Simple Sunday

I guess my daughter brought home a cold from work this week and now I have sniffles and a runny nose. It’s not terrible but still, my head feels like it has cotton in it. I’m not sure I’ll go to the Auburn gym then. I did walk this morning so at least I got some exercise in. This is probably the first time I’ve had a minor cold in maybe 3 years. I do get seasonal allergies which is what we all thought my daughter had but then by the next day you could tell it was more like a cold.

I want to swim tomorrow so I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how I feel then. I have Velcade Thursday so I don’t want to push it.

Yesterday I started drying oregano in the dehydrator, which still needs at least another day. I plan on doing a few batches as I use quite a bit of oregano in cooking. Then I’ll move on to thyme. I wish there was a way to keep cilantro but it doesn’t dry with any flavor, I’m not sure why exactly. I just looked up drying cilantro and it says you can and it will keep its flavor so I think since we have so much I’ll do ie batch to test it out. I recall I dried it in the oven and not the dehydrator so maybe that was the problem.

I decided not to go to the gym since I don’t want to be blowing my nose and then using weights:( I really dislike seeing people do this so I don’t want to be one of those people.:)

Yesterday I made a pot of minestrone for dinner it was quite good except the reason I was making it was to use up the zucchini we had and of course, I forgot to put in the zucchini. So maybe I’ll make a zucchini bread. My son brought up a dozen Noah’s bagels and they are delicious. He lives right near one so that will be fun for him. ( and us).

Our cooler weather is moving in and today looks like temperatures in the 70’s so we won’t need to use coolers. I think it’s supposed to be like this for the next week or so. Tahoe may end up cooler than we thought but we’ll be fine. We have the heater in Rubi. This is a shorter trip than we’re used to, only 3 nights but it’s a start. Then in June, we’re there for a week.

Frugal Friday

This week was fairly low spend. We did go to Paris Bakery one morning down in Roseville. It has delicious croissants and other baked goods. Also beautiful cakes. So that ended up $30 because we had fancy coffees which we almost never do and I brought home a pastry for my daughter to enjoy.

I did fill up the Santa Fe on Monday at Costco gas. That is the lowest price anywhere.

I popped into Winco and got a few groceries and some wine. Winco’s wine prices are the best around too. I like the Bogle chardonnay and Smoking Loon unoaked chardonnay. I think my total for wine and food was $57.

I think we’ll need to go to Costco next week as it’s time for more coffee. I plan on keeping that shop low spend as I don’t need a lot and I’m still working on eating down the freezers. With my son moving out food costs should go down although he will still be coming up here 2 days a week to work remotely and go into the office. So he’ll eat here when he’s here.

I’ve worked up the budget for June although I didn’t add in travel $. We’ll be in Tahoe twice. The end of May and mid June so I need to allow for gas and some food things. We generally don’t eat out in Tahoe because of the expense and we haven’t found a super great pizza place or Mexican. We do love Sprouts for sandwiches though. It used to be one of B’s accounts up there and has been around a long time. Great organic food. The Safeway is just up the road from the campground so we usually go there.

Tonight we’re going to do take out pizza so that’s pricey but we’ll only get 1 large as my son is still moving stuff to Sacramento and is down there tonight.

In other news, Dr. Laptalo said to drop the dex completely and let’s see what happens. I totally agreed. Of course, if my numbers go up substantially because dex helps boost the chemo then I’ll just have to consider the options. So I have 2 chemos scheduled before I see him again so that should give us a more accurate picture. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Today was a no walk day, a no gym day and, a no swim day. So I want to go over to the pet bookstore and look for a few books. They’ve moved so it’s in a less convenient location than it was before. Speaking of walking, we haven’t had for months now, other people coming early to walk and then pow, yesterday we had 3 other people and OMG, AH showed up. It has been almost a year since he was there. I just about fell over. If you’re new to this blog and wonder what AH stands for, use your imagination. One thing though, he hadn’t gotten out of his car yet and previously he’d jump out and drag the dog out. So we wondered if the dog had died or was just too old now. I guess we’ll know next time we see him. Weird though.

Thankful Thursday

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?

Middle of May already

May is moving along and it feels like full-on spring!

Everything in the yard is blooming and very green. I think it must have been that last rain we got that really pumped up the flowers and everything. The Iceberg roses are all in full bloom. They are my favorite overall. I wanted to buy some David Austen’s this year but time and money got away from me. We do have other roses in the backyard. There is a yellow peace rose, a beautiful red rose, and another yellow.

B got me 2 pots 0f carnations for Mother’s Day and those need to go in the ground near the birdbath. Carnations winter over here fairly well. My kind of gardening is perennials that spread. I love Shasta daisies as they spread and are very cheery flowers.

