Not me this time, everything's good though.

Varying degrees of good news/bad news more former than the latter. Everything is as good as we can get it right now, just a bit of an adventure with Jon last night. (picture for thumbnail and the weather from today).

Jon came in around 8pm last night and didn't look good. Looked in pain and I knew if he was coming in to change out of his pajamas we were going to the ER. He had a sharp pain right across his chest, his description was 'like someone punching but pushing. I knew what he was describing was likely a muscle spasm/charlie horse but in a very odd place. I logged off from the computer, grabbed my knitting and off we went to the closest hospital. Benefits of being 65, Medicare covers emergency room visits. I think. (He's fine and we're home by the way so you don't have to worry reading my narrative).

Anyway. Got there around 8:30, dropped him at the front door since I had to go park and it had been obvious it was painful to go down the stairs  (another reason why I thought it was more of a rib muscle spasm). So he got checked in and being a Saturday it was Busy! Varying ethnicities in varying conditions and languages. The seats, of course, in the waiting area were not the most comfortable high friction plastic so you couldn't slouch or slide and ... enough of that. Since Jon's condition was not critical I settled in for a long night and into morning.

Through all the waiting and getting a blood draw then they did x-rays, took his vitals, all that after sitting for an hour. Gradually the pain decreased but while we were waiting for the first round of test results he napped and I looked over, his lips were blue.  I looked up at the lighting to make sure and, yeah the light was right over him so it shadowed his lips but I know blue lips when I see them. That got me worried.  He has a snoring/apnea issue and frequently will not be able to breathe but it wakes him up.  I kept an eye on him just the same, he wasn't snoring.

We weren't taken back to an exam room until about 2 am. Yes indeed folks, we sat there for close to six hours waiting for someone to call his name. I let him snooze while I kept an ear out and alert as you never know what happens in an ER. 

So finally, we got back to a room, they took his vitals again, his bp was a bit elevated, pulse, temp and oxygen were within normal. Nurse asked him questions again why he was there. They drew more blood for a second test for heart enzymes. Doctor said they like to do that after two hours and I wasn't going to tell her it had been five hours, then they were going to do a chest x ray, again to be sure nothing was going on. Went back out to the lobby to wait for him to get finished with that and that was another half hour. 

Finally the doctor saw the results asked about his other conditions, explained why they were taking tests, to rule out the more common reasons, but not once..not once did she bother to suggest what it could have been. Was she waiting for us to ask what it could have been? Maybe, but still gave us all the things that it wasn't, everything looked fine, get you discharged and away you go. Didn't need a prescription, gave him a folder with all his lab results and what happened and to call his new doctor on Monday and see about a follow up appointment to the ER visit and then his 'onboarding' (whatever word the receptionist used) appointment would be in May.

So needless to say I'm exhausted after getting a typical four or five hours of sleep but the stress before that didn't make it restful. Jon is taking his usual afternoon nap in the front room and I'm here catching up family and friends on our adventure.

Side stories: I was not familiar with the parking garage set up and parked near a stairwell facing a small corner mall, thinking I was up like three levels, I went down three but turns out, that was sub basement level. No cars and machine noises. Damn. Back up two flights of stairs until I saw cars then got myself oriented and was very winded by the time I got to the ER. There was a rain prediction for the night but it happened while we were still waiting inside.

Jon is such a trooper when he's in a stress situation like that. Making jokes with the nurses, making sure I'm doing okay, making more jokes and chatting with various support staff. It really is a joy having that attitude with medical staff. He made everyone laugh or smile that came to deal with him.

As opposed to a possible homeless lady that was yelling at everyone that they needed to get her admitted and in a room so she could sleep in a bed and get some food. They had told her there was no reason for her to be admitted and that's when the yelling started. 

They had a transient guy that just walked back and forth the length of the long waiting room acting as if he was either in pain or concerned the few times I glanced up as he walked by and apparently had been there since Friday. They legally could not kick him out, but got orders as we were on our last waiting time that he was to leave by 5 am.

