55 Thanksgivings together, I am very sad he’s not here, but I am thankful he’s not in pain anymore.

Well, I hope you and yours, whoever that may be, have a beautiful day.

Simple Sunday on Monday

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I started this but got sidetracked so here’s an updated version.

The week ahead looks sunny but not very warm. I think the highs are only around 60 degrees. Still, it’s such a pretty time of year. Barclay loved this time around Thanksgiving when all our oak trees turn golden and the light is filtered. I miss sharing it with him. I suppose that’s one of the hard things that he’s not here to share little tidbits with. 😦

The day was so pretty out. I went into the Auburn gym and did my usual 30 minutes. I also went to the park and walked, although more slowly, and my foot did ok. I only walked 15 minutes and wasn’t limping, so that was good. I did ice it later in the day just for safe measures. Hopefully, my Merrills will show up tomorrow. My foot is a little sore this morning, but not terribly. Maybe a 3 on a pain scale.

I then popped into Safeway for a few random items: celery, carrots, whipped cream, and? I checked out their turkeys, figuring if the deal was good, I’d get one for the freezer. But I didn’t see any sales, or at least where I was looking. The prices seemed pretty high to me.

Today, my daughter and I are going down to Costco, which is probably crazy, but I need her to get 2 cases of water. I can’t lift their cases, so that’s the reason. Plus, I figured, while I’m there, get a wreath for the door.

Menu Plan for the week:

Last night we had hot dogs, sauerkraut, beans, and macaroni salad.

Monday- I might try the nut loaf piece I made to see how it cooks up ,with some instant mashed potatoes.

Tuesday- beans in the crock pot,tortillas,

Wednesday- Maybe breakfast for dinner, pancakes, scrambled eggs.

Thursday- we’ll eat dinner @ 1pm. Organic Diestel Turkey breast, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, green beans, plus the nut loaf and gravy. I usually do an olive plate, but I think I’ll skip that. No one really eats it except me:) or B .

Friday- Leftovers or eat what you want.

Saturday- chicken of some sort and baked potatoes.

Do you have a traditional Thanksgiving or something unusual? I’d love to try, next year, something totally different. B and I always thought we’d go away at Thanksgiving, but then I’d feel bad for the kids. But they have their own stuff now, so?

Saturday Happenings

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So far a nice morning of getting odds and ends done. I put up some more twinkle lights that are plug-in and not battery-operated.
I cleaned out the fireplace ash.

I cleaned the stove top with Dawn Power Wash. ( which, by the way, really is an excellent product. If you wait, it goes on sale at Costco.)

Next, I am planning on doing some touch-up painting.

My order from Bombas didn’t get delivered, and so I’m trying to track it down since it said delivered. 😦 I plan on ordering another 3-pack of T-shirts during Black Friday sales. It’s 25 % off if you’re interested. I’ve ordered from Quince before, and I like their T-shirts; they’re still not the quality of Bombas. Plus, Bombas gives one of the same items you buy to homeless shelters.

I have a few miscellaneous grocery items to still get for Thanksgiving. I need celery, sage, fresh cranberries, and a few other things.

I still need to do up a menu plan and look at the week ahead, and plan swimming and the gym. I need to go to the library as I have 2 holds there now.

Friday Things

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I plan to go down to the pool this morning. Hopefully my foot will like the water. My Merrills won’t be here till next week, so I just have to make do with the Hokas. I’ve been keeping them on most of the day, but then by evening, I want them off. I have my Birkies then to put on. I still might buy a boot from Amazon, but I haven’t decided yet. I’ve been spending money on Black Friday deals for things we need, like the Fat Wood for the fire and other not really interesting stuff, but necessary. But all I see right now is money flying out the door. The Merrills were very pricey, but I’m sure they will last a long time, and if it helps keep my foot stable, then that’s a win.

Yesterday, Costco’s food added up to @ $140, with a lot of it being long-term food, such as some tamales and bacon. These alone last a few months at least. Food-wise, I’m over budget, although I don’t have the final number yet. I’ll tally it up this weekend.

