Tag Archives: travel

Simple Sunday

Posted in budgeting, California, cancer, Death, decluttering, home stuff, husband, Walking by

The light is shifting in both the morning and evening. The other day was Lammas, so cross-quarter. For some reason, I always feel the shift, even if it’s 90 degrees out. My walk this morning at 6 am was nice, and again, it’s just a tad darker. No one showed up, which was unusual. Generally, there is at least one or two people. So that was nice. I’m still not up to a full mile yet with my knee, but I’m getting there.

Today, I plan to go to the Auburn gym and then drop a load off at Goodwill. It’s a bit of miscellany from around the house. I’ll do another round when I get motivated to go out to the garden shed. Since Barclay died, I haven’t had much motivation with things, but I guess that’s normal.

My son and daughter moved the trailer to a new spot, so the tires aren’t in the same spot. I haven’t been out there yet, but I will go out today. I also need to continue taking things out, like dishes. I won’t get rid of them because our plan is to get the tent trailer, so we’ll need stuff for that. I think the ease of pulling a tent trailer will suit my daughter and me.

We started watching the New Star Trek, with Captain Pike. It’s really quite good and really keeps to the Star Trek theme. It’s on Paramount, if you’re interested. I also watched the PBS production of Patience. It’s really a rerun of the French Astrid, but I enjoyed it. I also finished watching Murder on an Island, which takes place off the coast of Canada near French Quebec.

It’s my son’s birthday this week. 31 yo. Where does the time go?? He was a wonderful child, and he has grown into a wonderful young man. There are 9 years between my daughter and him, and he was a BIG surprise. I remember saying, I’M WHAT??? I was almost 42 when he was born.

Well, what things are you up to these days? I read a few blogs, but not as many as I used to. I do love peeking into other people’s lives. I guess that’s why I was a psychology major in college, and counseling in graduate school, and clinical psychology in a doctoral program, which I didn’t finish. No regrets, it was all a journey.

Bodega Bay, Ca

Posted in California, husband, travel, Uncategorized by

We had a wonderful trip to the coast. Google Maps had us going a way that Barclay never went, so we bypassed both Sonoma and Santa Rosa. I suppose if we had the trailer, we would go the way we always did, as these roads were definitely ‘country ‘roads.

We decided to get lunch at ‘The Tides’ snack bar, which is not in the main restaurant area. It was a good choice. Most places were packed with day trippers, I suppose from the Bay Area. We drove down to where Spuds is, and the line to get in was down the road. Definitely, not my style.

After lunch, we drove up the coast and walked around some. By then, our room was ready, so we headed back into Bodega. We relaxed the rest of the day.

The next morning, we had our free continental breakfast at The Tides and then headed up to Wrights Beach to have our ceremony. No one was on the beach, so that made it nice. We sent B off into the waves while listening to music. Of course, he was the ‘Dylan’ guy, so we played ‘Knock Knock Knocking on Heaven’s Door, Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, LOTR’s ‘Into the West, and a few more. It was foggy, and the tide was coming in, so it seemed quite mystical. I felt good about it.

We checked out the campground ( where we’ve stayed lots of times) and decided that after we get the tent trailer, we’ll come back. Barclay and I’s last trip over there in Rubi was in March last year, before everything started going south.

When we headed back, we decided to go to Spuds,

and there was no line, and we got a table. The BEST clam chowder ever.

So what a difference a day makes. We also stopped at the kite store, which we always did when the kids were small, and we picked up a couple of whirly gigs that B loved for the yard.

We headed back to the room to rest some before figuring out dinner. We decided to do Fishetarian that B and I loved.

It wasn’t too busy, but the food wasn’t as top-notch as when we had gone before. It was good, just not superb. After that, we went back to the hotel, sat out on the patio, and opened our Veuve Clicquot champagne. Boy, was that excellent.

I’m glad we did the trip for Barclay, and now the last place will be Tahoe.

My son did a great job staying here with the cats, so now my daughter and I can maybe plan some more trips in between her work schedule.

Today, I’m staying home to do some cleaning and just relaxing.

Five on Friday

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

We had the most wonderful thunderstorm and rain last night with lightning. We got a lot of rain, and the ground is pretty soaked for now. Yeah, for the rain. Although not so good, it started a lightning fire across the canyon, but I think I saw it was contained.

