I am grateful that my husband put the coolers in most of the windows as the house is getting warm with this heat wave. Today it is cooling off so that will help. Our neighbor( Leo’s son) who somehow wrangled into a very low mortgage on Leo’s house, just put in a whole house heating and air unit. I sure wish we could do that. But I’m guessing that to be around $15,000 although with him you never know as he is quite miserly and had a relative doing the work.
I’m thankful for such lovely walks and even though I’d like to get there just a tad earlier, it’s still nice. My knee seems to be much improved. I’m not really doing the PT exercises at this point although I probably should be.:) I don’t think my knee will ever be totally healed( torn ACLs don’t heal, you just strengthen the muscles surrounding the area.)
I’m so thankful for the Roseville Library. It’s such a nice space. I picked up my 2 holds plus another cookbook to look through. Does anyone have ideas on new cookbooks? This one has some good recipes and is similar to the way I cook. I aked the library to purchase a cookbook that a youtube person recommended. It sounded good and the soup she made did look delicious. The book is Garlic, Olive Oil and everything else.
I’m thankful we saved the barn kitties and they are now house cats!! They’re still not the friendliest cats(no lap sitting) but they are sweet and they have a home. Chester though, who just showed up one day?) loves to snuggle and sit on our laps and will even sleep next to us on the bed. The mama cat still counts the kids to be sure they are all there. She’s a funny cat.
I do appreciate and am thankful we live in such a beautiful area. I’ve traveled the country numerous times(driving) and I don’t think there is a more beautiful area than the Sierras. Of course, every area has beauty. I loved living in Tucson in the 70’s with the saguaros, ocotillos and, the native American vibe. I also loved Santa Fe with its amazing architecture. Having grown up in NY, I did love the woods behind our house where I spent many hours but overall, to me, the East Coast is weathered and old and the towns seemed so close together. Of course, we have LA and San Francisco in California but where we are we have lots of national forests and space. I need space. I need space around me.
I am thankful then for being able to drive to Roseville( lots of people) to go to the pool but then in 20 + minutes be back home with space around me.
I’m so grateful that my children are happy and have good jobs which they love. They both found ways to pay for their educations and were lucky to get good jobs. My daughter won a full scholarship to UC Santa Cruz. And for her Library Science degree, she did some student loans. My son cash flowed his degree at CSUS and is now employed by the state. I’m very proud of them for their accomplishments. Nothing was just handed to them but we didn’t have the money anyway. I’m sure if we did we would have paid gladly. We did help where we could with buying books, and other things we could swing.
I’m grateful for a supportive husband who does so much around here. He just finished most of the weed eating and it’s a lot. Two of our neighbors haven’t done any weed eating and their grass is 1 1/2 ft high and a fire danger. Hopefully, they will get to it.
Having gratitude for the small things in life, I think, makes all the difference in the world. Yes, when the big things come along it’s easy to be thankful for those but it’s really the everyday small things that make all the difference. Watching the sun come up at an earlier time every day, the way the light is changing in the evening to that Maxwell Parish blue this time of year, and a thousand other ways to appreciate the life we’re given.
On a political note, I’m thankful that the judge in tRumps trial is fair and ruling with the law on things such as the gag order. Anyone else would be sitting in jail for contempt of the court.
I’m thankful B was with me to do the Costco shopping. The cart was fairly full so it made it tricky. Mostly because we added TP, paper towels and bleach all of which are bulky. We bought a lot of fresh veggies, salad paks, fruit, and mostly food items. Oh, we picked up the 3 pack of geraniums which were a great price. ( 13.99)
I’m thankful swimming is almost back to normal. I’m doing around 35 minutes so I have to add another 5-10 to be back where I was. Actually, I’m fine with doing just the 35. I also like the later time. It’s more relaxed. By 9 am there are even lanes open, so I may try and push out getting there to 8: 40.
