The Week Begins...Yaaaaaaaaaaawn!

Have you ever had one of those weeks were you just wanted to pull the covers over your head and stay in bed all week?

That's what last week here was like.
First off, it was a HARD week anyway, since we had been on vacation the previous week.  I am still struggling with laundry catch-up.
Then I didn't rebound quickly from my stomach virus ordeal last weekend.  I still feel weak and the muggy, hot weather hasn't done anything to aid me in feeling like my old self either.

The store sales sucked last week also.  Daughter and I made up a very short grocery list, using the prices for a certain store.
This is about the ONLY perk I see in having a child old enough to drive--sending them on errands and you can stay home.  The extra car insurance has to be good for something, right?lol

Anyway, I sent her with the cash to pick up the items, mostly milk, lunchmeat, fruit and veggies.  Well, she comes home and hands me the change....and it's not even CLOSE to what it should have been according to the sales flyer!  So I started asking her how much things were and she gives me a blank stare and says she doesn't know that.....she just bought what was on the list.  She hands me the receipt and I almost had a coronary when I see she spent $5.80 on grapes.....this bunch of grapes.....

Ok, there were about a handful more of grapes than this when she bought them but even so!!!
They were suppose to be $1 a pound!

So I look at the receipt again and noticed she had gone to the WRONG STORE!LOLOL
It sure doesn't help to make a shopping list using Store A's sale prices and actually BUY the items at Store B.....
And I just felt so awful still, that even though I thought about returning it all that she didn't immediately open and use and rebuying it at the correct store, I didn't.
The frugal Sluggy was willing but the flesh was weak....or too lazy, you decide. ;-)

And other than that we just ate from the pantry and freezer this week....except for Sunday when Hubs got Chinese food.
But I did drag my carcass out to Rite-Aid Saturday evening, ONLY because I had +Ups expiring that day.
While the grocery store mix-up couldn't motivate me, the thought of letting $11 in +Ups go bad got me out of the house.

Last week was the first week of Band Camp for #2 son so this week is the final week.  Just making sure he gets to bed at a decent hour is stressful to me.  I don't know how he operates full-out like that in the hot sun on so little sleep....

Both the teens here have grown out of all their clothes this summer(one grew, the other lost weight)so I've got to deal with rebuilding their wardrobes in the next 2 weeks.

Next Sunday #1 son returns from working at Lake Erie for the summer so I'll have less than a full week to deal with getting him packed up for college again, as he's due back the following Sunday.  The same day he starts classes, the high school here resumes as well so all 3 kids will be off and running with the new school year very shortly.
Somebody tell me......WHERE did the summer go??

As an added bonus, I have been called for Jury Duty again in Sept.  Cross your fingers they don't actually need me or need me for a short time only.  Driving to Scranton 5 times a week for a month is NOT my idea of fun, useful, or anything else!

We haven't done anything about the remodeling project or the heating situation yet.
I haven't decluttered anything in weeks!
I haven't cleaned anything in weeks.....well except the bathroom.lol
I haven't meal planned in months(since the kids were gone for the summer) and am having a hard time getting motivated enough to deal with meals again.

Things are just piling up here and frankly, I don't care.
I'm feeling so Scarlett O'Hara today.....I'll think about all that another day.....

It looks like rain again so I'm taking the wet laundry in and heading back to bed.
I'm hoping for a do-over for the day.

If anyone has a mojo solution, I'm all ears.....

Sluggy

What I Did on My Summer Vacation.....Part Three

 This is Part 3 of my Summer Vacation Travelogue.  Catch up on Part Two HERE.

**Warning-If you have a fear of heights, you may want to avoid viewing the following photos.**


Bright and early on Sunday we headed out.
To where you ask?
Here of course.....

Well not to "this" Tim Horton's(which is in south Bangor), but the other location in north Bangor.
While Tim's may have better coffee, Mickey's Place still has better breakfast sammies....


After breakfast we started our busy day!

First on the agenda was something I had wanted to do on the last trip to Maine 2 years ago.
We crossed the river to Brewer and took Route 15 south to Bucksport.


See this bridge?

That's the new Penobscot Narrows Bridge that opened in 2006. It carries Route 1&3 over the Penobscot River from Prospect Maine to Verona Island Maine.

The bridge to the left is the old bridge, that was opened in 1931, it replaced.  It's called the Waldo-Hancock Bridge(for the names of the 2 counties it connected).

Both bridges are quite high up.

