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Home > Archive: September, 2011

Archive for September, 2011

new reality?

September 30th, 2011 at 09:03 pm

ytd = April 1 2011 - March 31, 2012
Coupon total ytd = 1,052.64
RX total = 256.32
Discounted Gift Cards = 207.19
Total = 1,516.15

I dropped off 6 bags of food at the food pantry yesterday. There was more people in line waiting for food than I've ever seen there before. Things just keep getting worse for people I guess. While I am generally optimistic about the future, sometimes I wonder if this is our new reality, more people who need help, out of work etc. Maybe this is the way it will be going forward and we just don't recognize it now. I hope not.

I got another letter from King Soopers about transferring my prescription so they gave me $5 on my card for returning it. It paid for my produce and eggs this morning. I also got 2 Brut deodorants for free that will be donated to the food pantry.

I finished reading the library book Quinn by Iris Johansen. Mystery - very good. Also finished some sci/fi short stories called Harvest Moon - I only liked the one by Michelle Sagara.

FBG = 97 - WHOOHOO!

September 27th, 2011 at 07:10 pm

I was so happy this morning to see my fasting blood glucose was 97. Under 100 is considered normal. This is the first time I've been under 100, just 6 months ago it was running over 200 so big improvement. Next goal is to get it around 80 - 85 in the morning.

My shoulder is still hurting this morning, but it's getting better.

Gave mom and dad their anniversary gift today. 2 gift cards for $25. 1 for Subway and 1 for Red Lobster. They eat out a lot and always like restaraunt gift cards.

Mom's struggling with the cumadin and blood clots. She's really tired, her kidney hurts and she's starting to show bad bruising whenever she hits her skin. She thinks she's so tired because they draw blood from her every 3 - 4 days. Their machine to check for the cumadin levels always tests wrong so they draw blood to find the right level. Well if your machine is always wrong and you know that, why don't you fix it?

She's trying to find a dr that will take her as a new patient also. She's on medicare and she spent all Thursday afternoon and Friday morning calling around to find one, no one will take new medicare patients. She finally decided to go to mine, but she doesn't really care for the male dr. I got to the female one and she's ok. It's a husband/wife team.

I finished reading the library book The Lost Gate by Orson Scott Card. Sci/Fi - very good.

car wash

September 26th, 2011 at 09:22 pm

ytd = April 1 2011 - March 31, 2012
Coupon total ytd = 1,049.64
RX total = 251.32
Discounted Gift Cards = 207.19
Total = 1,508.15

I ran several errands this morning - Walgreens, post office, Natural Grocers, Safeway, King Soopers and Walmart. While driving around I was listening to a CD called 100% Funk. One of the songs was Car Wash and one of the lines was the wash is free if you fill up your tank. I miss those days when I could get free car washes with fill-ups. For a long time they were only $1 with a fill-up. Now you're lucky to find one for $8. Next I'll be longing for nickel candy and talking about waiting for the school bus in 20 degree weather Smile

At Walgreens I got 2 bottles of CoQ10 for $50 - $8 in coupons and by using my AARP card I got a coupon for $5 to use on my next order.

I got 2 bottles of coconut oil at the Natural Grocers. I'll use the virgin oil for cooking ($6.49) and the refined bottle ($5.49), for moisturizer on my face and feet. This works really well for that at night before I go to bed. And last winter it's the first thing I've found that helps with the intense itching I get on my legs from dry skin.

At Safeway I got 3 travel size boxes of Tide for free.

At Walmart I got 4 packages of 12-ct Schick disposable razors and made $4.12 that I used on other purchases. I had 2 $6/2 coupons and each pack was $1.97 - so a moneymaker.

My arm is so sore today. I scrubbed the kitchen floor really well last night and it ached so much last night I couldn't sleep. I took two Aleve and it barely touched it. This morning I took two more and it's finally starting to feel better. Getting old Smile

I'm surprised it wasn't my knees that hurt. They're usually the ones that complain when I do that kind of work.

