Tag Archives: thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday

Posted in Blood test, budgets, California, cooking, Myeloma, swimming, Uncategorized by

I seem to have a few really good nights sleeping and then a not-so-good one. There doesn’t seem to be much rhyme or reason, but I am thankful for the nights I do sleep well with minimal disturbances. Using the CPAP has been an interesting experience, and overall, I’m quite pleased with the results. There is no snoring with the machine at all. So that was solved. (That’s a sign of sleep apnea.) I’ve had almost no ‘disturbances’, which is how they calculate sleep apnea, and my blood oxygen has improved, although only slightly. I would still like to try Zepbound, but I’m not sure I could afford it. I know that my prescription plan doesn’t cover it, so it would have to be direct from the drug company. Well, I’m not there with that yet, maybe next year.

I am so thankful we live above the fog. It has been socked in in the valley and even through Auburn. As soon as you hit my exit, it clears to brilliant blue skies. And the temperature is at least 10 degrees warmer here. Unfortunately, I have to go to Sacramento today for my doctor visit, but hopefully that will go quickly. My labs just came in, and my kappa went to 23.9, so up a little, but the ratio came down to 1.85, so there’s some good with that. Overall, I’m pleased it didn’t jump higher.

I was able to get a swim in yesterday, and thankful I had a lane all to myself( a rarity). i do wish I were getting there more, but it seems there’s always something that happens, and I don’t want to drive that extra day. Like tomorrow, I know I’m going to want to stay home as I will have been out 2 days in a row. (sigh)

I am NOT thankful the cat threw up all over my Apple keyboard. 😦 bad cat!!!

I’m thankful for all the wonderful Christmas B, and I had both alone and then with kids. I remember our first Christmas together. So, I was a freshman at the University of Arizona, and he was a sophomore. I think we did a few gifts that were of the hippie variety, and then our Christmas Eve dinner was brown rice with nuts and raisins in teak bowls. My mother actually sent us those bowls. Then Christmas day, I used our neighbor’s oven to bake a lasagna. Our little apartment didn’t have an oven. That’s how the tradition of the lasagna started. Good memories.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, cancer, peritoneal mesothelomia by

I’m thankful to be flexible about getting up and going walking. This morning I have to leave at 7:45 to get my velcade shot at 8:30 so I’m skipping walking.

After the shot, I plan to go to the gym, which I’m grateful for as well. It’s a lovely gym, and the library is next door. I have a book on hold, and I’ll check the new books, too.

I’m thankful that B’s oncologist DID call right away yesterday. The news is not great. The tumors are all growing again. The liver was fine, though. Weird. She will consult with Stanford but my guess is Dr. Lee is not going to do the surgery. Here we are, 2 weeks from it, and this shit happens. She also said after seeing his labs that he needs 2 bags of blood. So we’re back in it. He got an appointment for Saturday, so I’ll take him and my daughter will go get him. Some people in the Peritoneal Facebook group did say they have had surgery with the tumors present, and they are then taken out during surgery. I just don’t think that’s Dr. Lee’s approach, but we’ll see. B has a video visit on Friday afternoon, so we’ll know then. The video visit is with Dr. Neal, but he is Lee’s right hand person, so I’m sure he’ll know what the next step is going to be.

Also, I don’t want him back on chemo but to do the immunotherapy. Again, a number of people in the Facebook group said it’s much easier to handle than chemo. I guess we’re sort of back to square one. It’s all pretty fucked up.

I’m thankful that my kids can support their Dad and are there for him.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, cancer, Gratitude, husband, Pantry, peritoneal mesothelomia, swimming, Walking by

Happy First day of Spring!!

I’m very thankful that B’s CT scan has been moved up to Monday. Really I wish it were yesterday but I’ll take it. I am preparing for the worst that there’s cancer in the liver and that’s causing his ALP to be rising. It’s hard to figure out why his ultrasound showed ‘unremarkable’ and here we are 3 weeks later. I don’t get it but I am getting ready for ‘bad news’.

I’m grateful for a lovely misty morning to walk and it was very pleasant.

I’m thankful for a nice swim yesterday and the fact that the pool wasn’t too busy. I had my own lane for half my swim so that was nice.

Today is a home day and I don’t have a lot on my list. I want to steam-mop the floors and tidy the wine box pantry. If you haven’t followed my blog, I use Far Niente wine boxes under my stainless steel island to keep my canned goods. These days the four I have are maybe half full. I just don’t keep that much since the end of the pandemic. I bought these off of eBay a long time ago when things like that were reasonable. The 3 under the counter have the tops which is a big plus. One I have doesn’t have a lid and I keep that under a different cabinet.