A low spend week for the most part. My daughter went to Costco after work for a few things, namely dishwasher pods that we needed. Plus water and just a few other things. Food came to @ $47, and then the wine I want to take to the coast was $18. It’s called Sonoma-Cutrer. I haven’t had it before, but it’s supposed to be good.

All the July bills are done, so I have August’s budget almost done. With SS decreasing, I have made a few adjustments. I think mostly it’ll be decreasing food costs and miscellaneous expenses. Most of our bills are fixed, so I can’t do anything there.

Let see, the good news is LLS opened funding for Myeloma, so I hopped on the website and was approved. I just need the doctor to fill out his form. Having that money will be a great help in paying for my insurance.

Other good news is, my kappa light chains stayed about the same, 19.8. So up from 19.6, but that’s really marginal. So good news on that front.

I had fairly good energy this week after the low with Dex. I got the living room ceiling painted. It took 2 days working for about 30 minutes each time. I also went to the paint store and bought another gallon of Simply White. Except for the bathroom, our whole house is painted that color. It makes it easy to do touch-ups and keeps the look clean and minimal.

Well, I’m off to do some tidying and put some stuff away.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, California, camping, cooking, Death, home stuff, Walking by

I haven’t slept well on Dex these past few nights, so I feel like I’m running on empty. Hopefully, a nap today will catch me up. I go for my labs tomorrow and should have some results by Thursday. Fingers crossed it’s about the same. I felt so low, I didn’t even walk this morning, which is my favorite morning to walk.

Our weather is finally going to cool down, and next week looks super nice. I’d like to get back to eating out on the patio again. Plus, we can get more watering done if it’s not crazy hot.

We had a busy day yesterday with chores in town. We dropped off a load at Goodwill, went to the car wash, then down to the paint store. My daughter has a keen eye for color and picked some lovely shades of green for the studio. I picked up some misc we needed, like bee traps.

Then my son came over and did the metal load to the dump. He thinks there’s one more load of junk, and then the old wood would be the final trip for this year at least. I’m going to walk out there later and survey the situation. He hung around long enough for my brother to show up with tacos for us all. My brother needed my daughter to help him with some computer stuff. So all in all, a nice little family gathering.

I have my trip to the coast booked, and I’ll be bringing some of B’s ashes with me to scatter. It won’t be much, it’s sort of a token gesture. He loved that part of the coast, so it’ll be nice to be over there in his memory. After that, it’s still the Tahoe trip, but it’s completely undecided how we are doing it. I have the reservations(of course, because you have to book 6 months out), but I don’t really want to trailer with Rubi. We’re tossing around a few ideas, but nothing solid yet. I’m fairly sure I’m going to sell the trailer, but when is the question? Frankly, it’s too much for me to handle maintenance etc. Plus, I can’t drive the truck to even pull the trailer, and I have no desire to learn that. I don’t want the trailer just sitting there and not being used. So we’ll see. The thought has crossed my mind to see about a trade-in for something else, but I’m not sure what yet, so?? I guess these are the adjustments you just have to make when someone dies.

I’m staying home today and doing a once-around-the-house tidy up. I’ve washed inside windows and dusted. I have some brown rice cooking for dinner and plan on making a small rice chicken casserole. I have chicken shredded from the freezer that I want to use up.

I ordered a pair of compression socks from Bombas, and I hope they will help my legs. My knee seems to be doing ok, but my legs do get a sort of tired syndrome, so I’m hoping compression socks can help that. I guess that’s what nurses wear for their 12-hour shifts. I’ve decided I am going to get the next steroid shot, so I’ll call and see when I can get that. Does anyone wear compression socks regularly?

Other than that, not much else is happening. What’s happening in your neck of the woods? It’s always interesting to read about how other people live and the weather they have.

Saturday

Posted in California, camping, cancer, canning tomato salsa, freezer cooking, peritoneal mesothelomia by

Frugal Friday got sidestepped by other things.

But I did go to Winco once after swimming and spent $58, although $15 of that was a bottle of wine. So $43 for food. I also got gas at Costco, which is always a savings. Other than that, nothing was spent.

Today, I have to take Barclay down to Infusion in Rocklin. I was going to do a Trader Joe’s stop, but nothing is urgent, so I think I’ll wait. This will take about 4 1/2 hours, so my daughter will go down to get him at 2:30 or so.