I finished reading 2 library books Promises Linger and Promises Keep by Sarah McCarty. Romance - both were very good.

Dentist

September 23rd, 2011 at 09:20 pm

I went to the Dentist yesterday to get my teeth cleaned - spent $78. No exam and no x-rays. They really give you fits when you ask to just have your teeth cleaned and not do the extras.

I stopped at Whole Foods to look around afterwards. Man! that stuff is so expensive, it was very discouraging looking around. I went to another new place called Sunflower Farmer's Market and those prices were much more reasonable, but both stores are fairly far away from me so it would be a sometime shopping experience. I need to get most of my foods closer to home.

My oldest niece called last night and talked for almost 3 hours. We talked theory and philosophy and life - my favorite kinds of conversations. She said I'm the only one in her family who she can have those kinds of conversations with because I've read so many different fields over the years and I'm curious about a lot of different things. Most everyone else doesn't think about those subjects in their everyday lives.

Plus I constantly tell her to be herself, alot of other people in the family always tell her to change to fit their idea of what she should be. Her other grandmother constantly asks her who she's dating and when she's going to have kids. She's way to young to make that the focus of her life and it just irritates her to constantly have to say she's not ready for that lifestyle and may never be. I tell her she needs to do what makes her happy and if that's never getting married or having kids - fine. Either way she has a lot of years before she has to decide on kids or marriage and I think it's smart that she recognizes she's not ready yet. So many young kids fall into that lifestyle without being ready.

Anyways I enjoyed the conversation and wish she had time for more. She's swamped with school work this semester.

I finished reading 2 library books Blood Heat by Maria Lima. Paranormal - very good. And Troubled Waters by Sharon Shinn. Sci/Fi - very good.

for rent

September 21st, 2011 at 08:29 pm

my mom felt like walking for the first time since she got home from the hospital today so I went over to her house. We made the entire 45 min route with no problem so that's good. On the way I was 2 new For Rent signs on houses. Their neighborhood is a higher end neighborhood. Minimum house cost is over 600K and they go up to 1.5 mil. Large houses on wooded 5 acre lots. I've never seen For Rent signs on these kinds of houses before this year. This year I've seen several now and I keep seeing more.

I wonder who rents these places? I would think the rent would be high enough to pay a mortgage on a smaller house, but I don't know for sure.

I finished reading my book Spellweaver by Lynn Kurland. Sci/Fi - excellent.

high energy use

September 19th, 2011 at 08:56 pm

I finished cleaning out my pantry yesterday so started on appliances today. Right now the washing machine and dishwasher are both going with a cup of vinegar, and the self-cleaning oven is on. Lots of energy being used right now. Later this afternoon I'll actually start cleaning the appliances. The frig/freezer is always the worst part.

I replaced the filter in my furnace today also. I hope I won't have to turn it on for another month at least.

Went to Red Robin last night with parents and youngest niece. She got a free burger for her bday.

We got 4 1/2 inches of rain in two days last week so the wild flowers have gone insane, they are beautiful. I'm walking different routes in the morning since my mom's not able to walk yet and seeing a lot more wild flowers.

I finished reading the library book Retribution by Sherrilyn Kenyon. Paranormal - very good.

housecleaning

September 18th, 2011 at 08:04 pm

Before my mom went in the hospital I had started a deep cleaning on my kitchen. I was halfway thru cleaning out all my kitchen cabinets and wiping them down. I finally finished them yesterday after about a week hiatus. Today I'm working on the pantry and hope to finish it. I've done 2 of 5 shelves. If I do finish I'll start on the appliances tommorrow.

My pantry doesn't contain as many things as it used to because of my new low-carb/paleo way of eating. I've gotten rid of most of the processed food items like salad dressing, soups, pasta etc. That makes it easier to clean, but bugs me in a way. I've always been a big believer in having a fully stocked pantry in case of emergencies. It's difficult to stock most meats or fresh produce in order to have several months of supplies. I'm still stockpiling non-food items, but the sense of unease is there for not having a big supply of food to turn to in case of whatever.

