BOO!.....Did I Scare Ya?.......Happy Halloween!

Looking back at Halloween when I was a kid.....I can only remember 1 costume I wore.
It was a black dress shmatah...it was homemade. The best part of it was the awesome Witch's hat my mom made for me. It had a paper bag base covered with black crepe paper with a brim....the classic Wicked Witch of the West model....

What made it even better was she took strips of black crepe paper and curled it and attached them to the underside of the brim, making black flowing "hair".  She also made a tassel of strips of the twisted paper and had it coming out of the point of the hat.
As I ran from house to house, my costume flapped in the breeze.
Best.
Witch Hat.
Ever.

And it cost almost nothing since the paper bags were free from the grocery store and the pack of crepe paper was cheap, and the dress thing was a dyed sheet she cut up.
We weren't wealthy people so no cheap plastic costumes from Woolworth's or Rose's for us.

Yah, I thought I was Miss Thing that night! ;-)
Until near the end of the evening, some older kid grabbed my hat as I ran past him, snatched it off my head and broke it.
If I had known that kicking a boy in the nuts would make him suffer back then, I so would have done that to this kid.....

Another  good memory of Halloween I have is also of my mom.  When I was about 5, she taught me a song that she was taught to sing at Halloween back in the 1930's.
I just did a little research on this song and it was a poem first, attributed to Abbie Farwell Brown, a prolific writer from Boston, 1859-1927.
I can't seem to find the tune so I don't know if the one my mom taught me is the official one created for the poem by W. Otto Miessner.

I can't remember my kids' names sometimes, but I still remember that song.lol

I'll leave you with a song from one of the Best Movies.
Ever.

What are your best memories of Halloween from when you were a kid?

Sluggy

Shopping Last Week, Meal Plan This Week & My Weis Deal

Last week's meal plan is in the books.  Here is what actually happened....

SUNDAY--Baked Catfish, Crab Cakes, Hush Puppies, Coleslaw
MONDAY--Kielbasa, Onions, Sauerkraut, Rolls
TUESDAY--Hot Dogs, nothing else*
WEDNESDAY--Subway subs*
THURSDAY--Frozen Pizza and Fritos*
FRIDAY--Tuna Noodle Casserole, Brussel Sprouts
SATURDAY--Chicken Parmesan, Pasta, Broccoli

B-IL though I showed him all the good stuff I had stocked up for him to cook, he didn't make much of an effort feeding them all while we were gone. (The * meals were while we were gone.) No veggies at all were consumed, just processed food. Pizza and Fritos?.....really??lol
I left $30 cash too, that he used for the subs and 1 gallon of milk he bought.  There was no money left so either he pocketed the rest or they also had Chinese or burgers somewhere as well.
Whatever.

I spent....sit down for this...... $144.69 at the grocery stores last week.
Ack!
$61 of that was grocery shopping on vacation.  The rest was 1 trip to the local ShurSave affiliate and 4 trips to Weis to do the Catalina deals. There was a Kimberly-Clark Buy $21/Get $7 OYNO Cat Deal and a Heinz Buy $20/Get $7 OYNO Cat Deal.
Among the K-C products that qualified were Huggies baby wipes.  I know this falls under TMI(=too much information)but I "heart" baby wipes for those times when you do #2 and you want something wet and soothing against your bum.  Ya know what I mean?lol  I started using baby wipes 20 years ago when I had my first baby and I haven't stopped. ;-)
Because of couponing deals, I haven't had to pay for baby wipes in 2+ years.  And my stockpile was down to 3 boxes of wipes so I was soooo glad(nay, RELIEVED!lol)to see this Cat Deal included Huggies wipes.
I bought 9 packages last Monday, paid $16.91(used 1 $1 Q)and got the $7 Cat and we were off to the races!
Of course, we left town for 3 days and then the Blizzard on Saturday so I was only able to roll this deal 2 more times.  I did 1 pack of TP and 5 boxes of wipes on each roll using Qs for the TP so I was OOP about $8.44 for each roll and ended up with 19 boxes of wipes and 2 mega packs of TP.
The last $7 Cat I used to do the Heinz deal once since the only items that qualified that I needed was pasta sauce and ketchup.  4 bottle of each came to $10.16 + another $7 Cat to use this week or next.  $1.27 for each pasta sauce and 40oz. bottles of ketchup was pretty good.


