Tag Archives: Walking

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, Gratitude, knee injury, library by

It may seem trite, but I’m thankful for our garbage guy who picks up our trash every Thursday. The trucks are automated now, so he doesn’t have to get out of the truck as a big arm comes out and picks it up. Still, he starts his day at 4am in all weather. We used to always give a Christmas gift of a gift card to show our appreciation, but now we don’t as he wouldn’t see it as the can is out in the driveway, and as I said, it’s all automated.

I’m thankful for this beautiful spring weather we are having. Next week it dips back down to the 60s, so much cooler.

I’m thankful B’s labs were good, so he doesn’t need a transfusion. I’m really hoping with this next immuno treatment we see some improvement. That would be #3. He says he doesn’t feel much different, and the pain is still there. 😦

I’m very thankful I went for a walk the other day. It was not very long or far, but I felt it broke the spell of not walking. It’s been almost a month since I had the meniscus tear, so I hope this begins to help along with the PT exercises.

I’m grateful my daughter has been willing to step up and do all the ‘dad’ chores like getting wood, cleaning out the woodstove, etc. She has been doing a lot.

I haven’t decided whether to go to the library/gym today. It’s early yet, so I’ll get my morning going and then decide. I do need to get gas at Costco, so that could motivate me.

What things are you grateful for? Over at The Frugal Girl’s blog, there are lots of comments from her subscribers. She is quite a talented person.

Simple Sunday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, home stuff, Uncategorized, Walking by

A clear morning walk with the waning moon above. No one was around but us and the new hire for the park. We don’t know what happened to the other guy but it’s been around 4 months since they had a regular maintenance person there.

We drove the Santa Fe down to the park because the VW’s flywheel went the other day. This is what the mechanic, who fixed the starter, said would eventually happen. I guess we figured it would be a bit down the road. Unfortunately, we don’t have the money to fix her right now so buggie will just have to sit until we’re done with Stanford. After it’s fixed I guess we’ll need to decide to keep her or sell. Maybe it’s just time to let it go. I wouldn’t want to decide till after it’s fixed.

Today I am not going into the Auburn gym. I think my daughter and I are going to the nursery for some soil and maybe a few flowers.

Today is going to be sunny and the first real day of almost 70 degrees. I plan on getting the Weber out so this week I can BBQ at least once. I have some chicken burgers and Boca burgers too. Tuesday is supposed to be the warmest day.

This week is B’s CT and I have Velcade on Thursday. My appt is at 8:30 so I should be out of there by 9am and I’ll go over to the gym and library. Then Friday with Dex will be a home day.

There haven’t been any changes with my sleep apnea app on my Apple watch. It’s generally right above the elevated line. In April I see the sleep dr so I guess that’s when I’ll know more. I’m pretty sure I would not use a CPAC machine but who knows. Never say never, right??

Next week starts our new budget and I have most everything in. I still need to check my Allstate bill and find the due date. I think that’s the only bill not on auto-pay since I’m paying a different amount each time.

Well, off to start the day! What’s new in your world? anything? I think the reason blogs are so interesting to read is other people’s lives are different than mine and I do enjoy peeking into them.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, California, cancer, Flylady, home stuff, swimming, velcade, Walking by

A cold morning to start and damp. We had a nice walk again, with no one there. I guess we must be between walkers because haven’t had anyone in a few weeks on the weekend. During the week, I see some regulars that start to show up around 7am. The next 10 days look nice with no rain so that’ll help dry things out.

I headed out to the gym at 8am and it was a little busier with the ‘new years resolution exercise’ people. I left before 9 and then it was getting even busier.

I stopped at the store for some things for a greek salad and wine. After I got home I cleaned under the kitchen sink. It’s the kitchen zone this week, so tomorrow I’ll finish the cabinets and I want to clean the fridge.

My son is coming for dinner and to spend the night out in Rubi. He works in Auburn on Mondays so it’s a good time to catch up. I plan on cooking some leftover turkey and potatoes. I also have leftover nut loaf to heat up as well.

