Author Archives: Chris N

Friday Things

Posted in budgets, California, cash envelopes, cooking, frugalism, Political things, swimming by

It’s been a good week overall. I got a swim in and a trip to the Maheny gym and library. So a good workout week for plus I walked 3 days. Today I’m not going to the pool, but I might go tomorrow. I am trying to balance going down to Roseville with gas costs.

I went to both Winco and Trader Joe’s this week. Between the two, I spent $133 on food. I should be ok for a while, except for maybe some salad stuff. Last night I made some fajitas with a piece of beef from the freezer and lots of red and orange peppers. I wrapped them in a WW tortilla. There was plenty left over for my daughter when she got home from her job.

I’ve been watching Shogun at night. The original with Richard Chamberlin. It’s funny how much it brought back why I loved so much about Japanese culture. Of course, back then it was also brutal, but the mind only goes to the good things like shoji screens and the whole minimalist feel. I went on line to buy the books and wow, I’m not spending $100 for the 2 volume set. I hope it’ll show up at the thrift store. My son frequents them enough I asked him to look out for it. He’s the one that found the Shogun blue ray set at the thrift store so that was quite a find. it must have been an amzing production with costumes and sets.

This morning, I need to go pay for our PO Box. Wow, has that gone up. I’m paying $192 for a year. That seems outrageous. I had some of it in my cash envelope, but not all of it. I need to bulk up my cash envelopes because it helps me keep ahead of bills coming up. Since I don’t have much extra these days, I’m not able to put as much away. I think Christmas will be quite minimal partly because I don’t have any extra money to buy things. That’s ok really. Both kids are adults who get what they want anyway. What I’ll aim for is some cash to each or a gift card.

This is the Chinese Pistachio tree I bought to use as a memorial planting for Barclay. There was one person who sent me a $ contribution for Barclay, I used his $ for this. I think I will buy a second one, and I’ll pay for that.

I might go into town for a few things, but I’ll wait and see how the morning shapes up. I want to mop the floors and tidy up a few areas of the house. If ,after that ,I still want to go, I can.

Next week, my AA house insurance gets put on the cc with autopay. I’ll just have to keep paying that down over the next couple of months. (sigh)

We’re due for some rain this weekend and cooler temperatures. Then next week we’re back in the 70s.

I, like so many people, am just mortified by the destruction of the East Wing of the White House. It’s such a power play by rump. There are no words to describe it except evil. He will be seen in history as THE WORST PRESIDENT ever.

Fall things

Posted in California, cooking, seasonal things, swimming by

The Japanese maples are all turning red. We have quite a few that my daughter planted that have now gotten quite big. She’s been busy in the garden, cleaning up beds and the yard. I can’t really bend over to do the garden beds anymore, but I try to help by picking up random things and putting them away. Yesterday, I finally cleared off the patio table which does become a landing spot for lots of random things.

I’ve been practicing some embroidery again, too. I do like to do handwork, but my hands don’t always like it. What I wanted to do was create a little book with stitches to use as a reference. We’ll see how it goes. I have a few linen napkins I will do some embroidery on, too.

After swimming yesterday, I headed over to WinCo for some things and then across the street to TJ’s. At TJ’s, I scored a few of their mini fall bags.

These mini bags are always at a premium. People will go in and buy as many as they can and resell on Market Marketplace for triple or more of the price. I don’t know who would buy this bag at $15, but they list them at that. These are $2.99 in the store.

I finished making the applesauce yesterday and water bathed 4 pints. The flavor was excellent. I’ll give one to my son. As I said, these are our apples, so it makes it special.

Simple Sunday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, Uncategorized, Walking by

I had a really nice walk this morning. No one was there except a beautiful ‘priestess moon’ and Venus. Really nice.

I’m back from the gym and need to do some tidying up. I’ve kept up with things this week, so there’s not a lot of extra stuff to do.

I’m using the last of the apples from our tree to make more applesauce. We had a great crop this year, so it’s nice to have our own applesauce. Last night I made a very yummy dish that was called grilled chicken with a Boursin sauce. I had bought the 3 pack of Boursin cheese a while ago, and it’s pull date is coming up so I googled recipes. First you grill the chicken with some onions, then remove from the pan and add some chicken broth and then the package of garlic and herb Boursin. Stir until cream and well incorporated, add the chicken back in and cook for a bit more till the suace is nice and thick. It was quite good.

Yesterday, I also made up a dozen double-stuffed potatoes for the freezer. It’s one of our favorite things to have on hand. We had one each with our chicken.

I tallied up the Costco shop, and here’s how it breaks down:

non food came in at $200.

Long term food came in at $48

and regular food came in at $140.

So I’m pleased, and I’ll put the $140 in next month’s budget, which will start soon.

