Category Archives: California

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cooking, Uncategorized by

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

Posted in California, cooking by

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.

Posted in budgets, California, Uncategorized by

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.

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

Posted in California, cooking, Walking by

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

Posted in California, home stuff by

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.