Go on over to word press

My new blog is at christina1952.wordpress.com

Week end to do list and menus

It's Memorial Day weekend, it's beautiful here in northern ca. I don't have much planned ,

1. Make menu for week
2. Work out the very slim budget to now include the dreaded SL
3. Go to staples for a new budget book( I have coupons)
4. Go to the store for a few items(again)
5. Walk
6. Do a little Flyday stuff
7. Make 2 freezer meals, stuffed potatoes, and French toast I think.
8. Vacuum , mop floor
9. Read!
10. Maybe get paint for a small cabinet I want to do.

Menu for week

Saturday, meatloaf, and freezer baked potatoes salad, grilled tofu

Sunday, steak, tofu, salad, beans

Monday, grilled chicken, black bean burgers, salad

Tuesday, pasta of some sort

Wednesday, birthday dinner?

Thursday, .?

Friday, tacos

Well see how it plays out.

Moving my blog, mostly..

I'm trying to move over to word press. The address is http://christina1952.wordpress.comhttp://christina1952.wordpress.com/
I'll try and do both blogs for a while.
It has been an incredibly stressful day. First I had to go get a blood draw , she left a nice mark:(
Then it was off to the dentist for a cleaning. Always a bit of a stress since I hate sitting in that chair.
Then the worst was dealing with the student loan people for , 45 minutes the first time. My disability
 is finally in the system but not quite figured out by all departments. Then another call to the disability
People again, they had me on hold for 30. Minutes. The transferred me twice to someone. So I was
 getting pretty upset.  
The next guy said he'd look into it, so I came unglued, then around 45 min later he called back and said just yesterday it was 
Updated in the system, but they still didn't know my husbands amount or what the payment will be.
So I'm still stressed over it but at ,east there's some progress.
What a pain....
So I'll update when I hear.
I'm pretty sure I hear a glass of wine calling and I need to figure out dinner. It's really a good thing I'm not on chemo and steroids or I hate to think what I would have done today....

Where is my blog?

Hello, where is my Tahoe girl?

Sunday night chit chat

halfdozendaily.typepad.com

• Reading? The new Jack Reacher"A Wanted Man" , very good.
• Listening to? We were listening to the wind.
• Watching?later, Castle.
• Cooking/Baking? Made the stuffed shells ,from the freezer cookbook, a big salad with blue cheese dressing.
• Happy you accomplished this week?alot with my new freezer cookbook.
• Looking forward to next week? I have next Saturday off, so I'll go to the farmers market!
• Thankful for today? My 2 great kids, my cancer is stable, and my husband.
• *Bonus Question* Do you like your name? Would you change it if you could?
• I've always liked Anne or Annie.

Tahoe, on a Wednesday!

We're going up to Tahoe for a night , B to work, me just have fun. We were going to bring the bikes but its suppose to rain tomorrow. So, well walk as much as I can. That's about 2 miles. Wish it was more, but I am always grateful I can at least do that. 

Finished reading "the Last Runaway" by Tracy chevalier . It was absolutely great. She is a very good writer and this story of a young Quaker woman was very moving. We have our roots in Quakerism as B and I were married in a Quaker meeting and were Quakers for many years. 

I'm feeling pretty good. Maybe a little tired, I don't see my hem/ onc till mid June , which makes me a little nervous if my m protein is going up. I've had some rib discomfort on both sides so I get scared its lesions. But I must stay strong and positive. And we'll see
. 

I've loved my new little freezer and filling it. Well, that's a long way off, but I have prepared 2 lasagnas, 1 stuffed shells, and 8 small double stuffed potatoes. There's so many ideas in the Not your Mothers freezer cookbook.http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_21?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=not+your+mothers+freezer+cookbook&sprefix=Not+your+mothers+free%2Caps%2C411
I'll try and post some pictures of Tahoe. I'm still trying to figure out blogging and would like to switch to another forum but not sure how? Any ideas?

Saturday ,this and that!

Well, it's not good news for our cat,Tucker. He has feline diabetes .They wanted us to start right away with day long testing etc. for over $500. So, my daughter said we'd think about it . She didn't like the office personnel , although he doctor was nice she said. I think we'll go back to the vet we usually use, it's just it's 25 min away. But they are great. There are some natural remedies, but I think we'll get him stabilized and go form there. I know we can't afford 118 a month for cat treatment.

Also, something is happening with the studen t loan mess. The cancer legal aid hasn't been too helpful yet. Well see when I get the referrals. I'm assuming Nel net is going to do what ever they feel like doing and that will be separating the loans. I'm really ok with that, just not with having to start a payment plan when we have just started to think about retirement and savings. It totally sucks. And this whole mess has gone on for years.

On a cool note, my husband, B , and DD, are walking in race for the cure. I think it's great even though I don't have breast cancer, it's still as if we're all in the cancer family. My husbands mother did die of breast cancer so it's in his family. Thankfully , those genes are passed maternally, so DD should not have to worry about the genetic side.

