We got to the park at 6:30 and had to use the headlamps for a bit. So this is an ok time for right now. It’ll start getting light earlier so we can keep backing up our time. My ideal is time is 6-6:30. although in the summer we are often out there at 5:30.
It’s a clear sunny day today but the next storm is expected tomorrow. My plan is to go the gym today, and the library then if the weather is awful later in the week I won’t feel as bad not going. I’m not a fan of driving in the rain.
The pantry challenge is going great.
Last night it was wonton soup except what I thought were wontons were periogi. Actually, it was quite delicious with lots of fresh grated ginger. Now I have to go find the wontons in the freezer. I tried one of the Costco beef burgers for lunch the other day. I only had half because they’re huge. But it was ok. Not great but I’ll try and use the rest up somehow. Not something I’d buy again.
Tuesday- tacos for Taco Tuesday. I have some crunch shells so I may do bean tacos.
Wednesday- Breakfast for dinner -pancake mix that needs to be used and scrambled eggs.
Thursday- macaroni and cheese from the freezer and a big salad.
Friday- one of the frozen pizzas
Saturday?? TBD
The good news is the ultrasound came back on the liver ‘unremarkable’. so that’s a very good thing. But it’s still not good that he’s still having some abdominal pain. I told him to ask Dr. Singhal if it could have to do with the gallbladder?? He’s going for labs either today or tomorrow so we’ll see what that looks like. This has certainly screwed up his surgery( although this is not official at all) but it’s just a waiting game.
I woke up fairly early and knew the time changed. So had a coffee and got to the park at 7am which is really 6am. The predawn was nice and it got light pretty quick. There was some event happening at the community center so lots of cars showing up 😦
Then I went to the gym and it was empty for the most part. I saw 2 other people.
Then I stopped at Bel Air for half and half. Then straight home and got the sourdough in the oven.
This is a parmesan/oregano loaf. You can see the flakes of oregano.
Now I’m tidying things up and making a plan for the week. I know I’m going to swim on Monday, the gym on Wednesday, and then go back to the pool on Friday. The only caveat would be how much it’s raining.
I still haven’t mopped the floors so I need to do that today.
This should be a nice week with just a few chores like Winco. That should be easy after swimming since it’s across the street. B needs ginger ale. With the stuff going on he’s off wine so ginger ale it is. Then some odds and ends: fish food, Ball jar lids, some frozen things and I’ll see what else.
A cloudy walk this morning but it was warm. It was 51 degrees. It’s quite nice really.
I’ve been to the Auburn gym and now I’m home. I’ve swished the bathroom and now plan to do some other regular Sunday things.
Sunday is our sheet-washing day. We only have one set of linen sheets so we wash, dry, and put them back on the bed. B was just saying though the sheets seem to wearing thin. He does the laundry so he would know.
I fed my sourdough so I might make a dough later after it does its thing.
I made some chicken salad for sandwiches from the chicken I roasted the other day. I’m not sure what I’m doing for dinner tonight. I know a salad is on the menu but I need to check what I have to use up. Last night we (my daughter and I) had the last turkey burgers and B had the last Boca burger.
We’re considering taking the trailer to Napa as we only have a brief window of time before he’s in for the major surgery. I’m mixed on this as it’s money and effort. I guess we’ll give it a few days to filter through.
This little Cherry( the only girl who gets picked on by her brothers and Bean.
This is Guster(Gus) and Smudge. I know… 🙂 these are the names they got when they came out of the barn. 🙂 They were the ‘barn kitties’.
Little Tux is adapting here well. But we need to get the neuter going. He’s a very sweet cat. As soon as I can I’ll get a picture.
Well, I’m going to move the loveseat couch on the opposite wall and see if I like it better. I don’t want to put it in the sunroom yet because Tux is sleeping out there and he might be squirting? 😦 I hope not.
A very rainy, simple Sunday. It now feels like we should be building an ark with all the rain we’ve had. At least it hasn’t been very cold although later in the week it is supposed to drop way down to freezing! So maybe snow?