I can stockpile green beans, nuts (for a few months), tomatoes, salt, vinegar, oils, spices, splenda, stevia, canned mushrooms, natural peanut butter, tuna and broth.

I finished reading the library book Tracker's Sin by Sarah McCarty. Romance - very good. Also finished The Devil Colony by James Rollins. Adventure - very good.

mom's home

September 15th, 2011 at 09:25 pm

After 3 days in the hospital, mom was allowed home yesterday. She had 2 blood clots in her lungs and one in her right calf and one behind her left knee. The put her on cumadin for 6 months.

I spent most of the last 3 days in the hospital. My dad can hardly hear and mom is so tired she doesn't remember a lot of what they tell her, so I was there to pay attention to what was going on.

She was extremly happy to make it home yesterday, as is anyone who's spent any amount of time in the hospital.

Thanks to everyone for their well wishes

I finished reading my book Wild Thing - Paranormal short stories - very good.

I also finished the library book Cold Vengence by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Mystery - excellent.

mom's in the hospital

September 12th, 2011 at 07:39 pm

Dad called this morning and said mom was in the hospital with blood clots in her lungs. She's been having trouble breathing for a couple days and thought she had asthma. I guess it got so bad last night they went to the hospital first thing this morning.

They put her on blood thinners and I guess plan to keep her for a day or two. My sister and I plan to go in this afternoon and will learn more then.

I got another letter from King Soopers offering me $5 for filling out a prescription survey on why I transfered my prescription. I got that and then got mom and dad some candy bars and a bag of frozen shrimp for me. I was looking for Milky Way caramel bars since that's mom's favorite, but couldn't find them at either Safeway or King Soopers. They used to have them everywhere, maybe they took them out of our market.

I watched Rango last night from Netflix - it was cute.

I finished reading the library book Sam's Creed by Sarah McCarty. Romance - very good.

17

September 11th, 2011 at 07:27 pm

Last night my parents and I went to my sister's house to celebrate my youngest nieces 17th bday. During the party my dad said "wouldn't you like to be 17 again?"

Not for a million bucks!

I wouldn't want to have to work another 30 years, and the first 8 years of my working life I was fairly poor. I hated living paycheck to paycheck. Always waiting for the next minor problem to push me under. Even getting new tires for the car was a major upset, I had very little extra money then.

At 17 I was still living with my parents and hated that too. So glad to be where I am now and in the situation I'm in now. I earned this by 33 years of working and saving and there's no way I want to do it again. Smile

However, if I could back 20 years and have the same situation I have now, I would take that. Being in your 30's you've grown up enough to be more realistic about life, but can enjoy the extra 20 years of living.

My sister ordered pizza from Borriello Bros, with cake and banana ice cream for dessert. Since I knew that was the plan I took my dinner over and ate it while they ate pizza. I wasn't even tempted by the pizza. Almost 5 months eating this way and I plan to continue for life, so it was nice to not be tempted.

I had roasted chicken breast, coleslaw, and watermelon, with macadamia nuts for dessert.

I finished reading my book The Black Lyon by Jude Devereaux. Romance - very good.

Florence, CO

September 10th, 2011 at 03:49 am

Mom and I drove down to Florence, CO today. It's a very small town, but they have tons of antique stores. It was about an hour and a half drive in foothills, it was a beautiful day around 65 degrees. We spent about 3 hours wandering thru the stores. Saw some beautiful old furniture. I didn't buy anything, just looked.

I fixed zuchinni chips last night. I sliced the zuchinni into chips on a mandolin, then put them on a cookie sheet. Brushed them with melted ghee, seasoned with garlic, salt and pepper. Cooked at 425 for 10 minutes, turned and cooked for another 5 min. I really liked them. I will make those again.

I finished reading the library book In Fire Forged by David Weber. Sci/Fi - very good.

buttered zuchinni noodles

September 6th, 2011 at 08:10 pm

I really liked the grass-fed beef I had the other day. I seared it on both sided in the frying pan for about 3 min each, then finished it in the oven at 450 for about 12 min, seasoned with garlic, salt and pepper.