The video visit with Dr. Neal was a waste of time. He really didn’t say anything of importance except that the one spot on his spleen was concerning. But I’ve read on the Facebook group that people will have their spleen removed during the surgery if it’s impacted. So now we wait again till we hear from Lee. Honestly, at this point, I think it should be our call. He’s the one taking the risk, and if this can remove tumors, then that’s what we want. So I think I’m going to be hopeful that it will go forward.

After I get home, I plan on processing the rest of the tomatoes from last summer I froze. So I have 3 bags to do. I think I’ll cook them down, then run them through the food mill and can them tomorrow. I also am planning to make chicken broth but will pressure can that. Does anyone use the Presto pressure canner that’s automated? Lots of people swear by it because there’s no waiting for the All-American to come up to pressure, then juggle at the right time, etc. I’ve looked at them on Amazon, and they run around $350, so a big investment.

We’ve booked a spot in Tahoe for September, so that’s exciting. Belived me that’s like winning the lottery to get a spot. It took us 6 tries to get a spot, so if you’re trying to do anything in Tahoe, beware of how long it can take and plan accordingly.

Menu Monday

Posted in Blood test, budgets, California, cancer, cooking, Flylady, meal planning by

Happy St. Patricks day!!

We don’t really do the corned beef and cabbage. I like cabbage but mostly as sauerkraut or cole slaw. Tonight I’m planning baked tofu with sauerkraut and something else.

Tuesday- Probably tacos of some sort. I have some taco meat I made last week and froze so I’ll pull that out and open a jar of my home canned pintos.

Wednesday- I want to start using up the fish I have so I’ll either do salmon or cod. I have a box of Near East rice mix so I’ll make that up too.

Thursday- soup of some sort. This is questionable as I’m not sure what I have. I do have lots of ramen packs so that’s probably what I’ll do and add an egg and veggies.

Friday- I still have frozen pizza but I’m feeling like making homemade. I have an unopened bag of 00 flour so I could use that. plus I have mozzarella and some other toppings.

Saturday- I have a Trader Joe’s mac and cheese I want to use up so that may be it.

I’m home today and plan on doing a Monday tidy-up and home blessing day( which is just a few extra chores). Usually I like to go and do a quick clean of each zone and then something extra.

This week is mellow and no appts. Yay!! But I do plan on going to the gym and the pool at least once. I also want to get a few things at TJ’s like chili powder and ancho if they have it.

Our water bill comes out this week and then that’s it for March’s bills. I’m working on April’s budget this week too. I’m also hoping B gets in for that CT. He’ll probably need to go to Sacramento but that’s ok as long as it gets done. The sooner he gets it the sooner we’ll know how serious it is. 😦

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cooking, home stuff, Uncategorized, Walking by

A cloudy walk this morning but it was warm. It was 51 degrees. It’s quite nice really.

I’ve been to the Auburn gym and now I’m home. I’ve swished the bathroom and now plan to do some other regular Sunday things.

Sunday is our sheet-washing day. We only have one set of linen sheets so we wash, dry, and put them back on the bed. B was just saying though the sheets seem to wearing thin. He does the laundry so he would know.

I fed my sourdough so I might make a dough later after it does its thing.

I made some chicken salad for sandwiches from the chicken I roasted the other day. I’m not sure what I’m doing for dinner tonight. I know a salad is on the menu but I need to check what I have to use up. Last night we (my daughter and I) had the last turkey burgers and B had the last Boca burger.

We’re considering taking the trailer to Napa as we only have a brief window of time before he’s in for the major surgery. I’m mixed on this as it’s money and effort. I guess we’ll give it a few days to filter through.

This little Cherry( the only girl who gets picked on by her brothers and Bean.

This is Guster(Gus) and Smudge. I know… 🙂 these are the names they got when they came out of the barn. 🙂 They were the ‘barn kitties’.

Little Tux is adapting here well. But we need to get the neuter going. He’s a very sweet cat. As soon as I can I’ll get a picture.

Well, I’m going to move the loveseat couch on the opposite wall and see if I like it better. I don’t want to put it in the sunroom yet because Tux is sleeping out there and he might be squirting? 😦 I hope not.

Frugal Friday

Posted in bread, budgeting, budgets, California, cooking by

The biggest expense this week was my dental appointment. It was quite a bit but then what isn’t these days. It needed to be done so. I still have a cleaning in March and I’m planning on signing up for their dental saver program. It’s $400 a year and covers 2 cleanings and lots of other stuff. It seems a good deal.