The last time Hubs and I traveled on this stretch of road was in about 1988 on an overnight trip to Campobello Island so we had traveled on the old bridge then.  This is a National Historical Landmark now.

We got to talking with one of the 'Rangers' working at the bridge & accompanying national park site when I mentioned that we had come through here many years ago.  The Ranger could remember all the way back to the mid 1950's when he first got his driver's license.  There use to be a toll on the Waldo-Hancock Bridge back then.  You had to stop, honk your horn and the toll keeper, who lived next to the bridge, would come out and collect your toll.  If it was late at night when you rolled up you just kept track of how many tolls you owed and paid up later when you crossed at a "decent hour".
Even I am not as old as that Park Ranger. ;-)



And here is the new bridge from below......

That support tower actually also holds an observatory.  It's the first bridge observatory in the US as well as the tallest public bridge observatory in the world.  It reaches 420 feet into the air.

Here's a photo of the old bridge from the top of the Observatory......

The elevator climbs from the bottom to the top in 50 seconds.  Well not quite the top, as you still have to climb 2 flights of stairs to reach the top vantage point.
But when the elevator opens and you step out, you are 2 feet away from a glass wall overlooking the river.
Here's Hubs posing for the camera.....

It's a real life version of the Hitchcock classic VERTIGO up there!
One of the older ladies from England in the group after our ascent looked a little green around the gills as she exited the elevator.


Here's a view of the Penobscot River looking south toward Penobscot Bay and the Atlantic beyond....

And here's the view looking north...Fort Knox Historic Site to the left shore, Verona Island to the right & Bucksport Maine on the far shore.

Did I mention that we were quite high up?


After our towering adventure*ahem*, we headed back up Route 1 to Bucksport and then east.  We decided to meander along the Blue Hill Peninsula, along Route 175/176.

We like to do that in Maine.  Just pick a road down one of the many finger-like peninsulas along the coast and drive until the road and the land ends.  You never know what you'll find and if you find nothing, well, at least the scenery is nice.
We stopped at one of the many take-out clam shacks that dot the coast line.  This one we happened upon in Penobscot Maine, pretty much in the middle of nowhere.
Here is the view from our lunch table overlooking Littlefield Cove on the Penobscot Bay.....

The clam shack was 30 feet to the left of our picnic table, which faced a gently sloping green down to the shoreline.  It was a beautiful day with a nice breeze and the best place on earth I could have imagined to eat freshly caught fried clams and scallops.

We continued meandering the peninsula down to the quaint village of Stonington.  The main street was small and the storefronts were mainly artsy-fartsy clothing boutiques catering to moneyed preppies and "art" galleries.  I prefer the villages that still retain the look and feel of working harbors so we hightailed it out of there quickly.

We ended up in Ellsworth around dinnertime.  After a quick run into Reny's discount store we had dinner at Helen's Restaurant.  We had been to the original Helen's up in Machias on that aforementioned trip to Campobello in the '80s. Don't know if both are still owned by the same folks but the food was good and fresh.  We didn't have room for the pie however, which is what Helen is known for.  I saw that Helen and crew had a framed photo of themselves posing with Bobby Flay.  Did he come through Maine here and do a Throwdown??

Ellsworth was as close to Bar Harbor as we wanted to venture this trip so we headed back to the campground and lit up the old campfire.

Speaking of campground neighbors.....the only sighting of the folks next door on Sunday was a quick glimpse of the Dad as he retrieved his laptop from the car and shut himself back into the RV.  The Mom did emerge briefly to hike up to the office area to do a load of laundry.  Otherwise, all 4 were hold up in the RV when we were around on both Sunday and Monday.  To be fair, we weren't at the trailer much either day.  They hadn't brought any kitchen stuff or food with them that we saw so we KNOW they had to leave to at least eat.
At least the Dad seemed to have gotten the pyromaniacal urges out of his systems and I could sleep with both eyes closed now.

To Be Continued....

Sluggy 

2nd Quarter Update on my 2010 Goals

Since we are more than half of the way through 2010 I thought I'd update my list of Goals for 2010 from this post Here.

1. Put more money into savings than was put away in 2009.
--$23,865.36 was banked in 2009.  I will be shooting for $30.000 in 2010, barring any unforeseen personal economic crisises.  
IN PROGRESS/ON SCHEDULE...We are still plugging away on this one and are currently ahead of schedule for the year at $19,782.91.