I’m thankful for some pretty Eucalyptus branches from Trader Joe’s. They are probably my favorite. I love the soft green color.

Thankful Thursday

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

I am thankful to be walking and getting in almost 2 miles. It’s still busy though and today there were 12 people. That’s a lot when normally it’s us and maybe 2 other people. It’s summer so there’s that.

I’m so grateful my son came up on his birthday and we had a good time. 3o yo. A milestone. We had Angus burgers on the grill with corn on the cob, and Wills potato salad from Costco. Then I ordered the Paris Baguette chocolate cake. It was quite yummy. His partner, A, came up to celebrate too.

I’m grateful my daughter was able to drive B for his PET scan last week as it was in Sacramento. I had some time home alone.

I’m grateful I passed my driver’s written test and eye test. I guess when you’re over 70 in California, you have to take the exam every 4 years? maybe’s 5, not sure. It was a pain to do but it’s over.

Anyone want to share what you are thankful for? I guess we all live different lives and are at different stages of life too. I think that’s what I like about blogging and reading blogs, that it takes you places you won’t ever go. Some bloggers I don’t read anymore because I don’t relate to their opinions or where they are in this journey we call life. But the ones I do read are interesting and appreciated.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in books, bread, California, cancer, cooking, Gratitude, husband, velcade, Walking by

No reports back on the biopsy. I thought for sure, we’d hear something yesterday. So waiting, waiting. Not that I’m expecting anything but bad news but at least we’ll know what the official diagnosis is. 😦

After that, no doctor appts until next Friday and that’s with his NP from his transplant team so I’m not sure how that will play out. The new oncologist appt isn’t until the week after that so it’s definitely a waiting game. Wait, Wait, Wait.

Things to be thankful for though:

We are getting LOTS of tomatoes and I plan on having my favorite tomato and mayonnaise sandwich later today.

I have Velcade this morning and I am always thankful for efficient and knowledgeable nurses. After that, I will go down to the library and pick up my hold.

I’m thankful we had some days of cooler weather but we’re on an upward swing again. It was nice and cool this morning walking. There were LOTS of people walking even at 6am. I guess it’s the summer crowd.

I’m thankful my son has a nice apartment and is staying cool especially since he just down with covid. It’s the first time he’s had it. I miss him being here so I can hover over him!!!:) But he’s a grown man and knows what to do.

I’m thankful the sourdough boule I made yesterday came out perfect. The last two were dismal and I had to throw them out. I read on the problem and I wasn’t letting my starter mature enough. So I’ve been feeding twice a day and it’s very active now. I plan on doing another one soon. Also, with the heat, proofing time and bulk fermentation are different because it’s warm, so that was a factor as well.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in books, bread, California, cooking, Gratitude, home stuff, simple foods by

We finally have a cooling off period so I’m thankful for that. Unfortunately, next week looks worse than this week with Wednesday being 110. Yikes! I’m supposed to go to Sacramento to see Dr. L but I’m going to reschedule this morning after they open. I’m not driving into Sacramento when it’s that hot.

I’m thankful for a day to just potter around and do some extra things. I want to steam-mop the studio and vacuum. We moved the Ikea sofa out to the studio so I want to vacuum that too. Plus the windows need washing. I may not get to it all but some.

I’m grateful for my swim yesterday, It was not too busy so that made it nice. After that I went over to Winco for strawberries. I think Winco has the lowest prices so I bought 5 containers. They were $1.48 ea. I have seen them as low as.99 but not yesterday.

I’m thankful I was able to come home from that and still have the energy to make strawberry jam. I used 4 containers, so that was $5.96. I ended up with 10 half-pint jars plus 3 quarter-pint jars. So overall a good savings. I don’t plan on any other jam-making so this will last the year.

I’m thankful that B has his medical things organized and is going for a CT scan to see if his weight loss is related to something intestinally. He’s actually eating much better so that’s an encouraging thing.

I’m not so thankful that the bathroom now has another issue. We thought the floor would be done yesterday but when B pulled up the tiles, the floorboards had water damage around the toilet. So we are now in stop, regroup, plan phase again. He’ll need to take the toilet out and repair the floorboards. All I can say is Fuck, it’s always something. At least it was discovered now instead of 10 years from now. The area is pretty small so hopefully, it’s an easy fix. Still, it means removing the toilet, putting in a new ring, etc.

I plan on making my sourdough bread this morning. I added more flour to my starter so it should be ready around noon.

Here’s one of our dinners this hot week. Scambled tofu with spinach.