I’m thankful my son’s upcoming move is progressing. He and his partner are making their final decision about an apartment this weekend. Apparently, the rental market in Sacramento is very competitive and they have missed out on a few. It’s exciting for him and a big step. He will keep all his tools, crafts, etc in the barn, which is fine. I’ll miss him though. 😦
I’m thankful for all the small things in my life that help keep it simple. Routines I enjoy daily, always getting up early (5:30 or earlier), cooking, meal planning, and walking. I’m thankful for those small things.
I’m very grateful for the public library system. Roseville’s library is exemplary. I’m going today to pick up my holds. I think I have 10. Yippee!!!
I’m so thankful my knee is doing so much better. I’m able to do almost everything without pain. I’m still only walking 1 + mile but I’m grateful for that. This morning on our walk, I added one extra loop around the school parking lot. That put me 1.2 miles, so I’m jazzed about that. I went to the pool yesterday and swam for @35 minutes. I’m not back to 45 but 30 is a good enough time in the water.
I’m thankful for the beautiful morning with sunrise quite early.( 6:21). It was almost too bright for my eyes which is one reason I walk in predawn light. I guess since sunrise is going to continue getting earlier, we’ll need to adjust and walk maybe 15 minutes earlier.
I’m grateful to be able to do some canning this morning. I have kidney beans I’m pressure-canning. I also plan on doing cannellini (white beans) soon. Beans seem to be the thing we’re using the most. It does take some time and you never want to leave a pressure canner unattended. I usually sit where I can hear the juggle and make sure it’s doing its thing. Pint jars take 75 minutes after the 10-minute air valve release.
I’m grateful to be where I am at this stage of life. My life is simple and filled with just the right amount of activity. I’m grateful I started my decluttering /minimalist journey years ago and don’t really need to do the Swedish Death cleaning. I’m sure after I’mgone there will be still lots of stuff my daughter/son won’t want. They may not want the 1950’s Heywood furniture. That’s ok, it’ll be primarily my daughter’s house. The barn is pretty much my son’s hoarder, oops, craft, tools, and everything else place. He does have a lot of bins of things:( Oh well, that’s his choice.
Here’s some fun photos of the kitties enjoying the Birthday box from Chewy!!!
I’m certainly thankful we had an uneventful and safe trip down here to Capitola. Overall traffic wasn’t too bad even through San Jose. We arrived to find traffic though completely backed up going into Capitola. So from Santa Cruz to New Brighton, it took forever to go 2 miles due to construction.
We made it still a little after one only to be told the new regulations were no checking in before 2pm. I told the guy( park worker) that we had always been able to check in early. His response was so rude, he turned to get our plate # and said” Why are people always lying to me”. I was pretty shocked. So we drove down to the beach parking and waited till 2pm. Then we, along with 6 other RVs, checked in and then we still had to wait for RVs to back into spots. Terrible system and not efficient.
Regardless, I’m thankful it was a beautiful day and we got set up and relaxed.
We love our little ‘Rubi’. And I’m so grateful trailering has gone easy and we have a bathroom.
We headed out on Tuesday to go to Gayle’s for a croissant and coffee. I also bought a loaf of their Jewish rye bread which is one of my favorite. Then we went to the local Anytime gym for a workout. I’m grateful it is free to us and gives us a chance to strengthen our muscles. From there we headed to Trader Joe’s in Capitola, not Santa Cruz. We were surprised there was one on this side of Santa Cruz and boy, was it nice. A really beautiful store, big and well laid out as most Trader Joe’s are. We loaded up on food, a plant for outside Rubi, and some candles I’ve been wanting. Not too frugal but not much more than a regular weekly shop. Overall, a fun morning. Then we came back to camp and just relaxed.
Wednesday we discovered the Simpkins Swim Center. Oh my, it was wonderful. I was really ecstatic to swim. It’s a huge outdoor pool heated. What a find. I’m so grateful for cities that provide these amazing places. We paid $5.00 to swim.
Overall, we have been frugal where we can. We decided to do a day trip up to Half Moon Bay which is about an hour from here. We’ve actually never seen that part of Hwy 1. It’s quite beautiful with loads of State Beaches along the way. We had a nice lunch at the very well-known fish place, Sam’s. It was good but not as good as Fishetarian in Bodega Bay. From there we just took our time getting back to Capitola and once again hit the traffic snarl in Capitola.
