My Husband, My Life, My Love, My Family, My Cancer

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  • mara51506
    mara51506 Posts: 7,161
    edited November 22

    Well, my post did a Harry Potter and apparated away so starting over again.

    I slept well, will be doing laundry, dishes soaking in kitchen and bathroom sink. Got myself a scrubbing kit, thinking the short handle can do with scrubbing some dishes and long handle can scrub tub behind the washers. Also having a delivery of thinning shears for the wig. It does not not need a regular cut with scissors BUT needs a bit of thinning and texturizing. I can grow or shrink the bangs by moving up and down my head, change where a part would be as well. Not sure I will really bother to put a bunch of junk in it, see how long it will look decent. One thing I need to do, especially with no counter space is to wash dishes as they come along, even if it means waiting to eat. The mess of the dishes was causing me some stress. Hopefully the scrubber is a good buy. Not pricey.

    Got leftovers of the beef, mexican rice, beans and cheese to eat up. Might make some of it into a quesadilla, still got tortillas to use up. If lazy, just take couple of spoonful, put in the pan, add cheese to top and bake it a bit. I also am going to soak some chia seeds to add into a meal, I do not use them every day but they are good every once in a while. Next month, skipping the skip the dishes fast food, save for when I need to buy something else or move it as part of the grocery order money.

    I have also forgotten about doing things like budget boosting for stuff, need to do that sometimes when I am not tasking myself with other stuff. Making smaller chores list to be more realistic for myself. Todays big chore is to break down a large cardboard box and store out back.

    I do hope everyone has a good day and in pockets for everyone. I have been noticing more carpal tunnel and trigger finger and thumb, decided to pick up some updated splints and finger splints as well, stretching fingers too. Nothing worse for me personally than to be bopping along and all of a sudden the index finger will just drop painfully. Figure can protect myself from that I think. Got the wrist protector already, got some silicone ones and bought some individual finger splints. Seems overkill but when worked on computer all the time, it was necessary. Everything comes tomorrow. I also stretch out the fingers as well as the arms.

  • mara51506
    mara51506 Posts: 7,161

    I just woke up, slept on couch last night, late to bed but slept through anyway. No complaints about that. Got a few amazon things coming, decided to get powered scrubbers, on is handheld and would assist with dishes, another part has telescopic handle, I could easily maneuver that through the tiny bit of bathtub showing. I do not have the energy to lift the washers out but having the ability to scrub around washers is helpful.

    I also have some finger and wrist splints coming as my hands are developing trigger finger and thumb from using the phone all the time, figure can protect my hands as the finger being forced down is very painful. I do have wrist bands and that helps but might as well protect my hands too.

    Food is interesting for me, still got 2/3 of a lb of beef, will add rice first, let that cool down, make an egg in the microwave with some beans, usually take 3 mins at least. Put aside the rice and pull out the frypan, add the 1/3 lb beef and brown it in some taco and cheesy seasoning, put a bit of water so the seasonings mix in. Once meat is done, take the egg and beans, chop them up with cheese, dump that mix in the pan. Add garlic salt, queso from the jar. Give everything a stir on heat then turn off heat. As I am doing this stuff, will aim to get dishes I made along the way clean so there is not a lot of dishes in the sink to do later. Easier to keep clean that way I think. Sink only has a lid for a pot.

    Found a portion of mexican rice, no seasoning, put that in the pot with just under a third of a cup. Once done, moving on to heating up the beef. I decided that all ingredients being prepared in the same pot. Will throw in the beans, cheese and an egg. Put some cheesy taco seasoning, mild taco seasoning and then small amounts of plain sour cream and the sour cream and onion as well. No would accuse me of not enough flavours going on. I also like to sometimes use a bit of the seasoning packs from ramen as they are tasty too.

    EDIT, no egg this time, found leftovers from another mexican rice meal so opened them up and threw them in first, left everything in the pot I used and have it sitting on the heat to heat up the bit of ground. I also may not need to drain grease since it takes over the non stick function of the pot. Going to bind with both garlic mayo and a little caesar and sour cream and onion seasoning, dash of salt.

    Hope everyone is having a good day and in pockets for everyone.

  • mara51506
    mara51506 Posts: 7,161
    edited November 24

    Got all the stuff I was waiting for. Charging up the new scrub brush, comes with a lot of attachments, only have the main brush pulled out. Planning to utilize that for dishes right away.

    also wearing the finger splints and the silicone glove, it feels fine, weird to type with but will get used to it. Silicone wrist band does leave a sweaty feeling but is fine overall. Think the finger stuff and the silicone can be used in the daytime.

    I did have pizza and a mini pizza first, added some greens to the top and shredded cheese, cooked for 12 mins at 425. It was very good. Not sure about meal later though I am waiting for some peanut butter and honey so may decide to have an english muffin with peanut butter and honey. Option 2 could include the cheerios mixed with peanut butter and adding some honey. I will have to see.