And yes I did go back to Weis and complain about being overcharged 1 penny on those packs of burritos!  The CS person looked at me just like Hubs did....that "you have GOT to be kidding me!" look.
I told her, "Weis advertised these 3 for $10.  I was charged $10.01.  The price guarantee policy says I get 1 item for free and my penny back for being overcharged, so yes, for $3.34 and a free item I AM going to complain!"lol
Hubs says I am exploiting the store and if everyone took advantage of this policy they would go out of business.
I say if they have a policy, and they are in the wrong and have to correct the error, then who am I NOT to hold them to their own policy!  Now you would think they store would have the computer error corrected after having to pay out, right?
Nope.  I went back to the store on Friday and the signs are still up and I am guessing that the price is still ringing up wrong.  If they pay out because of this policy and then don't even go to the trouble of fixing the system error, it either means the corporate management is incompetent or is making so much profit that it doesn't matter that they are giving out free product.
A smart person, with a lot of time on their hands, should have gone to Weis every day and bought 3 packages of burritos and then demanded $3.34 in cash back.  Maybe next time I find an error in pricing I get a bus load of friends to go to the store and have each of them buy an offending item and then hold the store to the price guarantee.  Maybe about 30 people in a row demanding refunds would make them actually FIX the ERROR next time.....or maybe not.lol

My savings percentage was only 37.86% last week, as the reg. retail was $232.86 on the groceries I brought home.  The items I bought at the ShurSave affiliate weren't all on sale but I am still trying to up my total there for the Turkey Day gift certificate.

This week's menu.....
SUNDAY--Chicken & Dumplings
MONDAY--Sloppy Joe on Rolls, Cauliflower
TUESDAY--Ravioli, Salad
WEDNESDAY--Sausage Sandwiches on rolls, Corn
THURSDAY--Pork Chops, Cabbage, Sweet Potato Fries
FRIDAY--leftovers
SATURDAY--leftovers again


At present, my October food spending stands at $604.51 with 1 day left in the month.
This will increase a teeny tiny bit as I am rolling a next Cat Deal at Weis today.

Taking my $7 Cat from last week and I did this first thing this morning.....

6 x Puffs facial tissue on sale $1=$6.00
1 x 12 pack of rolls=$2.19
SubTotal was $8.55 w/tax.

I used ...
1 x $1/6 Puffs ManuQ
1 x $7 OYNO CatQ
Coupon total.....$8.00
$8.55-$8.00=$.55 OOP
And I got a $5 OYNO Catalina Q.


The Puffs are part of a P&G Catalina Deal this week.  Buy any 5 qualifying P&G items and get a $5 CatQ.  I got 6 to use the coupon.  The Q made that extra Puffs free so why not buy 6 for free rather than 5 for free, right?lol





Now I can take that $5 Cat and roll it for 5 more free Puffs, over and over again until there are no more Puffs in the store or I have no more room for them, whichever comes first.lol


I also had 70 points for Gas at Weis so I got $25 of FREE gas for the Savings Mobile on Friday before the storm hit.
Sweet!

Other than this Puffs Deal at Weis and spending at the ShurSave affiliate to get to my Turkey Day gift certificate(there are 2 weeks left to qualify), I don't see much food shopping in my future this week.

How about you?  Any MUST HAVE deals where you are?



Sluggy

Can I Go Back to the Beach Now?!?!

The view out my back door on October 29th......

WTF?!?

6 inches and counting.......

Sluggy

Getting Rid of Stuff.......One Way or Another....It's Still DeCluttering P*rn!

Since the Great Toy Sale of 2011 didn't happen, I have had to come up with other ways to try to A-get rid of things while B-getting back of few of our hard earned dollars as well.

So I listed about 40 items on the local Yahoo Tag Sale site and threw photos of it all in the online photo album for the site last Friday.  I sold 11 dolls of the 12 I had listed before Saturday was over!  Of course, 1 person crapped out and didn't take 2 of the dolls she asked for and then I held for her for 3 days. Grrrrr
None of the toys or collectibles I listed sold, just the dolls. Weird....
I made $89 on the ones I sold and I'll relist the 2 that person didn't take.  I'll list some more items this weekend and see what else I can sell....or maybe I'll wait until Halloween is over and people might be more in the mood for spending on Christmas presents.

A lot of this stuff  from the Toy Sale will end up going to Salvation Army as well as the local Yahoo Group Christmas List for helping the needy.

Another group I give to is a local volunteer fire department.  They hold a fundraiser each fall, usually Oct. or Nov.  It's what they call a Chinese Auction around here.  You may know it as a Penny Auction, or a Tricky Tray or a Silent Auction or some other name.
Basically, you buy sheets of tickets at the door, as many or as few as you want.  There is a master stub and about 25 other smaller tickets on each sheet.  All tickets have the same number.  You keep the master stub and you deposit your smaller tickets into buckets that sit next to prizes in the hall....one bucket per prize.  You can put 1 or you can put 1000 tickets in the bucket of something you want to win...or you can skip buckets and put nothing in, it's all up to you.
After a couple of hours of ticket dropping, they call time and you sit down.  The folks running the auction then pull a ticket from each bucket and if it has your number on it, you win the prize.

I must say these are very enjoyable events and I go to them whenever I get the chance.  It doesn't have to cost you much money and besides the social aspect of the event there is the thrill of maybe winning stuff so it satisfies the gambling addiction in me....such that it is.lol

Mostly the folks running one of these will solicit local businesses for prizes.  The organizations members also will donate items to make it more successful.
And then there are crazy people, like me, who donate brand new stuff from my hoard of crap.lol

About a week ago a local volunteer fire dept. that I have donated TONS of items to for their auction contacted me.  I have been a very generous donator of crap there for the last 6 or so years so they plan on me giving them stuff at this point.
Since we were out of town for a few days I didn't have a chance to call her back yet.
Well she called again while I was out at the grocery store yesterday.  The event is a week from tomorrow so the fire dept. ladies are getting antsy.  Hubs, who took the call, said that the fire dept. lady(who is in charge)is tired of hearing the other ladies nag at her about getting stuff from me.  She feels like she's stalking me.lol

So I went out in the garage this morning and here is what I've got together to donate to their Fundraiser....

