Monthly Archives: December 2025

Frugal Friday

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I had lots of plans for what I was going to do after my doctor appointment, but that all went by the wayside. As soon as I walked into the lobby, I could see it was packed. Usually, there’s one or two people, but this was packed. So he was 40 minutes late because of a biopsy that hadn’t been scheduled correctly. I’m pretty chill about that stuff because there are cancer patients in there worse off than me. So all my plans just evaporated, and I just cancelled going to do what I was going to do. My 10 am appt didn’t get finished till half past 11, so I just came home. I have plenty of days before Christmas, and most of this stuff is just Christmas prep. For instance, I need Gift cards from T.J.’s, but I can do that another day after swimming. I also need to go to Costco for one last small shop for Christmas dinner. So all that can roll over to next week.

Hanukkah starts Sunday night at sundown, so we’ll do latkes and applesauce(homemade) and breaded chicken/tofu. If I’m inspired, I’ll make the Superiority tofu, which is deep-fried. It’s a recipe that is involved and takes time. Someone asked about the recipe for polenta lasagna, and really, it’s very simple. I make the polenta in the Instant Pot( very easy this way), then chill overnight. Then I cut slices of the polenta and layer with tomato sauce, cheese, and then bake. It’s a delicious meal that doesn’t use pasta.

I’m not really doing any gifts for Hanukkah, at least as of today. Barclay always bought lottery tickets ( scratchers) for everyone, so I may do that. Otherwise, it’s just lighting the menorah and enjoying that. Oh, I will do some Starbucks gift cards, as that is always welcome and used.

I went to Winco after the pool and got some Christmas stuff, but not all, as I didn’t have my list.:( So I’ll see about hitting it up again next week.)

I’m staying home today and just doing some odds and ends. I finally got around to cutting up the box of Pink Lady apples someone gave us, so that’s tucked away in the freezer. I need to mop the floors today and just do a general tidy up.

Here’s a picture of our lemon tree that is much fuller than this shows, and blue skies. Sacramento is in Tule fog!

Thankful Thursday

Posted in Blood test, budgets, California, cooking, Myeloma, swimming, Uncategorized by

I seem to have a few really good nights sleeping and then a not-so-good one. There doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason, but I am thankful for the nights I do sleep well with minimal disturbances. Using the CPAP has been an interesting experience, and overall, I’m quite pleased with the results. There is no snoring with the machine at all. So that was solved. (That’s a sign of sleep apnea.) I’ve had almost no ‘disturbances’, which is how they calculate sleep apnea, and my blood oxygen has improved, although only slightly. I would still like to try Zepbound, but I’m not sure I could afford it. I know that my prescription plan doesn’t cover it, so it would have to be direct from the drug company. Well, I’m not there with that yet, maybe next year.

I am so thankful we live above the fog. It has been socked in in the valley and even through Auburn. As soon as you hit my exit, it clears to brilliant blue skies. And the temperature is at least 10 degrees warmer here. Unfortunately, I have to go to Sacramento today for my doctor visit, but hopefully that will go quickly. My labs just came in, and my kappa went to 23.9, so up a little, but the ratio came down to 1.85, so there’s some good with that. Overall, I’m pleased it didn’t jump higher.

I was able to get a swim in yesterday, and thankful I had a lane all to myself( a rarity). i do wish I were getting there more, but it seems there’s always something that happens, and I don’t want to drive that extra day. Like tomorrow, I know I’m going to want to stay home as I will have been out 2 days in a row. (sigh)

I am NOT thankful the cat threw up all over my Apple keyboard. 😦 bad cat!!!

I’m thankful for all the wonderful Christmas B, and I had both alone and then with kids. I remember our first Christmas together. So, I was a freshman at the University of Arizona, and he was a sophomore. I think we did a few gifts that were of the hippie variety, and then our Christmas Eve dinner was brown rice with nuts and raisins in teak bowls. My mother actually sent us those bowls. Then Christmas day, I used our neighbor’s oven to bake a lasagna. Our little apartment didn’t have an oven. That’s how the tradition of the lasagna started. Good memories.

menu for the week and misc.