I'm off to work,at the best job ever, even if I'm not branch manager, ha ,ha.
Tomorrow is Mother's Day, I think over my life, and I haven't really accomplished a lot , never had a career . But, I had two wonderful children who are smart, not into any drugs or alcohol and are really amazing people.
I am grateful for that.

Carla's Sunday night chit chat

http://halfdozendaily.typepad.com/my-half-dozen-daily/2013/05/sunday-night-chit-chat.html

Your turn!! :)

• Reading?  I've been reading a lot of retirement books, the Wealthy Barber, the average Family's guide to Financial freedom , and Get a life, you don't need a million to retire well.all something to think about. Ok I just read Gone girl, I waited 6 months on the library list to get this. I was so excited. I was so disappointed . If you like psychotic behavior and a story that ends too weird, then this is the book for you. I really really didn't like it. I guess I like a story with an ending I can live with this, but this was not my kinda thing .
• 
  
• Listening to?right now it's rain on the roof.
• Watching?last night we finished "the hunger games" , ok I guess the books was better, of course.
• Cooking/Baking? I made cheese enchilada casserole, pintos  and brown rice. Tonight is leftovers.
• Happy you accomplished this week?Worked my 3 library shifts of 4 hours each, so my hem/ onc, walked 4 days. Am making progress on getting rid of the Life magazines. If you don't know, I had an eBay store that sold Life. I did pretty well, except now, none of the ones I have really sell. So I'm getting rid of most. I'm keeping 9 bins of history, Kennedy , Martin Luther king, civil rights, moon walk etc. if anyone wants any of my give always let me know. You can have them for the postage price. A lot of people do birthdays, anniversaries etc.
• Looking forward to next week? Walking more, working, decluttering more. The Flylady zone is the kitchen, usually a big job.
• Thankful for today?As usual, my continuing very good partial remission. Waiting for my SPEP  test and immuinopherisis test
• *Bonus Question* What are the "top 3" things on your to do list for next week? One thing on my mini goals with B, walk more, work on freezer meals. Yeah, I finally got my little chest freezer, thanks to the leukemia  and Lymphoma society, which has given me a grant and I get my share of my husbands insurance bill refunded. They are such a great organization. If anyone  is a runner, check out the LLS, team continuum which raises money for people like me with blood cancers...!!!

May goals

My goals for may will be
* put $500 back in sinking funds ,that were used for birthday, car tags, and spring household stuff.
*go away with B on a work trip to Tahoe!
*my daughters 28 birthday is may 29! Wow it seems like yesterday!
*with my new freezer , work on stockpiling concept, so I spend less on food.
* walk 5x per week
*get my life magazines down to 6 bins of keepers, even that is too much , but it's a place to work toward. Unfortunately, the ones left, that I don't want really don't sell, so I've been giving them to goodwill.
* emotionally , handle what my blood work comes back as. Right now, my blood work is all normal except for the serum protein  which , is at .34. Still very low but it is dectable. I'll know next week what it is. Then I don t see my doctor till middle of June since he's on vacation, so I will enjoy that time .
*
I'm sure there more,but I'll leave it at that.

A new week, a new month!

Today is the last day of April. It's been a good month. We're almost done with the chicken coop, the chickies are really growing. Went on our mini trip to Monterey. Lots of other stuff too.
Budget wise I'd say we did ok. Starting tomorrow, may 1 , I'm going to track food, non food, pet food all separately . I do this now but not on single designated sheets. So I think that's how I'll do it. Especially since cat food costs a lot. We have 4 cats who eat a lot. Birds, and now chicken food.

We still need to finish the chicken coop, buy birthday presents for my daughter, and who knows what else.
I see the doctor tomorrow , never fun but necessary. I don't get nervous till I know my blood results are due, then very nervous.
Well, I'm off to my little job at the library.
Still dealing with SOB 's at the student loan division. If this isn't resolved a payment plan will start in June. We barely make it now, how is that going to be. It'll suck, because we just started to see the light at the end of the tunnel with bills, and had hoped to really start building an emergency fund.
It's very frustrating, and I'm getting nowhere wit them. I did contact a cancer legal aid group, maybe they will be able to help.

Very nice weather this week.

Goodwill

Dropped off a load at goodwill . I'll do more this weekend. I've given my friend Beth , about 10 loads of stuff. Very good it's going to someone with a big house and it fits in...
Not so much in my 1000 sq ft house.
Dropped off library discards too.
Overall it always feels so good to let go of stuff. And at this point I really don't have a lot to let go of.

Monterey bay!

It is so relaxing to be here, were having a very nice time.
Pacing ourselves, more for my sake. We were going to rent bikes this afternoon but because we walked so much this morning, I don't want to risk overdoing it.
So we're going to go to the farmers market, and then to cannery row. We bought some trader joes salads for dinner. So I think we're set.