2. Pare down the stuff I need to eBay by sending more of it to the Thrift Store or sell it on Craigslist.
--Get off my rump and get stuff SOLD!  And what I can't readily sell, send it off to a Thrift Store.  I have had enough of boxes of crap hanging around my living room.  It's time to actually USE that room in the manner it was intended.
IN PROGRESS/ON SCHEDULE...I worked on this goal fairly diligently for 2 months this past quarter by selling some things on eBay and I sent 6(yes I said SIX!)loads to the Salvation Army last quarter.....3 in April, 2 in May and 1 in June. That's 213 items donated to charity!

3. Get rid of my last storage unit!
--This goes hand in hand with #2 above.  If all the crap goes, I won't need to pay for a storage unit any longer.  I went from 2 to 1 units last year.  It is time to let this one go as well.
UNDONE!
I threw the extra toiletries that didn't sell at the flea market in May into the storage unit.  #2 son and I repacked things into smaller boxes and organized so that come Sept it will be easy to load it all into the van and head to the flea market.  We also moved all the paper goods stockpile into the garage.  Once the weather cools down I can go back over there and work on whittling down the stash some more.



4. Plan and implement my garden better so I have a chance for it to be more productive this summer.
--Last year's garden was lame.  I need to be more proactive and get things planned and going earlier this year for it to be successful.  Every bit of work you put into a garden will pay dividends in increased health from eating better and  money saved on food spending.
DONE!!!
I did succeed in getting #1 son and DH to help me with getting the gardens up and running in May.  We've been pretty successful with how it's doing this summer, knock on wood!

5. Do the taxes and complete paperwork for #1 son's schooling.
--This will be the first Hope accomplished as is needs to be completed by mid February.  It could also be a big PITA as we have added tax implications for 2009 due to an estate/inheritance issue.
DONE!!! 

6. Decide on and install a hew heating system for the house before the rate cap expires and heat is needed this fall.
--This one is VITAL and it must be completed by September!  

UNDONE!
Ok...I am way behind on this one and it won't get completed in time.  Actually, this goal has changed due to changes in the BIG PLAN for our life so this goal needs modifying.  To be explained in a coming post.

7. Rethink how and how much I coupon/rebate and reorganize my freezer/pantry/stockpile.
--With my 1st year of extreme couponing and stockpiling over, now is the time to step back and see what I did well, what I need to improve upon and what needs to go. 
DONE!!!

8. Continue to meal plan and retool our diet, including cooking from scratch/semi-homemade.
--This will involve making better choices with food, will depend partly on how successful  #4 is, and will  require all of us to change some old habits.  It's probably going to be the most difficult Hope to accomplish.
DONE & IN PROGRESS!!!

9. Decide on and complete 1 major house remodel project.
--Once we decide what it will be, it's just a matter of pulling the trigger on the job, as the money is there waiting to be spent thanks to our savings challenge of 2009.

UNDONE!  
We are still wrangling over how much to spend/what to do.  At any rate, we are not under a weather deadline as whatever we do will be an inside project.

10. Complete all the unfinished craft and sewing projects!!
--This Hope is my own personal one that doesn't involve any other family members directly.  I need to just put my head down and plow through all these started projects OR make a decision to release them to someone else who wants to complete them.  This should take a good part of the year to accomplish.
UNDONE!
I have gone as far as uncovering the storage tub with some unfinished projects inside.  Ugh!  This is SO far from done....lol

In closing, I've got 3 Goals DONE and 3 Goals IN PROGRESS & 4 Yet to be Tackled.
Not great but not awful.  I'd rate myself a C+....


My Plan of Attack for the rest of August & Sept.--
I'll be doing some additional organizing in the garage as well as preserving food by canning and freezing.
As the weather dictates I'll attempt some more cleaning out of the storage unit and sending stuff to Salvation Army or setting aside to donate to a local fundraiser. 
I'll be going back to the flea market to sell more of the excess stockpiled toiletries in Sept. plus I'll be getting back into eBay again.
DH & I need to re-evaluate Goal #6 & #9 so those are on hold. I'll expand on this in a later post. 
Along with all this, I'll be keeping up with the garden, keep putting money away into savings, and continuing to cook more from scratch.

How are you doing on your Yearly Goals?
Let us know what you've finished or started so far this year.

Sluggy

Picking Time #3.....Just Go Away!

Ok, so I have discovered the secret to get your garden to produce.
Would you like to know what it is?
Come a little closer and I'll whisper it into your ear......





To get your garden to hand over the veggies just......

GO ON VACATION!

That's what we did.
And here is what we came home to......

  And then 2 days later I picked these....

