Category Archives: home stuff

Mid Week Miscellany and Happy Chinese New Year/ the Year of the Snake!!!!

Posted in California, cancer, cooking, home stuff, Myeloma, peritoneal mesothelomia, swimming by

Well, whatever got me left pretty quickly. I think it may have been a build-up of acid reflux, which is why I take omeprazole daily. But I’m not a doctor, so I don’t know. This happened once before but then I had taken Dex and Dr. L thought the two were related. This time, no dex, but I did eat the turkey chili which probably was acidic. Who knows? Ill keep take in my journal. Anyway, I felt better by yesterday afternoon. And I slept well last night.

I didn’t walk this morning, though, so I’ll go down to the pool and swim. Tomorrow I’ll walk and get back on schedule.

Great news. Stanford called, and we have an appt for Feb 12. She didn’t have the exact time yet, so we need to hear what that is. So, at this point, we’ll go down on the 11th, he does need labs from their lab, so we’ll do that first. The lab is in the Medical Center, so we know where that is. I’m glad we have a focus finally!!

The 12th is also my appt with Dr.Laptalo, so I’ll have to cancel that and reschedule. As long as my numbers are stable( with some fluctuations), I’m fine with that.

I’m seriously trying not to be totally flipped out about what Trump is doing. Hesgreth confirmed?? RFK is a lunatic, the press conference person with a cross around her neck big enough to ward off vampires?? WTF is happening in this country??? I feel so hopeless right now. I just can’t imagine 4 more years of this if we even make it before we are an autocracy. So hard to imagine where we are in this country right now.

Well, I need to go get my suit on and control at least some fraction of my life. Swimming does help, as does walking. Keep on keeping on, I guess.

Wednesday-Midweek

Posted in bread, California, home stuff, swimming by

I bought a humidifier from Amazon to see how it might help with sleep apnea. My Apple watch showed it right on the line so that is an improvement. Plus, I didn’t wake up with a dry throat, so I think it will help. I’ll keep tracking it although Apple tracks for you, it’s the other stuff I’m doing that I’ll track.

Today is a swim day and I’m glad to be going. If I miss too many days I feel like a fish out of water:) After the pool, I may pop over to Winco but I’ll decide later. Otherwise, I’ll come straight home.

I have another sourdough ready to go so I’ll have someone at home(while I’m gone) start the oven to get it up to 475. It takes a while. This time I made one of my favorites the cheddar jalapeno. If we have the vegetable barley soup tonight that will be a good side.

I can’t even begin to process what the orange king is doing. Pardoning the Jan 6 felons is right up there with …I don’t even know. It’s so upsetting. I hope everything that he does comes back to haunt him. I can’t even begin to imagine how those Capital police families must feel. The betrayal and lack of morality are off the charts.

Here are the curtains I made for the sink. Barclay picked out this fabric. Since I love all things pinecones, it’s fitting.

Menu Monday

Posted in bread, cooking, home stuff, meal planning by

Last week ended up kind of a mish-mash of my menus. I did some and not others. Oh well, I’m flexible.

Last night I made a Mexican chicken dish and veggie Chicken patty dish. I grilled the chicken and then when it was done dumped the rest of the salsa in the pan and topped it with Monterey Jack cheese. I did the same in another pan for the veggie chicken patty. We had salad on the side. BTW, Wico has these new chicken veggie patties and for the price point, you can’t beat it compared to Quorn or another name brand.

Monday- I’m either doing fish or the Costco Slice beef, which is sous vide. The reason I’m not sure yet is my son is spending the night so I’ll see which he prefers. I have salad either way.

Tuesday: Quesadillas, beans, and cheese. If there’s any beef left over, I’ll toss that in, too. I bought 2 bags of avocados from Costco so if there are any ripe I’ll top with that. BTW, once the avocados start to ripen put them in the fridge. They will last weeks in there.

Wednesday- Vegetable Barley soup from Costco with homemade sourdough

Thursday- ravioli with marinara sauce with salad

Friday – pizza of some sort.

Saturday- TBD

The sun is out today and it’s a lovely day to be home.

I’m still showing ( apple watch)somewhat elevated sleep dist indicating sleep apnea. There doesn’t seem to be any pattern as to why one day it’s not elevated and the next it is. Does anyone have sleep apnea and what did you do? If I could lose some weight I’m sure that would help:)

I probably should start on our taxes, but not today. 🙂

This was my last boule!

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cooking, home stuff by

A big shout out to Donna over at Retirement Confidential for gifting a sub to The Contrarian. I love Jen Rubin and she’s the one, along with a co worker to start this Substack program( I’m not sure what they’re called). If you believe in democracy, go sign up. I’m not sure how substack works totally and was having some trouble reading the articles but I’ll figure it out.

I will not watch the inauguration. It really makes me sick to my stomach to think of him swearing the oath of office after everything he tried to do to overthrow the last election. I just hope we survive the next 4 years.

I went to the gym this morning and it was again, a little busier than normal for a Sunday morning. I did 30 minutes of weights and 20 on the treadmill.

