Category Archives: Uncategorized

Menu Monday and a BIG shout out to Frugal Girl!!

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, camping, cancer, cooking, Death, home stuff, Lake tahoe, travel, Uncategorized, velcade by

Frugal Girl has a huge blog following and deservedly so. But she never speaks of politics till now, and I am very Thrilled she has stood up and spoken out against the horrors of this administration, especially with the murder of Alex Pretti, a fellow nurse. I’m sure it was difficult for her to do, especially as she is an evangelical Christian. Although we are as far apart as can be on religion, I respect her immensely for all she has gone through and accomplished. She is an exceptional person, and thank you, Kristen, for using your voice.

I’m just a small blogger, but I will not shy away from speaking up about the wrongs this administration is doing. AND THE LIES!! You can see with your own eyes what went down, and to have them disgrace a wonderful human being is sickening. May Karma catch up to them in the end.

On to mudane things in my life.

The menu changed up a bit as one night we had ramen because we felt like it.

Last night I baked some chicken, and we had that with baked butternut squash and salad.

Monday- I think I’ll try to do the baked fish with something. I really want to empty out the small refrigerator freezer, and the fish is in there.

Tuesday- Mexican something. I have beans frozen, so I could do beans and something. I don’t have any enchiladas, but I could buy some if I get to Winco. We do love Amy’s cheese enchiladas.

Wednesday- I have some Trader Joe’s orange chicken to use up, and I could make jasmine rice to go with it.

Thursday- ?? Maybe a curry, as I have tofu to use. We really like tofu curry with rice.

Friday- Pizza of some sort. We finished up the last Costco one for lunch the other day, and it was pretty bad, so I won’t buy them again. The frozen pizza that we liked the best was Home Run Chicago Pizza, and I think only Safeway carries that.

Saturday-? TBD

After e-messaging my oncologist, Dr. Laptalo, he suggested half an Imodium for the IBS. So I’ve been doing that, and so far it’s been fine. It’s been about a week with no issues, so I’m happy about that. I went to the gym and library the other day, and no surprises. I’m not sure what triggered it, but I think the body remembers certain things, and with the Velcade, it responded to that. Dr. L thought it could have been Velcade, as the timing was right. I don’t know, and all I want is not be ‘surprised’. I’m planning on going to the pool this week at least once, so that will be sort of my marker. I overcame this before, and I will overcome it again.

I’ve had zero luck with getting a spot at Nevada Beach. My only theory is that because it is such a beautiful camping spot on Lake Tahoe and there are so few spots, getting one is getting harder. Reservations are now into the end of July, and I think I’ll skip those for now. Tahoe in the summer is not my favorite, as it is overrun by tourists.

And I’m still not sure what I would camp in. I still have Rubi, but I will try to sell it this spring. I do have the one night booked at Tahoe in June, but I can handle one night in a tent. Any more than that, I doubt I’d want to do. This probably is one of the hardest for me to accept with Barclay gone, that certain things, like camping, can’t be the same. The question is still, how do I want to go forward?

Well, this has gotten quite long, so that’s it for now.

Simple Sunday

Posted in bread, California, cooking, Flylady, simple foods, Uncategorized, Walking by

A cold walk this morning. The temperature is 36 degrees, but it’ll warm up to about 65 today, so still nice.

Today is a gym day in Auburn and then a few errands. I need to get gas in the VW, drop off a package at UPS, and stop and do a propane exchange down at the store. I’m sending my old MacBook to Apple to recycle. I had put in a request to send back a monitor, but I can’t find a box big enough, so I’ll have to find another way to recycle that or try giving it away on Pay it Forward.

I’ve been doing my FlyLady zones a little differently. Instead of just one zone, I try to do 2 and then just do a quick tidy of the other zones. Today, I’m doing the bedroom zone and bathroom. Both are very minimal, so it doesn’t take very long. Of all the zones, the kitchen is the biggest to do. But even that is timely because I’ve decluttered so much, it’s just essentials.

I try to do a check of each zone to see what can be decluttered. This time, in the bedroom, it was some ribbon I hadn’t used. Plus some Ball jars that are the regular mouth. I’m only keeping wide-mouth jars, as they are useful for pantry items.

I have another loaf of sourdough in the oven before I head out to the gym. It should be done shortly.

It’s getting there!

Friday Things

Posted in bread, budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, frugalism, Uncategorized by

My budget month is coming to a close, and overall, I did well. Groceries came in at a little under $400, so that’s really good. Other bills were just normal things, I think. Most of my bills are on autopay and are generally fixed or close to it. The water bill varies by season, and so does PGE.

Today is a home day, and I’m doing another loaf of sourdough. It’s so weird that after not baking bread for a good while, it’s like starting over. But I did get my starter nice and active. The other trick I started using was to turn on the oven light and put the starter in there at first to double in size, and then later for bulk fermentation. It worked brilliantly. I guess there’s always something new to learn.

I had my first real-life experience with AI. I had a message about reordering some of my CPAP stuff. So I called the number, and it was an AI named Brenda. It asked all the pertinent questions. It was both weird and ok. I didn’t have to talk to anyone, so that was positive. On the other hand, this was not a real person, and there was no option to do so. I guess the future is here.