Update: I just did a rough tally, and I’m close to $600 for food for the two of us, but that does include Thanksgiving food as well. So not too bad really. I will definitely do a pantry/freezer challenge in January.

All of November’s bills are done. Our water bill and electric bill have gone down, so that’s a positive. Of course, we’re not watering the gardens now, so that’s why.

Well, I’d better go get my suit on and get ready to go.

Thankful Thursday

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I’m thankful for a break in the rain. I woke up to it raining and now at 12noon it finally has stopped. It’s still overcast but not cold.

I thankful my foot isn’t any worse and it feels slightly better.There’s not a lot of pain walking so that’s good. But I still will keep walking to a minimum till I get the Merrills Moab. I do plan on swimming/and the gym but I think that should be ok.

I’m thankful to feel good enough to go to Costco and do the pre Thanksgiving shopping. I got the pie to freeze and the potatoes. It wasn’t a big shop so that was nice. I did pick up a small Lego set for my son’s partner. They love Legos so that’s a good gift.

I’m thankful for all the small things that make up life. Early mornings, walks, coffee, good food, jazz in the afternoon( that was B and my go to every day.) I do miss going out for coffee together and of course taking Rubi out. But I’m grateful we had the time that we did with the trailer. The very first year 2021 ,this time of year, November, we headed down to Santa Barbara. Unbeknownst to us the spot I reserved was the BEST spot in the entire campground as it faced the ocean and was steps from the beach. Good times, and I miss them.

I’m grateful our house is warm and dry. Our neighbors, who are in their 90s, have tarps all over their roof. Just to be clear, they have children and grandchildren that live right near by to help but don’t except to put tarps up. sigh:((

It’s always something.

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Yesterday, I went for my early walk, and the top of my foot started bothering me, like it was painful. Now, I have had a stress fracture of the metatarsal before on my right foot, so I know what it feels like. I was like WTF?? So, I nixed my plans to go to the pool and Costco. I used ChatGPT to ask some questions. It was quite helpful. I iced my foot 3 times and kept my Hokas on all day. It also suggested wearing a hard-soled shoe like a hiking shoe to keep the foot from bending too much. I only have my Hokas, so I went to Amazon and ordered the shoes I used to wear, Merrills Moab. Why does it always have to be something??

Anyway, it feels better this morning to some degree. I don’t really want to make an appointment with my PCP because if it is a stress fracture, there’s nothing really that can be done except let it heal and don’t do anything to aggravate it. If it gets worse, I’ll call; otherwise I’ll stick to my plan of icing and wearing the Moabs when they get here.

So with that, I won’t go down to the pool or gym today. I did read on Chat that swimming is ok, so I’ll do that once I know what’s going on. If it is a stress fracture, it will continue to be painful, but this morning, like I said, it feels somewhat better. The last time when I saw the podiatrist, it wasn’t very productive except to wear the foot brace. Stress fractures take about 6-8 weeks to heal. I can only assume that repetitive behavior like walking every day can cause this, plus age is a factor.

On a positive note, my daughter and I went out to lunch at a new place to us yesterday. It was quite delicious. It’s a burger place that does smash burgers. It’s not a chain, just a local place.

My Diestel turkey breast is being delivered today. It’s frozen, so I’ll just put it in the freezer till next week. If my foot feels better, I plan on going to Costco tomorrow, and that’ll be the last shop before Thanksgiving. I don’t do any big store shopping the week before the holidays. If I need something, I just go down to the Holiday Market.

Quick update: I went back and checked when I had the stress fracture before, and it was 2018, so 7 years. It was the same left foot. So obviously, I have a weak spot in that foot. sigh:()

Monday Rain,again:((

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Menu monday

Last night we had tilapia and a fall-type salad with brown rice, butternut squash, spinach, pumpkin seeds, and pomegranate seeds. Quite tasty.

