Tag Archives: sleep

Frugal Friday on Saturday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cash envelopes, swimming by

The rain is still with us and the storm gates are open. Santa Cruz really got hit hard with the wharf breaking off. I was hoping to walk this morning so as of 6am , it’s still raining so I see how it is in 30 minutes. I can walk a little later if it stops.

I have most Christmas stuff away. The little tree in the living room just has the lights on it, so I may leave that up a day or two more. Otherwise, Christmas is over.

i went down to the pool yesterday and it was AWFUL. I can count on one hand how many times it has been crazy busy and does not invite swimming. I waited 10 minutes and then did get a lane to share. But the coast guard was training, then the college kids; maybe 15 of them were taking up most lanes. I almost left but glad I did my swim. next week I won’t be able to go at all because of New Year’s, it’s closed and then on Thursday I have my Velcade shot. I wore my new Apple watch to track swimming and it was fun. I still couldn’t remember how to unlock the water though. ( a feature to release any water if any in the watch). But when I came home my daughter showed me. I didn’t see any water come out.

I’m mainly using it to track sleep and sleep disturbances which basically is sleep apnea. So based on a week’s tracking, I was elevated every night which means some sleep apnea. This is giving me a good idea of my sleep patterns which was the main reason I bought it. I’m trying a few things, like no wine after 7pm and seeing if I can lose some weight. The thing is if I’ve had sleep apnea for years with no problems, then I’m not sure what it all means. Well, my appt with the sleep doctor isn’t till April so it gives me time to work on different things.

Budget wise, I have January’s budget in place. I don’t think we have any annual bills coming up so that’s a relief. I’m trying to get ahead with the spring annual bills like property tax but there’s not a lot left over to add when it’s all said and done. Still something is better than nothing. I’ve set the food budget at $500 for the 3 of us. That’s a little tight but I am going to try and use up freezer stuff. So far for food, I’ve spent $139. I plan on hitting Costco this week so that’ll add up. I don’t need a whole lot but buying from Costco means each item is more expensive though you get more. Plus that’s what stocking up is about.

In January, I need to buy some clothing items such as socks and a few T shirts. I think I’m ok on jeans, but may need a new polar fleece jacket. The one I have is LL Bean and it’s held up for 5 + years so I may get another one. Since I wear the same things daily( levis, T shirt, a demin shirt or flannel and my LL Bean fleece. some stuff does wear out. I’ll try to budget a $100 for January and see how it goes.

Today is a home day for me and I plan on cooking some brown rice and tidying the house. If I can kick the cats out, I’ll vacuum.:) they are spoiled!!!

Thankful Thursday

Posted in books, California, camping, cancer, Gratitude, peritoneal mesothelomia, social security by

This has really been an awful year. B getting diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma was such a shock. Also, it doesn’t have a very good prognosis. Then because of this, we had to cancel all our RV trips and it’s been hard to not head out somewhere. All in all, it’s just been a hard year. As we close 2024, I’m still thankful for many things.

  • that he’s had the last chemo and will get a PET scan soon. So going into 2025, we should know where he is with it all.
  • I’m thankful that, even with me getting Velcade, I can do most things that need to be done.
  • I’m thankful my kids are there to pick up the slack and help us so much.
  • I’m grateful that even though money is always tight on SS we can pay our bills. There’s not a lot left over but we have a roof over our heads, food, and hot water, wood heat and lots more. It would have been nice to not have a mortgage at all but that wasn’t in the cards for us. At least we can pay for it.
  • I’m thankful for the library and the world of books. Books, even as a child, took me to places I’d never been. Today, at 72, I can say books still carry me to unknown places and show me a different perspective.

I’m hopeful for 2025, but I think it’s still going to be tough going especially when we head to Stanford for the surgery.

One step at a time, one step at a time.

My appt went ok yesterday. It was quite busy in there but I still got in on time. Dr. L asked if I had any sleep apnea. Not that I know of. I guess my hematocrit is slightly elevated and he said to consider getting a sleep apnea test. Even if I did have it, I wouldn’t use a mask at night unless it was severe. Does anyone out there have any experience with sleep apnea. My guess is the hematocrit goes up and down because of not drinking enough water. Dehydration is one cause. I never drink enough water. Plus it’s been 1 point out of range for a year. 15.5 is high normal, I’ve been 16.4. I’m not sure why he brought this up now, but I said, I’ll think about it but I really have too much going on to add one more thing. I’ll do some more research and see what I find out.