3 ceramic Cookie Jars (Ronald McDonald, Boyds Bears Xmas, Nightmare Before Xmas)
2 sets of ceramic Salt & Pepper Shakers (Wedding Set, Xmas set that matches cookie jar)

Dept. 56 Old Globe Theater ceramic set
Maxine Snow Globe

1 Original Furby
1 Curious George Bank/Gumball Machine
1 Spider-man Clock

 3 Boyd's Bears Critters

1 Cat in the Hat Clock
3 assorted Boyds Bears Resin Figures (Ike & Libby, Edward the Elf, Jeremy as Noah)

That's $365.00 worth of good, new in the box, decluttering crap leaving the house on Monday, making 2 nice big fat donations to charity for October.

Yay me!! ;-)

Sluggy

The Totino's Giveaway Results.....

There were 32 valid entries(sorry Keshling!)so I used Random.Org to pick the winner...um....at random.....duh!lol.

And the winner is entry 29......
PRACTICAL PARSIMONY!

Practical Parsimony said...

Shaun of the Dead

October 28, 2011 4:09 PM

Congratulations Practical P!

Please email me with your mailing address(including phone number, hey, it's a MyBlogSpark thing, don't ask. lol).  You have 48 hours from the time stamp on this blog post to contact me before I am forced to pick a new winner.


Thank you to everyone who entered and I hope you stick around awhile!

You will especially like to be around next week as I tally up my food spending for October.  If you think, gorey and scary things are out on Halloween, just wait until you see how much $$ I spent on food this past month!lolol


Oh and the movie #2 son and friend rented from Redbox was.........

BLOOD NIGHT: THE LEGEND OF MARY HATCHET
As a 15 yr old boy, how could you go wrong with bloody violence & hatchets?  The nudity and teen partying were just a bonus for them.lol
Awful movie.....just awful......and a far cry from what I wanted to rent--The King's Speech. LOL


Sluggy

LAST CHANCE to Enter My Giveaway!!!.....Ends Tonight!

Last few hours left to enter my current Giveaway.  Find the link on the top of the right sidebar or find it HERE.

Only 22 valid entries so far so get going now! 8-))

Sluggy

Did Anyone Miss Me?

Hubs & I took off for a couple of days to go down to Ocean City MD.
It's a regular thing now that we try to do every year in October....just the two of us.

And no electronics come along, except the cell phone.
So that's why you haven't heard from me online.

It was short this time(2 nights)but sweet, as the high temperatures hovered around 75 each day! 8-))
The bad was that we found out the hotel turned off the A/C for THE YEAR before we got there.
Meaning, the room was hot as heck, even at night and I had a hard time sleeping for 2 nights.
bleh.

Now I would NEVER go to Ocean City in season.  The place is tacky, wall-to-wall tacky shops(beyond the actual ocean and beach part)and WALL-TO-WALL PEOPLE!
Loud people, out of control teens, screaming tots, drunk people, obnoxious people, cruising up and down the strip blaring music(mostly bad)so loud that the car vibrates people.
All of which I had to endure growing up in a beach town during "the season".....all of which are not on my list of fun things to be around.
So we go in the late Fall to avoid all these annoyances. The beach and ocean is still there and even though there ARE people there,  relative quiet is also there.  It was so warm this time you could have gone into the water though we opted not to.

Here is the lone photo I took....

Either I forgot to take the camera when we went somewhere or on a walk on the beach or we just didn't do anything photoworthy.
Mostly we sat around on the balcony or went out to eat something.  Neither of those things make great pictures.

We made a detour on the way down via Reading so I could get some Easy Spirit shoes.  These shoes are expen$ive but there is an outlet in Reading.  Ok, so there is an outlet in Rehoboth too but that one is so small I haven't been able to find any shoes that fit me there for the last 2 years.  The store in Reading is twice the size.  I found 4 pair of shoes that fit and they were on BOGO50% sale so it was worth the detour.

We stopped in Rehoboth on the way home at the Vans Outlet and I picked up most of #2 son's Christmas loot there.  If the child could have Vans tattooed on his butt, he would. ;-)
They also had the Jumiez Store a couple of doors down from the Vans Store opened now(at Easter when we passed through, it was not opened yet).  #2 son will be sad to hear that he missed it but that place was crazy expensive and not outlet prices so not on my places to go back to again.  I did find some jeans for #2 son clearanced to $9.97 plus BOGO50% off which was sweet. 