Plus the rest of the Collard Greens look like they need picking too, but I'll hold off until #1 son comes home in 1 week so he can have a mess 'o greens to eat.  ;-)

I don't care for frozen squash so we've be eating it fresh.  I'm going to make stuffed squash(like stuffed bell peppers)out of it most probably. 
The cauliflower got blanched and frozen for winter eating....those 4 heads filled 5 quart sized bags.  I'll be planting spinach this week where the cauliflower was located.  There are still 2 heads to harvest that are a bit small yet.
The tomatoes that haven't been made into BLTs got thrown into the freezer until I have enough to can them.
We've eaten all the bread & butter pickles from the 1st gallon I made so I'll probably make another jar full with this lot of cukes, plus leaving a couple fresh for salads.

This harvest--
Tomatoes....3lb. 10.12 oz.
Squash.....2lb. 2.8 oz.
Cucumbers....3lb. 2.6 oz.
Cauliflower....4lb. 12 oz.
TOTAL....13lb. 11.52oz.

Garden Harvest Weight Total to date....29 lb. 0.92 oz.

What's new in your garden?


Sluggy

What I Did on My Summer Vacation.....Part Two

This is my Part Two of my Summer Vacation Travelogue.  Catch up by reading Part One HERE first.

Besides being a cheaper alternative to lodging, an RV stay also gives you the frugal option of cooking your own meals when you want.  This keeps food costs lower.

Here's what we hauled with us to Maine, from the stockpile, to eat at the campground..... it's the better part of 6 meals.  Cost of food pictured was under $10 with sales/coupons(not including Hubs instant coffee).  Buying it at retail in the grocery store while on vacation would have been close to $30.  Cost of those 6 meals in restaurants, at least $90 not including tips.

Unfortunately, we hauled most of this food home.  The siren song of fresh local seafood was too much to bear so we ate out more than anticipated.
And I don't feel a wit guilty over that!lol

The one thing I don't enjoy paying to eat at restaurants is lobster. A whole lobster dinner even at an inexpensive dining joint will run you upwards of $20 for a small 1.5 lb chick....unless you know where the lobster shacks are that the locals frequent.

I'd rather buy and cook my own whole lobsters.

Why pay $20 or more plus tips for something you can get fresh for $4lb. or less and prepare yourself in 20 minutes?  So I drag my big lobster pot with me every time and we eat like kings on a pauper's budget.
Unfortunately this trip, my lobster pot saw NO action.  We only had whole lobsters once, on our last day in Maine, and I didn't cook them.  We didn't always eat 3 meals a day and the timing never quite worked out(being hungry before the lobster pound closed for the day, being 'home' for meal times at the RV, etc.), so I didn't get to decimate the lobster population as I had wished.

 I remembered from our last trip 2 years ago that our campsite had an old apple tree on site and apples littered the ground.  The owners had cut down that tree since our last visit but I found these 2 other apple trees 2 campsites over....

*Apple trees at the campground.*

I meant to ask the owner what kind of apple trees they were before we left.
It was such a shame to see all those apples rotting on the ground.  And if we had been heading home the day we left there, I would have been tempted to pick as many apples as I could carry home.  But leaving ripe apples in a boiling hot van for days on end was not a good option this trip.

The hot place to eat in Bangor Maine is a Truck Stop.
Dysart's Truck Stop.
They are famous for their homemade corned beef hash(it's VERY good!).
The pancakes are as wide as the plate they are served on and if you eat them often enough, you'll be that wide too.
For a true Maine breakfast experience, whatever you order, you have to order some beans as well.  A traditional lumberjack breakfast in the North Woods of Maine starts with baked yellow eye beans.

If you go to Dysart's on the weekend, you need to get there early unless you want a long wait to get a table.

It's that popular....

Wouldn't you know it, the weekend we arrived in Bangor was the week the State Fair started!  Now I know McVal will be utterly disappointed in me but no, we didn't go to the fair.  I didn't go to Maine to eat deep fried twinkies and other "bad-for-you" fair food and walk for miles and miles in the heat.
And contrary to popular belief, it does get hot in Maine.....but only very briefly, usually in August.
Trust me, I know....


So we spent the rest of Saturday hitting some shopping places I wanted to peruse--the grocery store, the discount store & the local Dollar Store for some supplies(matches, reading material).  We also went searching for some firewood that was cheaper than what the campground store was charging.  We drove up the road and found the nice folks who own Treworgy Orchards in nearby Levant Maine.  They were laying in their own firewood for winter when we drove up and graciously let us buy some bundles off of them, though they don't sell firewood to the public.  This farm is a true family operation and has been around since 1983.  They were having the grand opening of their cool corn maze that weekend.....here it is from waaaaay up in the air.....

