Tag Archives: Gratitude

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, camping, Gratitude, travel, Walking by

I’m thankful we had a good drive home and traffic was light at least going in our direction. Going the other way(westbound) it was backed up in a number of spots.

We had such a nice time and it was relaxing and fun. We loved downtown Napa. The shops were lovely, and the architecture was so beautiful. We walked around for quite a while. We walked a trail near the river but it wasn’t specifically the River Trail. That was over the bridge. But since we had already walked a bunch and my leg was starting to hurt we just called it a day.

I’m thankful for all the walking we did do although this morning my leg/knee is bothering me quite a bit. I planned on going to the gym but nixed it because I didn’t want to add to my knee hurting. I will say that my recovery between when it bothers me and getting back to it feeling ok is getting shorter.

I’m grateful my daughter took care of the house, yard, and pets. I do appreciate it.

I’m grateful for the absolutely beautiful weather we had. Tomorrow it’s going to be much cooler with a chance of rain and next week looks cooler and rainy too.

This was the trail we did.

Rubi in the evening!!

What things are you thankful for this Thursday?

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, cancer, Gratitude, Myeloma, Uncategorized by

Gratitude is essential to feeling content and satisfied with what you have. I see it as a way to reinforce that I have everything I need. Maybe not everything I want( that second bathroom, haha) but at least I have one bathroom that is efficient and well organized albeit small.

things I’m grateful for this week:

PT went well and I’m doing the exercises at home. I’m hopeful to try and get to the pool next week. That is if California hasn’t been swept into the ocean with all the rain we’re having.

My appt with Dr. L went well and so did infusion. DR. L said everything looks good and I don’t need to see him till March. So that’s good news. He was happy to see my new LV as he was aware of the smash and go with my old LV and right after that his wife’s car also had a smash and go and a very expensive purse was taken too.

Today is a dex day and although it’s tough to be on I’m grateful for the drugs that have helped me to combat cancer. It’s not fun but it’s also not the worst. I’m so grateful my Kapp light chains are in the normal range and VEcade and Dex were the reason for that.

Today is February 1st( feels good to start a new month) and tomorrow February 2nd is Imbolc or cross quarter on the Celtic cross. I can always feel the change in the earth even though the Spring equinox isn’t till March 21st. Also, we’re having huge rains so not yet the springy feeling.

I’m grateful that my daughter’s tests were all good since she does have autoimmune issues and Hasimoto’s. The allergist she saw was super helpful she said and he told her she didn’t need to do any of the allergy tests as her face swelling and hives were an autoimmune reaction. All in all good news and she just needs not to get overly stressed. She said she feels better off gluten/wheat so I think she’ll keep doing that for a while.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, cancer, Gratitude, reading, Walking by

Well, plans do change and I’m thankful we are flexible. Yesterday was infusion and that went fine. This is shot #3 so one more before the week off. But as we pulled into the center the truck’s fan was running high and when B turned off the motor it was still running. uh, oh, somethings wrong. So he sat in the truck and googled it and it seems a heat sensor is out. So we nixed going to Costco because I didn’t want to break down on I-80 with $300 worth of groceries. We made it home safely for which I’m immensely grateful.

I’m grateful the belt I needed for the rug shampooer showed up yesterday and my daughter installed it. Today, I did the 2 area rugs so that’s done.

As always, being able to walk. I remember after my collapsed T 10 in 2003 and not being able to stand up even. It was a long road to heal unbeknownst to me it was really cancer causing the fracture in the bones. sigh….

I’m grateful I can meal plan especially for my off dex days. Last night was a simple Tillamook mac and cheese, the hatch chile one, which I would give high marks for, a simple green salad. I’m going out to the freezer to check what I might do tonight.

Today, I have some basil to turn into pesto, finish tidying, and then do some Sashiko.

I’m very grateful to have a husband who is healthy and always willing to go the extra mile to help out. He’s surveyed under the house with the foundation stuff( this is not an easy thing as it’s really a crawl space). The good news he said it looks pretty good for the most part and added 2 more supports. I’m very thankful for that.

this was the linen project bag in a Sashiko pattern. I may try and redo the stars, they look a little wonky although honestly I probably don’t care enough.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in Blood test, California, cancer, cooking, Gardening, Gratitude, home stuff, husband, Multiple myeloma, Myeloma, swimming, Uncategorized by

I’m glad the doctor app’t went as planned even though he was an hour late:(

I never complain because you never know who before you is in a dire situation. So we agreed that I’ll get my next set of labs before Tahoe and if the rise is 20pts or more , we’ll start in October. He wondered whether I wanted to do a Pet scan/ Ct to look for lytic lesions first. I said I didn’t think at this point it would matter. I do have old lytic lesions where I had rib fractures and on my skull but at this point it’s my numbers that are the indicator and he agreed. He seemed to think Velcade will be effective again so that’s positive. I’m still a little concerned as this will be my third time. He also agreed that we’d know in 3 months whether it’s working or not which is what I wanted to do. He also indicated that this time I could keep up a maintenance schedule when my numbers are backing the normal range. This was something I suggested 3 years ago but at that point, he wasn’t inclined. So maybe now since I am at this stage it would be helpful and I definitely agree.