    My scrubber is super powerful, took a few seconds to clean out the frypan, I notice some scratches but the pan is old so I am unbothered by that fact.

  • cookie54
    cookie54 Posts: 1,220

    @mara51506 Hope your new supports are kind to your hands and help overall. Your new scrub brush sounds interesting hope it means less physical scrubbing is needed.

    Our washer took a poop this weekend so I was able to have a new washer delivered within 24 hours! So far so good, I spent hours researching before the purchase. It seems like these new appliances definately don't last like they used to. fingers crossed. So far it seems to be doing a good job, second load underway!

    Hi to all here, hope it's a quiet week and you're able to enjoy the holiday this week.

  • miriandra
    miriandra Posts: 2,542
    edited November 25

    I follow an online comic called XKCD.com. It's mostly science humor with some silliness tossed in. One of the ongoing things he's touched on is his wife's breast cancer journey. Apparently, they're celebrating 15 years of NED. Feel free to share with the one who's been sharing your journey.

    https://www.xkcd.com/3172/

  • betrayal
    betrayal Posts: 5,560

    miriandra, loved the cartoon.

  • mara51506
    mara51506 Posts: 7,161

    @cookie54 I am sorry your old washer broke down but glad it was replaced so soon. I would have loved to go washer shopping with you. Even though my bathtub is full of washers, 3 mini and the regular two, my eye always stops on what is available.

    I do enjoy the finger and thumb plastic splints but do take them off if cooking or doing dishes or laundry. I keep them in an old sock as they are easy to wear and easy to find in the sock. Have not tried mobile games for budget boosting, these could help

    I am considering a countertop dishwasher because anything that might make my life easier would be very good but not getting anything as of yet because this is very likely an impulse buy and need to sit on it longer. Just have to rinse in hot water, give a wee soak and attach a sponge for plates to the power washer, it has lots of attachments and did clean grease and stuff right off the old pan so perhaps it is the real dishwasher. The desire for a dishwasher will fade. Reading reviews slows my roll as well with some saying it only last a few month

    Not too sure what I am having today. I did pull out a package of Knorr tomato alfredo so could do up the package first, let cool and put in the fridge and use as a side dish for other things or throw the last third pound of hamburger in the frypan and eat all as a meal. Probably make up the pasta first and put aside. Once that is cooled, heat up frypan and cookup remaining beef. I also have 48 hotdogs, meant only one package, picked up 2. Got the beef/pork variety, very cheap, need defrost, split up the package into two or 3 at a time and put back in freezer. Mostly can see me chopping up with beans and cheese and serving with rice or ramen possibly. I also have a bunch of honey, could see adding that to something heavy on garlic or just straight up peanut butter though need to add something else to eat, had a spoonful of peanut butter and honey yesterday, was heavenly. I will post meal later if it is different than what is mentioned.

    Hope everyone has a good day, in pockets for all as well. In own pocket, I have a giant box I would like to breakdown that used to hold stuff to be recycled, that stuff was put in a lilac container with lid, sit on top of loads of pantry staples The living room is more organized looking with storage covered in lids even if a little limited of the floor space, don't have stuff all over the floor.

  • mara51506
    mara51506 Posts: 7,161
    edited November 26

    UPDATE to previous post, I did try out the tomato alfredo and I did NOT enjoy the taste. Managed to get halfway through before stopping. Was going to toss out the leftovers but decided to rinse the noodles off, going to put them in the fridge, can add other ingredients and use up the leftover noodles. If I come across more of that kind, will rinse off before heating up. Could fry them in some butter and garlic along with the rest of the beef in the fridge. Oh well, noodles themselves were perfect, just the tomato and alfredo were not appealing to me. I will stick with the stuff I like, regular alfredo or garlic carbonara. Debating their inclusion in a quesa dilla, chop them up with an egg and beef with cheese and make a quesadilla. I will see.

    Nowadays, I find ways to reuse stuff I do not like, rinse off if needed or chop ingredients into cheese chips etc. Tonight I put a tbsp of garlic spread in a sprayed fry pan, took the rest of the beef that was left, put that in the pan, added the noodles I rinsed off, put a ton of taco seasoning, sheese elpaso seasoning, and sour cream and onion seasoning, got the rest of the beef warming with a lid on as there was still some pink beef, will make sure all got done and may mix in some queso seasoning and sour cream as well. I will post if it tastes good but don't have much doubt this serving of food will be good. I will also add a bit of honey to the bowl as well to add a little sweetness to the flavour.

