Tag Archives: Walking

Simple Sunday

Posted in budgets, California, cooking, husband, Walking by

Happy 56th anniversary to me. Even though Barclay is not here physically, he is here with me forever in my heart. We had an extraordinary life. Having met so young, having a special Quaker wedding, going to college together, traveling, camping, and then finally having one child after being married for 15 years, and then our son was born 2 weeks before our 24th wedding anniversary. What a life!

I went for a nice walk this morning. I’m definitely walking slower these days. I guess my knees are still weaker than I’d like, so I don’t try to walk fast or even moderately fast. I just go at a slow speed. Oh well, it was a beautiful morning. Dex also causes muscle problems, so that’s an issue too.

I haven’t decided on the gym this morning as I’m just coming down from dex. I’ll decide before 8am. At least my sleep has been ok even with dex. A little restless but not too bad. ( It’s almost 8am, so I guess I’ll skip the gym and do some stuff around here.) On dex days, some stuff just gets put off till I feel better.

Today, I plan on making the Superiority tofu burgers for our dinner. It’s a bit involved since you marinate the tofu in dill pickle juice for a number of hours, and then the batter is not an egg batter but a slurry using mustard. Sounds strange, but it is delicious.

I’m working on my next month’s budget. I’ve been checking LLS every day, as that is what’s going to really help me with the insurance payment. I’m hoping it opens up in September. It will make a big difference.

I think September doesn’t bring any annual bills, but October will. I know our house/auto with AAA will come in. I need to check that date. Then the California Fair plan house insurance will come in. That comes separately from the AAA rider. Then finally, property taxes will be due.

I have labs tomorrow, so I may go to the gym after that, but I’ll see. Sometimes Monday after dex is my crash day, so I won’t commit just yet. After that, the rest of the week is open, so I’ll swim at some point.

I started watching the new Forsythes show on Prime. What a disaster. Whoever wrote it for this show should at least pick up the book and read it. The characters are all mixed up. Soames is not who he is in the book, and all the characters are not portrayed accurately. I’ll watch one more episode because the costumes are beautifully done and it’s a period piece, which I do love. But geez, the writers really messed this up. I have the original on DVD so I may start that. I think it was either PBS or Acorn?

This week I have a load to go to Goodwill, and I want to do the recycling. Neither is a lot, but I’d like to get it done. I’ll do the Goodwill in Roseville as it’s right on the way to the gym and is a very easy drop-off center.

Well, that’s my week. How’s yours going to be?

Simple Sunday

Posted in books, budgets, California, cooking, meal planning, Uncategorized by

I hope you all had a nice 4th of July. I did my walk and then a few extra things. I must have felt good enough that I painted the front door. It’s been on my list forever, and I guess it was the right day. I might start doing all the window trims as it is the same color but we’ll see.

My daughter got out an old grow light of Barclay’s, and I put it near my orchids as it is full spectrum. Hopefully, that will encourage a few spikes. Growing orchids has been a fun hobby and a challenge since I tend to overwater. The light purple one that I had spiked is still going strong. I love that orchids keep on and on.

Today is open, and I’m thinking about what I’d like to do. It’s been nice being home and not thinking about going out to do anything. I do like structure and a schedule, at least of some sort.

First, I’ll go for a walk as it’s cool out and there are some great cloud formations. Next week still looks good temperature-wise, and then it creeps back to the 90’s.

I want to plan out some dinner ideas, being on the low carb. It does take a little more planning to not just fall back on pasta or potatoes. I know I’ll pull some chicken from the freezer and maybe the ground turkey. Last night we had steamed broccoli and a souper cube of meatloaf I had made a while ago. It was ok, not great. I think that had some breadcrumbs in it, so not totally low-carb. I’ll continue to assess as this goes along. So far, it’s not terribly difficult except for maybe the bread or bagels.

I do need to hit up Costco for romaine lettuce, as I’ve been using that to make turkey or ham roll-ups with cheese. Not too bad, and I like the crunch. I also want to buy some squash, and they have a big bag of both zucchini and yellow squash. I could try the sliced zucchini lasagna. I don’t want to overthink this and keep it simple.

