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.
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.
I’m off to get my Velcade shot this morning. Then to the library to return books. I’m not planning on going to the gym, even though I should. Well, maybe I’ll wait till I’m there and then decide.
Updated: I dropped off books, but the library was closed, so I didn’t go in.
My shot went well. Vicki, one of the nurses, is retiring, so I said I’d miss her. She’s a great nurse.
Then I need to go to Winco for veggies and a few things. I also need to stop in Costco for coffee, so I’ll see how far I get.
Updated: Skipped Winco and just went to Costco. I wanted to get there when it’s only open to Executive members, so that worked out perfectly.
I bought a lot of veggies as one of my intentions for 2026 is to eat more veggies, fruit, and fish. I also got the coffee, some wine, eggs and bagels, and a few other things.
I’m just finishing up and putting things away in the freezer. I have the iRobot vacuum going, and that will clean the floors. I do need to mop still though.
I did manage to get rid of the desk and chair. The person came right on time, so that was nice. I have a load to go to the thrift store, but didn’t get there today. I’ll try for Sunday after the gym.
Last night I made homemade pizza. It was ok, not great. I also shredded Brussels sprouts and sauteed them with mushrooms. That was quite good.
I took down most of the Christmas stuff and labeled the boxes. Since I did do a Snoopy tree this year, I labeled those ornaments in a box so next year I can pull them out if I decide to do a separate tree. I kept up the Ikea tree but took the bird ornaments off and put them away. I’ll probably take down the Ikea tree tomorrow or at least sometime this week. It always feels good to get a fresh start, although I do love looking at the different trees and their ornaments.
My daughter got me a compact waffle maker to replace the bigger one we have, so we had waffles last night. I might make some more this morning. Yumm.
This was our Christmas morning bagels and lox. I didn’t get a picture of dinner, but everything turned out delicious.
The pool was insane the other day. All the college kids were there. I forgot that this was winter break between semesters. I’ll have to see if I want to brave it next week. I finally got a lane with one of the college kids, and twice I got mouthfuls of water as he was kicking so hard. It wasn’t fun.
A very cold 36 degrees this morning, but the walk was lovely. The park was all frosty.
Today, I’m planning to go to the gym and then home. I might go back out later if my daughter wants to go to Home Depot. We need some things for the house.
This next week is a repeat of Christmas with New Year’s on Thursday. I have Velcade on Friday, which will be a little weird. I usually go on Thursdays. So my Dex day will be Saturday.
Other than that, I’m looking forward to the next year and hope it’s not as awful as 2025. I’ve had no luck getting a camping spot, so it’s been close to 10 days of trying every day. I’m almost at the first week of July, and I never go to Tahoe in July or August unless it’s a day trip. Too many tourists.
I went down to the pool yesterday only to find it closed. Apparently, when they had an open swim that included kids, some kid mistook the pool for a bathroom. So they have to chlorinate it to a very high level. That’s ok, it’s closed today as well. I’d rather they get it clear to be able to swim without any risk.
I came home straight away, although if I had extra gym clothes, I could have gone to the gym. But I was in my swimming suit.
I finished dusting most everything yesterday and also went down to Holiday to get a few last things.
We had some pretty intense wind overnight and rain, but right now things are calm till the next wave, which is this afternoon. Hopefully, it won’t be too bad. I do hate the wind.
Tomorrow, Christmas looks just as bad, so I told my son and brother not to come up if it’s treacherous. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. I can cook dinner on the weekend if that’s the case.
Rain, rain, and more rain. No walking this morning as it is really raining. We’re supposed to get about 3 inches, which is a lot of rain. Still, daylight will eventually start getting longer, although it takes a few weeks for it to turn around. At least it’s not a cold rain. It’s about 53 out. I’m guessing that means there’s no snow in Tahoe.
I was on the Reserve for camping, but no luck. I’ll try again tomorrow. It’s a tough place to get a spot. But you just have to keep at it. I will continue to check for cancellations, but that’s unlikely to happen. sigh:(
I think I’m staying home today and not going to the Auburn gym. I’ll wait till it’s light out to decide. If I don’t go today, I’ll go to Maheny sometime this week. I’d like to get one swim in before Christmas, too. We’ll see how it goes.
Last night we had a marcella bean( white bean) and ham soup. It came out very tasty. I wrote out a list of freezer meals for my low spend challenge. Hopefully that’ll keep me on track. Plus, there’s a lot to use up. I also baked up a dozen potatoes and made double stuffed. After they are baked, I cut them in half, scoop out the potato, and then add some butter, sour cream, and cheddar. Then I mound it back in. I end up with 10 half potatoes.
My son went back up to Grass Valley for their Cornish Christmas and sent me these photos. It was rainy, but he said it was still nice. I don’t drive at night unless absolutely necessary, so I wouldn’t get up there to see this.