Since the weather was even warmer than forecast(Hubs didn't bring but 1 short sleeved shirt)he picked up a couple of summer polo type shirts at an outlet store in West Ocean City.   They were on clearance so I didn't have a fit. lol

Then we get to the 'unconventional shopping' that I do....grocery shopping!lol

On Wednesday we hit the Sav-A-Lot store down there.  We don't have one here so I like to go in and see what I can score for cheap.  Last year I got a ton of 100% juices but the pickings were thin this year.  They had Gwaltney rolled sausage for $1!....but it was sold out. 8-(
So here is what I picked up.....

Good strong instant coffee for Hubs at $3.99 a jar.
Sloppy Joe Sauce for .85¢ each.
Peach cough drops for .99¢....while not a deal price, the flavor is unusual for here and Daughter is addicted to peach anything AND she loves cough drops, so these go in her Christmas stocking.lol
I also picked up a couple of Jiffy brand corn bread mixes for .45¢.  They are selling for .70¢ & up around here.  No real stock-up worthy items there this trip.

Then we went looking for Smithfield ham(meaning salt cured ham).  While I no longer cook a whole Salt-Cured ham for the Holidays, we do like ham and biscuits on occasion so we always pick up ham slices when we get below the Mason-Dixon Line.

6 packaged of salt-cured ham for $4.39 each.
4 packages of Jiffy banana muffin mix(for #2 son)on clearance for $.39¢ each.
1 bag of masa or corn flour for $4.49
3 lbs. of dried chillies(various types, nothing really really hot though) for $2.99 lb.


Except for the muffin mix, this is all stuff I can't get here in my Ethnic Polish town.  I might be able to get the Mexican/Southwestern items up at Wegman's but I'd pay a much heftier price.

Then on the way out of town yesterday we picked up these items.....

FUDGE!  Select varieties were BOGO Free.  Fudge was $11.75 a POUND this past season!!
I would eat fudge until I weighed 800 pounds but NOT at that price.
So we picked up 4lbs. at a price equal to 2lbs.
1 lb. each for #2 son and the Nephew and 2 lbs. for Hubs and I.
I will try not to eat all of mine before the weekend is over........

Then we stopped at Rose's.  It's still there hanging on in OC, but barely.  Rose's is a department/discount store that has been around in this area of the South since before Kmart/Walmart, etc.    It is the place to go for this......

Claxton Fruit Cake!
Best.
Fruitcake.
Ever!!!

I know you are all making nasty faces at this because fruitcake is gross.
ALL fruitcake EXCEPT this or your granny's homemade are gross!

This fruitcake is all fruit and nut meats, barely any cake.
It is the CADILLAC of Fruitcakes!
But if you order this from the company in Georgia that makes it, it's Very Pricey!
I go to Rose's and get it for $3.75 each.
Last year it was $3.50.  I was shocked that it hadn't gone up more!
1 fruitcake will go into #1 son's stocking(He loves this stuff!)and the other 4?
They will be eaten, trust me!lolol

I also picked up this at Rose's......

Some slippers for $5 that I might actually get my foot into.
If not, I'll give them to Daughter for Christmas as her foot is as big but not as wide.

We left Ocean City MD and it was around 11am and 65 degrees....re-cue my first photo but with a little more overcast clouds....

We hit rain as we left Rehoboth DE.  The drizzle picked up and the temperature dropped slowly as we drove northward.

By the time we got 20 miles from home, we had this on the Turnpike....

FREAKING SNOW!
Ok, I didn't take that picture and it wasn't QUITE that bad, but it was SNOW!
I was in a summer dress and sandals.
A 4 hour drive shouldn't take you from summer to winter weather, right?
Ugh.

At least it didn't stick and it's gone today.....though they are calling for more snow on Saturday!!
Did I say UGH yet?lol

I'm off to catch up on blogs and real life now.

Sluggy

Food Spending for Week 3 & Meal Planning Week 4

Last week's meal plan is in the books.  Here is what actually happened....


SUNDAY--Country Fried Steak, Roasted Potatoes, Green Bean Almondine
MONDAY--Leftovers
TUESDAY--Soup
WEDNESDAY--Barbeque Pulled Pork, Coleslaw, Rolls
THURSDAY--Chicken Parmesan, Spaghetti, Sauteed Cabbage
FRIDAY--Scrounge whatever you can find
SATURDAY--Chinese Take-out

I only cooked half of what I had planned.  #2 son didn't want to eat the nights Hubs wasn't home so I just had soup or leftovers.

I spent....sit down for this...... $148.60 at the grocery stores last week.
Ack!
I did the Kraft Deal at the local store 3 times.  How could I not when it gave me bags of shredded cheese for $1.87?lol  I also bought canned veggies for half price, cranberry sauce on sale, bags of sugar to get to $30 to earn a $10 Catalina(not quite there yet)and some on sale frozen fruit bars, chips and some soda to hide from  #2 son.  I am also working on my Thanksgiving Voucher at this store so all things being equal, I'll be going there until Thanksgiving to spend the grocery money.

