I hope all of you out there in blog land have a safe and happy NYE.
We will do our tradition of sub-type sandwiches and watch some movies. I have never stayed up to midnight in all these years. B would always stay up with the kids till midnight. sigh:(
The rain is expected to come back in tonight and continue for quite a few days. My son’s friend came yesterday and helped do a deeper clean. He’s a wonderful young man. I was happy to pay him to help. It’s interesting because I had just watched a YouTube channel that caught my attention about Japanese things. The concept was
‘oosouji’, which means ‘big clean’. I told T how cool that was because he was here helping to deep clean. He does a great job, btw.
So, today, I have some more oosouji to do, such as cleaning out the fireplace and washing a few windows. I’m also hoping that the desk and chair I have listed for free will be picked up this morning. They are in the sunroom, crowding it. It’s an extra desk my daughter doesn’t want anymore. If I had room, I’d keep it, but I don’t. So the other Japanese concept of ‘danshari’ is applicable here. Basically it’s refuse, dispose, and detach. So be it.
Well, what kind of NYE plans do you have? I have never gone out on NYE in all my years, ever. Do you go out? Just the thought of crowds is enough to stop me cold.
Last night, I made chicken/orzo soup from Rotesserie Chicken that I had frozen. There’s quite a bit left, so either that’s lunch or dinner.
I have the Costco dumplings, so I’ll do that with TJ’s orange chicken.
I plan on making a homemade pizza sometime this week. I found my 00 flour in the cabinet so I want to use that.
New Year’s Eve, we’ll do sub sandwiches of some sort. Either from the market or homemade, and I’ll get the ingredients.
One night, we’ll do tacos with ground beef, and I’ll also add pintos. I have at least 2 jars of pressure-canned beans left.
I’m still contemplating getting the electric pressure canner, as it would be much easier to use. However, it’s pricey, so I need to consider it. I do enjoy canning, so there’s that.
I used the Zojirushi bread maker yesterday for a whole wheat bread. It came out good, although I didn’t have the non-fat bakers’ milk, so the crumb was off some. I need to go to the store this morning, so I’ll pick some up and try another loaf. I always just use the dough setting and bake in the oven.
Absolutely no luck with camping reservations. I tried again this morning and didn’t get nada, zilch, zero. It makes you wonder who is getting these reservations, and whether they are using high-speed computers or multiple computers. Sigh…. oh well, all I can do now is check for cancellations since we are into 4th of July week.
This is the beautiful clock my son got me for Christmas. Lake Tahoe.
I took down most of the Christmas stuff and labeled the boxes. Since I did do a Snoopy tree this year, I labeled those ornaments in a box so next year I can pull them out if I decide to do a separate tree. I kept up the Ikea tree but took the bird ornaments off and put them away. I’ll probably take down the Ikea tree tomorrow or at least sometime this week. It always feels good to get a fresh start, although I do love looking at the different trees and their ornaments.
My daughter got me a compact waffle maker to replace the bigger one we have, so we had waffles last night. I might make some more this morning. Yumm.
This was our Christmas morning bagels and lox. I didn’t get a picture of dinner, but everything turned out delicious.
The pool was insane the other day. All the college kids were there. I forgot that this was winter break between semesters. I’ll have to see if I want to brave it next week. I finally got a lane with one of the college kids, and twice I got mouthfuls of water as he was kicking so hard. It wasn’t fun.
A very cold 36 degrees this morning, but the walk was lovely. The park was all frosty.
Today, I’m planning to go to the gym and then home. I might go back out later if my daughter wants to go to Home Depot. We need some things for the house.
This next week is a repeat of Christmas with New Year’s on Thursday. I have Velcade on Friday, which will be a little weird. I usually go on Thursdays. So my Dex day will be Saturday.
Other than that, I’m looking forward to the next year and hope it’s not as awful as 2025. I’ve had no luck getting a camping spot, so it’s been close to 10 days of trying every day. I’m almost at the first week of July, and I never go to Tahoe in July or August unless it’s a day trip. Too many tourists.
