Category Archives: Political things

Thankful Thursday( late) and Frugal Friday

Posted in Blood test, books, budgets, California, cancer, frugalism, Gratitude, husband, peritoneal mesothelomia, Political things, Walking by

Yesterday was busy so I didn’t get anything written. I had to be down at infusion by 8:30am so needed to leave early. I did get my walk in first thing and that was nice. I’m thankful, I am still walking even though B isn’t. With his numbers so down he doesn’t have the energy.:(

I’m thankful infusion went ok. They are great nurses for sure. I noticed though there weren’t curtains to pull around the chairs which is odd for infusion rooms. All the UCD infusion chairs have some kind of curtain for privacy.

After infusion, I went to the library to pick up my holds. I am thankful for the Martha Riley Library as it is a wonderful community space.

I didn’t really have any enthusiasm to go to the gym. After that, I went back down to Winco. I finally saw where the new Trader Joe’s is and funny, it’s right down from Winco. But you can’t see it right off as the gas station blocks the view. It looks to be a bigger one than the Rocklin one so I’ll check it out next time I swim.

I’m thankful this fall has been colorful with leaves turning all shades of yellows, golds and some reds. Other than that, this week is really a downer if I’m honest.

Frugal-wise, it was ok. I didn’t really do a whole lot. All of the first-of-the-month bills are paid. There’s a little left over to get through till the end of the month. There’s Thanksgiving and so I’ll need a few more groceries for that. I ordered the Diestal turkey roast to be delivered on Nov 21. They are not cheap, but local and I’ve had good luck cooking them.

I spent $125 at Winco, $25 was on wine, so $100 was on food. I also filled the car up at Costco gas so that is a big $$ savings.

Today is a Dex day so it’s home for me. Barclay’s platelets have tanked so he’s going in for more labs this morning and hopefully scheduled for infusion. this is day 10. so we’re starting to hit the real downtime (days 10-15). He’s much better this cycle but still, there’s the platelets dropping. His hemoglobin is doing ok, but I think this is the period too where that started dropping. Fingers crossed it doesn’t.

My son is coming up today to work on a few things. If B needs an infusion tomorrow he could take him and my daughter go get him. We need the labs to come in till we know and the doctor says his platelets need to be under 50 for transfusion. I guess what she was saying is this is UCD policy. What a crock of shit. If it’s only going to keep going down and that means an ER visit, he knows he’s at 90 so why wait??? Doesn’t make any sense.

I’m still committed to not watching the news, it’s kind of a relief really. I know how I am with stuff that upsets me so much, so I feel this is a good thing for me right now. For how long? Who knows??

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, California, cancer, cooking, medicare, Political things by

Barclay’s labs came back good. His hemo went down to 9 something from 10 something but still, that’s way better than last time. He gets labs again tomorrow but overall he seems much more alert and doing some things. So that’s really good.

I went to the Auburn gym and that’s it. I’ve just finished making spaghetti sauce for dinner tonight. We’ve had some great salads with fresh spinach, kale, and romaine lettuce from the garden. My daughter must have just hit the right time to get the seeds in. Soon it’ll be too cold and they will not make it. But for now, it’s great. I plan on another big salad for tonight.

Time change is always a challenge. Not so much in the morning because I get up early anyway, but the evening is tough. I’ll probably be ready for bed by 8 or 8:30. 🙂

We had quite a bit of rain yesterday but today it’s clear and the sky is a beautiful blue. My walk was very nice even if it was later than normal. But I’m ok with that as long as there’s not a ton of people. No one was there this morning but that’s normal for a Sunday.

I’m still having pre-election anxiety but I keep telling myself it’ll be whatever it is and there’s nothing I can do to change. Still, we can only hope there are more sane people voting for Harris than crazies voting for the orange man. We’ll know soon enough.