Posted in Blood test, books, budgets, California, library, meal planning, Walking by

I finally got my early am walk with my new Merrills. They are definitely a stiff boot that keeps my foot from moving too much. I can see why Chat recommended them for a foot fracture. Overall, my foot is better, and I do wear my Hokas in the house all day, and I think that helped. I haven’t worn my Birkies in a while because I think they didn’t support my foot enough.

I did a menu plan for the week so i have a rough idea of what I want to make.

Last night I made chicken enchiladas with green (verde) sauce. We had a salad on the side.

Tuesday- I’m going to make tomato bisque soup( from Costco) and some cheese sliders.

Wednesday- I have some mac and cheese I want to use up. I might add some tuna for protein.

Thursday – I think I’ll make a tofu scramble with veggies and nuts.

Friday – I’m not sure we’ll do pizza, so I’ll wait and see what my daughter wants.

Saturday- ?? TBD. maybe a burger of some kinda and fries.

Yesterday, I dropped my books off at the library and recycled batteries there, too. The gym was busy, but I found my way around without any delays. From there, I went up to Costco, mostly for coffee and a few other things. I think the food part was @ 100. I paid cash.

Today is a home day, and my son is coming over after work to visit. I don’t have any big chores for him to do, so it’ll just be a catch-up on what’s going on. Although he could put the cardboard in the recycle bin for me. Since he has the truck, it would be easier for him to do.

Simple Sunday

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Well, I made it through yesterday without the Ativan, but not last night. I decided before bed, I’d take one, and I slept well. Only a couple of wakeups and then back to sleep.

My Merrills finally showed up, so I’m going to wear them around the house and see how they feel. For the price of them, I need to know they fit perfectly.

It was foggy this morning, and apparently the valley is pretty socked in. That’s one advantage of living above the fog and below the snow. 🙂 Temperatures are still cool, though.

We had the polenta lasagna last night, and it was quite good. I have leftovers either for lunch or to freeze. I’ll probably pull some chicken from the freezer for the week and find some sort of recipe to use. Something I can get a few meals out of.

Frida, which Barclay bought last year, won the ugly ornament contest. I just added the green felted dinosaur in the middle of the picture on the right. I may look for some more. These were just Target brand.

My neighbor called and said they transferred him down to Antioch( Kaiser) in the cardio department. He said the tests were still inconclusive, but they were going to do an angiogram.

Saturday Happenings

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Another absolutely awful night of sleep, or rather, not sleeping. I guess it was Dex, and I should have taken an Ativan, but by the time I thought about it, it was too late (3am ). Saturday is always a walk day for me, but not this morning.UGH….and I still haven’t gotten my GOD Damned shoes as the delivery was delayed by the weather back east.

I did have a productive day yesterday, and just as I was tucking into a glass of wine, I got a call from my neighbor( Leo’s Son, who is remodeling the house), saying he was in the ER and thinks he had a heart attack. (It’s still not confirmed.) But he asked if I could come down to Auburn and get Marvin the dog and bring him home. Fortunately, my daughter had gotten home from work, so she could come too and drive his car home. It was stressful going into the ER, with security stuff, and bad memories. But I got his keys, and we got the dog home safely. It was absolutely a nightmare out driving at that time of night,5pm. I was very frazzled by it all.

This morning I have my annual mammogram, so I need to get going, and then I’m coming home and going to sleep, even if I have to take an Ativan. I was planning on going to Target for some blue twinkly lights, but I may have to pass on that. I guess I’ll see how the coffee works on me.

Yesterday, I made a turkey sauce to make a polenta lasagna, but that got sidetracked with the ER visit. So I plan on making that tonight. I have some salad stuff too.

Other than that, I’ll have to see what I can get done.

Here’s a picture of the ugly ornament tree. Every year, we would each buy an ugly ornament and decide who had the ugliest one. Mostly, Barclay won!! Perhaps I can do that this year if I speak with the kids soon enough.

Friday Things

Posted in California, cancer, frugalism, home stuff, plants, Uncategorized, velcade by

My shot went well yesterday, and afterwards I went to WinCo. I spent $83 on food and paid in cash. I specifically wanted Taco sauce and a small jar of peanut butter. I don’t think buying the 2-pack at Costco is worth it for just the two of us.

Today is my dex day, and so far I feel pretty good, not too crazy:) I’m still a little sinus-y, but that’s it.