*Not my photo.  It's from their website.*

I'm so sad we won't be around for the apple and pumpkin picking in the fall.  It looks like a great place to be and the folks running it couldn't be nicer.
If you find yourself in the Bangor Maine area, be sure and check the Treworgy Orchards Farm out!

On Saturday afternoon, we had neighbors move into the trailer next door.  A family with 2 pre-teen boys.  They arrived in a midsized-sedan car with a "neighboring state's" plates and piled into the trailer immediately after exiting the car.
Either a family member or friend arrived later with another couple of kids.  They were local and were just visiting.  One of the kids kept coming out of the trailer screaming that they couldn't get on their facebook page.

The dad dumped a load of firewood into their fire ring about 30 minutes after they arrived(in the middle of the day mind you) and set it ablaze using about a half a can of lighter fluid.
He and the kids stood and oohed and aahed for about 10 minutes over the blaze.  A bit of primal male bonding no doubt....

Did I mention that this guy had parked their car right next to the fire ring???
EEK! 
I had visions of us all being immolated in a great fiery ball of flame.

Then they all packed into the trailer for some more facebook cruising(I am assuming)and left the roaring fire unattended outside.
Ah, the joy of having urban halfwits with no concept of fire safety for neighbors......

To Be Continued....

Sluggy 

ZEVIA-the Zero Calorie Drink Review & Giveaway! CLOSED

A couple of months ago I reached out to a company I had heard about.  The folks at ZEVIA were making a zero calorie all natural soda and I just had to give it a try.

If you're like me, over the last few years, you've become more concerned with what you put into your body and with what you feed your family.

I confess I use to be a diet soda addict....yes, it's true!
A bout with aspartame poisoning 3 years ago put an end to my relationship with diet sodas and artificial sweeteners.  And drinking regular soda and all those extra empty calories was just not an option for me.
 But there were times I sure missed having a fizzy soda experience.

And then in walked ZEVIA into my life!

ZEVIA is the 1st all natural zero calorie soda.  There is nothing artificial in it.  You can kick all those diet sodas to the curb now. ;-)
Not only is ZEVIA zero calorie but it's gluten & dairy-free, has a zero ranking on the Glycemic Scale and certified kosher.

So what makes Zevia sweet?
Two things.....Erythritol and Stevia.
Erythritol is a natural product found in many fruits and vegetables. It's technically a sugar alcohol and is extracted via a natural fermentation process.  I buy it at the health food store and have used it as a sweetener in my home in baking for years.
The other sweetener used is Stevia.  Also known as Sweet Leaf it is sourced from the stevia plant, an herb that has been grown and used as a natural sweetener for centuries in Central and South America.  Stevia has become popular in recent years in the US so I'm sure you've heard of it before.

ZEVIA has a website HERE.  There is a very thorough Q&A page located on the website HERE.

So the fine folks at ZEVIA agreed to send me a 6 pack to try out.
And the verdict at Chez Sluggy?

Two big thumbs UP for ZEVIA!

I tried the Orange, Twist(a lemon-lime flavor), Black Cherry, Ginger Root Beer, Dr Zevia(a Dr. Pepper/Mr. Pibb type flavor), and Cola varieties.  The only one I didn't get to try was the Ginger Ale.

All of the 6 flavors I tried were very good.
They were as fizzy as any diet or regular major brand of soda I have ever had.
The flavors were bright and enjoyable and you'd be hard pressed with the fruit flavored varieties to tell them from other brands of those flavors.
I especially thought the Black Cherry and the Ginger Root Beer flavors were great.  These two were my favorites.  The Black Cherry had a very strong cherry flavor. The Root Beer was intriguing from the first sip as it had a different note of something besides the root beer flavor mixed in.  After I read the can closer I saw it was GINGER Root Beer, so that 'special' extra flavor was the ginger root.  I have to say that the ginger really Really enhanced the whole root beer experience.  I may never go back to drinking plain old root beer again.  ;-)

So did I miss the sugar....the cane sugar and the HFCS that all the leading soda manufacturer's put in their soda?
Not one bit.
Some people find that the sweetener stevia has an aftertaste.  This is true for me.  It's sort of a licorishy taste.  But then again, ANY sweetener you consume gives off an aftertaste, even natural cane sugar and especially those artificial sweeteners like aspartame and sucralose.  After awhile though you get use to it.