A couple of pictures. Flowers from my son and his partner, a vintage Halloween pumpkin, and my new heater that looks like a small fireplace. I needed something out in the sunroom as the little ceramic one I had died.

We’re in store for another beautiful day.

Frugal Friday and misc. stuff

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, decluttering, frugalism, Multiple myeloma, Myeloma, Uncategorized by

We ended up having a lot of rain!! But now it’s blue skies and the temperature is lovely. We should be having day temperatures in the 70s. We have some outside things to do, so that’s perfect. I need to paint the new gutter that S put up and tidy the patio up for winter.

I have a small pile to go to the thrift store and will probably do that on Sunday after the gym. I’m still going through different areas to find more things to add to the pile.

My son and his partner came over on Wednesday afternoon, along with the partner’s parents. They are lovely people, and I wish B could have met them. But they were here for the dad to check out my son’s Subaru. The dad is very mechanically minded. My son is giving( with my permission, as it is my name) the Subaru to him for free. They checked it out and will take it hopefully soon. As soon as that’s done I can take it off the insurance and that is going to save me over $700. I’ll call allstate as soon as it’s signed over.

My daughter and I went to Costco yesterday to finish shopping for the stuff I didn’t get last time. Most of it was non-perishables like the smoke alarms( wow, they were expensive even on sale), TP, and laundry soap. water, and a few other things. From there, we went to my favorite pizza place for a slice of New York pizza. It was fun. I also got the car washed since Quick Quack was just across the street. Costco ended up a little over $300 but I need to break down non food and also long term items and see what the total was.

My food budget for the month came in at about $350, so I’m really getting the hang of not buying so much. The Costco trip I’ll be putting on next month’s budget, which starts next week.

In not-so-happy news, my labs came back with a 4-point increase, so myeloma is definitely on the move. I checked in with Dr. L, and we decided to go one more month and see what the next increase is. I’m disappointed, but it was to be expected at some point. I just wish I could have had at least some period of time with things ‘normal’ after B died. Well, at least I’m asymptomatic which is good. Also the ratio of kappa / lambda was the same so that’s good. The plan will be to try to do biweekly,depending on how next month goes, and if that doesn’t work switch to darzalex fast pro. I’ve made it 20 years with Myeloma and know I’m one of the lucky ones. Still reality sucks that I have to deal with this. 😦

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cooking, Lake tahoe, Uncategorized, Walking by

I’ve had a few days of nice walks in the early morning. I’ve been the only one there when I get there, and then by the time I’m leaving, a few people are showing up. It’s cool, though, at 44 degrees this morning. We’re in for much cooler and rainy weather starting tomorrow. I do plan on going to the pool tomorrow, so hopefully the rain holds off till I’m home.

I sat outside yesterday and enjoyed the sunshine, and later had a fire in the firepit before dinner. It’s a nice way to wind down the day. I made a spinach Boursin quiche for dinner. It was quite good. I think I’ll make some chili for the week today if I get the stuff out of the freezer to defrost.

I plan on going to the Auburn gym this morning. Then, after I get home, my daughter and I are going to go back out to do some errands and get lunch out. ( we think). Both of us can be indecisive at times about going out to eat.

A blogger I follow has been doing another sweep through their house, decluttering. She mentioned, exactly what I’ve found to be true, that as time goes on, certain things that seemed important before no longer are. So with that in mind, I think I’ll start another round of going through each room. I’ve let some of my FlyLady routines lapse some so I want to get back into that too. Most stuff is automatic like the in the kitchen, counters are clear and no dishes in the sink( well maybe a spoon occasionally.) But I’ve not been doing as deep a clean in some zones. So I’ll see how much I gather up.

Me at Meeks Bay, Tahoe.

Friday things

Posted in California, Lake tahoe, swimming, Uncategorized by

Well, the week is almost over and I’m very glad. It was a busy week with appointments. Not one swim in or gym workout because of it.:(

The highlight was driving up to Tahoe for the day with my daughter. It was a beautiful day.

The ride up was uneventful, but be aware that if you’re traveling to Tahoe on 80 eastbound, there are tons of construction, and that was the only real pain. Westbound going home seemed fine.

In Truckee, we went to B’s and my favorite place, and Heidi’s, to buy some of the pine cone glasses. Heidi loved those and bought a huge amount the time we were there. B always likes to get a little thing as well.

From there, we went down towards Tahoe City to go to Tahoe House. That was one of the last places B went out before things went south. We bought some of their famous coffee and a sandwich to take to the beach. From there, we decided to go to Meeks Bay, which was our old camping place before we discovered Nevada Beach. But Meeks is closer, so that’s what we did. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring any of B’s ashes, so that was disappointing. But I’ll be back, and my daughter actually suggested the Truckee River, too, which I thought was a good idea. It’ll probably end up next year, but that’s ok.

