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Simple Sunday

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I hope you all had a nice 4th of July. I did my walk and then a few extra things. I must have felt good enough that I painted the front door. It’s been on my list forever, and I guess it was the right day. I might start doing all the window trims as it is the same color but we’ll see.

My daughter got out an old grow light of Barclay’s, and I put it near my orchids as it is full spectrum. Hopefully, that will encourage a few spikes. Growing orchids has been a fun hobby and a challenge since I tend to overwater. The light purple one that I had spiked is still going strong. I love that orchids keep on and on.

Today is open, and I’m thinking about what I’d like to do. It’s been nice being home and not thinking about going out to do anything. I do like structure and a schedule, at least of some sort.

First, I’ll go for a walk as it’s cool out and there are some great cloud formations. Next week still looks good temperature-wise, and then it creeps back to the 90’s.

I want to plan out some dinner ideas, being on the low carb. It does take a little more planning to not just fall back on pasta or potatoes. I know I’ll pull some chicken from the freezer and maybe the ground turkey. Last night we had steamed broccoli and a souper cube of meatloaf I had made a while ago. It was ok, not great. I think that had some breadcrumbs in it, so not totally low-carb. I’ll continue to assess as this goes along. So far, it’s not terribly difficult except for maybe the bread or bagels.

I do need to hit up Costco for romaine lettuce, as I’ve been using that to make turkey or ham roll-ups with cheese. Not too bad, and I like the crunch. I also want to buy some squash, and they have a big bag of both zucchini and yellow squash. I could try the sliced zucchini lasagna. I don’t want to overthink this and keep it simple.

I didn’t do a whole lot yesterday and was kinda tired all day. I finished a book on my Kindle that I’ve read numerous times and is one of my favorites: Meg Wolfe’s series. They are some of my favorite books to reread.

Today, after waking and having breakfast, I’ll see if I want to go to the Auburn gym. If I go to Maheny gym tomorrow, then I could skip today. I’ll wait and see how I feel in a bit.

We finished watching Project Hail Mary last night, and it’s a great movie. I’d definitely recommend but it’s long, so we did it two nights. It’s on Prime.

Thankful Thursday

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I am thankful that we are not sweltering like most of the East Coast. Our temperatures have been unusual for Northern California this time of year. Usually it’s 90’s and 100s. So very nice for us.

Last night we had some chicken wings from Costco, but they weren’t the best. I was disappointed as I bought them as kind of a special treat for dinner. I won’t do that again. The one thing I went into Costco for, I forgot, cheese sticks. Oh, well, I might swing in after my doctor appointment. The closer to 4th of July though the crazier Costco gets!!

I’m thankful this 02 ring I bought ( the RingConn) is tracking my 02, and it is different than the Apple watch 02. I guess the Apple watch isn’t as reliable because of movement, and can register an 02 drop when really all you’ve done is roll over. The ring is very accurate, and I’m very happy with it. If you have any issues that are similar, the ring is a great tool. I understand the Oura is the best, but I didn’t want to pay monthly.

Today, I go to Sacramento. I’m not too keen on driving with the 4th of July traffic, but at 10 am, hopefully it won’t be too awful. I’m hoping it’s easy in and easy out. My doctor is always pretty laid back, so we’ll see how it goes with my number increase. Realistically, though, there’s not much he can do until we see a different pattern, as I’ve said. All in all, it is what it is.

After going out today, I plan on staying home over the holiday weekend. I’ll look at how I want to plan next week, though, with the pool and gym.

My son is moving ahead with getting his dad’s Triumph going. He did the class and has the equipment now. I added him as a driver on the insurance, so he’s ready to get it started. I can’t say I’m thrilled about him riding a motorcycle, as it is dangerous, but he’s an adult. Still, as a mom, I worry. I did tell him that if he finds he doesn’t want to keep riding, he can sell the bike and keep the money. Motorcycles don’t sell very well here, so?

