Tag Archives: Friday things

Frugal Friday

Posted in California, frugalism, Uncategorized by

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!

Friday things

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, cash envelopes, frugalism, Multiple myeloma by

Yesterday was quite busy. I decided since my Velcade was rescheduled for 10am, I would go down to the gym first and then the library to pick up my hold. (Shogun) Then I went back to Winco for salad stuff, wine, oat milk, and yogurt. I spent about $60 and then got $40 cash to put into some cash envelopes.

Infusion was very busy, and I guess that’s why they needed me to come later. All 5 chairs were full, and some of these chemos are ALL day, and mine is only 20-30 minutes. They are always so nice, and oncology nurses are truly special people with the knowledge and skills they possess.

Finally, I stopped at Taco Tree for some tacos for myself and my daughter. She was almost out the door for work, but it all ended up ok. I took my Dex around noon, so hopefully I would get some sleep. Ha, no luck, I woke up at 2 am, and that was the end of sleeping. But I’m home today, so I can just chill.

I’m halfway through the budget month, and things are ok. There’s not a lot left over, but at least I’m not waiting for SNAP to come through. What a horrible thing these Republicans are doing to the people of this country who need it the most. Shameful. Even more shameful, throwing a Great Gatsby party at the gold mansion. Rump has probably NEVER read The Great Gatsby. Shameful, while millions of people are going without food or close to it. And then more shamefully, blaming Democrats for it because of the shutdown. Democrats are trying to save the ACA before rates skyrocket next year. Who cares about ordinary people? Certainly not rump.

Friday Things/ Happy 4th or is it for this country?

Posted in California, cancer, husband, peritoneal mesothelomia, Political things, swimming by

I dont really need to go into it any more than that as I’m sure you are all aware of how awful that bill is and how many 17 million people will lose health care. What a travesty. History will tell the tale of this being the worst administration in history. It’s cruelty, racist, white nationalism, harming LGBTQ+, and on and on and on.

I managed another swim so I feel like I’m slowly getting back to some routine. The pool was glorious as it was not busy. I feel I’m floundering with my schedule so I would like to try and figure out a ‘new’ one going forward. I’m also somewhat depressed so I’m not feeling very motivated but hopefully this will pass.

After the pool, I went across the street to Winco and spent $75 some of that was wine for the week ahead. Then I crossed the parking lot and went into Trader Joes. I spent about $100 there but got lots of our favorites. I picked a few frozen meals, hatch chile and macaroni , and their green chile tamales too. I also got eggs, milk, bread and some other basics.

I’ve had some very touching cards from a few people about Barclay but the 2 most endearing were the two people who donated to a tree planting in B’s name. We too are going to plant a tree this fall for him. He loved trees and his BA was in forestry so there’s a link plus all the years he worked part time for the Forest Service were important to him. He was a firefighter for a number of years( starting in 1974) with the Forest Service and we kind of think that may have had a link to him getting the mesothelioma, although know can ever really tell. I think our best guess is it was just a break down of DNA like him getting MDS, a blood cancer. Unfortunately, meso, is a tumor load cancer and therein lies the difficulty with treatment.

I’ve gotten through quite a bit of tasks to be done but there are still more to do which I hope to finish next week.

He was on KVMR radio for 25 years as a broadcaster with his show being all about Dylan. So he has quite a few CD’s of his show so I plan on buying a CD player so I can listen to some. Of course, we had an old CD player that we used for camping but got rid of that when we got Rubi.

Friday Things

Posted in Blood test, bread, California, camping, cancer, decluttering, home stuff, Myeloma, Uncategorized by

I’m doing things around the house today. I finished the sourdough rye. My starter needs some reviving so I’m adding flour and water to see if I can get it to double. I’m planning on another loaf before we leave on Monday morning. Speaking of which, I will go get my labs Monday morning so I should have the results by Friday. I know it’s probably gone up since I can tell I’m a wee bit more tired. Well, I’m figuring that it will be Fall when I start Velcade, at least if my calculations are correct.

Yesterday was Costco and that went well. It was very busy though. It’s hard to know why sometimes it’s so busy but then we figured out that it’s probably graduations and weddings.

Our yard is full of roses blooming, foxglove flowers, mini carnations, tons of tomato plants, peppers, sage, and lots of lavender too. This is a very pretty time in the year here.

Tonight we’re opting out of pizza and will just have some spaghetti and sauce I think. Nothing too involved. I have some salad stuff I can use too.

I’ve been thinking about how things go full circle. Back when we were first married we owned next to nothing. We traveled from NY to Tucson in a 1964 VW bus and what was in there, is all we owned. We never really bought furniture as such until right before we moved here in 1975. Then we had some antique dressers, a table( this was an old Forest Service table) some chairs and a few other things. It wasn’t until we built the house in Foresthill that we bought things. A nice couch set from Macys, an oak round table, a few chairs and misc. Then when we moved here after the house sold, we had everything in storage while we remodeled. We had gotten rid of a lot but still had way to much for this space. I guess I just kept trying to stuff things in here even though nothing fit. So the full circle is I’d like to own next to nothing again except what is truly used and loved. My Heywood collection for sure, a couch to sit on that’s comfortable for reading and watching some TV, and bookcases either built in or the one we have for the Easton Press. I look around and think what more can I reduce. I’d rather have space than things. It’s pared down but not quite to the poetry yet.

Frugal things:

Costco was under $300 and that was quite a bit of freezer stuff and pantry basics.

I went to the library and got a lot of books to take camping.

We filled the truck up with gas at Costco where it was .70 cheaper than here in town.

One of the pears tree we bought at Home Depot didn’t make it so B was going to bring it back. Kind of a PITA since he had to dig it up but that’s $ back in his pocket to either get another tree or wait till next year to replace.

I was tempted by a LV neverfull of FB market place. But then I checked the code and it said it was invalid. I tried numerous sites and no one could verify it so I saved myself $800. The woman said it had been authenticated but since the code( which all LV have) wasn’t one with right country I passed. I’m still planning on getting one but it’ll need to be from site that verifies it like Fashionphile.