I knitted and knitted to the point my hands were getting sore. I brought the two sock projects I the orange one and a blue/yellow one because that's what knitting socks is good for. Small, portable and easy to pack up in a hurry. I had three different people notice what I was doing and were all intrigued that I was knitting. I need a new portable bag to put them in though because the 'bag' I'm using is the cloth pouch the bedsheets came in. No handle so it was awkward to pack up and very soft so hard to untangle them when I sat down again. 

I need to figure out what is up with Medicaid saying I don't qualify because I had no income and got a new provider card after that. They don't have a live chat option for my county and I hate making phone calls.

That's the update for the last week.  Weather is cloudy and windy, garden is growing... that's all for now.

 

So much for crisis being averted

 As of an hour or so ago power went out. Better not be because they think I didn't pay because I did.
Update: This was an error on their part. Power is being restored remotely with the hour but I have to make a payment arrangement to take care of the $749 remaining balance. Amazing. Power just came on. Still on hold.
It's almost like there's 5 different people in three departments that have completely different numbers. Supervisor and someone else can't remember the title are working on their end to get a payment system set up using the $600 neighbor to neighbor amount I already applied for a while ago. 'Jasmine' will call me back hopefully before 5 but if I don't hear from her I have to call tomorrow morning and ask for her specifically to make the payment arrangement plan.
2 observations: 1, when she said the power was being restored to make sure all appliances and electronics were turned off.
HUH? So.... unplug my fridge, computer, tv, all of that crap and then... wait for the lights to come back on (I understand why that was a precaution but still thought it was funny)
2, with the automated system and finally getting hold of someone on the other end, do I just hold off whoever answers the phone and ask for Jasmine? Then likely be put on hold as she may be on another call that took as long as the one I just had with her... sigh.
Power is on, we're going out for sandwiches, then coming home and watching Bad Batch.

They have a collections company apparently that had one record, she had a different record, supervisor had another and then someone else.... good lord! She had to be on hold with someone in her office in order to find my records and get updated information.

What a cluster....

So yeah, we're treating ourselves to a sandwich because I still have enough money in paypal.

Oh yeah, when the power went out Jon was in the shower so it took me a moment to realize what happened then grabbed a flashlight so he could finish up. He said I am his hero coming to his rescue.
 

Edit: Jasmine did call back around 4 pm and set up the 'managed' payment system. An extra $32 will be added on to my bills starting in May, April has been taken care of already so now just have to plan that extra money. I did apply for the CARE program for a reduced bill and hope that goes through that will give me a 30% discount. Any little bit helps for sure.

It's been a rough day. Going to get a snack and then do some knitting and games.

Crisis averted once again

 It's St. Patrick's Day, yippee... not going to go into all the meanings and history of it. As I get older and no longer have kids being more aware of the holidays in school holidays are less meaningful.

Thanks to my son whom I love and am thankful for that he learned all the right lessons (and has gainful employment). I dislike asking for help all the time because it's never ending and don't want to be a pest. I ask for help when I feel I really need it and even then I feel guilty because I can never pay back all the people that have helped me. I can knit a hat or scarf or balaclava (hat/face mask thing) I can do socks but can never return the favor of borrowed money.

So my heartfelt thanks and eternal gratitude will have to do. I know that giving is from the heart and no return is necessary but I feel that's somehow not enough.

At least it was a pretty day today. We had some clouds drift by but nothing too heavy and we're actually expecting Santa Ana conditions. It's been breezy and blustery so that's a sure sign of the weather changing.

I made some delicious cilantro lime chicken and rice, two separate recipes and forgot to take pictures. Pinterest is my latest recipe search area because a cookbook with recipes and a recipe box is not sufficient anymore). Some recipes are incredibly annoying (no instructions just ingredients and what to do or unavoidable accounts of how they came up with the recipe and where they got it from yadayada) and okay, others are knock it out of the park delicious. The cilantro lime rice was good, although a bit bland but the chicken made up for it in flavor and I did a bed of rice in a bowl with the chicken thigh on top. The chicken is a do again for sure the rice only had salt, lime, cilantro and black beans. I don't think I put enough lime in maybe. The two limes I had were rather dry so thankfully had one of those small lime shaped juice bottles and between the two recipes I used it up completely. I need a bigger bottle of lime juice for sure. Easter is at the end of the month so I'm hoping that the store has some deals on meat and canned goods. I know with this being St. Patrick's Day there was corned beef but I'm not a fan. Give me a pastrami sandwich on rye bread. Never really liked corned beef and cabbage really.