I do hope there’s a special place in HELL for the ICE agents that murder innocent people and use children to trap others. I’m not religious and am an atheist, but there has to be a HELL for them in some shape or form.

I do need to work on next month’s budget and see how far I can get with that. I started our taxes, but not everything comes in till the end of the month. I felt good about starting it. February has another Allstate payment and the Fair plan installment too, so that will be a challenge. I think that’s all the unusual stuff. Also, keep trying to get the last CC finished. We shall see, or maybe I should start singing” We shall Overcome”. ???

What things are any of you up to? What about that huge storm heading East? Are any of you in the storm’s path? It sounds awful.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in books, bread, California, camping, Gratitude, Uncategorized by

I’m thankful to be walking, even if it’s not what I used to do. I guess age catches up to us in spite of all that we do to stay healthy and active. I’ve always exercised and eaten mostly vegetarian my whole life, and still, things creep in. Until I get moving in the morning, I am pretty stiff but then my joints loosen up after walking around.

I am thankful that adjusting to my CPAP was so easy. As resistant as I was, it is a good thing. I’ve had zero sleep disturbances, so I guess it’s doing what it is supposed to do. I still need to buy a battery pack if I camp.( questionable at this point).

I’m grateful for the beautiful weather we’ve had with mild temperatures. Also, it’s getting light early again, and sunset is later; there’s a lot more light. These are the times I miss Barclay when we would start to sit out in the afternoon with our wine and talk about the day, or camping, or whatever. 😦

Today, I plan on going to the library and the gym for a short workout. I want to get home and bake the sourdough loaf I have in the fridge.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, frugalism, garden shed, Uncategorized by

Overall, it was a good week. Bills got paid, and the budget looks ok. A few more bills are coming out next week, the garbage bill and the water bill.

I only went to Winco this week, and mostly that was for veggies for salads. I’m motivated to eat more salads since I’ve been using the mandolin. It’s fun to cut up the radishes and cabbage with it. I spent $55 at Winco, so that was an inexpensive shop. We still have a lot of stuff to use up in the freezer. But that’s ok, that’s why I buy food at Costco, so it’s there. Last night we shared a chicken pot pie and had salad. My daughter suggested we go back and watch Stranger Things from the beginning, so we’re doing that.

Around Christmas, I ordered a food saver called Chef Preserve. It’s a handheld vacuum sealer that takes the air out of the bags it comes with. I’ve had the other kind of vacuum sealers, and they are big and bulky and kind of a pain to use, but this one is small and handheld.

I only used it on shredded Brussels sprouts, so I don’t have an opinion yet, but I think it will be a food saver, especially for veggies. Today I’ll try the radishes and cucumbers. I’ll keep you posted. The bags are reusable as well. You can also purchase glass containers.

I checked my LLS and discovered that only part of what I submitted actually showed up in the download. I guess I used a JPEG, and only one picture showed, so I had to go back and figure out what I did wrong. I noticed that each scanned item was a separate JPEG, whereas the PDF displayed all four. I have to show the bank statement and my amount on the insurance form. I resubmitted it, but that delays it by a few weeks. I guess I never checked before that the dropdown when sending to a file was on JPEG instead of PDF. I’ll check in a few days to see if they got it. sigh:)

I’ve only had a few people interested in the Ball canning jars( no takers), so I’ll drop them off at the Goodwill with my next load. I don’t need that many jars hanging around, taking up space in the garden shed.

Today is another beautiful day. Yesterday the high was 69, and it was glorious. I think today is a few degrees cooler, but still really nice.

On a political note, I find it odd that Machado gave trump her Nobel Peace medal. The title is non-transferable, so what kind of ass-kissing gesture was she trying to pull off? Yes, of course, she want strumpy’s approval in Venezuela, but still, what good is it going to do him? If anything, it’s a meaningless token since he did not ‘win’ it.

Menu Monday and misc.

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, meal planning, Uncategorized by

Let’s see, last night we had more coconut shrimp( Costco) and jasmine rice, and a pickled salad of radishes, cucumbers, and carrots. It was good.

Monday – I’m making a turkey chili, mostly to add two jars of home-made, pressure-canned kidney beans.

Tuesday- might end up left over chili but I’ll see.

Wednesday – I’m planning on roasting chicken with baked potatoes and a salad.

Thursday will be something with the left over chicken, maybe enchiladas?

Friday- I might do some pasta as I’m trying out a new pasta.

Saturday TBD

A beautiful day here. Sunny and not so cold. The pool was quite busy, but I got a lane right away, which was nice. I also went into Winco for a few things. Then it was straight home.

Simple Sunday

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

Our mornings have been very chilly, like 34 degrees. Afternoons are nicer but still chilly. This coming week, though, we should have a nice warm-up and no rain. I finally finished the last LOTR, The Return of the King, extended version. Just a mere 4 hours that took me 5 nights to get through. 😦

I started watching the new Agatha Christie on Netflix (I think that’s where it is) and so far, I’m not impressed. Have you watched it?