Tonight, I’m going to heat up the French Onion soup( Costco) in the oven and serve with some sourdough bread.

Tuesday- Amy’s enchiladas( freezer to use up and a jar of my pressure-canned beans.

Wednesday- I have spinach that needs to be used so I’ll do a quiche with feta and some mushrooms.

Thursday- This is my daughters late night so usually I do something easy like breakfast for dinner or a soup.

Friday- maybe a pizza. The Costco pizza was ok, nothing to write home about, and I have 2 more of them to use. So far, the best frozen pizza we’ve had is called Home Run. I should get back into making my own pizza, but I haven’t really felt motivated or maybe just lazy.

Saturday- I have some breaded chicken for burgers on a roll with some fries.

I usually just have a menu as more of a guideline rather than anything absolute.

It’s raining again today. So much rain!!! I’ve decided to hunker down and stay home. I did go to the gym yesterday, but the rain was torrential, and I-80 was closed in numerous places due to stupid people going too fast.

I’ve been watching the Iron Man movies; they’re kind of fun.

I have the leftover brown rice to make the nut loaf today, and then I’ll freeze it. I think I’ll put them in the Souper Cubes so they’re portioned in 2-cup servings.

Simple Sunday

Posted in books, budgets, cash envelopes, home stuff, reading, Walking by

We’re back in the rain again. All.Day. Oh well, I won’t walk but may still go to the gym. Since that’s only in Auburn, I don’t mind. (Auburn is about 7 miles, just for reference.)

Friday, we went and picked up the VW. He fixed the brake light and the low beam headlights that had been out for like forever. sigh… $300 out the window. I pulled cash from my envelopes to pay. So now I need to go back and refill them when I can.

I plan on washing the couch covers today. This Ikea couch has held up so well, but now it is starting to show wear. I am hoping to buy a new couch sometime after the first of the year. It’ll be Ikea. The one I have picked out is grey and mid-century looking. I’ve loved my white couch, which was the Ektorp. But they don’t make that one anymore, but replaced it with another that looks similar.

I will also put together a meal plan and see how the week shapes up. I have some library holds, so I know I’ll go to Mahany and do the gym and library. I’ll see when I want to go to the pool. I may switch it up this week and go on Tuesday.

I have my Diestel turkey breast being delivered this week. I have some other things like green beans, cranberry sauce, and stuffing already. I’ll make the nut loaf and freeze it this week, too. I’ll probably buy the Costco pumpkin pie and freeze it till Thanksgiving. We’re not big dessert eaters at all, so I don’t worry about having 3 different pies. As I’ve said, this year I want to keep things like they were when B was here and not change the routine. Next year, who knows? My daughter and I talked about going to the coast for Thanksgiving, but not this year. I guess I want the continuity.

I’ve been reading Shogun again. Such a great story. I’m looking for a copy at the thrift store, but no luck so far. The new reprint was released this year, so I borrowed it from the library. Funny, how much back in the 70s this book influenced me. I suppose it is the traditions and simplicity that spoke to me.

Frugal Friday

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So far this week, I spent grocery money at Winco, Safeway, and today, Trader Joe’s. Winco was $60 for food approx.

Safeway was $34 for food, approx.

Tarader Joe’s was $83 approx with quite a few freezer items for next month.

At TJ’s, I picked up some Christmas gifts for the kids: some snacks and 2 of the new micro bags, which are very cute. I was glad to get some as there were only a few left.

So not bad, and I’m coming in so far for the month at a little over $500. That includes long-term food items stored in the freezer. My budget runs til the 24th, so I’ll need to keep it low or 0 next week.

The pool was nice and not super busy, which is always a treat.

The VW is getting the brake lights checked, so I’ll probably need to go back out later when my daughter gets home if it’s ready. They’re not open on the weekend, so it’s either today or Monday.

I’m not sure what the weekend is like. I think the weather is ok. After the deluge of rain yesterday, we need a break.