I didn’t do a whole lot yesterday and was kinda tired all day. I finished a book on my Kindle that I’ve read numerous times and is one of my favorites: Meg Wolfe’s series. They are some of my favorite books to reread.

Today, after waking and having breakfast, I’ll see if I want to go to the Auburn gym. If I go to Maheny gym tomorrow, then I could skip today. I’ll wait and see how I feel in a bit.

We finished watching Project Hail Mary last night, and it’s a great movie. I’d definitely recommend but it’s long, so we did it two nights. It’s on Prime.

Frugal Friday

Posted in books, budgeting, budgets, California, cash envelopes, home stuff, Walking by

Mostly a frugal week since I didn’t go anywhere for 4 days due to feeling lousy. Then on Wednesday, I went to the pool. Before that, I got gas, and it had gone up quite a bit from my last fill-up. Costco gas is still the cheapest, but yikes, $5.69!!

After the pool, I went to Costco as I mentioned and spent a little over $200. I took out non-food and wine, so the food cost was around $100. Non food included batteries, an orchid, and I think something else. Wine was my favorite, Kendall Jackson, which is $9.59 at Costco. Oh, and I picked up that Rose for Mother’s Day and the most expensive thing was some steaks for Mother’s Day and for the freezer. I think the pack had 6 pieces of thinly sliced rib-eye. My daughter and I will likely just share a piece, and the other counts as LTF for the freezer.

My food total so far is running around $300, so not too bad. I don’t need anything, so it may just be a small Winco trip or something.

I ordered propane and put that on the CC. I’m slowly getting the card paid off, but then something like this happens, and I need to charge another $257. Oh well, I’ll get there. sigh:(

I haven’t really been doing active cash envelopes. Most of what I get, I just use for groceries. I guess I need to try to do better, especially for annual bills. It does help when I have the envelopes even a bit filled. Well, I have a few months with just a few annual bills. Next month is the truck DMV, but my son will pay for that as he’s the one using the truck, so it may give me a chance to fill some envelopes for fall. Having lost 1/3 of my income after B died is definitely a factor. sigh:(

Well, today I plan to go to the gym and the library. I have a book to return. I don’t have any holds, so I may just browse the new items. I want to keep up with my weights as I feel they really do help. I’d like to find a new walking path for when I’m down there, so I may look at RPR (Roseville Parks and Rec) trail maps to see what is close to the gym. Sadly, the only paved trail up here is the park I walk at. Auburn has another paved trail at a park, but it’s not in my normal route. The MV park is so well used by so many people, and they come from all over because it is paved. I’m at the stage of life where I’d be concerned for my stability on an unpaved path unless I used my walking sticks. I have been taking them with me even to this park because they give me an added sense of security. It’s tough getting older.

Saturday happenings

Posted in bread, budgets, California, cooking, Death, Walking by

The estate planner meeting lasted all of 5 minutes to just sign the papers. She was going to record them that afternoon. Then the county mails back the paperwork to me. All good.

I walked this morning, and no one was around except the geese. It was nice. I did feel sad that one little gosling had been separated from its family, and the 2 adults it was trying to be with kept attacking it, which I’ve seen happen every year. Sad, it won’t make it.

Today I have a plain sourdough to bake, no inclusions.

This one is the everything bagel seasoning. The blueberry cream cheese one was interesting. I like the blueberries, but not the cream cheese. I froze most of it, thinking it would make a good breakfast bread /egg casserole. I wanted to bake this one in a loaf pan, but my cast-iron one is too small. I will need to buy a USA loaf pan to do that. I do have my pullman pan so maybe I’ll try that today.

The archive stuff my daughter has been doing is having an exhibit today. It’s for Sierra College’s 30-year time capsule. So we are going to go see that and get lunch out.