I went down to the pool yesterday only to find it closed. Apparently, when they had an open swim that included kids, some kid mistook the pool for a bathroom. So they have to chlorinate it to a very high level. That’s ok, it’s closed today as well. I’d rather they get it clear to be able to swim without any risk.
I came home straight away, although if I had extra gym clothes, I could have gone to the gym. But I was in my swimming suit.
I finished dusting most everything yesterday and also went down to Holiday to get a few last things.
We had some pretty intense wind overnight and rain, but right now things are calm till the next wave, which is this afternoon. Hopefully, it won’t be too bad. I do hate the wind.
Tomorrow, Christmas looks just as bad, so I told my son and brother not to come up if it’s treacherous. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. I can cook dinner on the weekend if that’s the case.
Still raining, and there’s some flooding in the area. Not so much where I am, but the Yuba River is flooding, and there’s some flooding near Yuba Gap. i hope the rain lets up.
I again decided not to go out. Just not feeling it for some reason. I’m trying to go with how I feel daily, so that’s where it is today. I do need to get to the bank, so maybe I’ll do that later.
I’m working my way through all our Christmas movies, Die Hard, It’s a Wonderful Life, etc. I still have Muppet Christmas and Chevy Chase.
Menu:
Last night we had Asian salad and TJ’s orange chicken
Tuesday- turkey chili from the freezer
Wed-Christmas Eve- Our tradition is always Fondue with baguette, veggies, apples, and whatever else.
Thursday- Christmas Day- Cheese lasagna, Steak (for the meat eaters), baked potatoes, brussels sprouts, roasted butternut squash, and dessert?
Friday- I’ll probably do a pizza
Saturday- soup of some sort
What kind of dinner do you all make for Christmas? Is there a tradition? Curious minds want to know.
Rain, rain, and more rain. No walking this morning as it is really raining. We’re supposed to get about 3 inches, which is a lot of rain. Still, daylight will eventually start getting longer, although it takes a few weeks for it to turn around. At least it’s not a cold rain. It’s about 53 out. I’m guessing that means there’s no snow in Tahoe.
I was on the Reserve for camping, but no luck. I’ll try again tomorrow. It’s a tough place to get a spot. But you just have to keep at it. I will continue to check for cancellations, but that’s unlikely to happen. sigh:(
I think I’m staying home today and not going to the Auburn gym. I’ll wait till it’s light out to decide. If I don’t go today, I’ll go to Maheny sometime this week. I’d like to get one swim in before Christmas, too. We’ll see how it goes.
Last night we had a marcella bean( white bean) and ham soup. It came out very tasty. I wrote out a list of freezer meals for my low spend challenge. Hopefully that’ll keep me on track. Plus, there’s a lot to use up. I also baked up a dozen potatoes and made double stuffed. After they are baked, I cut them in half, scoop out the potato, and then add some butter, sour cream, and cheddar. Then I mound it back in. I end up with 10 half potatoes.
My son went back up to Grass Valley for their Cornish Christmas and sent me these photos. It was rainy, but he said it was still nice. I don’t drive at night unless absolutely necessary, so I wouldn’t get up there to see this.
Not too much on the agenda for today. I have 2 more library books to read. I started one and wasn’t impressed, so I’ll just bring that back. Other than that, just the usual tidying, and I do need to dust. I ran out of swiffers(which I love), so I just got a new box from Costco. Not very exciting 🙂
I tallied up the groceries for the month, and the total was slightly over $500, which includes a lot of long-term food, both in the freezer and pantry. Overall, I’m pleased. I think for January, I’ll do a no spend/low-spend month and plan menus accordingly.
All the bills except our water bill are out now, so that’s good.
The rain is starting to come in and it looks like rainy weather for a full week. With Christmas next week, I’ll have to think about what days I want to go to Roseville. Probably, at least once.
I am looking forward to the new year. It’s 6 months to the day that Barclay died. Sometimes it seems surreal that it’s true. I miss the everyday things and sharing little things. That’s part of the hard part, I guess.
