Tag Archives: New Brighton

Thankful Thursday

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, budgets, California, camping, cancer, Gratitude, Myeloma, travel by

We just got back from Sacramento where it is all sunny and so pretty. When we hit Auburn the foothills were cloudy and we were starting to get some rain. I’m grateful B drove as I was on dex and had a bit of a headache probably due to higher blood pressure.

My doctor appt went well. All is pretty good and stable. My kappa light chains went back down to normal so I was very jazzed about that. I’m totally grateful to see those normal numbers. We’ll see what my next labs bring. I had my infusion yesterday so I’ll get labs next week. He’s on vacation so I may not get them till the following week. My blood pressure was way up due to dex but if it follows the same pattern as last month, it’ll go back to normal tomorrow so I’m grateful for that.

I’m grateful to the infusion nurses who are so kind and competent. They put up with a lot and have to deal with so many situations. I’m pretty sure it’s a very stressful job.

I’m grateful my budget is done for April. Overall, it looks good. We have property taxes and Allstate but I’ll put them on a card and pay as much as I can in April but it’ll definitely go into May.

I’m grateful B went to Costco for me yesterday. We got most of what we needed but there were a few things he forgot. Actually, not his fault because I didn’t check if we needed dishwasher pods and we did. So I added some other things on and we’ll do that next week.

I’m grateful we get to go to New Brighton in a few weeks but I did get a notice from them alerting us to the ground being saturated due to rain. Since all the pads are paved, It should be fine for us. Tent camping probably not. We have the whole week booked so that will be nice. Sometimes we leave early( like last time when the family with the monster children came in on Friday) and we left on Saturday. Too noisy, too many bikes and whatever street games they were playing:(

B bought some nice asparagus at Costco and I will pan grill them tonight with a quiche, I think. I have some mushrooms, spinach, and green onions to use.

Frugal Friday

Posted in California, camping, cooking, meal planning, Uncategorized by

Today we have to go pick up the truck because we leave Sunday for Capitola. The AC isn’t fixed but we will just have to deal with it. It’ll probably be the following Monday after we’re back that we’ll bring it back to the dealer. After the warranty is done (in August) we’ll just take somewhere local as we’ll be paying out of pocket on any repairs.

After that, I’ll go over to the Rec center as that’s just across the freeway, and do a workout. I have books at the library to pick up so I have to wait till 10 am to get them. I put about 12 books on hold. Mostly Louise Penny and Margolin. There may have another random book as well.

Then it’s back home. Most of my weekly chores are done and I need to just get a few things organized in Rubi for camping. New Brighton has Gayles Bakery and a Nob Hill plus Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, etc, so we can go get stuff once we’re there. But I like to have some basics like cream for our coffee and bread to make sandwiches when we get there Sunday afternoon.

B is going to head up to Home Depot to get some posts for more fencing behind the barn. He also needs to go the bank to get a statement that LLS needs that shows the insurance paid. I’m still waiting for funding to open up. It’s been 2 months and no Myeloma funding yet. Last time it was right about the 2 month mark when it reopened. But I’ll need these statements when it does. It’s a big hit when we’re not getting that reimbursed. So hopefully soon. I’m sure plenty of others are waiting too.

Spinach quiche and potatoes from this week’s menu.

Frugal Friday

Posted in Blood test, books, bread, budgets, California, camping, cooking, library, swimming, travel, Uncategorized by

It’s been an okay frugal week. Nothing great but just ok. Most of our big bills for the month are out and just a few more are scattered later in the month.

I had a good swim on Tuesday and the pool was very unbusy which is very unusual. I came straight home afterward. Then Thursday B and I decided to do Winco for a few camping things and at the last minute added in Costco for some camping food as well. I needed Raos to bring and Costco has the best price for the 2 pack. I also got some WW bread for sandwiches. I spent about $175 between the two stores. We also filled up the truck with Costco gas which is the cheapest around. We’re definitely looking at traveling with gas prices. Next week, going to Capitola shouldn’t be more than 2 tanks of gas and the same with Nevada Beach in June. But we’re definitely reconsidering Refugio because that is much farther away. For now, we’ll keep the reservation but still think about it. Then I went to library and got a nice selection of books. Oh, and then we had a lunch date at Celestino’s pizza, which is the best New York pizza around in my opinion.

I went to the nursery with my daughter and bought all our tomato and pepper plants and a few ornamentals for her back garden area. That was her birthday present. We were trying to get a birdbath for her but they didn’t have any affordable ones. The cheapest they had was $110. The last time we were there they had a nice one for $80. I guess we should have bought it then.

