Tag Archives: flylady zone

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, bread, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, cooking, Flylady, home stuff, Myeloma, simplicity by

It’s warm out but cloudy right now. It’s supposed to clear up and be in the 80s, so that’s a first this year.

I might go to the Auburn gym to do weights, but I’ll decide in a few hours. It depends on what I want to get done today. I vacuumed yesterday, so it’s maybe a quick mop. Flylady is the living room zone. Usually, that means in my LR, dust the Easton Press books and the ceiling fan, and wash the mirror. So not too much overall. Most of that I do anyway on Monday mornings when I do my house reset for the week. I need to start on the sunroom windows so I may do some of them.

I have some sourdough starter ready to use, so I’ll get that together. Last night we had the Costco chicken burgers on the BBQ and they were delicious. I think I’ll put together a chili tonight since I defrosted some ground turkey. I’m still working my way through the freezer, and this was the last pack of Costco turkey. I’ll probably cook that in the Le Creuset on the stove instead of the IP. I have my pressure-canned beans to add, so I don’t need the IP to cook the beans. I’m still contemplating the electric pressure canner. Does anyone reading use the Presto one? They are not cheap, but from the comments in the Facebook group, most everyone loves the convenience. Mostly because you set it up and there’s no watching it, etc, like the All-American. Like I said, it’s expensive, so not something I’m rushing to do.

It should be a quiet week, no appts, unless B ends up needing a blood transfusion, which I certainly hope not. He gets labs tomorrow, so he’ll know by Monday afternoon. I have nothing but need to call the sleep place to arrange getting the home test, and I need to call Ortho, as they should have reviewed the MRI by now. Mostly, from Ortho, I just want to get the PT referral to start doing that.

I do plan on going down to Roseville to the gym at least once. I think I’ll try and coordinate either WinCo or Costco with that.

How does your week look?, Do you have routines you follow, like Flylady? Some people really like Clean Mama ( I think that’s her blog name), but I tried it and it seemed way too involved for me. I’m always interested in minimalism, especially in older people, and how that helps with daily stuff.

Oh!!! I forgot my labs came back just a smidge above high normal, so all good. 19.6 kappa light chains, high normal is 19.4. It does tend to fluctuate, but this is still excellent. Boy, I am always so relieved that Velcade is working because I couldn’t handle one more thing right now. 😦

the week ahead…

Posted in Blood test, Flylady, prepper pantry, simple foods, Uncategorized by

Another quiet week with no appts. I don’t get my labs till the first week of August. I’m expecting the worst with another steep rise but am still hoping to delay treatment till fall or even this winter. Not to be pessimistic but realistic since Myeloma just doesn’t go away and blood work doesn’t magically get better:(

Monday is chore day and doing little things around the house. I cleaned the tub with Comet and I plan on washing the towels which I try to do on Mondays. The Flylady zone is the bedroom. I’d say if you’re new to Flylady, clean everything out of your bedroom except your bed and maybe a dresser. No TV’s, no extra chairs( unless it’s a very large room), and basically remove all distractions.  If you haven’t uncluttered, now is the time to do so. As I’ve said many times, once things are simplified and cleared out cleaning is a snap, and keeping it that way is quite easy. More stuff means more cleaning and it is visually distracting. I do have a Heywood Wakefield bedside table I need for my meds that I take in the evening and my water.  If I could figure out a way to eliminate that I would.  Maybe another wood crate attached to the wall like the one on B’s side of the bed. It’s small but has enough room.

Mondays are also the day we don’t walk but oddly it feels like the day just doesn’t feel quite complete. But since I’m quite OC about it, it’s probably good I break up the routine.

I’ve been researching long term prepper pantry storage and it seems Mylar bags are the way to go. But since I’m using the vacuum sealer right now, I don’t think I’ll add mylar to the mix. Maybe down the road.  But I’m not looking to try and prep for 5 years and those people that do are kinda extreme. So what I am going to do is get a few more 5-gallon buckets and put some of the vacuumed sealed bags in them so light doesn’t affect them. I’ll try and do a bucket for rice, then one for beans, and then one for flour or baking things. Also, I’d get the gamma lids since they screw down.

I do think that in the fall things are going to get worse and so it is good to be ahead of that. I still like the idea of the upright freezer for certain things but we need to kinda regroup from the tree expense.