Hoping there will be roast beef or ham on sale this coming week but I won't have any food money until the first of next month so doesn't matter. Now, here's hoping that during April and toward the end of that month they'll have some deals on Rotel and some other meats for Cinco de Mayo. That's a sale I can get behind.

Other than that, we're mostly doing okay with paying bills and have enough to eat. Going to be making doctors appointments this week and double checking that Geico got my form for keeping my rate low due to not driving a lot. I hate having to actually talk to someone because it entails several cycles of menus and being on hold.  

So just hanging around, sitting at the computer for hours, doing gardening, cooking and knitting. Jon's doing okay, much much better actually being back on his meds. I'm not so worried about his breathing, hardly wheezing at all when he's sleeping. Even his snoring is not as loud.

Just had to update on the situation and will come back when something else happens.

And the other shoe has dropped

 Got a physical letter from SDGE for a disconnect notice in five days if I don't come up with $103 which is the remainder of my current overdue bill. I put the word out on facebook and only asked if four friends of my dozens of 'friends' there could pitch in $25, that would cover it. Is that too much to ask? We have been watching our spending and still can't quite make ends meet. I totally get that a good many people won't just give someone money to help out and want to 'pay' for something. I don't have anything to give. Jewelry isn't worth that much, my car is overdue for an oil change and other things so I'm reluctant (almost scared) to drive a long distance.

Other than that looming sword over my head, I did some baking and cooking, having a thunderstorm right now when the weather app said it wouldn't rain until tomorrow. Yeah that and other clouds were moving in this morning when I went out to check on the garden. 

Cooking happened yesterday (reverse order of the photos). Double batch of Jiffy cornbread mix that turned out wonderful with a teaspoon of added honey. I bought the Krusteaz brand because it was on sale beginning of the month and had forgotten we still had four boxes of the Jiffy. I much prefer the Krusteaz version, just enough sweet and it isn't as grainy. Then my 'famous' enchilada casserole in my deep lasagna dish I finally dragged out from the back of a cupboard behind the crockpot. Note: do not buy Kroger sliced black olives again. They have a funky taste that was minimized by soaking them in more salt but I ended up using them on only one layer and decided to toss the rest. Normally would have a sprinkling of green onions on top but I ran out of them by the time the top was done. No real loss, I have some growing in the garden right now.

Jon's having difficulty getting an official copy of his birth certificate. He has three 'unofficial' copies, I don't know why, but since they are not notarized they aren't official. He tried during the pandemic twice and they were unable to locate it and we figured it was because of the pandemic and no one being in the offices. Well he now suspects that due to the hospital he was born in no longer being a hospital locating records of anyone from that place is next to impossible. New York, go figure. He says his sister took three years to finally get her copy. It's almost been that long for us.

The reason why this is important is in case of needing to travel or proof of residency all that sort of other scary things. I have mentioned to him that we need to get whatever form it is that gives us legal power take care of the others finances and things in case of death or incapacity. I'm researching it and at least we need to have a Durable POA for medical reasons.

So on that morbid note, hoping that some friends can get me some money or I can sell something so I don't get cut off. More news when it happens. Maybe.

 

So much for the diet due to cooking.

 I am so eternally grateful that through whatever fluke or processing or honesty, whatever, that we are getting that extra $300 for food every month. Rent and bills are all paid on time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chuck roast, chicken thighs, hot dogs, smoked sausage and hamburger. I got pasta and sauces and meats to make so much good food for the next three weeks. We have a full freezer of meat and a huge bag of mixed veggies, the cupboard is stacked with the usual necessary canned goods. We even found the triple chocolate pie at Costco, that was disappointing though unfortunately. It had a surprise fudgy cookie layer on the bottom, not at all what I was expecting and not enough of the chocolate mousse.

The weather has been good, a few days of cloudy and rain but now it is breezy, hazy and warmish. Garden is growing, Jon finally got his inhalers and CVS has transferred his prescriptions to another location because he complained about the one closest to us being less than satisfactory in their treatment of him and his prescription.

