Monthly Archives: November 2025

Thankful…

Posted in Blood test, budgets, California, cancer, Gratitude, Political things, swimming by

The government has reopened, and hopefully, the services people need will happen quickly!! What a joke for trump, though. Let’s hope this comes back to bite him where it hurts with the LONGEST shutdown ever. Plus the damning Epstein reports. Will it bring him down? Probably not, unfortunately. sigh….

Hip Hip Hooray!!!!! My labs came back and went down!!!! not in the normal range but down 4.5 points to 21!!!! I’m over the moon. So. I get a reprieve for at least another month!!!!

I’ve adjusted quite well to my ResMed CPAP machine. Clearly, I had sleep apnea, and this seems to have relieved ALL the symptoms. As resistant as I was, now I’m glad I persevered. The one I have just has the pillows you put in your nose, so it is not claustrophobic. Overall, I’m pleased that it’s working. I haven’t noticed much difference during the day, though. Supposedly, you are supposed to feel less sleepy, which I didn’t have to begin with. Anyway, there’s an app to use to track sleep and use of the CPAP, and it’s fun to look at it.

Thankful for the pool as always. I went on Veteran’s Day, and holidays are hit or miss. This time was a hit, and I had a lane to myself. It was very nice.

Thankful for my kids helping when they can. I’m hoping my son comes up this weekend to do some stuff, but his partner just had surgery, so he’s been caretaking them. (non binary).

Thankful to be getting a little more organized. I redid my clothes in the closet, since most of B’s are not in there anymore. One side looks good, the other is still a mess. But I plan on working on that today.

I’m thankful that, even though it’s raining, I can use the treadmill to get some steps in. Rain is forecast for the whole day.

Well, I’m off to do whatever.

Menu Monday

Posted in Blood test, bread, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, cooking, meal planning, Uncategorized by

We did very good with meals last week. I did cook the tilapia, and followed through on some of the other meals. We didn’t do a pizza or the baked potatoes. The night my daughter works late, I had broccoli cheddar soup for dinner. We also had turkey burgers one night because I finally found them in the freezer:(

Last night I made a beef stew with things I had on hand and wanted to use: carrots, potatoes, and a piece of steak. So there’s a little leftover that I put in the Souper cubes to freeze. I also had made the night before a turkey and wild rice soup because I had stuff in the freezer to use: 3 containers of turkey broth that each had turkey chunks in them. I added some cream to make it creamy and it was very good. I froze some of that too although rice doesnt always freeze well so that might be a wash.

So this week:

I have a Costco rotisserie chicken to slice up, and I’ll do some potatoes or stuffing and a salad.

Tuesday- Still planning on burritos or tacos, maybe with leftover chicken. Maybe I’ll put together chicken enchiladas.

Wednesday- Something from the freezer to use, maybe spaghetti and sauce.

Thursday- Again, a freezer meal, maybe enchiladas or soup.

Friday- try again for a pizza

Saturday- TBD, it depends on what I have to use up.

Today, I was planning on the pool but decided to come home after labs and do stuff around here. I feel a little stretched thin, so it’s better I do home stuff to regroup. Monday used to be my home blessing day of tidying up areas that I didn’t get to during the week, so I think that’s what I’ll do. I also started a loaf of sourdough to bake this morning.

I’m glad the appeals court ruled against the orange, evil, cruel man. Time to help people, not hurt them. Honestly, what evil person takes food away from children?

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, California, cooking, LLS, Uncategorized, Walking by

A nice walk this morning with no one there. It was just predawn. I’m heading out to the gym soon, so I’ll finish this later. I also need to drop off the thrift store stuff, and Sunday morning is always a good time. It’s not a lot, maybe 3 small bags of misc. Still better out.

I got my LLS submitted for November, so that’ll pay my UHC insurance. I haven’t gotten a notice of increase, but I’m sure I will. Even after B died, they raised it by 15% because it was just me and not multiple people. Weird.

Okay, then, back from the gym. I didn’t do too much, only about 25 minutes. I wasn’t into it today.

Then I dropped off the Goodwill stuff, and then my library friend called and asked if I wanted to get a coffee, so I was spontaneous. Usually, I am not at all, so that was a good change for me. Then, when I got home, I started the stew for dinner. I’ll let it cook most of the day. Then I made some chocolate chip cookie dough and froze most of it. I cooked up a dozen cookies.

This week is open, and I just have labs tomorrow. I’ll probably swim tomorrow or Tuesday. I’ll just see how I feel.

Has anyone received notice of insurance premium hikes? Or is it too soon?

Friday things

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, cash envelopes, frugalism, Multiple myeloma by

Yesterday was quite busy. I decided since my Velcade was rescheduled for 10am, I would go down to the gym first and then the library to pick up my hold. (Shogun) Then I went back to Winco for salad stuff, wine, oat milk, and yogurt. I spent about $60 and then got $40 cash to put into some cash envelopes.

Infusion was very busy, and I guess that’s why they needed me to come later. All 5 chairs were full, and some of these chemos are ALL day, and mine is only 20-30 minutes. They are always so nice, and oncology nurses are truly special people with the knowledge and skills they possess.