Meal plan for the week is : ( in no particular order of using)

  • Tacos, bean and some taco beef for the carnivores plus all the trimmings
  • Cobb salad with hardboiled eggs, sliced cheese, olives, maybe some kind of bean like kidney beans, veggie bacon, cherry tomatoes from the garden and we also have cucumbers coming in as well.
  • homemade macaroni and cheese with broccoli on the side
  •  chicken piccata/tofu with corn I froze( from the fruit stand) and maybe potatoes.
  • homemade pizza
  • mystery meal???

Well, that’s a wrap for now.

 

 

 

 

Simple Sunday

Posted in camping, Flylady, Uncategorized by

Fall is in the air around here. Our temperatures have really dropped and I actually closed a few windows. We always open all the windows in the evening in the summer and then close in the morning as the heat starts. In the fall we keep the window open all day and partially close at night as it can get chilly.

We’re also watering quite a bit less and the gardens are just about done. We turned off the drip hoses and will only water as needed. We still have tons of cherry tomatoes so I’d like to keep them going. Our water bill is high again $155. but now it ‘ll drop back down.  Since we’re on Meadow Vista water it NEVER goes below $70 since they have huge fees attached to the water. In the winter we use about $20. worth of water a month but the rest are their fees.

 

Our trip up to Tahoe in 2 weeks will probably be chilly but that’s okay. We’ve got the heater in the tent trailer and lights. With the new Honda generator, we can run lights longer if we want. It’s very quiet but there’s still a curfew of 10pm on generators. We’re in bed by 9pm so no worries.

This week is the kitchen zone with Fly lady. I’ll start this morning and then finish up tomorrow. I’d like to reorganize the pantry( restaurant stainless steel shelves). they are not too bad but I do have loads of tomatoes and peppers on one shelf. So we’ll see.

Today is also a gym day and then home.

We finally got the 2 new windows we ordered almost 5 weeks ago. They go up and down and open which the other ones did not. So it is going to be great to get air in there at night or just when it’s nice out.  This is one of the few projects we did ( okay not me, but Barclay and my daughter) this summer. We’re still hoping to take down a tree or two later this fall but so far no one has called back to give us an estimate.

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A little fall color.IMG_0650.jpeg

Retail Shock

Posted in Flylady, minimalism, Uncategorized by

Yesterday my daughter and I went down to the Apple store in the Galleria Mall. This is quite a nice mall with tons of high-end stores like Louis Vuitton and Tiffany.

My daughter needed to get a new battery put in her iPhone 6.  Now, I haven’t been in this mall in maybe 5 years except to go once maybe twice to Crate and Barrel and then I would only go in thru the doors on the outside. ( not in the mall itself). Well, I tell you, I was completely in overload, shock and, amazement the sheer number of people there and the amount of consumerism going on. Really I felt like my head was going to explode.  There lines of people for 2 things we saw. Finally, I asked someone what they were waiting for. He was so excited,” Free Lipstick””.  JFC!!! Free lipstick???? the line was halfway down the mall.  Then the other huge line was ( I’m guessing here) for Nordstroms’s annual sale. They must have a limit of people in the store at any one time so, there was another huge line.  Really,????? Really???

Then inside the Apple store, it was like an alternative universe. It was so completely shocking the number of people just in there playing with devices and waiting for service.

The other thing was we had come from the gym so we were in gym clothes ( which is generally my uniform of black cotton capris and a white T-shirt). But it looked everyone, was dressed for something I don’t even know what.  I didn’t see one person carrying a water bottle but me. It was really a culture shock.

My daughter and I had a nice lunch though, at Plutos. Pluto’s has great salads and actual roast turkey(real).  We had a lovely turkey sandwich which was delicious, so I guess that’s one thing that was fun.

The parking lot had people circling like vultures. Honestly, if I never go back I’ll be happy.  Anything I want or need really, even from Williams Sonoma( their white kitchen towels are the best I have ever had and last years), I will just buy on- line.

I came home and collapsed in a heap!!! Fortunately,  the drive down and back was fine. My little VW( that is 18 years old), did great and the AC worked wonderfully too.

I guess after seeing this I can only say Wow, people, you need to discover minimalism and zero waste, even if it’s a just a little.  I just cannot even imagine why ALL these people would need to be there on a Sunday!!!

So, tomorrow, I have my foot doctor appt. This is the 1 month follow up. I don’t think it’s completely healed since after walking so much yesterday I can feel some stress on the top of my foot. But it is 92% better.