I had my labs this morning so I should get results next week. Fingers crossed. I’ve been having some pain in my right leg but I think I over-stretched it doing some yoga. It was better this morning but then the ache comes back ( kind of in the hip and upper thigh area) by afternoon. It’s always something.

After we’re back our next big expense will be having the septic pumped. We’ll call once we’re back. As far as expenses for Capitola, it’ll be a few stops at Gayles bakery and probably one grocery store shop. We generally do not eat out but I thought maybe we’d find some place for a lunch near the Santa Cruz boardwalk. We’ll see. I know we’ll go walk the beach trail so that might be a good day to do that.

Oh, the tree guys came and ground out the stump so now there’s no issue with going out or coming in with Rubi. Yay! He didn’t charge us which was really nice.

It’s been a busy but productive week

Posted in Bone marrow transplant, camping, cancer, MDS, medicare, Uncategorized by

We had a nightmare drive to Sacramento on Tuesday. I have to say this really was the first time it was so awful. First off, we stopped to get gas and the car in front of us( so we couldn’t get to the pump) had what appeared to be someone living out of their car. We waited politely and waited and finally, I backed up and zoomed around to get to another pump.  The lady must have been in the bathroom washing, but then after she pumped her gas she proceeded to wash her car windows. I was getting frustrated at this point and this put us almost 15 minutes behind.

Then traffic was really heavy for some reason and I knew we would be late for B’s infusion appt( to flush his port and labs). We were 20 minutes late. That is a first.

Well, it all ended great with the NP telling us that the BMB results were excellent and chimera was 99%. Truly science is amazing.

We both got our Flu shots and both are arms a little sore. But not too bad. So that’s done.

B got his LLS reimbursement for the insurance so that’s a big deal and in the coming months will make a huge difference. Thank You LLS donors who make these grants possible.

Today I’m heading into AAA to sign up for the home insurance( that they canceled  and we now will be with them but they’re underwritten.) Plus it’s about $600. more annually. WTF!!!!

I might go to the gym afterward or I may just flake. I’ll see how it goes.

I was trying to plan another mini trip to Capitola but Airbnb’s are really expensive and so are hotels. We decided not to spend money on that. I checked New Brighton but it is all full, probably with retirees in huge RVs. 😦

Barclay is still processing going back to work but I don’t want to give up his SDI yet. That money is non-taxable so we will not owe next year. But it only goes thru December and that’s it. But it has been a huge blessing. If he goes back it won’t be his old job as that’s been given to a co-worker and he couldn’t really travel like he did.  His boss has indicated he could do something from home ( ideal ) but he’s still not sure. He’s only 4 1/2 months post-transplant and most people don’t go back to work for a year or not at all.

If anyone has any thoughts or input I’d appreciate the ideas as we definitely conflicted about it.

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It is COLD!!!

Posted in cooking, Uncategorized by

On our walk this morning it was 37. Yesterday 36. It is very cold and frosty. Plus our day time temperatures are not even getting into the 60’s. It looks like it’s going to stay like this for a few weeks. usually we bounce back up into the 60’s so it isn’t quite as cold. But I  checked our PGE last year and it was cold enough that our bill was very high. This year I havent turned on the ENVI heaters and our bill was half of last years. So even though those heaters are convection and suppose to not use alot of electricity our electric bills for Nov, DEc, Jan and Feb, were pretty ginormous. For such a small house it doesnt make sense. So this year I’m not going to turn them on and go back to a small space hater and see what the bill is for Dec. Not exciting, but day to day stuff.

The budget is set for December and looks ok. I did book 3 camping times at NEw Brighton so I put those on a CC. I’ll need to budget in paying that off. We’ll probably cancel one as its close to the one really wanted with the ocean view. But I had booked the other before just in case.

I’m not doing alot on the Christmas front. Both trees are up and decorated. For Christmas dinner I think I’m doing enchiladas, beans ,salad  and some sort of desert. We’re not big desert eaters so I might get like cheese cake sampler from Safeway( 2 pieces). I’ve stuck with only buying a few gifts so that’ll be different. It’s good though ,all part of just minimising it all. I dont think I could do the no decorating or no gifts at all but who knows. If anything I’ve learned never say never. Because you just dont know what’s around the corner.

Today I’m just home tidying and catching up some laundry. Tomorrow I’m going to the gym and then drop off some thrift store stuff unless I get motivated to go today.

Dinner is Tortilla soup with chicken for us and just black beans for the veggie.