I went and looked at reservations for Tahoe, and of course, anything that was open is booked. So I’ll need to get on the website at 7am when I can to get something at the end of June already. I hate that part. But I did decide that no matter what, I’m going to go up (if I can get a spot), even if it’s with a tent. If we can’t buy something before that, I will make a list and plan accordingly, such as porta potty, a cover for the table, a cot, etc. I just feel I need to go, of course, all that depends on my cancer numbers and other mitigating factors (weather).
Well, I need to go figure out what else I’m doing for the day. What about you? Are you looking forward to 2026?
For the sun shining after a few rainy days. The rain is due to come back tomorrow, so the sun is great to warm things up and let things dry out some.
A nice swim at the pool, and I had a lane to myself again. I think because of Christmas stuff, the pool has fewer people swimming.
Also, I did a nice walk at 6:30 am. It was very misty down at the park, and that made it seem mysterious. I was the only one there till just as I was leaving, and someone showed up.
For feeling, overall, pretty good these days. My foot seems ok. I wear my shoes in the house and only take them off if I’m on the couch, and that definitely has helped.
I’m back in the cooking mode, so I feel grateful for that. I look forward to menu planning and cooking. For a while, after B died, I just didn’t care much either way, so it’s nice to feel motivated again.
Frugal Girl has a good post on her blog to read. It’s about not comparing where you are in life to others, especially when we are all in different seasons of our lives. It helped me reframe some of where I am. Especially when it comes to traveling, money, and lots of other small things. I’d love to keep traveling like I did with Barclay in the RV, but I can’t trailer the RV. So, after I sell it this spring, how can I create a traveling vehicle? Also, I have a very small fixed income that got smaller after Barclay died( by 1/3 less). I am, though, very grateful that what I do get from SS pays the bills. So comparing myself to people still working and earning is a thief of joy and results in only negative thinking. It makes no sense to do those comparisons, as, like I said, we are all in different seasons of our lives. I will accept where I am and my limitations as well. I say limitations, as that is a fact of getting older. I can’t walk as far as I once did. I can’t do lots of things that even 5 years ago I could, such as getting down on the floor to clean corners or the floor. Nope, it’s not happening, and I accept that. ( maybe begrudgingly):)
I am only going to focus on what I can do as FG suggested. I am going to focus on my own internal process and do what I can to still live my best life. I can still do some traveling, it’s just how I can add that in and afford it. I can still do moderate walking, which is something I love, plus always reading and cooking. Those things don’t cost money and add joy to my life.
Yesterday, I went to the Roseville gym and library. I had about 5 books on hold that were due to come off the hold list. From there, I went to TJ’s to get a couple of gift cards to give my kids. I’ve been struggling with the whole gift-giving this year, especially with Barclay gone. I like giving my kids gifts and have always gone somewhat overboard. Nothing crazy, but still more than I can do now. So, in addition to the TJ’s card, I’m giving each some cash, for my son a dinner out with his partner, and my daughter to go and use at the nursery. It’s all a big adjustment, but necessary since money-wise, I can’t really do much more. I’m sure I will adjust and, in time, be ok with it. Since this is the first Christmas/Hanukkah without B, I’m quite emotional about it all. Time is a great healer, and I’m sure things will get easier as time goes by.
It’s finally raining here in N. California after a very beautiful fall break with lovely sun( at least here in the foothills, the valley has been socked in Tule fog). I’m not sure if I’m going down to the pool or waiting till tomorrow. It’s only 6:30, so I have time to get a sense of the day. I have some decluttering to do with some books and some of the Christmas things my son didn’t want.
My son took us to Grass Valley to see the Christmas decorations. It was lots of fun. He makes quite an effort to do things with me. There they are side by side. My lunch was delicious. A turkey green chili sandwich.
I've been married for nearly 20 years to a wonderful husband and I'm a mom to three great kids ages 17, 16 and 14. Oh, and I just happen to have cancer. Multiple Myeloma is a cancer of the blood that is currently incurable but IS considered highly treatable! My goal is to make people laugh, cry or feel a little less alone whether you are a mom, cancer patient or BOTH!
Tahoe Girl 