This coming week should be mellow, no appts !!! Hurray!! I don’t have my labs till next week so that’s a little different than usual. I always go the Monday after my shot but because I had been scheduled for my next Velcade later( Feb), I pushed my labs out. We did reschedule me for the end of January or 4 weeks.

Last night we watched ‘To kill a Mockingbird’. Even though I’ve seen it many times and read the book so many times. it is still such a powerful movie. Gregory Peck did such an amazing job as Atticus Finch. If you haven’t seen it in a while, check it out. We finished the series the Helsinki Murders. I wouldn’t really recommend it. It was dark and seemed overdone. Oh well, some series are like that.

I do plan to go to Roseville tomorrow and swim but I do have an alternative plan if the pool is too busy. If the wait is longer than 10 minutes for a lane, I’ll go down to the gym. I’ll just need to pack my gym clothes as I wear my suit to the pool. Plus, I’ll need to bring my Hoka’s as I wear my Birkenstocks to the pool. Whichever the case, I’ll do one or the other.

Not much else new here at mi casa so I’ll close for now.

Simple Sunday

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

The rain has stopped and it’s patchy puffy clouds and some blue sky. It looks like the rain comes back in tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully some of the run off can be absorbed.

We had a nice walk this morning. The air was fresh from all the rain. We did see one of the park cats. I’m guessing he was dropped off. I hope he finds a new home.

I went in for my mammogram early and then to the gym. I was back home by 9 a.m., so it was a productive morning.

After I had breakfast, I started the IP with a chicken carcas to make broth. I’m not going to pressure can it but will freeze it. I might do a Avgolemono soup tonight so I’d need some for that. It’s one of my all time favorites.

Our new December budget start tomorrow. I hope it’s better than November. We had lots of extras to pay for and it made for a tight month. Next month includes Christmas but I have most of that done. Not all of it but most. The last big annual bill will be our property tax which I plan on doing this week. I had about half in my cash envelope so that helped but next year I will get it all in. I did fairly well with my annual bills using cash envelopes but I want to do better next year.

I’m roasting a pan of veggies for dinners this week. It has sweet potato, broccoli, red onion, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes. I can use this with rice for at least one meal.

I still need to mop the kitchen floor and then I’m done. I’ve finished reading all the Baldacci’s I had and really enjoyed them all. John Puller is an interesting character. The Simply Lies, is a stand alone and I like that one as well. Tuesday after I drop B off at infusion, I plan on going to the library so I can checkout a few more books.

Simple Sunday

Posted in California, Walking by

A very nice walk this morning. It’s getting light by 6:15 which is fine. One person was there and then he left. He must live down the road from the park because he turned left from the park which is not toward town. Other than that, it was just us.

I just got back from the gym I did some weights and some treadmill. My knee tweaked out some yesterday which was weird since I haven’t had any trouble with it for months. I think I might have twisted the wrong way. It’s better today.

My son drove his Dad to infusion and home yesterday. It took about, in total, 3 + hours. So not too long. We’re all hoping it’s an easy week. Fingers crossed:)

I don’t have much to do today. Most of the house stuff is done although I could vacuum. Plus I need to do a menu for the week. I have my monthly one but I think I’ve done most of the dinners I had written down. Tonight I plan on shrimp scampi with some pasta and broccoli.

Just a short blog today. Not much else going on which I’m very glad of:)

Thankful Thursday( late) and Frugal Friday

Posted in Blood test, books, budgets, California, cancer, frugalism, Gratitude, husband, peritoneal mesothelomia, Political things, Walking by

Yesterday was busy so I didn’t get anything written. I had to be down at infusion by 8:30am so needed to leave early. I did get my walk in first thing and that was nice. I’m thankful, I am still walking even though B isn’t. With his numbers so down he doesn’t have the energy.:(

I’m thankful infusion went ok. They are great nurses for sure. I noticed though there weren’t curtains to pull around the chairs which is odd for infusion rooms. All the UCD infusion chairs have some kind of curtain for privacy.

After infusion, I went to the library to pick up my holds. I am thankful for the Martha Riley Library as it is a wonderful community space.