I’m thankful the weather is now Fall like. Beautiful days, cool evenings! I think there’s 1 day showing 90 but that’s it.

I am so thankful the indoor pool opened and it was not overly crowded. It probably depends on the day and the time. But after 3 months closed, it’s so nice to have it open and my drive time was 15 minutes less each way.

I’m so grateful to my daughter for being a wonderful gardener and planting all the tomatoes. I have another batch ready to go tomorrow. I dropped them in boiling water and took the skins off but I will still run thru the food mill to get the seeds out. She planted some late zucchini and now we’re getting just the right amount. I’ve made 2 more loaves to freeze for this fall/ winter.

As simple as it is, I am grateful for every day. I’m grateful to spend it with my husband and my kids( although my son is working full time and gone a lot, and my daughter writes full time and works at the library part time.) Still they’re around when we need them.

I’m grateful Barclay can do projects and improvements on our little abode.

Oh, that chess looking piece is my daughters anniversary present to us, a Peugot pepper mill. Believe me, if you love pepper you’ll want this. Why did I wait so long. It’s worth every penny.

I’m grateful for being able to make some freezer meals for when I don’t feel like cooking.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, Gratitude by

I’m grateful our weather is much cooler and that fall is in the air. We’re only using the window coolers for a few hours mostly for some air circulation. I am still closing windows in the morning and then opening in the evening. But now we’re partially closing some windows as the night air is very cool. It looks like this weekend our temperatures are going to drastically drop into the 70s.

I’m really excited that the indoor pool is opening next week. I’m thankful the other pool has been available and is quite nice but it is an extra 10-13 minutes both ways so it adds to my drive. Still, I love swimming and am so glad there is this option.

I’m thankful my knee is improving and I’m almost back to normal but not quite. I’m still not using the treadmill at the gym but I did manage 3 rounds at the park today so that’s an improvement. I’m still taking ibuprofen so when I stop that I’ll know it’s probably healed. Still, I’m grateful it wasn’t worse.

The garden was a huge success this year and I’ve had lots of tomatoes, onions, garlic, zucchini, and peppers( so many jalapenos). I even just froze a few bags of tomatoes as it wasn’t enough to can a batch. I’ll wait till I have at least another box. B has a nice crop of grapes so I think I’m going to try some grape jelly. I’ve never made that and I’ll need to watch some YT to see how much pectin/sugar I need to add. I’m not a huge fan of grape jelly but I’m willing to try it since he’s got the crop.

I’m thankful the budget is set for September and everything is covered. We just got our auto insurance and that went up $300. It seems odd since these are not new cars at all. My son’s Subaru which is a 2006 went up the most to over $500 for 6 months. He’s still on our policy as it would be ridiculous what he would pay if he had his own. At least 3x was the quote I got. When he’s ready to buy another car then he’ll be on his own with that. He does pay us in full so it’s not a problem.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in Blood test, California, cooking, Gratitude, Uncategorized by

I’m really grateful that our weather has been very nice. The high yesterday was 86 so that’s really nice for this time of year. I didn’t turn the coolers on till @ 1pm.

That I learned to pressure can and right now I have a full canner of pinto beans. Beans are really quite easy as there is no additional ingredients. So it’s just presoak the beans then cook for 30 minutes and then pressure can.

The window replacement looks really good and B just needs to put up the shake shingles and paint.

As always, all of us are in good health. Well, I do have rising #’s (Kappa light chains) but I just push that off till my next set of labs.

We’re getting LOTS of tomatoes, some cucumbers a few zucchini. It’s always so amazing how good homegrown produce is. I plan on doing another batch of tomato sauce this weekend. I’d like to get 2 dozen Qt jars for winter.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in books, California, Gratitude, husband, Uncategorized by

First, our washer broke. Well, I’m not thankful for that but I am thankful we can afford to buy a new one and have B put it in. B went and got the right parts but that didn’t solve the problem and it all was too complicated for a relatively inexpensive washer. So I went online to Lowes and the same one we have was on sale so I got that. It’s been a good washer used daily for at least 5 years. Both kids use the washer with their laundry almost daily too. I wanted the Samsung, which was on sale too although more, but it wasn’t in stock and we’d have to wait, so that wasn’t an option. It’s ok, just that it seems it’s always something. I did tell both kids to fork over something to pay for the washer since they use it too. Otherwise, try going to a laundromat. We never had a washer until 1985 after S was born so that’s 15 years of laundromats. So I am thankful for washing machines.

I am thankful to have had Leo as our neighbor all these years. He died last week after being confined to his house for the last 4 years. He was always a good neighbor, quiet and helpful. We’re definitely concerned as to when it sells and who will move in. We are planning another privacy fence along the property line but not sure how soon we’ll get to it. After seeing all the people for the services over there and kids and cars, I shudder to think about new neighbors.