Today I plan to go to the pool as I want to get to twice a week minimum. Since I have a doctor appt tomorrow, I won’t be able to get back down for a few days and I need to do a gym day. So we’ll see. I’m planning on going out to the library after the pool as I have 2 Longmire books on hold.

I made some jalapeno cheddar sourdough baguettes.

I’m also trying a new recipe from my new favorite old cookbook. This is a sourdough rye bread. I added sunflower seeds and some pumpkin seeds. I didn’t have any caraway and since I don’t use them often didn’t want to buy any.

I just punched it down and am now doing a second rise.

The baguettes are very good.

And here’s a cute cat picture.

This is Smudge, or smudgy or wormie or noodle. He’s very sweet and very attached to Sachi. That’s their cateo that goes to their back yard which is cat proofed.

Menu Monday

Monday-

leftover BBQ food from Mother’s Day, burgers, potato salad, and a veggie dog.

Tuesday-

Probably beans of some sort, either in burritos or tacos. I have plenty of pressure canned beans but I may put on a pot of Ranco Gordo beans. I have avocados, lettuce, lots of cilantro in the garden and I have some tomatoes to use for a salsa.

Wednesday

There are lots of veggies left over from the BBQ too so I’ll probably do a stir fry with tofu and make some brown rice.

Thursday

With the weather so nice, I plan on continuing grilling outside so I’ll grill chicken/tofu and probably do extra to have in salads or make a chicken salad. I will need to get some lettuce though as what I have won’t have enough to make it to this day.

Friday

I think I’ll hit the easy button and order a pizza.

Saturday

I’m guessing leftovers for a make your own meal night unless I come up with something creative.

I got a new cookbook from the library that has lots of good recipes. It’s America’s Test Kitchen cooking for two.

I don’t think I’d buy it but it is very extensive and has lots of good tips and tricks for cooking.

My menu plan does change often based on what I find in the fridge and freezer but I do like a rough outline of what to make for the week.

Simple Sunday and Happy Mother’s Day

It’s a beautiful day here in N CA. The weather is just great. We just got back from our walk and the park was empty except for the many Canada goose families. Yesterday I did 1.6 miles so I’m getting close to my 2-mile goal. My knee did feel a little stressed after that but it seems to pass more quickly now. I’m also wearing my brace less and less.

A Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there of human kids or furry kids.

My son plans to do a lunch BBQ for us all and then head off to Sacramento to move more stuff into their apartment.

The week ahead looks good. I have my doctor appt on Thursday and I will want to discuss the dex stuff and my thinning hair from either dex or Velcade. I’ve lost almost 40% of my hair and it’s quite upsetting. I’m not sure if it’s dex or Velcade or both. I checked on the Facebook myeloma group and a few people did say it was a side effect of Velcade. But a couple of people said Dex. And then I vaguely remembered going to my primary care doctor years ago when I was in treatment(2015) for hair loss and I remember him saying probably dex. The biggest problem with dex is raising my blood pressure so that’s what I’ll focus on. Either lowering the dose or dropping it and see how my numbers go. Of course, I’ll see what his expert opinion is.

Other than that I plan on swimming and the gym and the library.

We haven’t heard from the people who were going to do the bathroom so I guess we’ll need to start over looking for someone to at least get the plumbing done. sigh:(….

Thankful Thursday and Frugal Friday on Saturday

It was a rough couple of days prepping for the colonoscopy. My last meal was 6:30 on Wednesday and then I didn’t eat again till Friday at almost 2pm.

I am VERY grateful it is over and nothing serious came up. I had 2 polyps which was fantastic and I guess they were small. I think they still do pathology because they are polyps but I’m not worried. The worst was being so bored on Thursday, having no energy to do anything and then taking the first prep at 6pm. Then the next worst was getting up to go into the bathroom 5 thousand times. We only have one bathroom so I felt bad for everyone else.

I am grateful though, I slept ok that night. The next morning the prep was at 5:30 am and wasn’t quite as intense. Then no water after 7:30 so that was tough too.

I’m grateful for the nurses and the doctor. He’s the one who did the last one.

The frugalness was not spending any money or even thinking about money. My brain was definitely fuzzy and unfocused. I didn’t even read just laid around.

Earlier in the week, we did a WinCo shop since I did need a few things. I think that came in around$100. Katy from the Non-Consumer advocate was just blogging about the prices at Winco and how great they are. I agreed and we are lucky that our Winco is in a nice area and not too sketchy. I don’t think I’d shop there at 10pm but overall in the mornings, it’s nice.

Today is a home day although I wanted to go to the farmers market, I decided to do stuff around the house and then do a meal plan for the week.

Tomorrow is Mother’s Day and my kids are planning to do a BBQ for me. That’ll be nice. My son is in the process of moving out so he’ll use B’s truck again to move a few more things. He’s still planning on working from here next week as his internet isn’t hooked up yet. I think in the future he’ll spend a few nights here too as he’ll need to go into the Auburn office 2 days a week.