This was an interesting book with lots of recommended reading.

this is little Cherry Rat. She’s the only girl besides mama cat.

Here are pressure canned beans, Rancho Gordo pintos, and Marcellas.

Two of the 10 half-pint jars. I skimmed as much foam off as I could but there’s always some left. Any canners out there with hints. I seem to remember something about adding a teaspoon of baking soda??

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, cooking, Gratitude, Uncategorized, Walking by

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?

Thankful Thursday

Posted in books, California, cooking, Gratitude, library, reading, Uncategorized, Walking by

I’m thankful B was with me to do the Costco shopping. The cart was fairly full so it made it tricky. Mostly because we added TP, paper towels and bleach all of which are bulky. We bought a lot of fresh veggies, salad paks, fruit, and mostly food items. Oh, we picked up the 3 pack of geraniums which were a great price. ( 13.99)

I’m thankful swimming is almost back to normal. I’m doing around 35 minutes so I have to add another 5-10 to be back where I was. Actually, I’m fine with doing just the 35. I also like the later time. It’s more relaxed. By 9 am there are even lanes open, so I may try and push out getting there to 8: 40.

I’m thankful my son’s upcoming move is progressing. He and his partner are making their final decision about an apartment this weekend. Apparently, the rental market in Sacramento is very competitive and they have missed out on a few. It’s exciting for him and a big step. He will keep all his tools, crafts, etc in the barn, which is fine. I’ll miss him though. 😦

I’m thankful for all the small things in my life that help keep it simple. Routines I enjoy daily, always getting up early (5:30 or earlier), cooking, meal planning, and walking. I’m thankful for those small things.

I’m very grateful for the public library system. Roseville’s library is exemplary. I’m going today to pick up my holds. I think I have 10. Yippee!!!

Thankful Thursday

Posted in books, budgeting, budgets, cash envelopes, Gratitude, Lake tahoe, library, swimming by

I am very thankful this was a week with NO appts and no Dex. Boy, did that do me in last week. I guess I’ll go back to taking dex after I get home and not in the evening. maybe that’s the difference or the BP spike has been there all along and I just didn’t take my BP and notice. We’ll see.

I’m thankful we had a beautiful day in Tahoe with picture-perfect weather.

I’m thankful that all the month’s bills are accounted for and are in the budget. Slowly, I’m getting more envelopes set up for the annual bills. Even though I didn’t have the full amount, I did have something and that helped. As I think of different line items for our budget I add an envelope. I also bought on Amazon a binder that is for the 100 envelope challenge. Lots of cash envelope budgeters on You Tube have this as a way to do an extra savings. It’s not a quick thing as each envelope is numbered 1-100 and you put that amount in each one. I do like having these little challenges to keep me focused.

I’m thankful I got to swim on Monday but it was one of the few times it wasn’t pleasant. First, the pool was packed which I thought odd but then realized that it was a holiday. Second, I don’t circle swim( when there are more than 2 in a lane), but some woman plopped into the lane I was sharing with 1 person and proceeded to circle swim. I was not a happy swimmer. I go too slow and at some point, she cut in front of me and almost kicked my face. Anyway, at least I got my 30 minutes in.

I finished all the books I got from the library (8 books) so today after the gym I’ll go in and see if I can get a few things off the shelves to take to Capitola. The new Kellerman book ” Ghost Orchid’ is okay. I like his writing and the 2 main characters are well developed. So far all the Craig Johnston Longmire books have been great. Definitely worth reading the series although I haven’t read them in any order.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, cancer, Gratitude, knee injury, swimming, Walking by

Admittedly, I’m feeling a bit stressed this week by a number of things. Mostly due to some medical stuff that still needs sorting and of course, my increase in Kappa light chains in one month. I try to take some deep breaths and tell myself this too will pass. I’m grateful that I’m usually able to change my attitude towards things but this week there were number of things that just added up. I’m hoping by next week things are clearer.

I’m very thankful to walk without my walking stick and I’ve increased my steps too. The PT does seem to be strengthening my knee. I have 2 more sessions. My leg does ache occasionally but I’m still trying to power through and walk and swim.

I’m so excited and grateful to be back in the pool. I’m going later and it’s a whole different crowd than the 6:30 one. It’s ok for now because I’m still only in the water 20 minutes or so. Next week I’ll try and increase to 30 minutes.

We have sunshine!! It’s chilly but after all the gloomy days the sun is nice to see and it does cheer me up. Plus the daffodils are all up. I picked some and filled 2 vases with them for the table. I can also see the flowering cherry is budding and soon will be blooming.