    Edit: beef was not lean ground beef so pan was pretty greasy. Should have wiped out the pan with a towel stirred around to catch the grease. It did taste good with the beef and the rinsed pasta. Added the garlic spread, some taco dry seasoning, cheesy seasoning and a big handful of shredded cheese. Put some salt and a small amount of funny. Gave a sweet undertone to the savoury flavours happening. Overall, other than the greasy meat, it did taste really good. No loss of enjoyment of the pasta even rinsed.

  • mara51506
    mara51506 Posts: 7,161

    @sf-cakes Glad you enjoyed the dog show and the pie, hope you had more pie today.

    Nothing on the agenda today, slept well, laundry is underway. Need a good sweep as always. Funny that for all the vacuum type devices, best I have found is the most recent broom and dustpan. Pan has the teeth that can be used to clean bristles and when sweeping into the dustpan, no line of dust left over. I also need a good mop on the floor as well. One of those vileda devices will fit the bill. Also need to run my power washer in the tub behind the washer. It really works well. One of the more coarse heads also works well to clean dishes a bit faster without much effort from me. That makes it easier to stay away from buying an unnecessary dishwasher.

    Food is a different matter. I discovered that mixing food in the pot like pasta and eggs with vienna sausage is a bad idea, the meal was not good and a waste of a couple eggs. Better served to make stuff separately and then add them together as I feel like. I did discover just now that an El Monterey beef and bean burrito was delicious. It is cheap, not super huge and really did taste good. I added a dash of salt, some sour cream and onion powder as well. It was delicious and ever so inexpensive, will buy them when shopping for stuff again. Tonight will likely be an egg mcmuffin made a home, toast the english muffin, add butter, bit of mayo and cheese, make egg in the mini griddle and that will be supper.

    I do hope everyone is having a good day with leftovers or football or whatever you do. In pockets for all who need it. I am including everyone in my pocket duty and in pockets of my SIL and her mom. Her mom has possible lymphoma, going through the testing etc. I am supporting my SIL since she has her own situation she is dealing with, her mom and possibly me. I told her that I am not any further along toward a consult and will let her know when that is. Told I am dealing with it and do not want her to take on stress for that. She has promised to come when I find out. Will call DB tonight or this weekend to see how his week is going for him.

    Normally I am not always tying them up on the phone but since seeing each other is not happening, phone convos work for me to stay connected.

  • mara51506
    mara51506 Posts: 7,161

    Decided to add an air fryer to my kitchen set up, a smaller one, not expensive at all, would allow me to heat up things all at the same time I think. I am also thinking of the ability to cook from frozen which would be good. Arrives on Sunday. This is my Christmas gift to myself and it is not overly expensive as it is small for a single person.

  • eleanora
    eleanora Posts: 472

    @threetree

    Hope the roller coaster settles down and you can start to feel better. May the long weekend give you a chance to pamper yourself.

  • mara51506
    mara51506 Posts: 7,161

    @threetree I am sorry about your electrolyte imbalance, I am glad you are getting a break from your drug for a while.

    My post from yesterday got lost, not too much to say. Went to bed late, watched videos on facebook until later. Woke a 1pm today. Still slept pretty well, no complaints there. Played games for money yesterday, don't make too much but that is fine, some of the games are fun and give a budget boost. I did talk to DB, it is nice talking to him and SIL, told him just checking in on him. I think he appreciated that. He is frustrated no consult appointment set up yet with neurosurgeon. I told him I called both my RO office who referred me and the neurosurgeon office as well, all I can do. No symptoms at this point.

    Laundry on the agenda as usual, floors etc, that is about it. Waiting for my air fryer, hoping it shows up for supper. At this point, I am making a frozen penne with chicken, will be adding a veggie stir fry as well, put them together, can use as sides or a complete meal. They are very good. Still craving the burritos I bought but want to eat up other stuff first. Not sure the air fryer will be here in time for dinner, will heat up hashbrowns in the oven if needed. I am presently having a mixed dish of penne pasta with veggie stir fry and 1 tsp of soaked chia seeds. They are very filling so went with a small amount. Adding taco seasoning, white cheddar seasoning and adding small amount of garlic parm mayo to bind a bit. Will see how it tastes, I enjoy it, that is for sure.

    Hope days are going well for people and in pockets for anyone who needs me.

  • chicagoan
    chicagoan Posts: 1,383

    @mara51506 Sounds like you didn't get the snow storm we had in Chicago? I have shoveled and shoveled. I'm tired but it felt good to be able to do it. My work shift last night got canceled due to the weather. I was all set to go so I checked for something else to do and was able to score $15 tickets to "A Beautiful Noise" which is a jukebox musical about Neil Diamond. Thank you snow storm! Hope your air fryer comes soon. I found some good Black Friday deals too.

  • mara51506
    mara51506 Posts: 7,161

    @intolight Nice that you are keeping the spirit alive for DGD and doing some decorating.