I’m thankful our weather is not overly hot. We’re still in the 90s but it’s ok and we’ve even sat outside on the patio for a while.

I’m thankful we are getting tomatoes!! Yay!! I made the first round of salsa the other day. I’m going to open one jar to test it out. The tomatoes are the first round so I’m sure as we get more Romas the flavor will improve. I used the water bath canner and boy does that take a lot of water. I’m thinking of looking at the Amish steam bath canner( also used for things like tomatoes, sauce, salsas,) and it is designed differently. It only takes a few inches of water and there is a bigger lid that comes down to seal it.

I am thankful I can go to the gym and get a good workout in with weights. It’s so important to keep muscle mass as you age.

Lastly, I’m grateful for the library right next to the gym. Perfect.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in Blood test, California, Gratitude, Uncategorized by

There’s always something to be thankful for even if you’re feeling grumpy( that would be me).

My labs came back 20 points up so, that’s a bummer. My Kappa light chains are now in the 70s. I have at least one more lab in August before seeing my doctor in September. Actually, it may be 2 as I think I see him @ September 10?? Not sure, I’ll have to check my calendar. I’m disappointed but not really surprised.

I am still grateful to be doing the things I love, like walking, swimming, and weights, and I don’t feel slowed down by the increasing cancer cells yet. I’m still guessing it’ll be sometime in the fall I’ll start treatment and then that’ll take me out for 3 days a week so I’ll need to adjust what I do.

I’m grateful that the heat hasn’t quite kicked in but it will by the weekend. The forecast is 107. Nothing like the temperatures in Phoenix and Tucson. I’m still able to open windows by 8pm and let the cooler air in.

I’m grateful to have a pantry with plenty of items. Lots of people, me included, are complaining about the cost of food. Yes, everything is more expensive. Is someone to blame? No, not really, I think it’s a combination of food supplies being affected by weather/global changes. Of course, there are always the people blaming Democrats/Biden for the food woes but it’s not really that at all. It’s a combination of so many things. Look at the rains/flooding in Vermont/NY. How do you think this will affect the prices of food grown there and the transportation of food/products. Still, I am grateful to walk into a grocery store or Costco and see the abundance that is there and then try and shop mindfully about cost and need.

I’m grateful we have clean water and water available to water our gardens. Our water bill gets pretty steep this time of year( $149) was our last bill but everything around the house is either flowers or food growing.

My daughter is the gardener and does an amazing job. It looks like we are going to have a bumper crop of tomatoes!!!

What things are you grateful for? I love to read about other people’s lives and what they find of value.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in bread, California, cooking, home improvement, library, simplicity, Uncategorized by

First, the cooler weather is wonderful. Our high today will be 87, which is not bad. Next week by Friday we’re back up to 103. So I’ll take it while we can.

B has almost finished the side of the house where the new drain pipe access is. He needs to go buy another bundle of shake shingles to finish it. Plus then it’ll need paint. In the future, access will be much easier than crawling under the house to this very difficult spot.

The library has approved to buy 4 books I’ve recommended. I’m quite happy with this as one is a beautiful book called ‘Lodge’ and it’s all the famous lodges in national parks.

Very inspiring to think about going to some of these. We’ve been inside the Ahwahnee but never stayed. We were going to right before the pandemic started but then we read about the Norovirus being found there and a number of people got sick. I don’t know how many of you remember Theresa Kasner and her blog. I was really blown away when she died very suddenly. She was just a year older than me. But they had gone down to the Ahwahnee for their anniversary so that’s what started me thinking we could go for one night. Maybe still…

I picked up some cookbooks at the library and I’m glad that I don’t have to buy them to enjoy them. The one I like the most is Melissa Clark’s ‘Dinner in One’.

I already made one recipe which was Chile Crisp Tofu. I didn’t have kale so we had farm salad and some jasmine rice.

When I find a cookbook that I will make more than one recipe, I usually buy it. I’ll keep this for a while and then decide whether to buy it.

I forgot to add this….

She’s saying who wants to go out!!!

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, Gratitude by

This June has had exceptional weather. Not too hot at all. We can definitely have 100-degree weather by now so this has been so nice.

I was able to can 18 half pints of strawberry jam. I found a deal at Winco for .98 a pack so I got 7 packs.

I am so grateful that I was approved for LLS and my insurance reimbursements are being processed.

I’m also so grateful my Kappa light chains only went up 1 point, and that gives me another months reprieve.

Always, the pool and rec center to do weights. The pool was nice the other day but it was colder than the indoor pool. I really didn’t warm up. I did get a lane though so that was nice. Lap swimming is only from 5:30 to 7:45 so it’s not a lot of time. But then it opens at 12:45 – 3pm but I don’t drive to Roseville that late. Plus it would be in full sun and I don’t do that either.

Flowers in the yard…