This morning I did the Flylady zone of the living room.  Washed windows in there and my office area. Then I made a chocolate zucchini bread. I’ll let you know how it is.

 

 

Simple Sunday

Posted in cooking, Uncategorized by

Summer is officially here and the temperatures prove it. Almost 100 degrees. For those in the Southwest, that’s probably not too hot. I remember living in Tucson and we actually were out a lot. Maybe cause we were young and in love and it didn’t matter or perhaps it was just foolish youth.  Anyway, now I don’t do well in the heat and try and do all my chores early and I never go to town in the afternoon.

We went to the gym and then stopped t the market for Pico de Gallo for black beans tonight. Last night I made a cold Borscht Soup with beets from the farmers market. It was really delicious.

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At the farmers market we got beets, radishes, apricots, nectarines, cucumbers, broccoli, and a few other things I can’t remember but it was good. The market was busy even at 8:10 am and it had just opened at 8am. This farmers market doesn’t ring a bell to open at 8 like the Santa Cruz one. That one you can’t buy anything till the bell is rung.

We’ve been watering a lot and I’m sure our water bill will reflect that. Oh, well, in the winter it’s PGE, in the summer it’s the Water company.

We’re in the Living room zone this week and I just finished that up. I’ve decided to empty one of the Heywoods and put some of my Fiesta ware in the bottom area. I’ll see if that works or not.

This week I’m going to South Lake Tahoe with B for work. It’s only an overnight but should be fun. I was thinking of going out for dinner at this place at Richardsons Resort, but I’ll need to check their online menu for prices.

Dinner is Black beans with sour cream and salsa and avocado.

 

Simple Sunday

Posted in cooking, Myeloma, Uncategorized by

Our internet is out so I’m using B’s hot spot in his phone for the internet. ATT will be here this morning. After they fixed the lines that went down in the storm the wifi has not worked. This happens every 2-3 years so I guess we should have expected it.  But I was able to pay some bills and send off an email I needed to.

It is quite cold( 31 , this morning). But at least it’s sunny. Today, I’m going to the gym with my daughter who joined yesterday. What fun, now we can go together.

Flylady has 2 zones this week as Feb ends and March begins.

This also marks my 11 th birthday from my SCT. I went into the hospital Feb 28 and was released March 17. I spiked a fever and had to go back in for another night but overall it was ok. It takes a lot out of you since the drug Melphalan is basically mustard gas poison that is given to you to kill as many myeloma cells as possible. Then your own stem cells are reintroduced.  You basically have your white blood cells go to zero and red too. I needed 2 transfusions.  Finally, the stem cells start to produce healthy cells and your white blood and red blood count starts to go up.  It is very difficult and you’re basically half dead.

So as this new month begins , here’s to my elevensies birthday. 🙂

I need to go the market for some milk and ? cat food. I’m not sure what’s on the dinner menu except I have asparagus to use up so I’ll roast those in the oven. Maybe a quiche?? I need to check the freezer to see that I’ve got.

 

Simple sunday

Posted in cooking, Uncategorized by

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As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler; solitude will not be solitude, poverty will not be poverty, nor weakness weakness. – Henry David Thoreau

It’s a nice day although I hoped it was going to be warmer. Still, it’s not raining. I’ve been to the gym and did a little workout and now I’m home doing this and that.

I have a crockpot of lentils cooking for soup. I think I’ll make some of those Red Lobster cheese biscuits I still have. I did cut up the chicken pretty well. I couldn’t quite figure out how to get the leg and thigh separated so it ended up one but that was ok. I used from youtube the NY Times how to cut a chicken up.  It was pretty straight forward. I’ll do it again soon as I know practice makes perfect. Then this morning I made a hollandaise sauce from Julie Child. It was yummy and it is science. I only used 2 egg yolks and 1/2 a stick of butter so it started to curdle. Well, I guess the science is there needs to be enough butter to the egg ratio, so I added another egg yolk and voila!! I like it very lemony. So that was fun.

I’m going to do some dusting and washing mirrors and maybe some decluttering. Or at least looking at how things are placed.  This week is the bathroom zone. Since we have one tiny bathroom, pretty easy.

One thing I’ve noticed since the Uber Frugal January month, is I’m fairly reluctant to go spend money especially like at Target. I still haven’t bought the new shower curtains, but keep spraying the bottom with a bleach water solution. And we only have one set of sheets now as the other set ripped. But I’m just not jumping to go into the store.  Will see how this week goes.