I finished watching Season 3 of Resident Alien. There is a season 4, so I’ll start that at some point. I then started Untamed, which takes place in Yosemite, and I like it so far. That’s on Netflix.

It’s cloudy today, and it looks like there is some rain forecast for tomorrow. But then next week looks really nice.

menu for the week and misc.

Posted in Blood test, books, budgets, California, library, meal planning, Walking by

I finally got my early am walk with my new Merrills. They are definitely a stiff boot that keeps my foot from moving too much. I can see why Chat recommended them for a foot fracture. Overall, my foot is better, and I do wear my Hokas in the house all day, and I think that helped. I haven’t worn my Birkies in a while because I think they didn’t support my foot enough.

I did a menu plan for the week so i have a rough idea of what I want to make.

Last night I made chicken enchiladas with green (verde) sauce. We had a salad on the side.

Tuesday- I’m going to make tomato bisque soup( from Costco) and some cheese sliders.

Wednesday- I have some mac and cheese I want to use up. I might add some tuna for protein.

Thursday – I think I’ll make a tofu scramble with veggies and nuts.

Friday – I’m not sure we’ll do pizza, so I’ll wait and see what my daughter wants.

Saturday- ?? TBD. maybe a burger of some kinda and fries.

Yesterday, I dropped my books off at the library and recycled batteries there, too. The gym was busy, but I found my way around without any delays. From there, I went up to Costco, mostly for coffee and a few other things. I think the food part was @ 100. I paid cash.

Today is a home day, and my son is coming over after work to visit. I don’t have any big chores for him to do, so it’ll just be a catch-up on what’s going on. Although he could put the cardboard in the recycle bin for me. Since he has the truck, it would be easier for him to do.

Simple Sunday on Monday

Posted in California, cooking, Walking by

I started this but got sidetracked so here’s an updated version.

The week ahead looks sunny but not very warm. I think the highs are only around 60 degrees. Still, it’s such a pretty time of year. Barclay loved this time around Thanksgiving when all our oak trees turn golden and the light is filtered. I miss sharing it with him. I suppose that’s one of the hard things that he’s not here to share little tidbits with. 🙁

The day was so pretty out. I went into the Auburn gym and did my usual 30 minutes. I also went to the park and walked, although more slowly, and my foot did ok. I only walked 15 minutes and wasn’t limping, so that was good. I did ice it later in the day just for safe measures. Hopefully, my Merrills will show up tomorrow. My foot is a little sore this morning, but not terribly. Maybe a 3 on a pain scale.

I then popped into Safeway for a few random items: celery, carrots, whipped cream, and? I checked out their turkeys, figuring if the deal was good, I’d get one for the freezer. But I didn’t see any sales, or at least where I was looking. The prices seemed pretty high to me.

Today, my daughter and I are going down to Costco, which is probably crazy, but I need her to get 2 cases of water. I can’t lift their cases, so that’s the reason. Plus, I figured, while I’m there, get a wreath for the door.

Menu Plan for the week:

Last night we had hot dogs, sauerkraut, beans, and macaroni salad.

Monday- I might try the nut loaf piece I made to see how it cooks up ,with some instant mashed potatoes.

Tuesday- beans in the crock pot,tortillas,

Wednesday- Maybe breakfast for dinner, pancakes, scrambled eggs.

Thursday- we’ll eat dinner @ 1pm. Organic Diestel Turkey breast, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, green beans, plus the nut loaf and gravy. I usually do an olive plate, but I think I’ll skip that. No one really eats it except me:) or B .

Friday- Leftovers or eat what you want.

Saturday- chicken of some sort and baked potatoes.

Do you have a traditional Thanksgiving or something unusual? I’d love to try, next year, something totally different. B and I always thought we’d go away at Thanksgiving, but then I’d feel bad for the kids. But they have their own stuff now, so?

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, cancer, meal planning, Myeloma, velcade, Walking by

I woke up at my regular time, and the clocks were back an hour. Based on the light, I went out to walk at 5:50, which yesterday was 6:50. I liked it as no one else showed up. It’ll be this afternoon that I won’t like it at 4, when yesterday that was 5. But every year we go through this and adjust.