    @cookie54 I am sorry that you both have to deal with so much regarding your health. In pockets for both of you. I am also happy to be in a more supportive role for DH and SIL as well.

    I did try the air fryer, burnt the hell out of two hashbrowns in the first go around, decided to check every 5 mins or so, they came out better. My thought is put them in microwave for one min first and then use the fryer to make outside golden. I will definitely look up stuff to make in the fryer and how to do it, nothing was stuck to it which was good. Supper was just the stir fry veggies and noodles with penne noodles and chicken and I added the two hash browns. Also had a tsp of soaked chia seeds as well. Seasoned with sour cream and onion dry seasoning and used caesar and bacon dressing with a dash of salt. As said air fryer does its job, just need to figure out making stuff in it. Looking up a recipe to make some roasted lentils in so they come out crunchy. I will see what I decide I want to try out. Have seen that if the aluminum foil has a bit of an edge, easy to put the lentils down at the bottom, I will see.

  • elainetherese
    elainetherese Posts: 1,640

    Mara,

    There are a lot of air fryer recipes on the internet. Last week, one of my sons didn't finish his French fries. When he was ready for them the next day, I just Googled "how to heat up French fries in the air fryer." That did the trick. I also love how packages of frozen food like wings and tater tots increasingly have air fryer directions on their packages. Good luck — I resisted getting an air fryer for a few years but when my oven recently went on the skids, I got one for my birthday and haven't looked back.

  • threetree
    threetree Posts: 2,408

    @intolight - Love hearing about you beginning the winter/Christmas activities. We get that real wet and slippery snow too ( when we get it), and I just LOVE Advent calendars. So happy for you that you have so much family to still share all that with - it's the best!

  • mara51506
    mara51506 Posts: 7,161
    edited December 2

    Slept well, will learn more about air fryer use online at google and Youtube. Planning to crisp up some lentils. My thought would be to check them every couple minutes, make sure they are not turned black, got KD noodles, 1/3 of a cup, added some garlic salt and taco seasoning to heat them up first, give a flavour boost. Planning to put in 1/2 cup lentils and riced veggies. Microwaving the riced veggies first to get rid of freezer moisture. Once those are microwaved, add them in the air fryer with the lentils. Will not be putting the KD noodles in fryer as it really would be unnecessary in my eyes. If it does not seem like enough food, could easily make a mini pot pie to have as well. I will see how I feel. Will update if successful meal.

    EDIT I did do up the KD noodles with taco and garlic seasoning, cooked like rice, could have stayed in longer, little tough but did taste really good. The lentils came out perfect, little bit of crisp, machine reminded me to shake the basket so that was good. I never expected a crunch like a chip but there was some crisp, overall, very enjoyable. I did add some sour cream and lime, sour cream and onion seasoning with some salt. Lastly added small amount of ranch and bacon dressing. Ate M&Ms for dessert.

    ADDITION 2, supper was an egg and mini pot pie with some cheese. I microwaved the pot pie for 90 seconds first, sprayed the air fryer, cracked in the egg, put some cheese. Cooked a couple of minutes in air fryer, took out the basket and added in the mini pot pie. Heated for another 2 min and 30 seconds, removed the basket and plated, use up some sour cream and onion seasoning, bit of salt and a bit of caesar and bacon dressing. It was delicious and eggs turn out really good in the air fryer.

    I hope all have a good day, in pockets for everyone.

  • cookie54
    cookie54 Posts: 1,220

    @intolight Glad you had light snow and can just enjoy your view. I love that your GD said the elf makes her happy that is what's important. Ugh I'm sorry your tumor markers have been rising, it's always something. We will all be in your pocket for PET , I hope you get a quick appointment. Hugs.

    @mara51506 Yes the air fryer definitely takes a little time to figured out. I do love that you can reheat and things like pizza and they are crispy! Breaded chicken is great in there and can make yourself some healthy fries too. Hve fun with it.

    Thanks ladies for your well wishes and concern for DH.❤️

  • tanya_djamila
    tanya_djamila Posts: 1,612

    cookie54 you and your husband are dealing with a lot. I hope you get some time out to take a break and not have this so heavy on your heart.

    Intolight pocket duty for your upcoming Pet.
    Mara I like my air fryer for heating pizza as cookie said and also for quick easy meals that just need to brown/toast.

    Wren I haven’t been to joes in a few months bc it’s a 1/2 hour drive and sprouts is closer. Joes does have some things that I love so will probably have to go soon. In your pocket for test tomorrow.

    Threetree hope you got some good rest over the weekend.

    Sf cakes glad you enjoyed the dog show. My sister was watching while talking to me but I got busy and dint remember to turn it on. Maybe I’ll find it streaming somewhere.

    Chicagoan kudos to you girl for shoveling snow. That’s great exercise!!!

    Take care all

    Tanya

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