After the pool, I dropped off the Goodwill stuff, and as I was unloading, I realized it was quite a bit of stuff I’d been driving around with for the last month. So I’m glad it’s gone. I still have some food bank items, but I think I’m going to drop that off at the LFL in the park. Someone will want it. I might check, though, where there is a drop-off in the store. Usually, there is a bin for Food For Families. Maybe I’ll check that first. It’s not a lot, but I hate to just toss it. Since I’m trying not to eat carbs, there’s some mac and cheese in there, and I know someone will want that. Plus, some pasta.

Well, I better get myself ready to go!

Midweek Musings

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I plan on going to the pool this morning. I actually woke up and felt like going, which, based on how I felt this last week, says something. So, I’ll head down around 7:30 and be in the water by 8:15 after parking and going in.

After that, I plan on going to Costco. At least that’s the plan. I do have to go to Sacramento tomorrow, so I could go after my doctor appt. I don’t need a lot of things, but I wanted to get some turkey burgers and a few other proteins. We’ll see, that’s optional right now.

My kappa light chains came back with the biggest increase yet of over 9 points. Which puts me in the low 30’s. Exactly at 34.4, which is my highest yet. I’m bummed about it, but whatcha gonna do? He doesn’t seem to concerned when he sent me them over the portal and said ‘stable’. Well, sure it’s stable but a big increase. There’s not much I can do til we see next month. So far, the trend has been increase, slight decrease, increase, etc. So until it is continually going up and shows a pattern, it’s just hang in there. Sigh, I hate this shit.

Anyway, last night I cooked up some salmon and made a feta cucumber salad. It was good. I miss my after-dinner popcorn or snacks, but I am trying to hold strong. I’m having some nuts(protein), and that seems to help.

A few of my orchids. I still don’t have any new spikes on the other plants, so I may have to YouTube it and see what I can do.

I’ve made up my July budget. Looks ok for the most part. I’ll keep whittling away at the cc and hopefully make some progress there. Since I have no other income, I guess it’ll still be a few more months till it’s done. That’s ok, overall, as long as I feel like I’m making some progress. July, August, and September don’t have any annual bills( at least that I know of), so that will help. I think the annual bills will start again in October, with auto insurance, house insurance, and property tax(Dec).

After I’m home, I need to do some dusting and putting things where they belong!!

The week ahead.

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Our temperatures are really delightful. Even this week shows temperatures in the low to mid 80’s. Unusual for California this time of year. Climate change? Who knows, right?

I started to cut some carbs from my diet to see if that helps with weight loss. Bread, of course, sourdough bread, homemade, is my weakness, but I will try to avoid it at least for a while.

I’m focusing on proteins like eggs, chicken, tofu, and veggies. It hasn’t been too bad to switch my focus, at least for now( ha, it’s only been 4 days)!!!

I have my labs this morning and decided not to go down to the pool. I’ll come home and do some house stuff and work on some meal planning. I found a Japanese cookbook at Goodwill, and there were some good low-carb recipes like miso soup with tofu( which both my daughter and I love). I bought the book for my son’s partner as they are going on a trip to Japan this fall, but I’ll use some recipes before I give it to them. ( They are non-binary),hence the pronouns.

I had one small dip in 02 last night between 1 and 1:30 to 88, but it popped back up to 90, so I’m ok with that. My only other alternative if I really want to challenge this 02 stuff, is to get the in-lab test and see if the BiPap machine is better. But honestly, I just can not deal with it right now, so since RingConn is giving such great info, I’m ok with it. Maybe down the road.

Tonight, I’m planning on grilling some tofu, and I’ll slice some tomatoes and also make up a romaine salad. As long as I have some protein, I do ok. Last night we had a modified Reuben with pastrami, sauerkraut and Swiss cheese just grilled up. It was good. This pastrami is from Costco, and it’s thin-sliced from some deli. I’ve always wanted to buy the Katz’s box of Reuben stuff, but it’s pricey. Guess who I just saw on their blog that they got a Katz’s box? Mavis, from 100 dollars a month. With the amount of projects they do and buying the house next door to them, I guess they can afford a box from Katz’s of NY. Although, to be fair, she said it was a gift sent to them. Ha, I want a gift!!!!

