Tag Archives: library

Warming up

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We are going to be getting very nice warm weather over the next 10 days. In the 80’s even. Most of the weed eating is done so that’s good. B probably still needs to do one last weed eat before it all dries out. And with the warm weather comes having to start watering. The big rain we had on Saturday did help but things dry out quickly.

We have the tomatoes planted and the peppers too so they might need watering later in the week.

I’ve been keeping meals very simple partly because I want to use stuff up but also with the colonoscopy, there’s no solid food for the day before only liquids so I’ve been practicing by not having anything too heavy. Last night I used the last 2 tilapia and had a spring roll on the side. I might see what soups I have in the pantry for tonight.

Today I plan on going to the gym and dropping off books at the library. I read Thomas Perry’s new book ‘Hero’. It was good not great but good. I also read Grisham’s new book,’ The Exchange’, about the lawyer who exposed the bad ones in ‘ The Firm’. It was ok not great but a good read. I think I’ve read all the Craig Johnston but I I will check and his new one is coming out this month. I have it on hold at the library already.

I was home yesterday and finished the kitchen zone and the bathroom. We’re still waiting on a date when a plumber can come. If we don’t hear from this one we’ll need to go back to our list and pick another plumber. I figure with everything happening this week ( with me and my son’s big move-out date) the earliest would be next week and the one plumber couldn’t do it then. We’re still trying to figure it out but I’m sure it’ll come together. Also, this week was finals week at Sierra College so my daughter was working late in case students needed help with research projects.

Sunday is Mother’s Day and we decided to do a BBQ at lunch or early afternoon. My son will still be trying to move stuff into his new apartment so I want him to feel he can be here for a bit and then leave to take more things. The apartment is in Sacramento so he will need to come up to Auburn 2 days a week to work. His partner, Alia, doesn’t work remotely so that’s why they chose Sacramento. They are well suited to each other and I’m happy for him. It’s a big step for him.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in books, budgets, California, cash envelopes, Gratitude, Walking by

I am thankful I got a good swim in yesterday despite the asshole in my lane that was not moving over and ran into me:( I sort of yelled, get on your own side!!! I think he was new as he didn’t know how to swim very well. Oh well, it doesn’t happen very often.

Then I went to Costco and am grateful I had almost the full amount in cash. I actually did have it all but it was in another envelope and I didn’t want to be rummaging around for it..’

Buggie is in the shop as the water pump went out. That’s going to cost us $1000+ . I’ll have to put that on a card and then pay off in 2 installments. I might be able to do it all if I skimp on other things. We haven’t done a lot services on the VW so I guess it works. Plus buggie is 24 years old so something is going to go. Plus it needs a smog and registration in April but we’ll do that once she’s fixed up.

Today I’m going back to Roseville to pick up books at the library and then B and I are going to walk one of the trails down there. Hopefully, the sun will come out. After that, we’re going to get some lunch somewhere.

I’m grateful the PT was effective and although my knee is not back to where it was, it is much improved. The PT said I could do 1 more session if I wanted but also clarified that it would just be doing the same exercises so I declined. I see the ortho PA next week so I’ll see what she says about it all.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, books, bread, California, cooking, Flylady, Uncategorized, Walking by

Yesterday we were out the door at 6:20am( unfortunately, not to swim as that is my normal leave time to go the pool), but get the MRI on the knee. It all went very easy and even though it wasn’t an open MRI, my head was outside the tube. I’ll be glad to get the results and then go forward with whatever. For now, I won’t swim or go walking till I know the scoop.

I was done within 1/2 hour so we went to a new to us breakfast place. It’s called Pottery World Cafe. Just over the freeway from the imaging building. It was quite nice and the food was good. From there we drove another 5 minutes up to where Trader Joe’s is and picked up some groceries. All in all, it was a fine morning.

Then the rain came in quite heavy around 12 noon. It pretty much rained all day. Today is very cold but nice and sunny.

I do plan on going to the library Tuesday or Wednesday depending. I have 6 books on hold. At least I’ll have something to read.

I have to call the PT office and schedule seeing someone. I’m not sure how booked they are so that could change the week. If there’s a chance I will go do upper body weights and at least keep something going. 😦

I have a tentative menu plan for the week:

  1. black bean chili and cornbread

2. roast chicken, potatoes, salad and something for the vegetarian.( I have some tempeh to use).

3. lentil soup and homemade bread

4. A freezer meal, maybe cheese tamales

5. pasta with red sauce and salad

6. leftover chicken something, quesadillas? or pot pie?

7. either pizza or something which resembles pizza.