Some Christmas stuff and a totally funny New Yorker comic. B and I would always joke about this from “What About Bob ” and Siggy saying that.

I need to figure out my day but I know I need to:

clean the stove and hood

vacuum

do 1 load of laundry

look at the budget for the next 2 weeks

water some plants

???

Thankful Thursday

Posted in budgets, California, cash envelopes, Gratitude by

I’m thankful that what I had wasn’t a cold since I felt a lot better yesterday and today. I think it’s sinus because I still feel a bit of a sinus headache. Yesterday I only took an allergy pill no cold medicene so fingers crossed that’s all it is.

I am thankful I got a beautiful early walk, and I was the only one there. I saw the full moon briefly, but it was already on its way down.

I’m thankful all the bills are accounted for, although, again, there’s not much wiggle room. As long as things are accounted for, I’m ok. I’m still working on paying off the one cc that I had to put some of the big bills on, but I’m getting there. I do hate having a balance, but since I don’t have any backup, that’s what I need to do. I do hope next year I can swing doing cash envelopes for most stuff. I did have the property tax paid from an envelope, and most of the house insurance. So next year, that’s a real priority.

I’m thankful for a warm house. Our wood stove does a nice job, along with some space heaters. We don’t have central heating, so that’s what needs to happen. My daughter bought an oil space heater that looks like a radiator, and we’re experimenting with how well a job it does.

I’m thankful my car is still going great despite it being a 2014. I do hope I can keep it going for a while longer, since I’m not too sure how I’d buy a new( to me) car.

Well, that’s all from mi casa. What things are you grateful for? I’m always interested in peeking into other people’s lives.

Midweek and a cold.

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I seemed to have come down with a cold yesterday. I mentioned I was sinus-y, but then I started sneezing and my nose running, etc. I think I picked it up at Safeway as the cashier was coughing. Ugh. I haven’t had a cold in a very long time.

I feel better this morning, but I will still just stay home and work on things. I might try and do a pickup at Target for some things, but that would be for tomorrow. My daughter went out yesterday and bought some cold medicine, which I’m not too crazy about, but it stopped my runny nose at least.

Tomorrow I have my Velcade shot, so I need to be 50% better. I’ll wear a mask, though, when I go in, as there are other patients in the chemo room. I had planned on the gym afterwards, but now I won’t do that, so I’ll just come straight home unless something is pressing to do. Although I do have books to drop off at the library so I may go do that.

I need to figure out our Christmas dinner. Traditionally, we always do lasagna. That’s probably what I’ll do, but I want to think about it some more and ask the kids what they might want. I didn’t do any presents except a few little treats from TJ’s. I will give them some $ for something they want to get. I’m just not into it this year. I did put up our trees, though, because I like the twinkling lights and the few very special ornaments. Costco had the most perfect Noble firs for sale. 4-5 feet in size, so I got 2 of those too. I love real trees, and in the past, Barclay and I had so much fun getting the forest service tree permit and going to cut a tree. Good memories of that, especially the one year it was snowing in Tahoe.

Sunrise this morning and Gus under his binkie!!!

Menu Monday

Posted in budgets, California, meal planning, Uncategorized by

I slept terribly last night, so I feel like I’m running on empty. I’m not sure the why of it. Most nights I sleep well, and then boom, I get a night that’s awful. There’s not a lot of rhyme or reason to it. I do keep track in my journal so I can look back and see if there’s some pattern. So far, I can’t see a pattern. Oh well, it is what it is.

Last night we had Rancho Gordo cranberry beans in the crock pot. We had polenta on the side.

Monday- I think I’ll pull some baked potatoes from the freezer and figure out a protein.( updated: I just had the potatoe since we had burgers for lunch)

Tuesday- left over cranberry beans, burritos probably, and I have some avocados to use up.

Wednesday- I’m thinking a curry with either chicken or tofu.

Thursday- I have some soup in the freezer to use.Vegetable Barley

Friday- pizza or pasta, I’ll wait and see what we feel like.

My daughter and I went to the cinema and saw ‘Rental Family’. The movie was fun, and seeing Japan made me swoon. The cinematography was amazing. So after that, we stopped at In and Out for burgers. I had a protein-style one and it was good.

Today is Tuesday, and my sinuses are acting up, so I’m going to stay home. I’ll just do some house things and work on the budgets for next year.