I also used my $10 in Redner's Cats to get 3 bags of sweet potato fries and 3 jars of pasta sauce for .14¢ OOP.  The $5 Weis Cat was used on 3 bags of burritos, leaving me an OOP of $5.01.  I am going back up to Weis today since the burritos were advertised as 3/$10, but my receipt has the amount it took off keyed in wrong in their system, so they came out to 3/$10.01.  I am going to have them make good on their "if it rings up wrong on sale, you get your money back and the product free" guarantee.

Hubs just shook his head at me and said, "You are REALLY going up there because you were overcharged a penny?", when I told him my plan.
Damn right I am! lol

My savings percentage was 45.83% last week, as the reg. retail was $274.32 on the groceries I brought home.

This week's menu.....
SUNDAY--Baked Catfish, Crab Cakes, Hush Puppies, Coleslaw
MONDAY--Kielbasa, Onions, Sauerkraut, Rolls
TUESDAY--Chicken & ? or ?
WEDNESDAY--Lasagna in the Freezer or ?
THURSDAY--Hot Dogs or ?
FRIDAY--?
SATURDAY--?

The Brother-IL is staying here for 3 days and we are bugging out for a mini-vacation so I have little control over the menu after Monday as he will cook what he wants.
When we get back I'll whip up some meals or have what we didn't last week(like the Chicken & Dumplings and/or Quesadillas).

At present, my October food spending stands at $459.82 with 7 days left in the month.  I've left $400 in the dust and am creeping up on $500 for the month...which is double what I usually spend.  Between laying in a few things today for BIL, nephew and #2 son and leaving them some cash for necessities I forget, $500 is gonna happen at least.

I'm hanging onto a 55.22% savings rate over regular retail for October.  Hoping to stay over 50% for the month when all is said and done.

How much have you spent this month on food/toiletries?
Has it been an expensive month or a cheap month for you?

Sluggy

Can You Stand Some More Decluttering P*rn?!?!

Ready or not, here it comes!
Just the pictures because I don't even want to talk about this stuff.  It's bad enough I have to show you the photos....

It struck me today as I shot these photos that I have Clutter Bulimia.  I use to buy shit and now I am purging it. 

I am well on my way to becoming a Minimalist.....well, except for that whole high end technology snobbery/hoarding(My Apple product is superior to your "fill in the blank" and I am allowed to spend huge amounts on them and replace them freely as new items come out so that I have every Apple related product on the planet but have only 3 pairs of pants but it's because I spend ALL my money on technology because my priorities are so screwed up, not because I believe you should only own 3 pairs of pants so you can save the planet, because if I thought saving the planet was important, I wouldn't be supporting the over consumption of technology products and the precious metals it takes out of the Earth and the slave labor that is harnessed to harvest the raw materials)thing they do.

Ok, so maybe I'll never be a Minimalist...until they get over themselves.  ;-)

80 more items to chalk up upon the Clutter-Free tally sheet....yippee!

Sluggy

Just Shoot Me In The Head Next Time!

Well, obviously, since I am on the computer this morning and NOT out in the garage running my Toy Sale you can guess that the said Toy Sale is NOT happening.
Lots of crap is aligning around here that has just made it not possible to have this Sale.
And I've been feeling quite depressed all week because of this.

I don't do well under stress anymore and things around here have been stressing me out a LOT!
Hubs reminded me, right in the middle of my panicked "I've got to get this up and running but nothing is working out right" state that we don't NEED the money this Toy Sale might bring in.  And I had my doubts that we'd make much anyway.

So I said "screw it!" and pulled the plug on the sale idea on Wednesday and said haul it all off to charity.
Besides, we NEED the tax write-off more to get us over the standard deduction amount so it pays to itemize instead of taking the standarad deduction for our filing status.
One of the big drawbacks of being middle class and having a paid off house is that it's difficult to have enough deductions to itemize(unless you live somewhere the property taxes are Very high and/or you have out of pocket medical or employee costs)without that mortgage interest deduction.

Then on Friday I reconsidered hauling it ALL off to charity and thought I'd attempt to recoup some cash by selling some of the toys on a local online sale site.

This is where I'll interject my post title....somebody just shoot me in the head next time!!!

I posted about 30 items yesterday with really low prices.
Now I am in the midst of dealing with people wanting things and having to arrange pick-up/drop-off days/dates/times.
There goes my weekend.....

And one of the many fun perks of dealing with people locally is dealing with the crazies.

For example...I posted my items with prices.  As things are spoken for, I repost an updated list of what is left.   So everybody can see what is still for sale.  Sounds sensible, right?

I had a post of 12 dolls.  I sold 10 of the dolls so I updated and reposted that 2 of the dolls were the only ones still available.  This email was posted with the original email copied below it.

This morning, I get an email reply on that repost that says this.....
"Wanted other things. TY."

So what the hell is this person saying?

1. Did they want the other dolls that I sold already, but felt the need to email me and tell me they wanted what I sold already and don't want the ones still available?  If so, why do I freaking care??!!
2. Do they want the things that are left?  Or do they want "other things" that I am not selling and I'm suppose to be clairvoyant and KNOW what they want?  In either case, why do I freaking care?