I ordered the Diestal turkey breast for Thanksgiving so that’s done. Tomorrow I plan on switching my Medicare Part D to Cigna from Wellcare. I really hate changing providers but our plan is going up by a lot so this one is much lower. They don’t make it easy that’s for sure.

Frugal Friday

Posted in Blood test, books, bread, budgets, California, cancer, frugalism, peritoneal mesothelomia, Political things by

It was a normal week of money stuff. I went to Costco and spent $300. Many of the items were bulk items like brown rice, granola, TP, and even some OTC allergy stuff for my daughter. I do try to get the items when they are on sale, as that makes for the best deals. I probably won’t do too much more shopping except for Thanksgiving stuff. But it seems there’s always something. Last month though, my grocery bill was under $500 for the 3 of us so pretty good.

I stopped at Noah’s Bagels after swimming and picked up one coffee and 2 bagels. I brought those back to infusion so B could eat something. I don’t often buy coffee out but we shared a medium coffee and it was very good.

Today I need to do my November meal plan. I’m going to use lots of pantry items and freezer ones too. I have lots of black beans so black bean chili will be on the menu. Also, pintos. I’m working on my sourdough loaves to get them to spring more in the oven. It’s an ongoing process. I don’t worry too much when it doesn’t work because it’s just flour, water, salt, and a starter. It’s fun and I enjoy the challenge.

I had to go out yesterday to pick up B’s meds and the damn pharmacy didn’t have 2 of them. He had done the refills a week ago so somewhere they screwed up. I had to wait for them to do them. PITA! Today he gets labs so we’ll see what the numbers are.

On the Facebook group, a new member was asking about the chemo and the surgery. Several people responded that the surgery is quite tough but one person said he was a year out from it and doing well. That gives me hope. I guess time will tell.

Yesterday afternoon we had a Samhain fire in the fire pit. It was nice to sit out with the fire and watch the sun go down. After a dinner of french toast and veggie sausages, we watched ‘Young Frankenstein’ which is one of our all-time favorites. So many great lines. We might watch Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein tonight.

I finished the LOTR Rings books and am back to reading some Baldacci. His different series are very good. I also read Mary Trump’s new book’ Who Could Ever Love You’. Boy was that an eye-opener. Trump is one sicko and his father was despicable. If you can get it from the library I’d recommend it just for the insight into trump’s mind.

I’m getting more stressed over the election and can hardly think about what will happen if he wins. It just really scares the Bjesus right out of me. The things he says and does are really nuts. Demented!! And yet people still are voting for him. It is beyond my little brain’s comprehension.

If he wins, I’ll just unplug for a while until I can handle it which may be never. Our country will be doomed for 4 more years. On top of that the policies will send us right back to McCarthyism. What a shit storm:(

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, cancer, cooking, Gratitude, home stuff, knee injury, Political things, swimming, Walking by

Still no biopsy results. My guess is someone dropped the ball as to who was going to call. Tomorrow is his NP video appt so we’ll know then. Still, I hate to go into the things uninformed. Because he doesn’t have the oncologist yet, and his PC didn’t do anything, I’m guessing the results are just sitting there waiting for someone to release them.PITA>

I’m grateful at least he has the appt tomorrow. I’ll sit in and hear what is being said.

My doctor is on his way to Croatia so I think my labs are going to be stuck in cyber space too. He’s gone for 2 weeks. I may call down there and ask that another doctor release the labs.

I’m thankful our temperatures are finally dropping out of the 100’s. since we just had the 2 hottest days on record, I think heat waves like this will be the norm:( But wait, Republicans think climate change is a hoax. Remember the movie ‘Day after tomorrow’, when it’s too late, it’ll be too late.

I’m grateful my sourdough starter is working perfectly. I had made at least 3 loaves that didn’t bake right and looked up why. First, the starter needs to be robust and second, the bulk fermentation phase is the most important. So I was underproofing the dough. I’m quite pleased with the loaves I’m getting.

I am thankful I had a good swim yesterday. I got there a little later than usual, and it was mellow. I still shared a lane but that’s ok.