Baked 'ziti' that was enough for seconds on the day of baking and half left over for later. Definitely easy to do and a do again for sure. I used penne regate instead of ziti which was difficult to find for some reason, tossed in two and a half hot italian sausage with the hamburger and layered like lasagna with mozzarella, parmesan and ricotta and pasta sauce. As close to lasagna as you can get and it was so good!

The OTC card that we have gets refilled quarterly so that gets more money beginning of April. I have been able to get all my supplements I've been taking but have to do it at CVS so not the jumbo size containers I have gotten at Costco. Will look into other options for larger containers online.

So, the chocolate chip cookie fiasco. Firstly, I thought I was being clever and put the flower, sugar and baking powder into a tupperware container when I realized I didn't have eggs to make them a few weeks ago. I now had eggs and butter (unsalted) and all the other ingredients. Pulled out the dry ingredients and put them in a bowl, stirred it around and then read the directions. I have not made them in a very very long time and smacked my head. 

Sugar, eggs and softened butter needed to be mixed together first. The butter I tried the trick with boiling water in my large measuring cup then dumped the water and turned it upside down to cover the two sticks of butter to soften. I was impatient and put it in the nice warm window as well. Still not long enough but enough to get the butter softer.

I have no electric mixer. I really needed one. I still need one. See all those utensils? I have a hand mixer, a plunger type whisk, a small silicone covered whisk, an larger metal whisk, a large serving fork and a potato masher (used that last one on breaking up the clumps in the brown sugar). I used alllll of those in order to mix the cookie dough at various stages. My hands aren't as strong as they used to be and that hand mixer is not for cookie dough.

Surprisingly, despite all these mistakes and mishaps, the cookies didn't turn out half bad. They were a bit softer than I was used to which could also be attributed to cooking them for ten minutes instead of 11 or 13. I tried all three times and the 13 minute was the crunchiest but not burned.

I will not be attempting cookies again until I have an electric mixer. Same reason why we bought an electric can opener, my hands just don't have the strength they used to along with the aches and pain of the arthritis being an issue.

I do have a brownie recipe though that does not require a mixer. That will be a con do at some point.

My garden is at least successful. I harvested one of the Romain heads a huge bunch of cilantro, two radishes and three potatoes. Still one more potato plant to go and hoping to leave that in as long as possible for maximum size and harvest. The cilantro is a continuing bounty and I have plenty of radishes still growing.

I have various knitting projects to keep my hands busy as well. A sock project that will hopefully fit Logan (formerly named Ava) and will be gifting it either for birthday or Christmas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have plenty of both those colors left over for another pair of socks in the same style. If anyone wants a pair of hand knitted socks sometime in the next year, send an email with your foot dimensions (charts can be found online on where to measure or give me your shoe size).

These are all complete balls of yarn enough to do a short pair of socks. The smaller balls are a discontinued line of yarns so there's no getting any coordinating solid colors. The larger hanks are hand dyed yarns with the red/white/blue having a small bit of sparkle in them, the other white one is 'unicorn' speckled, the brown is a personal choice I picked up a few years back... 'Sheepbacca' (yes as in Chewbacca) from a company called Lasersheep Yarn. All their yarns come with a custom little button pin and they do themed yarns. The green one is a nice sturdy variegated and the balled one at the bottom is unknown but soft and pastel colors.

Do I need another project commission? No but I am feeling generous more than I have time for. 

And on that note I think I've covered all the bases. Yay for Spring and energy for projects!

Going pretty good actually

 At least it feels that way.

The weather is clear for this weekend and a little of next weekend. Rained or was cloudy for four days straight. Had forgotten what that was like until it was sunny again. I know it can be weeks of clouds  up in the PNW and can totally understand the weather induced depression.

I have also realized how much ADD/OCD I have recently with my knitting projects and other things going on. Just now I looked down at my Hawaiian style shirt and realized two threads about an inch apart had been snagged and so the printed part of the thread was shifted down about 1/16th of an inch. I know how to fix it and started looking for a pin or something to do so then realized I was in the middle of typing this, stopped and refocused. Meanwhile, back at why I was posting....