Well, I’m off to do whatever my boring life requires:)

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, Uncategorized, Walking by

I had a nice walk this morning, and the park was empty except for a dog running around loose. I asked the park guy when he got there to call someone, but he didn’t seem very inclined and shrugged it off. Sigh, I hope he gets caught and not hit by a car.

I’m really loving my RingConn ring to track my 02. Overall, I’m pleased with the results. My Apple Watch will often show a lower 02 but it seems that maybe due to turning in bed or getting up. So right now, I’m feeling encouraged and my Resmid score last night was 100%.

Today, I plan on going to the gym in Auburn and then home. I don’t need any groceries, so I’m set there. Last night we had chicken salad on romaine lettuce.

I feel my blog is getting boring and repetitive, so I may take a break. I do like keeping track as a journal of what’s going on, but my life is not what it was. No RV’ing, not much of anything really. Just living day to day. I’ll think about it and see how I feel.

I did order some Prime Day deals, like a new Speedo. Mine was starting to wear thin, and on Prime it’s half off, so a good deal. I have labs tomorrow, so I might go to the pool afterwards if it’s not too late. This week is also my oncology appointment in Sacramento. Hopefully, my labs will come in before I see him.

Friday things

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I canceled the PCP appointment for the Medicare program after reviewing the details on the site. It said NOT for sleep apnea, so that threw me out. It’s just for clinical obesity, so? I was disappointed, but well, sigh. I just don’t understand how all these people are on GLP 1s and affording it. I just don’t have an extra $300 in my budget. That’s the e Lilly cost with patient care.

After my Velcade shot I went to Costco.

At Costco, I picked up some salmon, veggies, eggs, and a few other things. I got some cherries and raspberries that looked good. Oh, I picked up that premade spinach salad meal, and we had half of it for dinner last night.

Tonight we’ll have the other half if we dont eat it for lunch.

I used the new Ringconn ring I got yesterday and like it, but it does not give minute by minute like the Wellvue, only hour by hour. So disappointed there too. Overall, it had some good information, though. And my low 02 only went to 89, and for some reason, that was AFTER I took my mask off at 5 am and was just lying there. So, I don’t know. I really hate this stuff.

Today is a Dex day, so I’m home doing home stuff.

Simple Sunday

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It’s still very hot here, but I think today is the last day of it. I went for a walk this morning, but even then it was warm out.

After checking my SD card for the Airsense data, I asked AI about the data. It does seem that my oxygen drops relate to when the pressure ramps up. Also, there is more leakage at that point too. For now, I’ll continue as usual. I may need to do that in lab titration because it pinpoints when it happens, and then they adjust it. I feel my next step is to lose some weight and then see how the oxygen is. Medicare has a bridge program for Zepbound ( which is used if there is a diagnosis of sleep apnea). I don’t know how it works, but I will find out. My Part D drug insurance doesn’t cover it, so if I can, it’ll be helpful, I think.

I’m still stressed about it all, but will plod on.

I did go into the gym as I wanted to do my weights and hit the thrift store. I didn’t find too much. Sunday is nice in there as it’s fairly quiet.

Not too much cooking going on with this heat. I might just make up one of the salad packs with some sort of protein. I’ll make a tentative list of meals for the week tomorrow. I know I have some pulled pork to use and beans, so that’s one or two meals. I also have some feta to use, so I was thinking a Greek pasta salad. Otherwise, who knows? A pizza?

This is an open week for me, which is great. I’d like to do a few house projects, like painting the front door. Plus at least one swim and one Roseville gym/library.

Some pictures of our crimson Hollyhocks. They were my sister Heidi’s favorite.