We’ve kept our meals simple. Last night we had scrambled Mexican tofu on tortillas with salad. I’m not sure what we’ll do tonight but I’d like to get a pizza night in.
Sadly, on the home front, we had raccoons get 2 chickens because no one was home. They were in their yard but it wasn’t closed so there it is. Raccoons are always looking for opportunities and there it was. I feel really bad for the girls because we have been so careful and here it is just one night and this happens. My daughter who was working late just missed getting them in. She got home right after and I’m sure felt awful. Well, we know we don’t want chickens again but still it makes me sad.
This is Half Moon Bay. You can see that rock barrier if you look carefully. There were numerous ones on each side of the Bay.
Today, we’re going to walk and then go over to Gayles for a bit. The weather has been picture perfect. Today though, we’re in for a 20 degree drop in temperature and some rain overnight.
I don’t think we’ll go back to the pool as we’re both a little tired, so a day to rest sounds good.
I am very thankful this was a week with NO appts and no Dex. Boy, did that do me in last week. I guess I’ll go back to taking dex after I get home and not in the evening. maybe that’s the difference or the BP spike has been there all along and I just didn’t take my BP and notice. We’ll see.
I’m thankful we had a beautiful day in Tahoe with picture-perfect weather.
I’m thankful that all the month’s bills are accounted for and are in the budget. Slowly, I’m getting more envelopes set up for the annual bills. Even though I didn’t have the full amount, I did have something and that helped. As I think of different line items for our budget I add an envelope. I also bought on Amazon a binder that is for the 100 envelope challenge. Lots of cash envelope budgeters on You Tube have this as a way to do an extra savings. It’s not a quick thing as each envelope is numbered 1-100 and you put that amount in each one. I do like having these little challenges to keep me focused.
I’m thankful I got to swim on Monday but it was one of the few times it wasn’t pleasant. First, the pool was packed which I thought odd but then realized that it was a holiday. Second, I don’t circle swim( when there are more than 2 in a lane), but some woman plopped into the lane I was sharing with 1 person and proceeded to circle swim. I was not a happy swimmer. I go too slow and at some point, she cut in front of me and almost kicked my face. Anyway, at least I got my 30 minutes in.
I finished all the books I got from the library (8 books) so today after the gym I’ll go in and see if I can get a few things off the shelves to take to Capitola. The new Kellerman book ” Ghost Orchid’ is okay. I like his writing and the 2 main characters are well developed. So far all the Craig Johnston Longmire books have been great. Definitely worth reading the series although I haven’t read them in any order.
We just got back from Sacramento where it is all sunny and so pretty. When we hit Auburn the foothills were cloudy and we were starting to get some rain. I’m grateful B drove as I was on dex and had a bit of a headache probably due to higher blood pressure.
My doctor appt went well. All is pretty good and stable. My kappa light chains went back down to normal so I was very jazzed about that. I’m totally grateful to see those normal numbers. We’ll see what my next labs bring. I had my infusion yesterday so I’ll get labs next week. He’s on vacation so I may not get them till the following week. My blood pressure was way up due to dex but if it follows the same pattern as last month, it’ll go back to normal tomorrow so I’m grateful for that.
I’m grateful to the infusion nurses who are so kind and competent. They put up with a lot and have to deal with so many situations. I’m pretty sure it’s a very stressful job.
I’m grateful my budget is done for April. Overall, it looks good. We have property taxes and Allstate but I’ll put them on a card and pay as much as I can in April but it’ll definitely go into May.
I’m grateful B went to Costco for me yesterday. We got most of what we needed but there were a few things he forgot. Actually, not his fault because I didn’t check if we needed dishwasher pods and we did. So I added some other things on and we’ll do that next week.