I'd much rather get use to the stevia aftertaste than the others since it means I'm NOT ingesting all those extra calories associated with cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup or the unhealthy chemicals of the artificial sweeteners.

Zevia does cost more than the major brands of soda.  Using quality, better-for-you ingredients does cost a bit more, but aren't you worth it?   I look at it this way....I'm frugal in lots of other ways, so I can spend a bit for other things, like a soda that is better for me and better for the environment.

ZEVIA might not be readily available at your local grocery store or beverage outlet as it's new.  There is a store locator on their website HERE.
I can tell you that the WEGMAN'S grocery chain carries Zevia, as do some Natural and Health Food Stores here in PA.

You can buy ZEVIA directly by the case, on the company's website if you can't find a local outlet.

WIN IT!
The folks at ZEVIA have graciously consented to let one of my readers receive a free 6 pack of assorted  flavors to try for themselves.


*** FOR your chance to WIN....go to the ZEVIA WEBSITE and come back and tell me what flavor you would most like to try and why.

For additional entries.....
You can earn additional entries by doing any or all of the following--

1. Become a follower of "DON'T READ THIS; IT'S BORING"...(just click on the follow button on the right side bar) and leave a separate comment for it.  If you already follow, just say so in a separate comment.
2. Go "Like" Zevia on Facebook and leave a separate comment that you did.
3. Subscribe to "DON'T READ THIS; IT'S BORING" via RRS feed and leave a separate comment for it.  If you already subscribe, just say so in a separate comment.
4. Blog about this Giveaway and leave a separate comment that you did and the link or URL to that post.

If you do all these things you will receive FIVE entries into the Giveaway. 8-)


This ZEVIA GIVEAWAY will remain open until August 24th at 11:59pm Eastern Time, at which time I will select a winner via the random number generator.
Any questions?... feel free to email me directly.

Good luck to all!

*Official Legal Mumbo-Jumbo and Disclaimers....Zevia supplied me with product for the purposed of conducting my taste-test & review.  All opinions expressed here are my own and I was not compensated for my views otherwise.  All product information was obtained from the company's website.

Sluggy

Another 2010 BORING BLOG BOX of FUN GIVEAWAY is OPEN! Box #3 POST 2

This is the 3rd Sluggy's BORING BLOG BOX GIVEAWAY for 2010!

It's time again for a Boring Giveaway.
I run a Boring Blog here so why not giveaway boring stuff, right?

Just to recap, I put things in the box(mostly what I have gotten for free or almost free)each week and when the box is filled we draw a winner from all the entries received.  The stuff can range from HBA, food, toys, collectibles, home decor or books.  Someday if enough people click on enough ads and this blog makes some cold hard cash, I may add a gift card, so get to clicking already!!lol

For all you Primping Princesses, here is what went into the Box today.....

1. White Musk Body Spray
2. Lavender & Vanilla Body Spray
3. Revlon Eye Shadow Set-Coastal Blues

If this is your first time, please go read all the rules for these Giveaways on THIS POST.

Please NOTE--You MUST be a follower to enter the Giveaway.  If you aren't one, just click on the "Follow" button on the right hand side of my blog to become a follower---->


TIME TO ENTER.....

I entry per person on this POST.

When I post again about this BORING BLOG BOX GIVEAWAY, entries on this Post will be CLOSED and you can post on the New Giveaway Post and enter again.  I hope this isn't too confusing. ;-)

Here are the ways to get UP TO 2 EXTRA entries PER POST.....

1. Put my blog on your blog's Blogroll.  Leave an extra comment for this entry on THIS POST only with the URL of your blog. If I'm already on your Blogroll, say so in an extra comment.
2.  Blog about this Giveaway on your blog or on a Message Board.  Leave an extra comment for this entry on THIS POST only with a link to your blog post or the message on the board.

You can do each of these 2 things once per post, so that's a total of up to 3 entries per person per post.
(*Sorry M & F...no daily entries this time because of the vacation.*)

Again, you can enter on this post until I put another Giveaway Post up and then you need to enter on the NEWER Post.
FYI if you are new here....it generally takes 4 weeks to fill the box, so there will be 4 posts(give or take)about this Giveaway where you can enter to win up to 3 times.

Any questions?  Just email me at slugmama@yahoo.com

Oh yah, I pay for all the stuff in this giveaway and nobody(business or person) gives me stuff or pays me to hold them or promote their products.  I even pay the shipping just because I loves ya'll and....and.....that's how I roll!  ;-)

Happy Entering!! 

Sluggy