Of course, every day is different so I’ll decide what to cook each day.

We finished the Reacher Amazon Prime series and it was very good. If you like Reacher as a character, the show is well done. Now we need to find something new. We really only watch maybe an hour and a half at night, sometimes less even but it’s nice to have a series where the episodes are 60 minutes or so. I had gotten the Season 10 of Father Brown and that was fun to catch up on. I think we stopped watching back in Season 7 or 8 so there had been changes but still, it was fun to watch and who doesn’t love the Cotswolds.

I’ve already done the kitchen zone for the week, so I don’t have any big house stuff to do. I need to run Bender, dust plus water some plants.

After Christmas…

Posted in books, California, cancer, cash envelopes, cooking, library, meal planning, seasonal things, Walking by

Today is my 3rd Velcade shot. I have another stye happening from the Velcade so my eyes are bothering me some. No walking this week as I must have overdone the leg muscles on the knee where the torn meniscus muscle is. So, I decided to just call this an ‘inactive ‘week, which drives me crazy because I want to walk and swim.

I’m hoping giving it some rest and stretching will help. Today after the shot, I have to drop books off at the library. I’m not going in because they have holiday hours and don’t open till 10am. Then I need to go over to the bank and then home. I’m considering doing upper body weights but I’ll wait till I’m there( by the library) to decide. ( The gym and library are next to each other).

On the menu plan this week:

breakfast for dinner

quiche with salad

steak bits and broccoli(tofu with broccoli for the veggie)

grilled chicken/ veggie pattie and some sort of veg

soup of some sort

New Year’s Eve will be our traditional sub sandwiches. I’ll get some GF rolls for my daughter. I saw some at Trader Joe’s so I’ll check there first. Her labs came back and she’s not celiac but she says she feels better not eating gluten right now so that’s good.

Our weather has been cloudy and cool. No rain but there might be some this weekend. Typical December/January weather, kind of gloomy and depressing.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in cancer, cooking, Gratitude, Myeloma, Walking by

I was grateful to get to the gym on Monday and the library. I truly appreciate both facilities and that they are right next to each other. I picked up 3 cookbooks none of which had any recipes I was interested in.

I’m always thankful to be able to walk even if it is half of what I was doing since my knee mishap. 😦 We’ve mostly had the park to ourselves and yesterday and today the 2 nice ladies that used to walk were there again.

I’m grateful my Velcad shot went easy and I’m on shot 1 cycle 3. Today I see Dr. L so it’ll be interesting to get his take on when we will go to maintenance. Barclay is driving as I never drive on Dex. Some people have wondered why. It’s because on Dex your sense of judgment( like car distances) etc is off. Plus you’re very hyped up on Dex for the first few days and jittery too.

I had to go into Costco to return an online order and get some vitamins for my daughter. I was in and out very quickly. I used the self-checkout for the first time, which was easy and quick.

Tomorrow is a home day and I’ll probably just do some tidying and read.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in books, California, camping, Gratitude, library, Myeloma, travel, Uncategorized by

We had a terrific drive home. Traffic was minimal in our direction, terrible going toward Napa. So I’m thankful for that. We (meaning Barclay) had us hooked up, tanks emptied by 9:45 am. Boy, do I love full hookups!!. But plenty of places we love don’t have them so, it’s do what you can.

I’m thankful I wasn’t in any hurry yesterday as the infusion nurse was working 5 chairs alone and it took an hour to finally get my shot. Then I got stuck in traffic on 65 as there was construction on I-80 where it merges with 65. One hour later, I was headed home. So a normal hour and a half trip ended up almost 3.

I am thankful for the Roseville Library and the books I picked up yesterday too!!

So the most exciting news and what I am most thankful for is Velcade is WORKING!! My kappa light chains went down 100 POINTS !!!! Yay!!!! I see Dr.Laptalo today. B is driving me as it is a dex day and I never drive on dex. I could do it for sure but my judgements are just off on Dex. Hence, the no knives rule too.

Feel free to share what you’re thankful for and if you are traveling in blog land, the Frugal Girl’s blog on Thankful Thursday is always inspiring.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, Gratitude by

I seemed to have pulled out of the chemo moment and feel fine now, so I’m grateful for that. Plus, this is my week off so time to let my body regroup.

I went to the gym yesterday and the library too. I had a few holds to pick up and found a few books in the new section. I should be set for a bit.

Our weather has been picture-perfect but a change is on the way. We may even see rain by the weekend. We still plan on taking Rubi to Napa even if it’s raining. We’ll visit Oxbow for Live Fire Pizza and the spice shop too. I also want to go over to Rancho Gordo for some beans. If you’ve never had Rancho Gordo you really must order from them. He’s done an amazing job preserving many varieties of beans around the world. The Marcella are wonderful as are the cranberry beans. I cook up the whole bag and then freeze left overs.