Finally, I stopped at Taco Tree for some tacos for myself and my daughter. She was almost out the door for work, but it all ended up ok. I took my Dex around noon, so hopefully I would get some sleep. Ha, no luck, I woke up at 2 am, and that was the end of sleeping. But I’m home today, so I can just chill.

I’m halfway through the budget month, and things are ok. There’s not a lot left over, but at least I’m not waiting for SNAP to come through. What a horrible thing these Republicans are doing to the people of this country who need it the most. Shameful. Even more shameful, throwing a Great Gatsby party at the gold mansion. Rump has probably NEVER read The Great Gatsby. Shameful, while millions of people are going without food or close to it. And then more shamefully, blaming Democrats for it because of the shutdown. Democrats are trying to save the ACA before rates skyrocket next year. Who cares about ordinary people? Certainly not rump.

Hurray for a win on Prop 50!!

Posted in California, cooking, home stuff, Uncategorized by

Finally, something to cheer about. Plus Mumdani winning NYC mayor, Virginia’s governor and the other democratic wins. Finally, a rebuke to tRump!!!

We’re in for lots of rain today. I think I saw almost 2 inches plus wind. There was just a huge lightning strike somewhere nearby and thunder, but we didn’t lose power. I was going to go swimming, but I think I’ll just stay home and get a fire going and get the house cozy. Tomorrow, I have to go down the hill because it’s my Velcade day. So I could go to Winco then. I’ll think about it.

I was also going to do a small Winco shop, but that’s out too. So I think if there’s a break, I’ll go down to the market and get the few things I need. Mostly, I need some oat milk, yogurt, and cottage cheese.

We had a very yummy lentil soup last night with the rest of the naan from the farmers’ market. When my daughter cooks, she makes delicious food. I’ll have leftovers for my lunch today. I was working on cleaning out the fridge, as tomorrow is garbage day. I got rid of a few things that had been pushed back and lost: a pepper, some old taco shells, and some stale bread. Today, I’ll do a wipe down and write a more detailed list of what I need.

Here are a couple of pictures of our maples.

Menu Monday

Posted in budgets, California, cooking, meal planning, simple foods, Uncategorized by

We had a fun time down at my son’s place yesterday.. We went to the farmers’ market and I loved it. Not too big, and not too small. I bought all the fresh veggies I need for the week, plus some yummy hummus dips.

Tonight: tilapia and farmers market broccoli some naam bread with hummus.

Tuesday: tacos of some sort. I have some WW tortillas, so I could do beans or grill some chicken.

Wednesday: quiche I have in the freezer with more broccoli on the side.

Thursday: This is my Velcade day, so something easy, baked potatoes from the freezer and leftover grilled chicken.

Friday: pizza from the freezer.

Saturday: TBD.

I don’t always follow these days exactly. It gets adjusted based on what we feel like eating/cooking.

I cooked the last pork roast I had from the freezer in the crockpot yesterday while we were gone. It was ok. My daughter’s not crazy about pulled pork, so I probably won’t do that again and just buy the packaged one from Costco.

I’m still learning about what we’re actually eating and what is getting wasted. It’s been a learning curve with grocery shopping and not overbuying. Freezer stuff I don’t mind, as that can be used as needed. I find it very interesting that since Barclay has died, we eat differently. Not sure why that is. Maybe it’s a lack of interest in cooking stuff, or ?? Really, I don’t know. Plus, my daughter is doing some of the cooking, and she likes low-carb, anti-inflammatory foods. Well, interesting to say the least.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cancer, meal planning, Myeloma, velcade, Walking by

I woke up at my regular time, and the clocks were back an hour. Based on the light, I went out to walk at 5:50, which yesterday was 6:50. I liked it as no one else showed up. It’ll be this afternoon that I won’t like it at 4, when yesterday that was 5. But every year we go through this and adjust.

My son visited yesterday and took a big load of wood to the dump. He thinks maybe 2 more loads and it’ll be gone. A good accomplishment. I went to the store and picked up sandwiches for us all and that was nice.

Today, I’m not going into the Auburn gym because my daughter and I are going down to my son’s place to visit and go to the farmers’ market. He has a lovely park that is right near the American River, and it’s quite nice, so we’ll go over there too.

This week I have Velcade and then my new lowered Dex. I didn’t notice a big difference, but maybe the Dex wore off sooner. Dex affects my breathing, and I did notice that the night I took Dex. It’s just a matter of getting through it. 😦

I need to go to Costco too this week. I wanted to get some of their sale items. The chicken pot pies are on sale, which are good for an easy dinner. The Starbucks holiday coffee is on sale, too. Buying stuff when they have their sales is definitely a big savings.

Because of Velcade this week, I’ll probably only get to the pool and gym once. Also, I need to make an appointment for the Santa Fe as the service light switch isn’t working( it’s a computer chip, apparently.) I got it to scroll once, but then it stopped working again. So I need to do that this week. At least I don’t have any other appts.

We’re in for another beautiful day here in N Ca. The wet weather is expected to arrive by Wednesday. Also, I hope Prop 50 passes so we can redistrict some of these worthless Republicans.

I need to write up a menu plan for the week and what house chores I need to focus on.