After I got home, I made up another batch of sourdough for the baguettes. What I’m doing is freezing 1/2 of what I make so I have some sliced bread in the freezer. Plus, when I’m on a roll( no pun intended) with bread making, I like to keep going.

I still need to mop the floor and tidy up.

I drove Buggie to the gym and she’s working great. I hope it keeps going that way. Well, that’s all for now, I want to get my stuff done and go read.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, bread, California, home stuff, Uncategorized by

A cold brisk morning but sunny. We had to take the Santa Fe to the park because Buggie’s starter finally died. Actually, it died yesterday at the park:( so we had to have AAA tow it home). So I guess that’s moved up on our list of what has to be done. Oh well, we knew it was coming. Now though, we’ll have to have it towed to Auburn to the shop. I was hoping to avoid this expense right now but I guess it’s what needs to be done.

I headed out to the gym and did my weights. I came straight home and now am writing this and then do a few chores.

I’m trying get my sourdough active and it seem to be taking a while. The house is on the cooler side so maybe that’s it. I’ll add some more flour a little later and see if that does the trick. I wanted to try the recipe in “The Slow Rise” for baguettes. The author is the guy who started Bread Alone in New York. His recipes are mostly ones I wouldn’t do but the baguette one seemed easy enough.

Tomorrow I have my labs and then I plan on going to the pool if it goes quickly. As long as I can get to the pool by 8:40 it’ll work. Otherwise, the pool closes for lap swimming at 9:25. I’ve never stayed that late so it would interesting to see what happens.

I need to write up a menu plan for the week. last week I used up quite a few freezer things so I want to do that again this week.

Things to use:

a frozen pizza

some chicken

a package of spanakopita

beans

I see what happens!

menu

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, Gratitude, home stuff, Political things by

I am thankful for the sunny days we’re having. It’s not warm but it has been in the 60’s. I’m definitely a sun person.

I’m thankful that the gym was not busy yesterday and I spent 30 minutes on the weight machines. The regulars I know were there and maybe 1person seemed new.

I’m thankful for these days when Barclay is feeling good enough to go do chores. He got the cat food yesterday and went to the bank. Next week is the video visit so we should know what the next step is by Friday.

I rolled up the LR rug the other day because I wanted to see how much the vacuum picks up without this rug. It seems this rug always has some sort of fiber that comes out with vacuuming and I wonder if it’s because it’s a cheap rug.?? It wasn’t that cheap but I had gotten it on a Prime Day about 3 years ago. Anyway, I was done with it. I’m not sure what I want to get, maybe a Ruggable. Costco has a special Ruggable deal so I may do that. For now, I’ll see how it is. I plan on offering it on Facebook Market place free.

I also moved the little grey couch out of the sunroom and put it in my office area. I’m going to leave it there for a while. We don’t sit out in the sunroom this time of year because it’s too cold. I’ll leave it here till spring.

Today is a home day unless I run out to drop books off. I still haven’t gotten to that.:(

I’m thankful we’re all healthy right now especially with flu season happening.

In the political arena, I’m thankful President Carter was honored by so many people. He was really a good person and lived his values. It was weird seeing frump there though as he is the exact opposite of everything Carter was.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, California, cancer, Flylady, home stuff, swimming, velcade, Walking by

A cold morning to start and damp. We had a nice walk again, with no one there. I guess we must be between walkers because haven’t had anyone in a few weeks on the weekend. During the week, I see some regulars that start to show up around 7am. The next 10 days look nice with no rain so that’ll help dry things out.

I headed out to the gym at 8am and it was a little busier with the ‘new years resolution exercise’ people. I left before 9 and then it was getting even busier.

I stopped at the store for some things for a greek salad and wine. After I got home I cleaned under the kitchen sink. It’s the kitchen zone this week, so tomorrow I’ll finish the cabinets and I want to clean the fridge.

My son is coming for dinner and to spend the night out in Rubi. He works in Auburn on Mondays so it’s a good time to catch up. I plan on cooking some leftover turkey and potatoes. I also have leftover nut loaf to heat up as well.

This coming week should be mellow, no appts !!! Hurray!! I don’t have my labs till next week so that’s a little different than usual. I always go the Monday after my shot but because I had been scheduled for my next Velcade later( Feb), I pushed my labs out. We did reschedule me for the end of January or 4 weeks.

Last night we watched ‘To kill a Mockingbird’. Even though I’ve seen it many times and read the book so many times. it is still such a powerful movie. Gregory Peck did such an amazing job as Atticus Finch. If you haven’t seen it in a while, check it out. We finished the series the Helsinki Murders. I wouldn’t really recommend it. It was dark and seemed overdone. Oh well, some series are like that.

I do plan to go to Roseville tomorrow and swim but I do have an alternative plan if the pool is too busy. If the wait is longer than 10 minutes for a lane, I’ll go down to the gym. I’ll just need to pack my gym clothes as I wear my suit to the pool. Plus, I’ll need to bring my Hoka’s as I wear my Birkenstocks to the pool. Whichever the case, I’ll do one or the other.