I didn’t really have any enthusiasm to go to the gym. After that, I went back down to Winco. I finally saw where the new Trader Joe’s is and funny, it’s right down from Winco. But you can’t see it right off as the gas station blocks the view. It looks to be a bigger one than the Rocklin one so I’ll check it out next time I swim.

I’m thankful this fall has been colorful with leaves turning all shades of yellows, golds and some reds. Other than that, this week is really a downer if I’m honest.

Frugal-wise, it was ok. I didn’t really do a whole lot. All of the first-of-the-month bills are paid. There’s a little left over to get through till the end of the month. There’s Thanksgiving and so I’ll need a few more groceries for that. I ordered the Diestal turkey roast to be delivered on Nov 21. They are not cheap, but local and I’ve had good luck cooking them.

I spent $125 at Winco, $25 was on wine, so $100 was on food. I also filled the car up at Costco gas so that is a big $$ savings.

Today is a Dex day so it’s home for me. Barclay’s platelets have tanked so he’s going in for more labs this morning and hopefully scheduled for infusion. this is day 10. so we’re starting to hit the real downtime (days 10-15). He’s much better this cycle but still, there’s the platelets dropping. His hemoglobin is doing ok, but I think this is the period too where that started dropping. Fingers crossed it doesn’t.

My son is coming up today to work on a few things. If B needs an infusion tomorrow he could take him and my daughter go get him. We need the labs to come in till we know and the doctor says his platelets need to be under 50 for transfusion. I guess what she was saying is this is UCD policy. What a crock of shit. If it’s only going to keep going down and that means an ER visit, he knows he’s at 90 so why wait??? Doesn’t make any sense.

I’m still committed to not watching the news, it’s kind of a relief really. I know how I am with stuff that upsets me so much, so I feel this is a good thing for me right now. For how long? Who knows??

Frugal Friday on Saturday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, cooking, frugalism, peritoneal mesothelomia, Walking by

Well, guess where we are?? The UCD infusion center. B’s platelets went way up,244, but his hemoglobin went down:(

So he’s getting a blood transfusion. It’ll probably be 3-4 hours but it’s nice here and quiet. I went for a long walk over to Kiwanis house and wow it’s all different. Well, not the Kiwanis house but all around it is construction.

I’m back now and since we have a while I thought I’d get this posted.

Then Monday he’ll get labs again.

So Frugal wise, I went to Winco this week and that’s about it. I think my groceries were $150. So okay really. I am planning Costco at some point next week but we’ll just have to see how everything plays out with chemo and labs.

I made the cauliflower soup last night from The Soup Sisters cookbook. Everyone loved it. I thought it was just ok. I did like it blended in the Vitamix so it was very silky.

I have some sticky rice to use up, so I may cook that like fried rice, and then I have some TJ’s orange chicken to use up, too.

I finished the budget for November so all the numbers add up and are accounted for. Most of our bills come out in the first 10 days of the month, so that’s good timing.

Thankful Thursday

Posted in Blood test, books, California, cancer, Gratitude, husband, library, Walking by

First, the biggest is B’s numbers went up enough that he didn’t need the transfusion. Today is his labs so we should know if they increased. The doctor will reduce the chemo by 25%. Also, we’ll know what to look for this time. Dr. Lee from Stanford doesn’t want to go down too much more otherwise the chemo is really for naught. So he thinks he’s still a good candidate for the Hipec so that’s what matters here.

I’m thankful to still keep walking at 6am even though it is very star-filled. I like it early but I have to admit I am feeling somewhat less motivated. Maybe that’s an age thing too or just that I need to find my why again. Right now I’ll just stick to what I’m doing which is 5 days a week sometimes 4( when I’m feeling lazy:))

I’m certainly thankful my daughter can take her Dad for labs etc. This morning I’m meeting up with the library friends so I can’t do it till later and it’s better to get them done early so the results come in.