I talked with Dr. Laptalo, and we cut my Dex in half, so I’ll see how that goes. My concern is whether it’s helping the Velcade then ??? I guess we’ll see. I’m not overly worried if it goes up again because I know we’ll figure out a plan.

Today is a home day, but I don’t have a whole lot planned. Next week looks like a very rainy week, but I have no appointments except trying to get down to the pool.

Simple Sunday

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

We’re back in nice fall weather again. Highs in the low 70s, just where it should be.

I had a great swim yesterday, and the pool was not busy. But I probably overdid it as my knee is just a bit sore this morning, so I’ll take it easy today.

After the pool, I went over to Winco and then Trader Joe’s. Maybe that’s why my knee is sore with all that walking. Anyway, I mostly wanted TJ’s eggs as I find them to be the best, even over Costco’s. So I picked some other things as well, a frozen quiche, salad packs, chips, and a few bottles of 3.50 TJ’s chardonnay. It used to be two buck chuck, but not any more. 😦 So for dinner we had greek salad and a broccoli cheddar quiche. It was good. I might make some soup for dinner and have that with some bread. It’s definitely soup season.

This morning, I’m not going to the gym as my daughter and I will go to Home Depot to get the gutter stuff. Plus, we need some deck stain and or sealant. I also want to get the car washed, so we can do that first.

This will be a busy appointment week for me, and as you know, I don’t like having a lot of appointments. It’s definitely going to mess up my swim/gym schedule. Oh well. I’m also planning on reducing my dex. I’ll ask Dr. L, but he was in favor of it last time. Plus, I believe there is research that says taking Dex doesn’t really add to OS or stop progression. So I’ll drop the dose by half and see how I feel and how my numbers get affected.

The news weighs heavily on me, and I just feel so sad about it all. Plus, I’m scared we’ve gotten to a place of no return with Frump and his allies. Democracy is in peril.

Frugal Friday

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

All the big Fall annual bills are accounted for. I put Allstate on payments and also the California Fair Plan. The AAA rider is still not paid, and I think I saw it was on auto, so I need to double-check that. I paid the property tax with cash from my envelopes so that was very positive. It’s not due technically till December but I figured i’d get it done.

Update: It does look like it’s autopay for October. I actually haven’t gotten the bill, so I’ll check the mail today. So I feel pretty good about having handled all this by myself, even though I don’t like doing it.

I also paid the motorcycle insurance for the year. They took Barclay off as the rider, so the insurance really is just on the bike if something happened to it.( I guess, they weren’t very clear about it.)

After accounting for all the monthly bills, there’s not a whole lot left, but I’ll manage. I’m planning on doing one more Costco shop because I couldn’t find the smoke alarms on sale last time. I spent $100 last time, so I still have a grocery $ budget. I’ll probably do that next week after I see Dr. L in Sacramento.

We had a horrendous amount of rain yesterday. It was like a hose turned on full. My daughter has been working on fixing the gutters so the water was coming down right in front of the door. Not good!! That should get fixed this weekend, and I think today is the last rainy day for a bit.

Today, I’m undecided if I’m going to the pool or not. I’m not crazy about driving in the rain. Plus, my sleep disturbances were elevated last night, and my blood oxygen was lower than normal. I generally don’t feel much different either way, but I have been tracking it since I got my Apple Watch last December. I just had a 10-day period of not elevated which is so weird because nothing is different. I’m glad it was like that but I still can’t figure out a common denominator. I haven’t heard yet from the sleep people for an appt so who knows when that will happen. If I’m inspired I will call them.:)

My son picked up 5 books at his favorite thrift store for me for my birthday, so I have a nice stack of books to read. That’s nice since I don’t feel pressured to go to the library. I started the Nelson DeMille, The Cuba Affair, and so far, I like his writing. I don’t know if I’ve read his stuff. I’ll check out some other titles.

Next week I have my doctor appointment and also Velcade. The doctor’s appointment is on Wednesday, and I do plan on asking about a plan of action should my numbers go up. Knowing his style, he’ll probably say, let’s wait and see, which is probably ok since we won’t really know anything for a few weeks. Fingers crossed it doesn’t but I do need to be ready probably more emotionally than anything. Hopefully I’m just overreacting but still cancer is always there in some way.

Mujō (無常)

Posted in bread, budgeting, California, camping, cancer, Death, husband, Myeloma, simplicity, Uncategorized by

The transient and ever-changing nature of things. As with Wabi Sabi, impermanence of things and the beauty in the imperfect.