Where was I? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The weather is good, cold, clear and breezy today with the neighbors wind chimes going off almost constantly (not a bad thing), I'm working on multiple knitting projects at a time, the garden is exploding like crazy with the rain and now warm sun going on. It's Lunar New Year  of the Dragon, Superb Owl today ('The BIG Game' as some people have to call it), and we have food in the fridge, freezers and cupboards with about $60 left in the EBT and I have all but one 'utility' bill left to pay. Then next month, extra money goes POOF into the rent increase.

There was something else I was going to mention on this page that I thought of two days ago and well, you know how that goes. If you don't write it down, it's gone in a matter of minutes. And that reminds me that I need to take what's left of the OTC card money I have and see about getting some ginkgo again for brain help. I'm taking fish oil already which is supposed to help with the Diabetes, hair and memory. I think.

Oh yeah, we were planning on going to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park for free this month (formerly known as the Wild Animal Park) being 65 it's free all this month (except for parking at $20). Then I considered; it's a 45 minute drive from our place, would eat up about a half tank of gas and more using the car without an oil change is kind of chancy. Jon doesn't do well with walking around a lot without a nap in the middle of the day so honestly, it's not worth the drive sadly. Oh well. I liked walking around there years ago but it's changed a lot and being more out of shape now, even walking around the zoo was a chore last year.

I finally convinced Jon to start taking multi-vitamins at least. One of his inhalers isn't covered by his 'insurance' the pharmacy put it. He got that prescription from his MediCare doctor before and they filled it for a few dollars. Very odd. Not sure what's going on with that but his doctor is looking into things. 

 We voted already in the CA primary, we got our ballot/election information, then a few days later got the actual ballots. Took a day or two for us to check everything and fill it out, signed and dated the envelope, sealed and the post office is right up the road from us so we dropped them off on the way home from the shuttle run. Jon even walked them inside and dropped them in a mail box instead of doing the drive up. Which is sad right now as they had to seal up the usual pull open style mail box so you have to get out of your car in order to reach the slot with what you're mailing. So there was a parking spot open, I parked, he walked them in and dropped them in a mailbox inside, maybe took a minute and we were off to home again.

It's just mind boggling how easy it is and yet there are some politicians that are trying to subvert the system and prevent whole districts from voting because they know they would swing a vote in the wrong direction for them. Just ... makes me sad and angry. And don't believe anyone running for an office that says they can snap their fingers and lower the cost of gas and groceries.

Anyway, groceries is another thing. We had to get more cat litter for Rocky and the Walmart Grocery store was right down the street from there so we stopped in there for a few things (normally go to Food 4 Less aka Kroger) I realized we needed eggs and was shocked to see the prices 5 or almost 7 something for a dozen. I know the prices at Kroger were less and had to pass on getting the eggs, last I checked at F4L they were about 4 something for a dozen.

I have been looking at photo editing stuff to do graphics and things I used to do for second life and one of my friends I have from there asked if I would be willing to do a cover for a book he's writing.  I declined then a few days later saw that there was a program that did posters and covers and stuff  that was free. Oh well. I used to use Photoshop Elements, great program, loved all the features but the last version I had was from 2016 I think. They have an update thing but the farthest back they go is 2021 and they knock $20 off the $99.99 price. I told Jon and he said 'when we get greenbacks next month we'll see about getting it. I reminded him that rent goes up next month and said 'oh that's right' a bit sadly. Will see what else I can find. It's not a high priority really.

So really, not much going on in my life right now which is good. Waiting for another calamity to strike that will set us back again.

 

 

 

So somewhat of a diet change

 A few weeks back I was feeling rather odd. This is going to be something of a rambling post as I flip back and forth in thought tracks. Mental Mix Tape!

Okay, let's go back further than that. For as long as I can remember, mostly as an adult I would get dizzy and shaky along with getting hungry. Well fast forward to being an older adult, and after having a few surgeries, I no longer get 'hungry' per se. I very rarely ever have that gnawing stomach pain associated with being hungry. I know I should eat something because I'm vaguely hungry and it's an appropriate time for whatever meal it is. Sometimes I'll feel shaky and know that my blood sugar must be low and go have some peanut butter or something.