I’m thankful to be able to swim at the pool even though it’s been hit or miss. With everything going on if I get one swim a week in that’s good. Yesterday, made it twice this week( hurray) but the pool was crazy busy. I had to wait 2o minutes for a lane and then because the pool closes at 9:25, I barely got a swim in. There seemed to be a lot of people there I hadn’t seen before. It’s odd how it is that sometimes it empties out at 8:30 and other times people were NOT giving up their lanes even though they had been swimming over an hour. I wonder if Roseville P and R could put an hour limit on lap time. ?? I doubt it but it does seem unfair when some people are swimming an hour and a half when there’s 3 people waiting. And that’s 2 to a lane. I won’t do circle swimming( that’s where there is another person who follows you and you swim in a circle. Last time I got kicked in the head. Oh well, it is what it is.

I’m grateful for our beautiful fall weather. We’re having a wood fire in the mornings to take the chill off the house. It’s very cozy.

I’m thankful we’re near the end of the whole campaigning thing. I’d just like to be over. It’s going to be very tense that Nov 5 and beyond whatever happens. I voted early and just got the notice my vote was counted!

I’m grateful for the Roseville Public Library. It’s a welcoming place and I love getting my books there.

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, books, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, cash envelopes, cooking, decluttering, Flylady, minimalism, reading, Uncategorized, Walking by

We had a wonderful walk this morning with very cool temperatures and it was quite breezy. We were the only ones there except for the one runner who we like a lot. Very nice woman and a beautiful runner. She has a great pace.

I could feel the Dex drop of energy though so I was tired and knew I wasn’t going to go to the gym. Taking the 4 mg of dex on Friday and Saturday is good and keeps my energy pretty good but it’s still a tax on my system. So today, being Sunday, I’ll do my morning routine and then chill.

I decided to finish the kitchen zone so that’s done. And I did a quick swish and swipe in the bathroom.

I’ve been re-reading ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear because a YouTube I watched did a review of his book and I didn’t really get what his premise was initially but she explained really well so I got it from the library. Basically, so far I get, that he’s saying it’s the system of how to get to where or what you want not so much the goal. So on reflection, I thought about how the Flylady system and regular decluttering( like one in and out) is really the system I use to maintain a clean and tidy, and uncluttered home. I only started the book so I feel there might be more thoughts about all this to come.

B’s had a few good days and a few bad days with energy. He did go on the Mayo clinic site to read about the drug he’ll be taking and a lot of people had input and comments. That is the best way to really find out about some of these things are from real people taking that chemo. He was encouraged.

We had a fun night last night with my son, his girlfriend, his other friend who’s transmale( a wonderful person BTW), and my daughter. My son got out the OONI and I had made pizza dough so he manned the OONI handmade 4 pizzas which all came out great. Then he set up an outside movie screen and we all watched Alien!!! It was fun!! They left about 10. All in all a fun night.

Tomorrow I get my labs and then I plan to swim if my energy is good. I’ll just have to see how I wake up. I also need to get into Costco for eggs and coffee. I might add a few other things on, but not too much as the food budget is almost gone.

Simple Sunday

Posted in books, California, cancer, cooking, Walking by

A nice walk at 6am. It’s predawn and still slightly dark. I saw a few stars.

I went to the Auburn gym and did some weights. There were quite a few new people that I hadn’t seen on a Sunday. Usually, it’s pretty empty which is why I go on Sundays.

Then I went to Target to get the Murphy soap I use on the floors. I also picked up some Method Cleaner for the new bathroom tiles. Also a candle for a gift.

My son spent the night because he went over to his friends last night. So this morning he put up the new screen/security door on the Studio. It’ll be nice in the fall when we can keep the door open.

We’re watching the Rings of Power on Prime and it’s good. Quite well done. This goes back a long way from when Galaridal was still like an elf warrior. Also, Sauron is coming back to life. I think they’ve done a good job going back before LOTRs. I usually try and reread LOTR every September/October so I guess I better get started. Tolkien isn’t the easiest to read but once you find his pace it is truly a brilliant literary work.

My daughter is cooking brown rice for tonight’s dinner and I think she plans to do some kind of bowls with it. I have some broccoli to use too.

Well, just an ordinary day, simple and slow-paced.