I did a fair amount of things yesterday. I made a sourdough boule that had raisins, walnuts, and some cinnamon. It came out nice. Very hydrated, so quite moist. Then I also mopped floors and dusted some. For dinner, we had two kinds of soups. A minestrone from the freezer for B, and My daughter and I had a Greek lemon soup from Costco. It was good, but I’m not sure I’d buy it again. It was a two-pack, so there’s another one left. My daughter(S) liked it a lot, though. I made cheese toasties on the side with the homemade cheddar jalapeno sourdough.
I rearranged my desk, but it’s still not how I wanted it. I think I’m going to get an Ikea little cabinet to put my extra office stuff in. Right now, the one I want is out of stock, but they have it in a grey finish, so I may get that. ( I wanted the white finish). Basically, I keep my office stuff in a wine crate that has a hinged lid. It works good, but it takes up most of my ‘desk area, which is really my Heywood table.
I slept terribly last night, I think, because of coming off Dex. I’m not planning on going to the gym unless I totally change my mind. With all this rain, we’re not doing our morning walk, so I really should go, but I am not too motivated right now. Oh well, hopefully, I can go use the treadmill in our studio. My daughter has done a great job changing the studio( which was my son’s room) into an exercise space with a treadmill and bike. Plus, her piano is out there now, so she can play with some privacy. She has headphones, but still, it’s nice to get out of the house. We still need to paint out there to freshen it up.
Our new little stray ‘Tux’ is hanging around more and sleeping in the sunroom. We made him a bed so he’s warm and dry. He’s a real cutie, but we will need to get him spayed and shots.
Tonight, I’m planning a new recipe using some of our delicata squash. It’s baked with some spices and maple syrup, and then the salad part is apple, lettuce, and goat cheese, which I do not have any of. I’ll stop at the store later to get some. I’m not sure what I’ll have with it, but I’ll think of something.
I can’t even begin to express how upsetting it is to read the news about Trump banning all celebrations for Black History Month, MLK Jr. Day, etc. I just finished reading John Lewis’s graphic novels,” March”( it’s a 3 volume set) on his early civil rights days.
It is truly amazing what all of those people did to get the voting rights bill passed. It’s stunning to me that we are going back to such blindness and discrimination against blacks, LBGTQ+, and everything it seems we have worked so hard to overcome. Where is it going to go? What are the next 4 years going to bring down? It’s horrifying to me, really, and scary. I would highly recommend buying the 3 set Volumns and read and pass on to everyone you know. It’s eye-opening and shocking the hate from whites in the South. Bull Connor, Wallace, the list goes on. Truly awful.
Well, I’d better get a move on if I’m going to town.
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.
Well, we made it to the end of the year. After the election, I pretty much haven’t read too much news. Little blips come in now and then but overall, I think my mental health is better for it.
I’m dreading frump taking office. It’s beyond comprehension how he can stand at that podium and take the oath of office after everything he’s done. I’m convinced he’ll go down in history as the worst president EVER. It’s going to be a shit storm for sure. Well, I can only control myself and my little world, so I’ll focus on that.
I was planning on staying home today but I need to return an Amazon purchase. I accidentally clicked on 2 of a calendar and I don’t need two calendars. Since I’ll be in town, I’ll get the veggies for the fondue tonight. if my daughter comes with me, she mentioned needing to go to Target.
The dinner menu was simple for the week :
Pasta bake from the freezer
Costco’s vegetable soup and rolls
fondue (tonight)
nut loaf and potatoes from the freezer
pizza of some sort
something else from the freezer
tofu scramble with leftover veggies
Lots of simple meals this week.
I have a few goals for 2025 but mostly it’s maintaining my swimming, gym workouts, and walking.
I’d like to add finding one new place to camp with full hook-ups and going to the coast, but so much depends on how the surgery goes and recovery. And as of right now, we don’t even know if that’s what will happen. If he gets the green light then we need to plan hotel stays and how that is going to all work out with me staying there. As far as we know B would be in the hospital for probably 2 weeks and then I’m not sure if he needs to stay within 15 minutes of the hospital like he did at UCD. If so we will need something like an extended stay hotel. I guess we’ll know by mid-January as that’s when Dr. Lee is back from vacation.
I could think of lots of other things I’d like to set as goals but I don’t want to commit to anything.
Around the house and yard, we need another carport as the one over the VW broke in the summer. We need to budget for garden stuff.
The VW needs a starter and battery so that needs to be budgeted.
I’d like to start painting some of the rooms, especially the living room.