At my last doctor visit a year or so ago I had a fasting blood draw (not on purpose but I hadn't eaten yet before my appointment and figured that was a thing to do.) Anyway, bloodwork came back and it indicated I was pre-diabetic. No real surprise there with my eating habits of two or three cokes a day, more carbs and other things and not much in the way of greens and veggies.

With the way our budget has been we have had to ration sodas and good meat, fresh veggies and so on, but in the past few weeks I noticed that my urine was clear. Completely clear. I had been drinking more water than sodas of course, I've been taking my vitamins and supplements but this was alarming. I asked a friend and she said that if you've been drinking a lot of water that could be it.  I wasn't so sure.

So, with the increase in money for food, I'm making better food choices because one of the early signs of possible diabetes would be colorless urine. I haven't been ragingly thirsty, just not been using a soda to drink while sitting at the desk for hours.

Going back to my odd feeling. On one of my shuttle days I only had a bowl of cereal and I think a half can of coke before going to pick up the boys. Remember me saying about not being hungry? Jon decided to come with me that day and so he napped while I took my usual 1/2 mile walk before school let out. Well by the time I got back to the school I was shaky and kind of foggy brained and knew it had to do with my sugar level. I had just exercised and thought maybe it had to do with that but I told Jon that we needed to stop at the store near Amber's because I had to use the bathroom and get a candy bar or something. It kind of galvanized me into changing my eating habits.

I still felt off the next few days after that but I decided to cut way back on my soda and other sugar intake and next food pay would invest in more salad greens and healthy veggies. I found a list of appropriate snacks for diabetics as well as good veggies for the same group. I got lettuce and celery, bell peppers and something else.

I bought kale.

I swore kale would never be in my diet because it was so trendy and people were making smoothies out of it and all sorts of things. Kale. I bought it to cut up with other salad greens and not to eat by itself. 

BUT....

I have now cut way down on my soda consumptionto maybe a few sips a day (not from a can because that's useless, we bought a 6 pack of bottles when we were out and have been nursing three of them over the past week or so), trying desperately not to have too much in the way of carbs but when you have very little left other than rice and potatoes, not much can be done. I was hoping to have some cauliflower fresh from the garden soon but that's a bust unfortunately. They aren't much bigger than they were a month ago so not counting on having a few heads of cauliflower to use.

But any change as long as it is consistent is good right? So I've been eating celery and peanut butter for a snack, will be looking for a container of nuts as well. I don't snack much really if I've had a good size meal. 

Overall it's been okay. Being more conscious of what I'm eating and trying to eat at a regular time every day. We still splurge once or twice a month and get sandwiches, or burgers but that's the limit as it costs about $30 for us to eat out now. Cheapest meal is In N Out when we just get fries and burgers to take home and that's only $16.

It's a two hour process max for me to fix a fresh meal at home. We have to limit that to the days I don't have to pick up the boys so we have leftovers or quick meals like soup or salad or something. 

Honestly, the suggested foods for blood sugar control and general health are mostly foods that are too expensive for us to buy on a regular basis. Salmon? Any good fish for that matter, avocado is .99 cents each for the small ones at the store we go to. We love avocado but they rot very quickly and buying them a head is not an option. Tuna we can only afford the cheap stuff in a can, don't even bring up chia seeds or yogurt, not happening. Fresh or frozen berries? Not on the list either, so we will do what we can with what we will eat and that's the best we can do.

Just being more conscious of what I am eating and how much is a good start. Completely removing sodas was a big jump being a coke-aholic for most of my adult life is difficult to kick. Not going to do diet because that's not much better in other ways.

Even after this evenings meal of a fried chicken thigh (I only use canola oil) with mashed potatoes and gravy I had maybe a few mouthfuls of soda afterward and am feeling a bit lightheaded right now. I just had a hard boiled egg with a little salt and pepper then maybe later will have to go see about making a salad with that kale, tomatoes, lettuce and cucumber. I have some italian style dressing I made the other night from scratch, not very good but it'll do.

That's a lot of work. Really.  But guess will have to make a sacrifice.

Oh and we're okay down here in the midst of the rain storms. Being in a two story building with adequate ground drainage in the neighborhood, we're safe and dry.