Then I went to Costco earlier this week and that was around $200. That shop will last us a while until we need coffee again. Food was less because B picked some socks, and I picked up the new Dawn spray cleaner and there was something else nonfood.

I drove to Sacramento for my doctor’s appt, which uses more gas. I have enough gas in the Santa Fe until I go back to the pool which I think will be Monday. i have labs early Monday and plan to go to the pool afterwards.

Not a very frugal week but manageable.

Today I opted to stay home and do some extra house needs. I washed my office windows, and dusted baseboards. I also started sourdough baguette loaf for tomorrow. Last night I roasted a chicken and made homemade mac and cheese. Tonight I think I’ll make a frozen Costco pizza. It’s a new brand they had and I’d like to try it. I think it said made in Italy.

It’s a beautiful sunny day with a temperature of 62 degrees. I’m looking to put a chair in the sunroom so I can sit out there. right now, I don’t have the little loveseat because Tux is sleeping out there in a cat bed and he’s not fixed. therefore he’s spraying although we haven’t seen him spray out there. I’m thinking of a used Poang chair from market place. I’ll have to look at listings.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, cooking by

We are way over our grocery budget but most of that was extra Costco stuff. It’s ok, some months are like that. I think I’m sitting at about $700 right now. I just checked and it’s more like $900 as I didn’t add in the last Costco trip. Oh well, I have a freezer full and will just need veggies mostly to fill in the blanks.

I got gas at Costco which does save almost $1 a gallon from prices in Auburn. I have enough gas to get through next week. B has his chemo on Tuesday and that will be my last trip to Roseville for the week.

I plan on returning the clothes to Costco today. I did find a pair of the Fila I like and ordered them. If they don’t fit I’ll return them too. I think they were $12.99 at Costco.com.

We didn’t have any meals out and stuck to my menu plan. If we do eat out it’s always lunch anyway. But with B having no appetite it’s not worth going out for lunch.

The turkey order showed up so that’s in the freezer til Monday or Tuesday. I have a coupon for $15 off a whole Diestal turkey down at the Holiday but I’m not sure I’ll use it as they are usually bigger than I need or want. But I may check it out.

We’ve got a small break in the rain today and then it comes back in tonight. It’s supposed to be a colder storm too. From the little news I get now, I did see the PNW got slammed by this storm.

I haven’t checked out any Black Friday deals but B said the new Airpods with hearing enhancement are on sale. I may look at those for him as he does need something to help with hearing. I’ll check that out his weekend.

I have my annual mammogram scheduled for next week too so I can cross that off my list.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, books, California, camping, cooking, Flylady, library, meal planning, Myeloma, simple foods, travel, Uncategorized by

Our drive home yesterday was rainy part of the way. Traffic was not too bad and we made it home by 2pm. Everything was good at home and the house was tidy. Of course, it was mostly only my daughter home because my son was off camping with his partner. He got home Wednesday.

We woke at ‘camp time’. Err, later than normal. I woke at 6am which is normally our walk time. I just figured,’ Oh well’, tomorrow is another day. I planned on doing the kitchen zone, bathroom zone, and bedroom zone. They are all done now.

I also did not plan to go to the Auburn gym as I wanted to do the zone cleaning.

I planned some meals for the week. Spaghetti with sauce, turkey chili with home canned beans, a soup night, a pizza night, a fish night, and a taco/burrito night. I’m keeping my menu plans that I write out and will write a monthly one soon. The monthly one is really for reference only as I pretty much plan many of the same meals over and over. Occasionally, I like to do a new recipe but most of them don’t make the cut for regular rotations.

This week is a mellow week with no appts. I plan on the gym, library, and swimming. Next week I have Velcade/Dex, so not looking forward to the Dex again. BUT, GREAT NEWS!!! My numbers came back in the normal range even with a tiny drop. Kappa light chains at 18.6. I’m over the moon and will continue to persevere. If my numbers stay in range by fall, I might ask about going completely off Velcade, but for now, it is what it is.

Right now it’s still cloudy but the rest of the week looks sunny and beautiful. All the trees are leafed out and I’m sure more will be out this week with 70-degree weather. the wisteria is ready to burst into bloom. All the daffodils are done. But other things are starting to bloom, rosemary, apple trees, redbuds, and the cherry tree.

I’m off to make some banana bread and then look at what books I have left from the library to read.