Mono no aware, Mono no aware (物の哀れ): 
This term translates to “the pathos of things” and is an aesthetic appreciation for the transient nature of life. It involves a gentle sadness or wistfulness at the passing of things and a deep sensitivity to their ephemeral nature. That’s exactly how I feel in my life. It feels somewhat ‘unreal’ Barclay is not here with me to laugh with, joke with, travel with and everything in between. But I do take comfort in he’s not suffering anymore. It was a very difficult painful last 3 months of his life. Well, now to fall.

Fall is in full swing, here in N. Ca, I get the feeling of Mono no aware and Mujo, and wabi Sabi all rolled up together. We’ve had rain and cloudy days, as well as Tahoe-like days with big, fluffy clouds. I’ve had a few twinkly fires already, since the house stays cool even if it’s nice outside.

Just to back track a little here:

Barclay and I practised Zen Buddhism for many years after our Quaker roots seemed to fade away. However, Quakerism and Buddhism are very similar in fact. Both embrace simplicity and a WAY of life. Of course, Quakerism is rooted in a Christian context, and Buddhism in Eastern philosophy as taught by Buddha.

Right now, the impermanence of life is very real for me and maybe somewhat depressing. I am trying to embrace the Mujo concept because it does help me get through the day and realize that life does go on, and it will for me what whatever time I have left. Some of that is on my mind because of my rising kappa light chains and thinking about having to change treatments by January if they continue to go up.

I know that things will change, and I need to change too. But for now, I’ll try and take comfort in Mujo and mono no aware.

On a brighter note, my kids put together a very nice birthday for me. My son came and took a huge load to the dump( which I wanted done). We got a Round Table pizza, and my daughter had gone to Safeway for some small squares of cake to share. I didn’t have any champagne that day to celebrate, but I will soon.Turning 73 is not much different than 72 for me. The real change for me was at 70. Then I felt like I was getting old. Now, I’m old and just keep trying to do the things I love like swimming, walking, the gym and I hope some day in the near future doing some camping again. If i could afford the camper type van that’s what I’d do. We still ( my daughter and I) are going to check things out sometime in the spring. A small tent trailer is very doable, but I like the idea of self contained. Time will tell. Also, If I got one I’d get a loan so that the payment would be what we were paying for rubi. And we’d have the trailer as our trade in.

Well, I’ve rambled on a bit here, so that’s it for me. I do have the day home today after going to the gym yesterday, so I’ll do some tidying and make some sourdough bread.

Simple Sunday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cash envelopes, Uncategorized, Walking by

Well, as expected, yesterday was a wash. I woke feeling terrible, so I just stayed in bed. I finally got up and started feeling better by the afternoon, and even sat outside a while. This morning I feel fine, so it wasn’t too long. My daughter, though, had a histamine reaction, so she’s had to take it easy all week.

I’m still getting up around 5:30 -5:45am, depending on whether I plan on walking, which I am today. I’m not pushing going out in the dark to walk, as I think that ship has sailed. As much as it was one of my favorite things to see the stars, I think it’s smarter for me to hold off. So that means today I’ll go out and walk around at 6:30. I’m still bringinga flashlight for the first round.

We are in for rain this week, so I need to be sure everything is done. The wood needs to be covered, and the wood stove needs to be ready. Tahoe is already quite chilly, as would be expected. It still would be beautiful, though. I’m still looking at a hotel for one night for my daughter and me to go up in October.

I’ve done October’s budget and made the first payment on Allstate. My son is going to donate his Subaru (which is parked in my yard). When that’s done, I’ll take that off the insurance, and that will help a lot. He’s using the truck and making the payment, so I’m ok with that for now. He still needs to figure out the car he wants.

Anyway, the budget looks ok. Not a lot of wriggle room, but ok. I haven’t done too much with cash envelopes since B died, but I do have some still. Mostly, I want the big annual bills covered, so I’ll keep adding to those. Smaller ones, like Target or household, I’ll just let go or add that to a general spending. I do keep cash for groceries unless it’s Costco because I can use the card and get the rewards back.

Here are my two LVs I use for cash envelopes. I also have a monogram MM that B bought me for my birthday a few years ago.

An open Louis Vuitton agenda in Epi black leather, displaying its interior with rings and card slots.

I have 2 preloved LV agendas in the Epi black. One I got off of the Facebook group, and the other from eBay. One is the PM size and the other is the MM size. Of course, I love LV with classic things. Most of their fancy stuff is way beyond my reality. But I use these daily and enjoy them.

Finally, a week where I think I can get to a regular schedule. I hope.

I need to do some meal planning for the week. I have some more soup in the freezer, so I’ll pull one of them out, and I have some tofu to use. My son is coming over on Tuesday, and I plan on ordering a pizza for us to share. He’s going to do at least one dump run. Hopefully, he can get it done before it starts raining. I also want to close up the trailer and have them put a tarp over the top.