Not too much on the agenda for today. I have 2 more library books to read. I started one and wasn’t impressed, so I’ll just bring that back. Other than that, just the usual tidying, and I do need to dust. I ran out of swiffers(which I love), so I just got a new box from Costco. Not very exciting 🙂
Frugal Girl has a good post on her blog to read. It’s about not comparing where you are in life to others, especially when we are all in different seasons of our lives. It helped me reframe some of where I am. Especially when it comes to traveling, money, and lots of other small things. I’d love to keep traveling like I did with Barclay in the RV, but I can’t trailer the RV. So, after I sell it this spring, how can I create a traveling vehicle? Also, I have a very small fixed income that got smaller after Barclay died( by 1/3 less). I am, though, very grateful that what I do get from SS pays the bills. So comparing myself to people still working and earning is a thief of joy and results in only negative thinking. It makes no sense to do those comparisons, as, like I said, we are all in different seasons of our lives. I will accept where I am and my limitations as well. I say limitations, as that is a fact of getting older. I can’t walk as far as I once did. I can’t do lots of things that even 5 years ago I could, such as getting down on the floor to clean corners or the floor. Nope, it’s not happening, and I accept that. ( maybe begrudgingly):)
I am only going to focus on what I can do as FG suggested. I am going to focus on my own internal process and do what I can to still live my best life. I can still do some traveling, it’s just how I can add that in and afford it. I can still do moderate walking, which is something I love, plus always reading and cooking. Those things don’t cost money and add joy to my life.
Yesterday, I went to the Roseville gym and library. I had about 5 books on hold that were due to come off the hold list. From there, I went to TJ’s to get a couple of gift cards to give my kids. I’ve been struggling with the whole gift-giving this year, especially with Barclay gone. I like giving my kids gifts and have always gone somewhat overboard. Nothing crazy, but still more than I can do now. So, in addition to the TJ’s card, I’m giving each some cash, for my son a dinner out with his partner, and my daughter to go and use at the nursery. It’s all a big adjustment, but necessary since money-wise, I can’t really do much more. I’m sure I will adjust and, in time, be ok with it. Since this is the first Christmas/Hanukkah without B, I’m quite emotional about it all. Time is a great healer, and I’m sure things will get easier as time goes by.
It’s finally raining here in N. California after a very beautiful fall break with lovely sun( at least here in the foothills, the valley has been socked in Tule fog). I’m not sure if I’m going down to the pool or waiting till tomorrow. It’s only 6:30, so I have time to get a sense of the day. I have some decluttering to do with some books and some of the Christmas things my son didn’t want.
My son took us to Grass Valley to see the Christmas decorations. It was lots of fun. He makes quite an effort to do things with me. There they are side by side. My lunch was delicious. A turkey green chili sandwich.
The mass shooting in Australia at a Hanukkah celebration certainly puts a very dark cloud over everything. Why are people so crazy with prejudice and malice? And look at the vileness that comes out of tRump’s mouth. Such evil, nastiness.
I had a nice walk this morning. The sky was very Maxfield Parrish-ish. A lovely time of morning. Today, I’m going into the gym, and then I think I will get some scratchers for tonight. I believe the Holiday Market has some tickets in vending machines, so I’ll check that out. I don’t remember anyone ever winning anything, though LOL.
My Apple Watch said I was awake last night for 2 hours. This is the first time it has been wrong. I slept almost all night with no interruptions, so that’s weird. I checked with my friend Chat, and I guess sometimes this is a common problem with Apple Watch if you’re using a CPAP machine.
I sorted out some Christmas ornaments to give my son for his tree. I have a few more to do since most of the superhero ones are his. I plan on making the latkes for dinner and having homemade apple sauce on the side.
I had lots of plans for what I was going to do after my doctor appointment, but that all went by the wayside. As soon as I walked into the lobby, I could see it was packed. Usually, there’s one or two people, but this was packed. So he was 40 minutes late because of a biopsy that hadn’t been scheduled correctly. I’m pretty chill about that stuff because there are cancer patients in there worse off than me. So all my plans just evaporated, and I just cancelled going to do what I was going to do. My 10 am appt didn’t get finished till half past 11, so I just came home. I have plenty of days before Christmas, and most of this stuff is just Christmas prep. For instance, I need Gift cards from T.J.’s, but I can do that another day after swimming. I also need to go to Costco for one last small shop for Christmas dinner. So all that can roll over to next week.
Hanukkah starts Sunday night at sundown, so we’ll do latkes and applesauce(homemade) and breaded chicken/tofu. If I’m inspired, I’ll make the Superiority tofu, which is deep-fried. It’s a recipe that is involved and takes time. Someone asked about the recipe for polenta lasagna, and really, it’s very simple. I make the polenta in the Instant Pot( very easy this way), then chill overnight. Then I cut slices of the polenta and layer with tomato sauce, cheese, and then bake. It’s a delicious meal that doesn’t use pasta.
I’m not really doing any gifts for Hanukkah, at least as of today. Barclay always bought lottery tickets ( scratchers) for everyone, so I may do that. Otherwise, it’s just lighting the menorah and enjoying that. Oh, I will do some Starbucks gift cards, as that is always welcome and used.
I went to Winco after the pool and got some Christmas stuff, but not all, as I didn’t have my list.:( So I’ll see about hitting it up again next week.)
I’m staying home today and just doing some odds and ends. I finally got around to cutting up the box of Pink Lady apples someone gave us, so that’s tucked away in the freezer. I need to mop the floors today and just do a general tidy up.
Here’s a picture of our lemon tree that is much fuller than this shows, and blue skies. Sacramento is in Tule fog!
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 