My son visited yesterday and took a big load of wood to the dump. He thinks maybe 2 more loads and it’ll be gone. A good accomplishment. I went to the store and picked up sandwiches for us all and that was nice.

Today, I’m not going into the Auburn gym because my daughter and I are going down to my son’s place to visit and go to the farmers’ market. He has a lovely park that is right near the American River, and it’s quite nice, so we’ll go over there too.

This week I have Velcade and then my new lowered Dex. I didn’t notice a big difference, but maybe the Dex wore off sooner. Dex affects my breathing, and I did notice that the night I took Dex. It’s just a matter of getting through it. 🙁

I need to go to Costco too this week. I wanted to get some of their sale items. The chicken pot pies are on sale, which are good for an easy dinner. The Starbucks holiday coffee is on sale, too. Buying stuff when they have their sales is definitely a big savings.

Because of Velcade this week, I’ll probably only get to the pool and gym once. Also, I need to make an appointment for the Santa Fe as the service light switch isn’t working( it’s a computer chip, apparently.) I got it to scroll once, but then it stopped working again. So I need to do that this week. At least I don’t have any other appts.

We’re in for another beautiful day here in N Ca. The wet weather is expected to arrive by Wednesday. Also, I hope Prop 50 passes so we can redistrict some of these worthless Republicans.

I need to write up a menu plan for the week and what house chores I need to focus on.

Simple Sunday

Posted in books, California, cooking, meal planning, Uncategorized, Walking by

I had a rough day yesterday. It seemed like everything was achy, and I was stiff. Not sure if it’s the rainy weather and arthritis hitting, but today is better. I walked even though it was drizzling and then raining. I’m not walking for great distances( one mile), but I felt I should at least move some. I’m planning on going to the gym this morning although its already almost 8am. I’ll sit here a few more minutes and decide.

Well, I’m back from the Auburn gym, so that feels good. I try and do weights at least 2x a week, and the Auburn gym helps since it’s close.

I finished the kitchen zone yesterday, so that’s done, and I only need to tidy up some things today and figure out dinner. I have some russet potatoes left from the Costco bag, so I might do some form of potato, and I have some broccoli. I’m not sure what protein I’ll add. I don’t have any tofu, so ??

I also want to write the menu for the week using what I have.

  • beans, WW tortillas, cheese, etc.
  • soup of some sort, I think I’ll do a lentil soup with carrots and add curry powder to make it curried lentil soup.
  • I have some chicken burgers or turkey burgers to use so I’ll do that.
  • I think I’ll do a breakfast for dinner night with scrambled eggs, blueberry pancakes, and sausage if I have any.
  • I want to look through the freezer and see what needs to be used. I know I have spaghetti and meatballs frozen. I need to check what else I have in there.
  • a pizza night
  • ???

I plan to go to the pool at least once and Maheny at least once.

We’ve been having fun watching the original Frankenstein and Dracula, which is on Prime. We actually have the DVD’s but these have been digitally remastered and there are subtitles. Both of these were around 1931, so the sound quality wasn’t very good. Plus, they’re only like an hour and 10 minutes.

That’s about it for today. I’m going to read and do some more practice embroidery.

Simple Sunday and how things are going.

Posted in Blood test, budgets, California, camping, cancer, Death, freezer cooking, Walking by

Well, it’s been 2 months since Barclay died. Most stuff is handled, but there are still outliers. We need to sell the motorcycle and the trailer. We’re going to try for the motorcycle in September when it cools off. It may or may not sell. It’s a specific niche of a bike, so we’ll see. The trailer is another story, and I’m emptying it out slowly. Most of the camping stuff I’ll store so we can use it if we get the tent trailer.

Some things that need official death certificates, like the bank, I still need to do. Other things like PGE, and I’m just leaving alone for now. The water bill I got changed to my name alone. He had one cc in his name, and I’m leaving that too, as they will close that if it’s not used. I’ve put a lock on it, so that should be ok.