Friday Things

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It was a semi-frugal week because of not being home for a few days. But we did spend some money on coffee and pastries, and of course, gas. Today I do need to go to the store and get some salad stuff and maybe some assorted veggies. I’m still not planning to go down to Roseville yet. Maybe tomorrow.

We had grilled chicken for dinner last night and potatoes. I have chicken left over, so I’ll either make a chicken salad or slice it for sandwiches.

I did a small Costco trip earlier in the week, so that filled in a few things. I’m trying not to buy Costco salad stuff, as we don’t finish the big packs. I did see their spinach salad, which I would try if it’s there next time.

I also need to go into the AAA office to deal with the non op motorcycle registration. I figured I could do it online, but apparently you need to show insurance. So I’ll do that first and then go over to Safeway.

We are in a heat wave again, temperatures in the 90’s. I closed all the windows early yesterday, and that helped. I also have blackout curtains on the windows that get the most direct sun. The heat is supposed to be here through the next couple of days, then drop a bit, but be back in the 90s again next week. By the end of next week it’s back down in the 70’s and 80’s.

Thankful Thursday

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Well, we did it!! My son and I went to Tahoe and camped in his Ritz-Carlton Teton tent. It is a 3-season, very big tent with an awning and windows. I’m very grateful to him for setting it all up and having everything that made it so nice. I had an air mattress that was on a twin frame, so I was off the ground. He even had a camping side table for my CPAP machine.

I’m very thankful that I had the Jackery battery, as it ran the Airsense all night. When I took it off, I still had 56% left, so theoretically that could be another night. My AirSense worked perfectly, and I even got a 100% score for the night, which I haven’t had since my air pressure was raised. I did finally take off my 02 ring because we were at 6000 feet; my 02 kept going down. Today, as I’m home, it rarely buzzes.

It was chilly at night, and I probably could have had another blanket on my down bag, but overall it was fine.

I was a bit emotional as it was 2 years to the day that B and I were up there for the last time. By July, of 2024, we were getting the bad news of cancer, but the pathologies hadn’t come in yet. It was also just a year ago that he started hospice and was gone by the 19th.

We got up early at 6:30 and walked down to the far end of the beach and let some of Dad go. He would have liked that.

My son and I packed up everything( he did 99% of it), and then went into South Lake and got some coffee and pastries before hitting the road.

I’m grateful my daughter held down the fort here with all the kitties. When you’re here alone, it is a bit time-consuming dealing with cats and house stuff.

Well, it was a fun trip, and I accomplished getting Barclay’s ashes to Tahoe. I did bring home a can of sand to use here. The sand on this beach is very golden.

I’m not sure I could handle two nights, but that’s not a concern right now.

Saturday things

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I’m still struggling with my pressure adjustment on my CPAP. I’ve been using AI Gemini to troubleshoot, and it’s been very helpful. The problem is that I don’t feel better even though the machine says good mask fit. The app for AirSense is showing only a score of 90, which I have not had since starting 8 months ago, because it says the mask needs adjustment. I feel very weary over all this and not sure what to do. Hopefully I can figure it out. I am sleeping mostly through the night but just not waking up refreshed. More like a bit stuffy and a bit of a headache. I suppose it could be the pollen affecting me too.

Yesterday I went down to the gym and then the library. It was nice to go without needing to add groceries or another stop. It was very warm in the afternoon, so I did start the cooler again. Today is supposed to be 10 degrees cooler, so back in the 70’s.

Today I had a nice walk, and there was a lovely breeze. Tomorrow is Pioneer Day here in Meadow Vista, so I may not walk, as all the vendors get to the park early to set up. They also close the main road through town around 10, so if I’m going to the gym, I’ll need to be back by then.

I might go out this morning and do a few errands that I haven’t gotten around to, namely recycling and filling the small propane bottle I use for the fire pit. If my daughter comes along, we could go to the bookstore.

Well, that’s all I have for today. I will read my new library book, which is the latest Jane Whitefield by Perry. I finished The Correspondent, and wow, it was a great book. Very timely if you are in your 70’s.