Thankful Thursday

So thankful chemo went well. No problems at all; it went way quicker than we thought it would.

I’m thankful I had lots of books on hold so I can read today. One was a LP so I have to return that and get the regular one. I have been reading ‘The Two Towers’ and am about a third of the way through.

I’m thankful I do not have to drive to Sacramento today to pick up B’s specialty prescription. This is one that is very expensive and has to go through the grant process. It’ll probably be ready Monday or Tuesday. He is supposed to start it tomorrow but that’s not going to happen.

I’m grateful that the heat wave will soon be over and we’ll be back in normal October weather. It’s not too unusual to have higher temperatures in October just not 99 degrees. I think today is supposed to be 94.

I’m making a loaf of whole wheat bread in the breadmaker but I think the hydration is off. It seems too stiff. I’ll still bake it but next time I’ll do a bit more water. With the bread maker, it’s harder to adjust the ingredients as the machine is doing the mixing and kneading. So when I checked it later I could see that it was a little stiff but by then it’s too late to add water. I’ll see how it turns out. Whole wheat is always a little tricky anyway.

Simple Sunday

Finally a walk in the park at 5:30. Very nice and cool. All the Canada Geese babies have grown up except one family and they were the last ones born. They grow up so quick. We did 1.5 miles so I felt good about that.

Today we’re going to Costco so that will add more steps to the day. We don’t need a whole lot but it adds up, Toilet paper is 20, coffee 15, etc. Adds up pretty quickly. We also need to gas up the Chevy and get cash from the teller.

Once we’re back home my son will help B put up the shower curtain holder on the ceiling. The one contractor we had come check it out said his bathroom was just as small and he put in the hotel-type rod on the ceiling. So it’s a band that then has the hooks attached. Think of the hospital-type curtains in the ER or in a room. I ordered the extra long curtain so it should go all the way to the shower pan.

Here’s my well-loved claw foot tub. It took 3 people to move it out. I’m still very sad to not have it in there anymore but I know it’s for the best. I just wish there had been a way to keep the bathroom the way it was and add a shower somewhere else. But alas, that was not to be. Our future selves will thank us, I guess.

It’s been a rough week with norovirus and the handyman doing the bathroom, part one. As with most things, there were some snafus and it took a whole day longer. The grout has to now dry for a few days. We will still need him to install grab bars(they will need to be installed with a special drill because of the tile) and we’re not sure if he’ll do the flooring or B and my son will tackle it. The floor should be an easy project but we can’t do anything till we’re back. We still need to look at painting in there too. I think I have some of the original color left but not sure how much. I think I’d like to go to a very light grey as the grout between the white subway tiles is gray.

Since we’re gone all next week we can think about it. My daughter has some appts next week but otherwise, she’ll be here most of the time. She’s been working on cleaning up the chicken yard. Of course, Big Brownie is still using the coop but doesn’t go very far. Like I said, chickens are flock animals and I’m guessing she’ll go in a few months or less. We’re in for another few days of excessive heat next week, and that might do her in. Chickens don’t do well in the heat.

So yesterday, I drove to Roseville to pick up my holds so I’d have them for Tahoe. I’m excited about the new Longmire book. I didn’t go to the gym even though I wanted to. I still don’t feel quite up to working out. I stopped at Noah’s for bagels to bring with us and for here.

Things are still chaos in the living room that is now housing all the bathroom things. I really hate disorder so it’s been challenging. I guess I just need to get over it for now. I haven’t even done Flylady this week partly because I was sick and the contractor kid here( Well, he’s not a contractor per se, just a licensed handyman). It’s ok, it’ll all still be here to get done.

We’re back home from going to the new Costco in Rocklin. Wow, it’s really nice. It’ll be such an easy on, easy off from the freeway. I can see going more frequently and doing smaller shops.

Last night we had a BBQ and it was nice enough outside to sit outside. The temperature had dropped quite a bit to the mid-80s. I’m not sure what’s on the menu for tonight but probably I’ll BBQ some burgers and tofu.

Thankful Thursday

I am grateful that my husband put the coolers in most of the windows as the house is getting warm with this heat wave. Today it is cooling off so that will help. Our neighbor( Leo’s son) who somehow wrangled into a very low mortgage on Leo’s house, just put in a whole house heating and air unit. I sure wish we could do that. But I’m guessing that to be around $15,000 although with him you never know as he is quite miserly and had a relative doing the work.

I’m thankful for such lovely walks and even though I’d like to get there just a tad earlier, it’s still nice. My knee seems to be much improved. I’m not really doing the PT exercises at this point although I probably should be.:) I don’t think my knee will ever be totally healed( torn ACLs don’t heal, you just strengthen the muscles surrounding the area.)

I’m so thankful for the Roseville Library. It’s such a nice space. I picked up my 2 holds plus another cookbook to look through. Does anyone have ideas on new cookbooks? This one has some good recipes and is similar to the way I cook. I aked the library to purchase a cookbook that a youtube person recommended. It sounded good and the soup she made did look delicious. The book is Garlic, Olive Oil and everything else.

I’m thankful we saved the barn kitties and they are now house cats!! They’re still not the friendliest cats(no lap sitting) but they are sweet and they have a home. Chester though, who just showed up one day?) loves to snuggle and sit on our laps and will even sleep next to us on the bed. The mama cat still counts the kids to be sure they are all there. She’s a funny cat.

What things are you grateful for?

Warming up

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

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

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…

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

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

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

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.