Yesterday we went to the pet bookstore. I found a cookbook (America’s Test Kitchen) and a few others. I’m still trying to find Shogun, but no luck. After that, we went to Round Table to use my free pizza coupon. It was good, but the wait was way too long. We had spinach soup and left over pizza for dinner.

Tonight, I think I’ll use up all the veggies I’ve sliced with the mandoline I got for free. It took a while to figure it out( my daughter had to show me how to change the blades). I have cucumbers, carrots, and radishes. I need to get some lettuce though.

I’m planning on the gym, but I’ll see how I am at 8:30. Today is a sheet day, so I need to get that going. And I need to clean up the patio.

I can hardly read any news right now. Where has any humanity gone with these people? They murdered an innocent woman, and they are saying it’s her fault? WTF??? I hope there is a special place in hell for those people.

Oh, my labs came back up some 25.3 Kappa Light chains. So once again, not too terrible in the bigger picture, but that still leaves me in uncertainty again on the next one. sigh, … I just need to get on with it.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, California, frugalism, Uncategorized by

I suppose it’s been a frugalish week. I paid a little more on the lingering cc’s, so that felt good. I got a notice that my WordPress account will be charged in February. I’ll see what envelope I can pull some of that from.

I went to the Holiday Market to purchase a few items I needed for the spinach soup, such as gruyere cheese to add to it. It’s a creamy soup, and the cheese is a nice touch. I spent @$50.

I actually had the cash but forgot to bring it down with me.

I submitted my LLS, so that should come through by the end of the month. I so appreciate LLS and the grants they offer blood cancer patients. I could absolutely not stay in the budget without that assistance.

I ordered my prescription refills and was so shocked that from one month ago to now, with this new plan(Health Spring, which is part of Cigna), my costs have plummeted. For instance, my levothyroxine was coming in at $20 something, and now it comes in at $1.27. WTF !! I mean, it’s great for me, but why would they be charging so much just last month, December, as to now?? Totally strange. And it wasn’t just one, it was all of them dropped.

Did anyone else have a weird price drop??

Here’s Gus chilling!

Thankful Thursday

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, California, camping, cooking, Gratitude, home stuff, travel, Uncategorized by

I’m excited, I have a bid on the rare star note. So we’ll see how it goes. This was my brother’s, so whatever I get minus eBay fees, he gets half. But a few extra dollars will be nice.

I am very grateful it’s sunny again, and no rain is forecast. We do need things to dry up. I went for a walk after I tried again to get a spot in Tahoe. Either more people are vying for spots, or the algorithm is not working for me. 😦 In all the years of booking Tahoe, I have never had such a difficult time as this.

I’m planning on checking daily for cancellations. I’m also going to make a list of what we need for a basic camping trip without Rubi. It’s a big unknown how all this will play out.

I’ve been enjoying watching a YouTuber who talks about Japanese concepts. His videos are quite beautiful. The latest one I watched was on Kakebo, or Japanese budgeting. I liked it enough that I bought a book from Amazon called Kakebo, and it has weekly sheets to fill in. Now I do a daily budget and write my daily lists in a notebook, but I always like a new twist on things to keep it interesting.

Today is a home day, and I’m doing a number of things. I made my favorite spinach soup, cooked up some burgers for lunch, and prepped some chicken for grilling either later or tomorrow. I still have a bunch of mushrooms to cut up and am thinking of a mushroom soup. I tidied the house, and all I have left is to put the Robo vacuum on.

Tuesday misc, and a menu plan

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, home improvement, Uncategorized by

Today, I have my labs, so we’ll see what they come back as. Always a bit unsettling, but we shall see. Today is not my normal lab day, so I won’t get them till Friday.

I slept better last night now that Dex is out of me. I swam yesterday, and it was very nice, but I was very exhausted from the swim. Probably because with Christmas and NY’s I haven’t been going enough. I was planning on going to the gym today, but we have an electrician coming to check on some outlets that keep popping.

Let me just say, I hate doing this stuff. This was Barclays’ area, not mine, and I absolutely hate having to deal with this stuff. But my daughter agreed that the outlet needs looking at, so I put it on Next door neighbor and got quite a few responses. So someone is coming out this morning, so that changes my plans. Plus, I barely have enough money to deal with an electrician. I’ll just have to work around something else. sigh:(

Menu wise:

We had breaded cod last night with a huge salad and some air fryer fries.

Tonight I’m planning on crunchy tacos with salad stuff on top.

Wednesday, I have some chicken defrosting, so I’m not sure what exactly. I’m trying to up my protein intake so I want to have some proteins ready for lunches etc.

Thursday, not sure. I think I’ll make some fried rice and baked tofu with some Costco dumplings.

At Costco, I had bought the giant salad mix and spinach, so I need to see if we can get through that. I’ve been adding spinach to my morning eggs, so I’m using some up.

Not sure if we’ll do a pizza this week. I’ll wait and see what we feel like.

We finally have a sunny morning. It’s bright blue skies.