Frugal Friday

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:(

Thursday stuff

Yesterday was my doctor appointment and it went well. I’ll have my 8 week labs around the first week of December, then see him right after Christmas, then start Velcade/Dex in January. He did mention that there is a pill form of Velcade but since that would be a tier 5 drug, I just don’t want to deal with that. So the shot isn’t bad and neither is the drive. ( We got there in 50 minutes yesterday with NO traffic. So it’ll be 3 weeks on one week off. I’ll be ready!!!

I am having lots of anxiety about the election next week, along with the rest of the country.( well, intelligent people who can see Trump for what he is). It’s just a lingering underlying stress as to what’s going to happen. It’s not keeping me awake at night but still, I read the news compulsively for clues. Well, I guess we’ll know soon enough.

We shopped at Trader Joe’s in Roseville after the doctor appt( which was why B came with me). It was pretty packed with people but everyone HAS to wear a mask so it was ok. I loaded up on lots of things. Some prepper stuff like canola spray and tamari, and some just regular food. We were home by 12 noon so not bad at all.

As I mentioned, we adjusted our walk time till 6 so as to try and avoid jerk walker. He’s still there though and just as abrupt but at least walking the other way has made a huge difference. 6 am is nice because by 6:30 it’s predawn and the sky is lightening up. Sunday is daylight savings so I figure we will just walk when we feel ready and see what time that ends up being. I’m guessing the jerk will go by the darkness not the time. One example of him still being a jerk. So the confrontation was about his not using a flashlight, right? So he has been using one. Then this morning I saw him have it on and then as he approached us he turned it off. Uhh…passive aggressive anyone????

Tonight my son is going to make us an Oktoberfest dinner of Bratwurst something( not sure yet exactly what he’s doing) but at least I don’t have to cook.

I have a loaf of rye sourdough baking and it didn’t puff as much as I’d like but it still tastes great.

We are still getting lots of eggs and I’ve been keeping up on using them. I put it out on Nextdoor neighbor but no one answered. I’m guessing with the pandemic when everyone was buying chicks, and now they are all laying eggs. It’s okay, in a few months they will slow down once it gets cold.

I have loved lighting my beeswax candles for dinner time. I have lots of pumpkins on the table and around. We’ve been having a fire every morning too. It’s been about 45 degrees out, so chilly.