I also had 2 people ask for dolls that were already sold....they sent their emails as replies on the post where I said that these dolls were sold already!!
Give it a minute to let that one sink in......


After today, I am so DONE with this......seriously.
Take this crap out of my house before I change my mind again.lol


Sluggy

Fun Friday Nights GIVEAWAY!

 I know that when Friday rolls around my family is more than ready to end the work week.  Hubs is done for the week at the office, #2 son is done with school and I am done with whatever it is I do all week long. ;-)

Since my kids have been about 10 years old, they have had sleepovers on Friday evenings.  This always means fun foods, snacks and movie rentals.

MyBlogSpark and Totino's  recently clued me in that Totino's Pizza Rolls and Party Pizzas have specially-marked packages out now with promo codes that can be redeemed for a free one-day redbox DVD rental.  That's a nice deal!
And since a redbox kiosk moved into our town this past summer, this makes it an easy deal to take advantage of for me!

Here's the Details on the Promotion......
Purchase 4 specially marked Totino’s Party Pizzas or 2 Totino’s 40 count Pizza Rolls to receive a free one-day redbox DVD promo code that can be redeemed at the following

• Rolls: totinosfridaynight.com/redbox_pizzarolls
• Pizza: totinosfridaynight.com/redbox

With more than 27,800 locations, and available nationally at Walmart, there’s always a redbox kiosk nearby! Find the closest redbox kiosk by checking redbox.com/locations.

MyBlogSpark and Totino's sent my family a prize pack this month, so we had a Friday Fun Night of our own last week.
We were supplied a Free Redbox movie rental code and coupons for both a box of Totino's pizza rolls and a party pizza.
What teenage boy doesn't like pizza rolls and pizza?  This creature does NOT exist I tell ya!

I also included in this prize pack were 2 plates shaped and decorated like slices of pizza, a reusable popcorn container and what I have dubbed the "Pizza Wheel of Death"......

Anything that comes with TWO interchangable blades and a plastic safety guard on it is not playing around!
Have you ever seen a more serious pizza cutting implement in your life??

Seriously.
You could hack up Zombies with this thing without breaking a sweat!  A Great tool in the kitchen or for the Zombie Apocalypse.

Speaking of zombies....
#2 son and his buddy set to work inhaling the pizza rolls and party pizza and other assorted snacks and soda last Friday evening.
They also watched the movie I let them pick out.
Ok, so that might not have been a wise choice, to let THEM pick out a movie, because have you seen the taste level of 15 year old boys?
Let's just say no adult would want to eat pizza after watching this movie......

I would call this Friday Fun Night a success!

And thanks to MyBlogSpark and Totino's, you can try to win a Prize Pack for your own Friday Fun Night right here on my blog!

Your giveaway winner’s prize pack will contain:
• 2 VIP coupons
• Free one-day redbox DVD promo code
• 2 pizza slice plates
• 1 popcorn bucket
• 1 pizza cutter

WIN IT!

Your mandatory entry is this....

•   Make a guess on which redbox movie my 15 yr old son rented.  Leave a comment with the Movie Title.  You don't have to get it correct, just take a guess.  I just want to see who can think like a 15 yr. old boy. ;-)

Easy, huh?

You can gain additional entries by doing any or all of the following as well.....

• "Follow" Don't Read This; It's Boring! by clicking on the FOLLOW Bar on the righthand side bar, then Leave a comment here for one additional entry.
• Post about this Giveaway on your own Blog or a Message Board/Online Community then Leave 3 separate comments here for three additional entries.
• Follow me on Twitter.  Here I am.  Leave a comment on this post that you are a Follower with your Twitter name/id for an additional entry.
• Tweet about this Giveaway on Twitter.  Leave a comment on this post with your status link for an additional entry.  Use this text " Win Movie Rental and Totino's Snacks at Don't Read This; It's Boring! http://simpleslug.blogspot.com/2011/10/fun-friday-nights-giveaway.html #slugmama #MyBlogSpark "  This entry can be done once a day for more entries but be sure to leave a comment for each time/day that you tweet about the giveaway.

This giveaway will end on Friday, October 28th at 11:59pm. On Saturday the 29th  I'll pick a winner randomly from all the valid entries. Good luck! Legal Mumbo Jumbo--“Disclosure: The VIP coupons, prize pack, information, and giveaway have been provided by Totino’s through MyBlogSpark.” Sluggy

Wordless Wednesday....OK, Maybe Not....A Musical Interlude

While I am off getting my crap together for this Garage Sale, here is a wonderful singer, singing a great song.
I "heart" Raul Esparza.
He was in a production of that great old Sondheim musical "COMPANY" a few years back.
PBS recorded a live performance of it for their "Great Performances" Series.
This is the last song in the show.

Enjoy!

Sluggy

Storage is Done!...Well, For Now......

See this photo here.....

This photo means I have physically gone through every box in storage.
Go me!
Remember what that area looked like before?....

Crammed full as far as the eye could see!lol
Now?....there is an echo if you talk in there.

Here is what is left....