I’m grateful we get to go to New Brighton in a few weeks but I did get a notice from them alerting us to the ground being saturated due to rain. Since all the pads are paved, It should be fine for us. Tent camping probably not. We have the whole week booked so that will be nice. Sometimes we leave early( like last time when the family with the monster children came in on Friday) and we left on Saturday. Too noisy, too many bikes and whatever street games they were playing:(
B bought some nice asparagus at Costco and I will pan grill them tonight with a quiche, I think. I have some mushrooms, spinach, and green onions to use.
I’m thankful we had a good drive home and traffic was light at least going in our direction. Going the other way(westbound) it was backed up in a number of spots.
We had such a nice time and it was relaxing and fun. We loved downtown Napa. The shops were lovely, and the architecture was so beautiful. We walked around for quite a while. We walked a trail near the river but it wasn’t specifically the River Trail. That was over the bridge. But since we had already walked a bunch and my leg was starting to hurt we just called it a day.
I’m thankful for all the walking we did do although this morning my leg/knee is bothering me quite a bit. I planned on going to the gym but nixed it because I didn’t want to add to my knee hurting. I will say that my recovery between when it bothers me and getting back to it feeling ok is getting shorter.
I’m grateful my daughter took care of the house, yard, and pets. I do appreciate it.
I’m grateful for the absolutely beautiful weather we had. Tomorrow it’s going to be much cooler with a chance of rain and next week looks cooler and rainy too.
This has been a super busy week for me with appts. I don’t like so many appts but that’s what had to happen.
I’m thankful my macular pucker is still the same and stable(Monday’s appt).
I’m thankful that the gastro appt was fine( Tuesday’s appt) and she scheduled my overdue colonoscopy. Of course, the wait time is crazy far out but she found a cancellation in May. Oh, joy:(
Tomorrow is my ortho appt(Friday’s appt) and I’m assuming that’s all they can do?? Not sure really but I’ll find out. She mentioned the cortisone shot but I’m not sure I want to add that in.
I’m thankful swimming has gone so well. I overdid it the other day because I forgot to look at the clock and time it. But it was over 30 minutes. My knee feels a little stressed but not too bad. Today I’ll do my PT exercises.
I’m always super grateful to walk and this morning, the first after daylight savings change, and the stars were out. That’s one of my favorite things, starlight.
So far this morning, I’ve swished and swiped the bathroom, washed a few windows, cleaned my office, and moved stuff out. I’m planning an Ikea trip to get a cabinet for my office stuff so it’s not on my desk and scattered.
I’m grateful the sun is out and our temperatures are warming up.
Today, I have a phone appt with Allstate to go over our auto insurance since the premium went up $500. That’s for the exact same coverage on cars that are 10 years old and my son’s 2006 Subaru. Something is really wrong with our insurance system. Honestly, I doubt she’ll find anything to change.
One of my last vintage tablecloths. I used to have so many and now only a few have made the cut. I probably should iron it later.
Two old people!!
This was taken on the new to us trail in Roseville. I was hoping to get back there this week but with everything else, it doesn’t look likely. We leave Sunday for Napa, so that’s all the time there is.
I am thankful I got a good swim in yesterday despite the asshole in my lane that was not moving over and ran into me:( I sort of yelled, get on your own side!!! I think he was new as he didn’t know how to swim very well. Oh well, it doesn’t happen very often.
Then I went to Costco and am grateful I had almost the full amount in cash. I actually did have it all but it was in another envelope and I didn’t want to be rummaging around for it..’
Buggie is in the shop as the water pump went out. That’s going to cost us $1000+ . I’ll have to put that on a card and then pay off in 2 installments. I might be able to do it all if I skimp on other things. We haven’t done a lot services on the VW so I guess it works. Plus buggie is 24 years old so something is going to go. Plus it needs a smog and registration in April but we’ll do that once she’s fixed up.
Today I’m going back to Roseville to pick up books at the library and then B and I are going to walk one of the trails down there. Hopefully, the sun will come out. After that, we’re going to get some lunch somewhere.
I’m grateful the PT was effective and although my knee is not back to where it was, it is much improved. The PT said I could do 1 more session if I wanted but also clarified that it would just be doing the same exercises so I declined. I see the ortho PA next week so I’ll see what she says about it all.
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 