Sunday night chit chat

Your turn!! :)

• Reading? Finished "the wheat belly" interesting. Reading " fifty shades freed" pretty much porn but its classified erotica by the library . Not worth reading. 
• Listening to? The frogs outside starting their spring croaking. 
• Watching? A funny British show " spy"
• Cooking/Baking? My son cooked some lobster, pasta, salad!
• Happy you accomplished this week? Quite a lot, decluttered some of my Pyrex collection to a friend. Sent my sister my only Roseville pottery vase. And more magazines.
• Looking forward to next week? Today we are heading to Monterey for 3 days,
• Thankful for today? It is beautiful outside. I feel good, no medications!
• *Bonus Question* Fill in the blank: I am by far the biggest ________ snob! Gee, I don't really know.

 halfdozendaily.typepad.com

Monday morning and a look at the last week

Last week was a good week overall. Walked almost everyday. I have to watch my low back but I still need to move.
WW is going ok. I wish I was dropping the pounds but it seems I'm staying about the same. This week I'm going to start to cut out all wheat. It's hard to do as I'm a bread girl and I love making bread. But I want to drop the pounds. Also, have some no alcohol days. But I love my glass of wine outside this time of year.

Heading out on an adventure today with B. the ocean is calling
I'm also working on my other blog at christina1952!   christina1952.wordpress.comNot sure how to link them yet or switch one over. I like the look of the other blog better. But most of my posts have been here. Still can't quite figure out how to keep another persons blog linked. Or do I have to do it each time?
Likehalfdozendaily.typepad.com

So do have to do that each time?

Sunday night chit chat!

Ok!! Your turn! :)http://halfdozendaily.typepad.com/my-half-dozen-daily/2013/04/sunday-night-chit-chat-1.html#comments

Reading? I'm actually re reading "you can buy happiness and its cheap " by Tammy strobel

Watching.?just finished"the following " wow , that is scary and so intense.
Listening to? Nothing
Cooking/baking? We had stir fry tofu and chicken!
Happy you accomplished this week? Actually a lot, budget is good, worked 3 days, de cluttered, and that's it.
Looking forward to next week? Working, going to call an attorney about my student loan mess, grocery shop, and probably more.

Thankful for today? As always, that I feel good. My L 1 was out , inflamed, all week so I didn't walk much. But it  feels better today, so I'll walk tomorrow .
*Bonus Question* What is your *ideal* wake up time and what time do you *usually* wake up?
I wake up at 4 am to take my thyroid pill. Then  go back to sleep to around 6am. Then actually get out of bed around 6:30.
***

Friday update

Well the tax man cometh! Today was the day our taxes came out, kinda a bummer. But we had the money from the stock sale. A glorious day out and I can't walk because my low back L1 is out. I have a bulging disc there and every once in a while it goes. It is sore and inflamed. So no walking for at least 3-4 days. Here I was walking every day. Oh well;(

We decided not to pay off the Prius and hang on to the money and make extra payments. That feels good. We've met our April savings and beyond. We just need to get sinking funds going. We don't have a lot left over in each check so we need to be careful...

Dinner is chicken fajhitas , and tofu fajhitas .

April savings update

Well, we did it , of course it was my husbands bonus that did it.
$1000 in sinking funds to cover, car tags, birthday, Costco membership and AAA membership. That leaves some left over even.
$1000 zero balance in checking.
Husband used $500 to by a tablet and a music amplifier. 
So, that was his bonus, and we reached our April goals.
I'm also adding $5 dollar bills to the $5 challenge, and I'm current on the 52 week savings plan.
So all in all I'm very happy.

Sunday night chit chat with Carla and what's coming up this week!

Ok, your turn!

Reading? Well, I just finished Nature Noir, about a state ranger right here in the auburn ,ca area where we live. It was interesting, not great.
Then also just finished " raining cat sitters and dogs" , this a really cute mystery series that takes place in Florida. Good characters.
Watching?well, I'm hoping to finish Downton Abbey tonight. So far it's great but sad.
Listening to? A wood wick candle burning, they crackle.
Cooking/baking? Tonight is Greek pasta salad and grilled chicken.
Happy you accomplished this week?Alot,  worked 3 days, of course I only work 4 hours each shift. Saw my oncologist, cooked every night. Kept the house up and walked 3 times.
Looking forward to next week? Just same old same old, but I'm always grateful for another day.
Thankful for today? Just everything!!!!!!!
*Bonus Question* What is your regular day to day "outfit"?
Usually jeans and a t shirt with a shirt over.
http://halfdozendaily.typepad.com/

This week not much is going on, I still need to do the menu for the week. I'd like to move over 75 to our Christmas fund , keep looking at budget stuff,as usual.
Hubby is working out of town Wednesday-Friday.
I think that's it .

Trying another link

http://halfdozendaily.typepad.com/my-half-dozen-daily/2013/03/sunday-night-chit-chat-3.html

see my previous post.Half dozen daily

Trying to get links working

Noho''ana Hau'ole:Life is good

I really like this blogger too, it looks like this link might be working!