The stacks on the left going to the back are stuffed animals, beanies, etc. that I need to dispose of.
Daughter's dollhouse is also to the right of those boxes.
The tubs stacked up in the center back are fabric.
The tubs/boxes to the right of the fabric are some toys bound for eBay.
The tubs in front of those boxes are more fabric.
And in front of all on the right is my excess tp/paper towel stash plus excess toiletries.

Obviously the Toy Sale didn't happen last weekend as I wanted it to.
It was a combination of my back issues which meant I didn't get everything done in time.
The rainy weather was a factor too.
#2 son also had a band competition on Saturday.

This weekend we are expecting nice sunny weather and no band practice/competition.
I have made strides in getting items cleaned up and shelved in the garage and if I can get Hubs to drag heavy tubs of toys around the house for me, and the drugs don't run out, this sale might actually happen.
I hope I'll be ready by Saturday!
I need to get some flyers put up in town still and the ads online on Wednesday or Thursday.

I am making plans for whatever doesn't sell already......yah, I am a geeky planner.lol
I can try selling some on the local online selling board.  That's the first notion but I don't have high hopes for that idea.

After that, I may make some of this available on a different online group.  It revolves around providing free Holiday gifts for those who can't afford them for their kids.  It's a statewide group but I'll need some of the 'angels' on that group to come up with some cash donations for the shipping costs to get the gifts to any towns not close by.  We'll see how that goes....

If none of this pans out, or if all of it does and there is STILL stuff leftover, then I'll be giving more stuff to Toys for Tots and/or Salvation Army.
Then I have all these white plastic shelving units to get rid of, so they will probably go to SA also.

I do still have a TON of items eBay-worthy besides the ones in the photo above.....and they are all sitting in my living room now!
Ugh.

To make this more of an "Ugh" moment.....2 days after I finish the sale, I have company coming to stay here for 2 days.
So just when I'll want to fall into bed from exhaustion, I'll need to clean out the living room and clean the house.

I just need to drink...... ;-)

Sluggy

Food Spending for Week 2 & Meal Planning Week 3

Last week's meal plan is in the books.

SUNDAY--Burger King-Hubs was not home, #2 son had a sleepover so I used a coupon to get fast food for $9.99 + tax for the teens.  I had whatever leftovers where in the fridge.
MONDAY--Grilled Reuben Sandwiches
TUESDAY--Tacos, Corn, Refried Beans
WEDNESDAY--Hot Dogs on buns, Boston Baked Beans
THURSDAY--Pork Chops, Roasted Potatoes and Carrot/Broc./Cauliflower Medley
FRIDAY--Leftovers
SATURDAY--Subway since #2 son was gone to a competition until 1 am.

I spent $28.50 at the grocery stores last week.  $5.08 was for rye bread and  sauerkraut for Ruebens, $12.78 at the Bread Outlet for 10 items(the seasonal bagels-pumpkin and cranberry were in!!, rolls, bread and donuts for Hubs).  The other $10.64 was for milk, 3 bunches of celery at .99¢ ea. and to do the GM deal at the local market, by getting 8 packages of Green Giant veggies, which after $4 instant discount, sale prices and 2 x $1/3 manuQs cost me .50¢ per package.
There was also a Redner's Cat deal I could have rolled my GM Cats AND I could have done the GM deal more times at the local market but my back is still not up to snuff, so I only did the bare minimum of driving/leaving the house last week.   Which was good for my wallet but bad for getting the deals.

And what did I do with 3 bunches of celery?
I cleaned and cut them up and frozen it for later!  .99¢ doesn't come around very often, so I won't be forced to buy any this winter when it's $3.49 a bunch!  Celery is something you always need....from soups, to chowders, to making bases, to stuffings, to mire poire.  I'll probably buy more when it goes on discount again right before Thanksgiving. ;-)

My savings percentage was 61.03% last week, as the reg. retail was $73.14 on the groceries I brought home.

This week's menu.....
SUNDAY--Country Fried Steak, Roasted Potatoes, Green Bean Almondine
MONDAY--Chicken Quesadillas, leftover Green Beans
TUESDAY--Breakfast?
WEDNESDAY--Barbeque Pulled Pork, Coleslaw, Rolls
THURSDAY--Chicken Parmesan, Spaghetti, Sauteed Cabbage
FRIDAY--Chicken and Dumplings
SATURDAY--Kielbasa, Onions, Sauerkraut, Rolls

Tues. Hubs won't be home for dinner so I might just make a big plate of pancakes for #2 son's dinner, as that would please him immensely and I'll just have soup or something.
The Pulled Pork is leftovers in the freezer from this summer when I smoked a pork shoulder.
About the only item I need for this menu is a head of cabbage(for coleslaw)and I'll saute the other half up to have with the Chicken Parmesan.

There are 2 deals at the local market this week.....a Kraft Buy $20/Get instant $5 off Deal(basically a 25% savings on each item you buy)and a $10 Cat WYB $30 of baking products Deal.  I see lots of cheese, some Oreo cookies, sugar and flour in my future.lol  I need to buy at the local market anyway to get my purchases up to a level to earn a Thanksgiving check so this helps.