Our weather is just beautiful. Yesterday, for dinner, we used the Weber for the first time and ate outside. It was in the low 80’s. Today looks the same.

We walked a bit earlier and I think tomorrow we will try to get there maybe 10 minutes earlier. My eyes are very light sensitive which is one reason I walk early.

Warming up

We are going to be getting very nice warm weather over the next 10 days. In the 80’s even. Most of the weed eating is done so that’s good. B probably still needs to do one last weed eat before it all dries out. And with the warm weather comes having to start watering. The big rain we had on Saturday did help but things dry out quickly.

We have the tomatoes planted and the peppers too so they might need watering later in the week.

I’ve been keeping meals very simple partly because I want to use stuff up but also with the colonoscopy, there’s no solid food for the day before only liquids so I’ve been practicing by not having anything too heavy. Last night I used the last 2 tilapia and had a spring roll on the side. I might see what soups I have in the pantry for tonight.

Today I plan on going to the gym and dropping off books at the library. I read Thomas Perry’s new book ‘Hero’. It was good not great but good. I also read Grisham’s new book,’ The Exchange’, about the lawyer who exposed the bad ones in ‘ The Firm’. It was ok not great but a good read. I think I’ve read all the Craig Johnston but I I will check and his new one is coming out this month. I have it on hold at the library already.

I was home yesterday and finished the kitchen zone and the bathroom. We’re still waiting on a date when a plumber can come. If we don’t hear from this one we’ll need to go back to our list and pick another plumber. I figure with everything happening this week ( with me and my son’s big move-out date) the earliest would be next week and the one plumber couldn’t do it then. We’re still trying to figure it out but I’m sure it’ll come together. Also, this week was finals week at Sierra College so my daughter was working late in case students needed help with research projects.

Sunday is Mother’s Day and we decided to do a BBQ at lunch or early afternoon. My son will still be trying to move stuff into his new apartment so I want him to feel he can be here for a bit and then leave to take more things. The apartment is in Sacramento so he will need to come up to Auburn 2 days a week to work. His partner, Alia, doesn’t work remotely so that’s why they chose Sacramento. They are well suited to each other and I’m happy for him. It’s a big step for him.

Simple Sunday

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!!!

A cloudy Sunday morning walk but it was still nice. I did 1.4 miles so it’s getting there. I’m still aiming at getting to the 2-mile mark, hopefully by summer. Next week is a bit hit or miss with my procedure and of course the day before of no food, just clear liquids. It’ll be fine just an inconvenience.

We got the Ikea stuff for the bathroom so we’re set there. It’s a small sink cabinet and a mirrored medicine cabinet. The cabinet has 2 shelves, which will help to put a few things in.

I’m planning some kind of Mexican food for tonight, maybe nachos. I have beans, corn chips, avocados, cheese, and sour cream so that seems a go. Oh, and we have a whole bed of cilantro to make salsa!!

That’s it for this post, I want to tidy up things and then read.

Rainy Saturday

We were able to get our walk in before the rain started. It’s supposed to rain all day and quite a bit. Well, we always need the rain maybe not the wind but certainly the rain.

Today is a home day and not a swim day. I plan on making a big pot of broccoli cheddar soup. I need to use the big bag I got from Costco. We’ll probably have that for dinner plus baked potatoes. I got the bakers at Costco too and plan on doing twice-baked potatoes. I usually start with 12-14 potatoes and then after I bake them, cut them in half and fill them with the cheese, and potato mixture. I usually end up with 12 half potatoes because I mound the filling. These do freeze great and are an easy meal with salad.

B got the new window in yesterday and it looks fresh and clean. We opted for no grids. All of the other windows( except the sunroom)have grids but as we replace the windows we are going for gridless windows.

We’re working our way through watching Inspector Lynley. We have the 3rd season to watch. It’s a great show and Lynley is a good character. I’m reading another Longmire book now. I am so impressed with the way he writes and how he brings in so much cultural stuff about the Cheyenne and Crow. Very different from Hillerman and the Southwest. In this one” As the Crow flies’, he takes part in a peyote ceremony. It was pretty accurate in his description. I’ve done peyote 3 times( B says, he thinks it was only 2) and it is a very mind altering/spiritual experience. Of course, I was in my 20’s and early 30’s and very much into the whole Native American thing. We also have had 2 teepees. The first one was given to us by a friend and it was painted with different Indian motifs. That one finally fell apart and we bought one from a company in Oregon. When we moved here we set it up and used it till it too finally deteriorated. We used to smudge our house and ourselves with sage as a way to cleanse negative energy. I haven’t done that for years but I still have some abalone shells that we used for that purpose. Longmire is in his early 50’s when he does peyote and also the character is very tuned into the whole spiritual side of the Native American, Cheyenne in his case. Anyway, I digress, they are great books!