I’m planning on swimming this morning and then do some things around the house when I get home. I’m refining my cash envelope system and being more specific where I can. Something things, of course, like gas are still with a CC. But using cash for some things keeps me accountable. I’m grateful for the SS we get to pay our bills. There’s not much left over but we manage.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in cooking, library, Pantry by

First, The Sun is out!!! It was so nice yesterday to have sunshine. Sitting in the sunroom the temperature was 72 degrees!!! Today looks just as nice.

We got thru the storms and wind with no trees coming down. We still have too many very large Ponderosa pines and they are worrisome. My wind phobia is not what it used to be. I literally had to leave and go somewhere. But most of the problem trees are gone but we still have maybe 6 that need to be taken down. Right now we can’t afford to do that at all.

Yesterday, I pressured canned chicken soup. I’m thankful for the person who passed on their canner to me so I could learn this process. Here are the pintos from the other day.

I’m thankful the library in Roseville is such a great place. I have never ( and will never)gone back to Placer Co library after the whole thing with how they treated me but now I have the Roseville one and it’s right next to the gym!! Win-win.

Here’s Mr. Gus

He’s a funny cat.:)

Frugal Friday

Posted in books, budgets, California, cooking, home stuff, simplicity, Uncategorized by

We went to Costco an that was over $400. Granted, lots were items that will be used for all of July and beyond. The sale items are where the deals are and I got the giant Windex bottle, Cholula 2 pack, San Marzano tomatoes( the best for pizza sauce), and lots of other pantry staples. Some of those things will last a year( think the giant jug of Windex), and others will last 6 months (think Cholula). So, all in all, it was good. The store was busy as usual and I sort of thought with the issues with gas prices and inflation there would be fewer people but that didn’t seem to be the case. We also filled the Chevy truck up with gas at Costco as that’s the cheapest anywhere.

We’ve had all our meals at home and some tasty ones. Last night even with our heat wave, I used the Weber and cooked BBQ Chicken. It came out great. I don’t know what it is with that small gas Weber, but everything comes out excellent. Maybe it’s the control dial. Anyway, if you’re looking for a great tabletop BBQ this is the one and worth the price. One night we just had egg salad sandwiches, and another night was just some hot dogs with homemade potato salad. Simple meals when it’s this hot.

I stopped at the library yesterday to pick up a hold and picked up a few more books. It is such a nice library and the self-checkout is convenient.

Today’s another hot day and in a little while, I’ll close all the windows to keep the cool in. I’ve been turning on the coolers around noon. I usually start with just the one cooler in the entryway and then the front room one later.

Frugal Friday

Posted in bread, budgets, California, reading, simple foods, Uncategorized by

So far, it’s been a frugal week as we haven’t done much. I went into Whole Foods (spent $45.00)yesterday because I thought I could get some Nicoise olives for my Nicoise salad recipe from my Le Creuset cookbook. Alas, the young lady didn’t even know what I was talking about and said she hasn’t ever seen them there. Except I have bought them there before, granted it was probably 2 years ago. So I bought some tiny olives that look similar to Nicoise and they were actually delicious. The salad called for fingerling potatoes and they didn’t have those either so I was batting 0 out of 2. When I came home I boiled some eggs for hardboiled eggs for the salad too. I had bought a piece of Ahi tuna from Trader Joe’s last time I was there so I put that in a bowl of water to defrost. Then my daughter grilled that on the Webber. All in all, it came out quite well.

The reason I was going down to Roseville is my library hold came in. It’s the Maus graphic novel that schools in the south and basically all Republican states want to ban. So I picked that up and a few other books to read. I’m up to 65 books for the year and with the 6 I picked up I’ll be over 70. Not that numbers count as I just always have read a lot.

I also wanted to check out the gym that is next to the library that I can use with my swim membership. So, a year and 3 months later I decided to go in and see the layout. Now with Covid, I probably wouldn’t have gone anyway but now I feel fairly comfortable going in. It was really great and I like that it seemed simple and had the machines I like to use. I did a quick circuit and felt that I will add this in to my weekly workouts.

Other than WF, I don’t think we spent any money. Today I going to the farmstand, that just opened for the season, and get some things for the week. I have cash for that. The only extra expense we have this month is the truck DMV, which I mentioned before. I haven’t paid it yet and will do so towards the end of the month. Other than that everything is covered. There’s not much leftover but that’s ok.