Anything with remodeling the kitchen is totally on hold as we just don’t have money but we do need a new stove so that will get budgeted. Our stove has knobs on the front and because it’s about 10 years old the knobs will turn on if you lean over the stove and that is way dangerous. We’re all aware of it, so we’re careful but it has happened and then you can smell gas. I think I can find a good stove for around $1000. The one we have is Whirpool and it’s been a great stove except for this knob issue. I’ll check Costco first and then Lowes or Home Depot.
Of course, I’d like to keep minimizing things around the house and making sure we have only the things we need, use, and love. Mostly, that’s just keeping on top of hot spots like the entry way because things do pile up there.
Financially, have most of my cash envelopes fully funded for annual bills. That does take some effort as SS only goes so far. Right now, I have $70 for car maintenance so that needs some money for the VW repair. I’m sure it’s going to be around $1000.
As always, we’ll see what happens.
Wishing you a happy new Year!! “let’s hope it’s a good one without any fear” John Lennon.
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” byJohn 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?
Finally, the shortest day of the year. And the longest night but then we shall start to see more light. Already the afternoons are showing a bit more light around 5pm so that’s a big plus.
We had a nice walk this morning. It wasn’t too cold at all. The rain is supposed to start around noon. Today is just a home day. Yesterday I went to the gym and the library. I got the newest Baldacci book so I’m excited to start that today.
I didn’t go to Trader Joe’s so I may stop in there Monday. I still need a few things for Christmas eve and Christmas dinner. If I don’t I will go down to Holiday which I may do today anyway as we are out of half and half and milk. No one drinks or uses milk except B but since he’s really trying to gain weight milk is important to have.
I realized I didn’t have any Hannukha candles left so I ordered some from Amazon. After Christmas, I hope to only buy necessities from Amazon. Some things I just need to get from there like Simple human garbage bags. I buy these in a 4 pack. But I still want to try and not support Bezos.
Wow, did we get a lot of rain yesterday!! It was pouring all day with quite a bit of wind too. Fortunately, no trees went down. We still need to figure out money for getting at least 2 more trees down. Maybe in 2025, we can do at least one. I was very glad we didn’t need to go out anywhere.
This morning though is nice and clear with a beautiful full moon. We walked and it was quite misty in the park. After we got back, we got right on the computers to try and book Nevada Beach for June. Since we don’t know what the situation will be, I figured to book it because otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to get in. Both of us tried and B got a spot. Tomorrow one of our favorite spots opens up so I’ll try for that but it’s definitely a lottery.
Today, I plan on going to the Auburn gym and then coming home to do some house stuff. It’s the bathroom zone this week so I’ll do that and add in the bedroom as both are quite simple to do. My desk area needs some attention so I’ll tidy that up.
The coming week looks good weatherwise and only one appt for B but that’s his video visit. I plan on swimming and going to Maheny gym and the library. I don’t have any holds available so I want to look at the catalog and see what I can put on hold.
I’ve made my through some freezer stuff this past week and will continue to do that this week. I’m planning on falafels tonight and I’ll work on the rest of the menu later.
I’m thankful I can be flexible when I need to be because:
I woke up grumpy this morning and decided to NOT walk. That’s kind of a big deal for me not to do something when it’s planned. but I figured Fuck it, I’m not walking. I will go to the gym after Velcade and call it good.
I’m thankful the library is such a wonderful resource. I’ll get my holds after the gym.
Last night, we had homemade lentil vegetable soup with the Tartine baguette. The baguette came out very well, and I’m pleased. As I’ve said, his recipe seems to always work. It may be that his hydration is spot on. I used the instant pot for the lentil soup and it was done in 20 minutes of pressure time.
I’m over the moon that Barclay is doing so well. No nosebleeds and his energy is good. Today he’s getting labs so I’m hopeful they are still above the 100 mark for platelets. So grateful for this round being so much easier.
I’m grateful, most of what I wanted to get for Christmas is done. I feel like this is the last year of doing presents even though I didn’t do a whole lot this year. It still adds up and we’re definitely towing the line with money. I think I’ll formulate a plan and write it down so I can reference it for next year. Like maybe Amazon gift cards? Plus be more diligent with the budget.
I’m thankful it’s only 16 days to the Winter Solciste.
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 