I’m grateful my daughter loves gardening and right now I’m processing another pan of tomatoes for sauce. Since this is a water bath process, I don’t worry too much about exact quantities because it’s just tomatoes. If this was a meat sauce or a pressure canned recipe exact measurements are necessary. I like the baking of the tomatoes as the skins come right off.

I’m grateful to be walking in the park. It’s been almost a year since my torn ACL and meniscus. So I’m really happy to just be walking. It’s still not a lot but that’s ok. On any given day I do between 2-3 miles. So I’m good with that. If I could do more I would.

Here’s giant Gus and his momma, Ciri.

Finally, I’M INCREDIBLY GRATEFUL THAT KAMALA HARRIS IS THE NOMINEE. I THINK WE CAN BEAT THE ORANGE GUY, WHO NOW IS THE OLD MAN:)

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cancer, cooking, Flylady, instant pot recipes, Myeloma, Political things, velcade by

It’s not so hot but there’s more humidity because of some cloud cover. Still, it’s not going to be over a 100 so that’s something. I think the rest of the week is in the 90’s.

I went to the gym and did some weights and then headed over to Target to get a few things. It wasn’t very busy which is odd.

This coming week is not too filled with appts. I have Velcade on Thursday and that’s it. I do plan to swim at least one time maybe two. I have a hold to pick up at the library so I’ll do that too.

I made some Instant Pot polenta yesterday and it was yummy. I love polenta. The recipe called for 4 1/2 c water but it was too much so 4 c. is what I’ll do next time. It was one of the reasons I wanted the IP again was to make polenta. So easy.

Not sure what the rest of the day holds. Maybe a quick tidy. I used the steam mop yesterday after vacuuming so that’s done. Flylady zone is the bathroom so I will mop the floor with my microfiber mop, not the steam mop.

Other than that, not much! It’s somewhat depressing around here with the impending diagnosis out there. I guess we’ll just carry on. After all, what choice do you have really?

On the political front, I’m hoping Republicans don’t start in with this assassination attempt being somehow from Democrats. I believe the shooter was registered as Republican. Also, trump was fist pumping and saying fight, fight, as he was escorted away. So where’s that going? Still, violence is not the answer but banning A-15 rifles just might be.

Thankful Thursday and Frugal Friday wrapped up together.

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, California, camping, cooking, frugalism, Gratitude, Political things, travel by

I’m thankful we had an uneventful drive to Tahoe. Eastbound traffic for Memorial Day was horrendous. The only real traffic was through Incline and Sand Harbor which had the roads line with stupid people people trying to get to SandHarbor because the parking lot was full.

I’m thankful the camp hosts were so friendly and we were able to check in early at 1pm. Our spot was so nice.

I’m thankful the drive home was safe too and very little traffic.

We walked every day and and I averaged 2 miles but my knee did start to hurt yesterday so I will back off for a few days. We don’t have bikes anymore and I started thinking maybe we should get some again. There are lots of trails in Tahoe and bike paths.

Frugal-wise camping fees were half because we have the lifetime senior pass. Our only expenses were gas to Tahoe and some camp groceries. So overall, it was a pretty cheap getaway. And we’re back the week after this on the 10th.

Today is Friday and I have my labs, but won’t swim partly because I want to do some home stuff and partly because the pool has been closed all week so it’s going to be busy, I’m sure.

We kept camp food basic and didn’t do any Lodge meals or anything fancy. Tonight, I plan on using the Webber and cooking some chicken. I will make a macaroni salad or Greek pasta salad to go with it. I have some veggie burgers for B.

We have quite a few loads of laundry to do but since it’s so warm out I’ll hang dry them and then do an air fluff in the dryer.

The BIGGEST THANKFUL THING IS OUR JUSTICE SYSTEM WORKS AND TRUMP WAS FOUND GUILTY!!