Not much else new here at mi casa so I’ll close for now.

Simple Sunday

Posted in books, California, cancer, cooking, home stuff, reading, swimming, Walking by

Wow, 2024 is coming to a close and Wednesday is 2025. I still need to write a few goals for the year. Nothing monumental, just things like keep walking, keep swimming, and up the number of times a week. Stuff like that.

A very very rainy morning. No walk again, so I’ll use the treadmill. I might try and walk tomorrow but I’ll wait and see. I was planning on going to the Roseville gym and the library. I have some books to return and a hold to pick up. The rain is supposed to stop later and tomorrow looks sunny so that may be the deciding factor.

Despite the rain, B and I went to Costco. He needed the protein drink and he wanted cereal too. We bought some of the sale items, dishwasher pods, and Swiffer dusters, and it seems there was something else on sale. We got a rug for the entry way as we’ve been using a towel and that gets old. I picked eggs, tofu, milk, bananas, and salad mix and they had microgreens which I love. This was a new item. Oh, we picked up the vegetable barley soup for an easy dinner.

Yesterday, I did most of my house chores, so today is an easy day. For dinner, I made brown rice, sweet potatoes, grilled tofu, and broccoli, and there’s enough for lunch today or even dinner if I add something extra.

I started reading another Baldacci series, the Camel Club. So far I like the characters and the plot. My son gave me a great Christmas present of 6 or 7 Baldacci hardcovers he got at the thrift store. They are in almost new condition. What a great gift. He always zeroes in on the right gift for people. Plus he said he didn’t want to buy anything new but used/thrifted. Very Cool. He found the graphic novel, “March” by John Lewis and others at the thrift store too, and that made a great gift to B.

We’re halfway through Hanukkah and I only did a card and cash for each person. The cash was only a $2 bill which believe it or not are very hard to find. So I’m definitely winding down the gift-giving which is my goal.

We finished the “Astrid” series and it was really good. Now we need to find a new series to watch. Does anybody have a recommendation?

Well, off to read.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, cancer, cooking, Gratitude, home stuff by

I’m so thankful we had a lovely Christmas and our little family was all here.

We had a very nice Christmas with our 2 adult children, my son’s partner, and my brother. We had a lasagna, some cornish hens( which I didn’t think they were worth it), an antipasto plate, garlic bread, and a tiny bit of ham for those that wanted it. I had it timed perfectly and everything was ready at the same time.

We had fun around the table and then everyone pitched in to clean up. It was really nice. My son’s partner even got us a popcorn maker so last night we used it while finishing up all the Christmas movies. I’m glad it’s over though and clean up can start.

Today I plan to get out the Hanukkha stuff as I was too tired yesterday to light the first night’s candle. I plan on making the latkes with sour cream and applesauce on the side. Maybe an omelette with some smoked salmon I have left over from Christmas breakfast. Something easy at any rate.

It was raining this morning so we didn’t walk. I plan to just do some clean up today and start putting away a few Christmas things. B has labs to go do and then pick up some prescriptions. His labs have been very good so really until the next phase he should be fine. He was able to schedule a video visit with Dr. Neal who is the mesothelioma oncologist at Stanford. Once he looks things over he’ll hand it off to Dr. Lee. It’s still going to be a hard 6 months for us but hopefully, we’ll come out of this with positive results.

I’m thankful that this year is ending on a positive note even though I know there’s some rough stuff ahead. At least as we close the year, it’s closing with lots of hope for a better 2025.

Simple Sunday

Posted in budgeting, California, cooking, home stuff, meal planning, seasonal things, simple foods by

A nice walk this morning. 6:20 till almost 7 right now is a good time. We still need our headlamps when we start but by the time we’re finishing it’s getting light.

I went to the auburn gym and then over to Bel Air. I needed cardamom for the khruchiki to drop one of my knives off to get sharpened. They are also called Fattigmands Bakkelser I think in Sweden. My mother made the these at Christmas every year. I never knew their name because we called them ‘krusts’. I think because in Polish it’s pronounced Chrusciki. Martha Stewart’s mother had a recipe but it’s a little different than the Betty crocker cookbook’s one. Anyway they are quite rich but not that sweet except for sprinkling powdered sugar on top.

We watched Elf last night and that was fun. Then we watched an episode of ‘Astrid’ . If you have PBS masterpiece theater, I believe that’s where it is. It is superb. We linked it with our Amazon Prime acct.

I have my schedule for Christmas cooking laid out. Tomorrow, I’ll make the ‘krust’ dough and keep it in the fridge till Tuesday. I’ll make the cheese lasagna Tuesday as well. I have garlic bread and I’ll put together and antipasto plate. whatever I need, I’ll go down to Holiday and pick up. I’m also planning on cooking some cornish hens that Costco had. They only have them at Christmas time. So the meat eaters will have something besides cheese lasagna.

Other than that it should be a mellow week. B contacted Stanford but everyone is out on vacation till the first week of january. So no appts for a while which is a relief actually.