I’ve cleaned out some clothes, etc, and I have a few more things to do. Some favorite T-shirts I’m saving.

It’s definitely a strange place to be.

This coming week, I have my labs, and I’m getting another steroid shot in my knee. We also have PGE coming to take the big tree with a crane. They figured out the other big tree wasn’t in their system, although Barclay tried to get them to add it. Well, maybe another time. The one they’re taking is a huge tree with a lot of lean, and that’s why they need a crane. I’m concerned for our water line, but I will tell them to be careful how they drop tree parts. The other tree I suspect we’ll have to pay for at some point, but I can’t think about that now. So that’s going to be a very anxious day for me, as my anxiety goes way up with stuff like that. Usually, if B were here, he would handle it, and I would leave, but he’s not.

The rest of the week looks fine. Although I don’t know what day PGE is coming until Tuesday, when he’ll call me.

Right now, our weather has cooled and is quite nice. I’ve enjoyed sitting outside. Today is also nice, and then it looks like it heats up again later in the week.

My motivation to do things is very low. I’m pretty much forcing myself to go to the pool or the gym. I’m sure this will pass with more time, but for now, it’s weird for me to feel unmotivated. I did have a nice walk this morning, though. It’s been busy at the park during the week, so I’m not fond of passing 6 people walking, but today was empty, except for two guys fishing in the pond. In the past, when it got busy, I’d just go earlier and then no one’s there, but right now I’m not motivated to get there any earlier. 6:00 a.m. is about my limit, considering I get up at 5:30.

I’ve baked a few things in the Souper Cubes, and it’s loads of fun. I did banana bread and then zucchini bread. They are food-grade silicon, so you can bake right in them. Very cool. I froze most of it as my daughter and I can only get through so much.

Well, that’s it for the most part. just day by day.

Simple Sunday

Posted in books, budgeting, budgets, California, camping, cancer, decluttering, Lake tahoe, library, Uncategorized, Walking by

It’s been so hot again. Today is the hottest at 99. The coolers go off and on all day. I always turn them off by 7:30, even if it’s still hot out. We have two more days of heat, and then it drops back into the 80s.

I’ve had fun reading this book,

It’s quite funny, although if you’re offended by the word fuck, then this isn’t for you. It’s quite motivating. I bought it as a Kindle book.

My walk was nice this morning. Only one person was showing up as I was leaving. My legs still don’t seem to be recovering as well as I’d like, and my app for iHealth still shows my walking steadiness as low. I’m guessing my right knee is still causing some lagging in my gait. Of course, that’s just a guess.

I picked up my holds at the library, and one was chair yoga and pilates. So far, I like it and may buy my own copy. I have it for 3 weeks, so I can give it a bit more time to see if it’s worth it.

The week ahead is Dr. appt in Sacramento, and Velcade in Roseville. That pretty much covers the week since Friday, I’ll take my Dex. My daughter starts back at her college job this week, too. We talked about maybe doing a day trip to Tahoe. Just the West Shore, as it is closer to Tahoe City. I’ll have to see how motivated I am to do that.

I still haven’t canceled one of the Tahoe trips in September. I guess I’m procrastinating. I’ll do it soon. We had booked 2 reservations that overlapped, so one will have to go, and even the one that’s left is questionable. I’m still not sure how we could pull it off without Rubi, and that is not an option. I suppose my son’s huge tent is an option, but not really a great one. I’d have to buy an air mattress and some other things, and I’m not sure I want to do that. I guess I’m waiting for some inspiration to show up. Kidding:)

My daughter has finished painting the studio, and it looks really nice. A pale green with a cream trim. We gave away the Ikea cabinet yesterday on Facebook Marketplace. Fortunately, the guy coming was nice and prompt. He had a van, so my daughter and he were able to slide it in. It was a brand-new hybrid Pacifica. Wow, it was quite nice. I checked the price and they run around 55K.

Well, off to do some stuff as I’m not heading out to the gym this morning.