Happy Hanukkah! Thankful Thursday and Pearl Harbor Day.

Posted in budgeting, California, cancer, cooking, Gratitude, home stuff, husband, minimalism, Myeloma, Political things, simplicity by

Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah and we shall light the menorah. I am making laktes and we will have homemade applesauce and sour cream too. I’m not sure what main dish I’ll serve. I grilled some chicken yesterday so I may do something with that. This year I’m not doing the small gift /money exchanges. I think I just need to move on from that at least this year.

In remembrance of Pearl Harbor too and the men and women who died in the attack and of course, entering World War II. It doesn’t seem we’re that much farther ahead at least globally with war, killing, bombings, etc. sigh:(

On the Thankful note,

It was a busy but nice week. Busy for me is more than one appt. I had my dental appt and since we’re paying OOP, I rescheduled films till next time. I’m grateful that my dental hygienist is competent and funny too! She’s been through a lot as her daughter died around 2 years ago at age 25 from some undiagnosed illness. What a thing to go through.

I’m thankful our house is warm and cozy. B does all the firewood and keeps it going. Next year, we will need to buy wood for now we have all we need.

The poang chair is the ‘cat chair’, hence the fuzzy orange blanket. Plus their cat beds in front of the wood stove. 🙂

I’m grateful my daughter decorated a second tree( live potted) with the ugly ornaments and it looks cute. I wasn’t going to bother so she did it. The

I am so grateful for this week off from chemo. I am feeling better every day and that probably means the chemo is kicking my ass more than I thought. I’m sleeping better overall.

I’m grateful that I chose a minimalist Christmas and it keeps it simple and doesn’t stress me out. I still need to go over to Winco and get the stuff for our traditional Christmas lasagna and plan a salad, garlic bread and maybe a small ham. I usually have one extra thing besides the lasagna. We’ll see. We’re not big dessert people so I’ll have to think about that or not.

I’m grateful our 23 yo VW bug is still going strong and just keeps on keeping on. That’s our around town car and it suits us. As long as nothing mechanical goes wrong, we’ll keep buggie!!! This was the car we bought our daughter at 18.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, Political things, swimming, Uncategorized, Walking by

We had a nice walk although it was busier than usual for a Sunday. We’re usually the only ones there. I think it’s because of the heat.

I cleaned the bathroom and sent Bender( robotic vacuum) around in the bedroom and living room.

I went to the Auburn gym for an hour and just got home. I did a quick kitchen zone tidy/clean. I’d done it not so long ago so it didn’t need much.

Yesterday my daughter and I went to the local nursery and got some lovely plants. I got another birdbath and 2 geraniums. It was fun. Before we left I finished baking the 2 sourdough batards. They came out beautiful. I’ve been adding about 100 kg of ww flour and that adds a nice flavor.

After settling in after getting home I started in on my pressure canning beans. I wanted to do garbanzos and black beans in pints. I think pints will overall work better for us as a side dish or addition to soups/curries. It all went brilliantly and now I have 8 pints of shelf-stable beans.

It’s too hot to go outside at least for me so I may just read or knit.

I ordered a 10″ Lodge cast iron skillet because the antique one had developed a crack. I traded for this cast iron in the late 1970s. The woman was an antique dealer and this pan was probably early 1900s. I was sad it cracked and FYI, once there is a crack it’s not safe to really cook in it. I checked eBay for a Wagner but wasn’t willing to pay the price. Lodge does a great cast iron so I’m sure it’ll fit right in. I still have the 12″ antique one she also gave me and that one is fine.

Tomorrow I plan on going to the pool. I’m hoping all the 4th of July travelers are where they want to be and not on the road. I’ll probably try and swim one other day this week.