On the side I fixed buttered zuchinni noodles. I cut the zuchinni in strips using a mandolin so they looked like noodles, then I just sauteed them in butter with salt and pepper. Very good. I'm not a zuchinni fan, but I liked these a lot.

I got a lb of oven roasted turkey deli meat today for $5.99. On my way home I thought why is it ok to spend $5.99/lb for turkey deli meat, (and think I'm getting a bargain), but have a problem spending $4.50/lb for grass-fed beef? DOH! Had a small paradigm shift in my car Smile

I finished reading my book The Better Part of Valor by Tanya Huff. Sci/Fi - very good.

a new low

September 4th, 2011 at 06:17 pm

Last summer while doing the $25/week grocery challenge I lost 5 lbs. Then I had my kidney stone and ended up in the hospital for 2 weeks and lost 10 more lbs. After getting out of the hospital I had no energy and no appetite and lost another 5 lbs. Unfortunately after that it was the holiday season and instead of building on that loss I gained back everything I lost by April 1st.

Mid-April I started low-carb/primal/paleo way of eating. I weigh on Sunday and Wednesday and when I got on the scale this morning I saw the Whoosh! fairy had visited me and I had lost 2 lbs since Wednesday. This puts me 2 pounds under my low of last year, without the visit to the hospital to help out Smile

So even though I've lost over 20 lbs my mind wants to tell me only the last 2 count, since the first 19 lbs were re-lost lbs. Bad Head!!! You can't always control your thinking, but either way I'm now on my way to losing 'real' weight Smile

I finished reading the library book Tucker's Claim by Sarah McCarty. Romance - very good.

grass-fed beef

September 3rd, 2011 at 09:13 pm

I went to the farmer's market this morning and got a small watermelon for $3 and a zucchini for .50 cents. I have a buttered zucchini noodle recipe I want to try out next week.

I also got 2 pounds of grass-fed, hormone free ground beef for $4.50/lb from the Anderson Meat Company. I've been looking at grass-fed beef for several weeks now, but hadn't been able to talk myself into paying the price. Most of what I've seen has been around $8 in the stores. I did some online research and found a couple places about $6-$7/lb. I'm going to try it tomorrow night to make sure I like it before buying anymore. Does anyone have any suggestions on buying grass-fed meat at least somewhat less expensively?
Or do you know of a good online source?

I would fix it tonight, but I'm going to my parents to play games and have steak.

It was really cool this morning - under 50 degrees. I had to wear a light jacket when we walked. I love it. 50 - 70 is my preferred weather.

I finished reading my book Valor's Choice by Tanya Huff. Sci/Fi - very good.

spin and win

September 1st, 2011 at 06:54 pm

ytd = April 1 2011 - March 31, 2012
Coupon total ytd = 992.87
RX total = 246.32
Discounted Gift Cards = 207.19
Total = 1,446.38

King Soopers has a new game on their website called Spin and Win. Add 4 P&G coupons to your loyalty card and spin the wheel to see if you win. I did this yesterday and won $3. That paid for my romain lettuce this morning. I usually win at least once on these games. They last for a couple weeks or more.

I spent 11.21 on produce and eggs this morning and got a new book for 6.20. Used $8.40 in coupons. I picked up a prescription for .80.

Paid my car insurance. It went down a little. 6 months for $279.21

If anyone is interested in low-carb/paleo/primal eating here's a huge list of podcasts by various authors/specialists in the field.

Text is http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/must-hear-podcast-interviews-after-attending-the-2011-ancestral-health-symposium/11446 and Link is
http://livinlavidalowcarb.com/blog/must-hear-podcast-intervi...

I've been listening to about 1 a day - they're very interesting.

I didn't lose very many inches according to my measurements this last month. .5 inch on my waist, arms and thighs. Nothing on my stomatch above the belly button or my hips, but something changed to let me get those pants on. Don't know what's going on.

I finished reading the library book The Truth of Valor by Tanya Huff. Sci/Fi - very good.