On the political scene, what a sad day for America. Letting the Christian woman deny services to LGBQT+ people, the ending of affirmative action, and blocking student loan forgiveness. It’s bullshit. The SCOTUS is totally out of sync with what the American people want. Yes, there are the nay-sayers, helping people with student loans but there are millions of people even older people who are still stradled with brutal loans. Why not help out people who need it. So what the fuck they willingly signed those papers. We’ve all done stupid things so give them a break. then the Christian stuff totally unglues me. It is out-and-out discrimination. What’s next ?

This country is going back 50 years and it’s getting worse.

Simple Sunday and Happy Father’s Day!

Posted in California, cooking, home improvement, home stuff, Political things, Uncategorized by

A happy Father’s Day to all dads! Even dads to our furry family members.

We’re doing a BBQ later with tofu burgers and pasta salad and I’ll open one of the baked beans I just canned.

Yesterday I made up the peach jam from the one box that showed up. Apparently, the other box got run over by USPS so they sent it back. That seems weird to me they would send a damaged box of peaches back:(

I used all but 4 peaches that were still not quite ripe enough. So based on the price factor, not inexpensive. I got 10 half pints, so about 5.00 each. Definitely not frugal but I feel ok about it. For one, it supports a woman owned farm co op. And they were sent directly from the farm( Stackhouse Orchards)(you can google it).

I think my next canning will be pressure-canned vegetable soup. We went thru those quickly and it made an easy dinner. I went to the farm stand Friday and bought lots of excellent vegetables including some green and yellow zucchini so I could use those in the soup. BTW, I have to say if you’re at all tempted to pressure can the All-American is definitely worth the price. I have no leakage and the pressure gauge is easy to read. The giggle on the weight also works way better than the Mirro did. I have the 921 but there is a smaller one if you only want to do small amounts of soup, or ready made meals.

B finished painting my office area/cat room.

The reason we painted was twofold. One, the room needed it and I’m somewhat fanatical about painting every 2 years and second, in the second and third photos you can see the wall to the left and then partially the 3 steps. We need to install a bar there for safety down the road. We don’t need it right now but I do think having one there will be important at some point. So we move the ladder shelf to the other wall. That wall had my Grateful Dead, Woodstock, and Dylan posters( by Milton Glaser). I’m not putting those back up yet. Maybe in the fall.

This week is a Juneteenth celebration and may it be a joyous moment in celebrating the end of slavery. Of course, we all know, systemic racism continued even to this day.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cooking, Flylady, home improvement, home stuff, Political things, Uncategorized, Walking by

A nice Sunday walk to wake up the old body!!!!. We get up fairly early 5am or so usually 5:15 and have coffee. Then we go to the park and do 2-4 rounds. Today it was just us and that is always a treat. The Canada Goose families were there too!! The babies are all growing.

Supposedly the kitchen pipe is getting fixed today so that’s a good thing. The next issue is the wood on the foundation is pretty rotted and will need to be replaced. That could be a bigger job than just the pipe. So maybe it’s a good thing the pipe was leaking as we would never have pulled off that siding.

After tidying up I went to the Auburn gym and did weights and treadmill. I was going to go to Safeway as they have corn on sale again but I didn’t feel like it after the gym. Maybe tomorrow. After getting home, I put a chicken in the oven to roast for dinner. I made some coleslaw too.

The yogurt was put in a colander and drained off the whey. So what were 2 quarts of yogurt after draining the whey was one full quart. This method is pretty great and I feel I’ll keep making yogurt this way once a week. I figured out the cost factor to be @ $2.00 for an organic probiotic yogurt quart. The Nancy’s probiotic yogurt I’m using as the starter was $6. So a significant savings.

I moved a few house plants around for summer and probably will need to move some out of the sun room as it gets too hot for them. But since it’s still cooler out, for now their fine.

I’m glad something is happening with the debt ceiling crap but who knows? I’d like to see any of them deal with having to rely on SS to live and then see how fast they do something to change the system. Every Senator and Congress person should be required to live for one month(or more) with $$ xx for one month and see what it’s like. And it should be what the average senior gets which I can’t remember but I think it’s only $1500 or less.