I have $5 Cat to spend at Weis and $10 Cat to spend at Redner's.  No Cats to roll them into but I'll find something to buy.

At present, my October food spending stands at $311.22 with 14 days left in the month.  At this point, I foresee going over $400 by the end of the month. 
I'm trying not to freak out over this, as I haven't been higher than $364.30 in any month so far this year.

How are your food expenses doing this month?

Sluggy

and the Winner is.......

I used Random Dot Org to select the winner and it selected Comment #20, which makes the winner.....

Free!~

Free!~ said...

The most inspiring thing I saw over at Pink Together was the women all supporting each other.

October 6, 2011 7:13 PM 

Congratulations Free!~
You have won the Pink Together Giveaway!!

I need you to email me your name, address and phone number(it's a MyBlogSpark thing needing a phone number) privately within the next 48 hours(from the time this post goes live)so I can get your information to the folks who are mailing out the prize.
If you fail to contact me within the time frame then I'll have to pick another winner from the pool of entries.

Thank you to everyone who entered and I have another Giveaway on the boards, ready to launch as soon as I can get to it, so stay tuned!!

Sluggy

 

Pink Together Giveaway.....Ends Saturday! Low Entry, Go Now!

Don't forget to go enter my Giveaway.
It ends tomorrow, Saturday night and there are only 28 Entries as of now!
Find the link on the top of my right sidebar or click HERE.

I guess nobody wants free cereal and bling......

Sluggy

Oh Deer! What Big Antlers You Have!

Back in August Hubs took a day off from Mr. Bumble and the Workhouse(bonus points if you get this literary association) and we took a field trip a couple counties away.
I had won in my Chinese Auction travels a gift certificate to Rolling Hills Red Deer Farm, so we took a drive to check it out.

You would think, who in their right mind would want to pay money to go see pastures of cute little deer when PA is chock full of those critters and you can see them everywhere from your back yard to along side the highways in the form of roadkill?

Well, these aren't the little fluffy tailed White Tail Deer that are indigenous to PA and most of the eastern part of the US.
These are Red Deer, which are NOT related to White Tail Deer.
Red Deer are indigenous to Europe and related to Elk.
Think a white tailed deer on steroids!

They are large deer with an elk's rack.  This guy must have been 7 foot tall including his rack....

We climbed aboard a hay wagon and were pulled along down dirt paths over hills and through dales to the various pastures to get an "up close and personal" tour of the deer.
First were the fields of nurseries of females and babies....

 Most of them were resting as it was midday and the babies were nursing or trying to if the moms would hold still.....

 But once the adults saw the wagon, the bolder ones came right up to it since they knew the strange looking creatures on it had deer treats for them.....

The females are so docile you can hand feed them.
But they are relentless like 3rd World country city beggars and not above stealing your bucket of food!  Thank goodness they don't want wallets and cameras....yet.....

Some hinds(that's a female red deer)even climb right up on the stairs on the back of the wagon to better bat their long eyelashes at you to entice you to give them a treat like this one who hit me in the back when I was standing too close to the back of the wagon.  This one was over 6 foot tall standing on her hind legs....

                 "Hey you!  You know you want to feed me!"

This one took the tact of resting her muzzle up on the side board, looking pitiful, and then snorting forcefully out her nostrils if you still ignored her.  For the sake of a nasal gunk-free shirt I did NOT ignore her for long!

What beautiful creatures....

Then it was off to the male deer pastures.
This group of stags was part of a massive group that was resting in a shady dale by the brook.  The guide told us to wave our buckets and they would come follow us.....so we did.....and they did......

 It made me a little wary when some of the males came right up to the back of the wagon waiting for snacks.  Luckily none of the stags climbed the back stairs on the wagon and shish-kabobed me!

We saw a few fights break out, as the stags jostled for position near the wagon.  I was too busy crapping my pants to get my camera out in time to capture a good photo of these two stag who pawed the air at each other and jousting their racks moments before....

                "Hey! That's MY parking spot....Back off!"

 The guide said that the ones that get too aggressive get sold off or put into the hunting program.  Yes, you can go there, pick out your animal, pay for him and go hunt him.  These critters are quite large and are sold by the pound and points(antler points), so a few thousand dollars later you have a freezer full of venison steaks.

 Most of these stag still had their velvet, though a few were in the process of shedding it.  I tried to get a picture of some of them but they wouldn't get close enough and it wasn't a pretty sight anyway.

 Some of the stags would let you gently touch their antlers while you fed them treats, like this guy....

The difficulty was feeding him while touching his antlers AND trying to get a photo of it.  Why oh why did I leave that second pair of arms at home!

This guy was quite friendly.  He let me rub his muzzle....as long as I kept feeding him.  Sounds just like any male of our species too, doesn't it?

Afterwards it was back to the Gift Shop.
Too bad I don't use Antlers in all of my decorating.......I guess because my name is not Gaston....

While we turned down $200 chandeliers, we did cart home some red deer venison burgers and hot dogs.
The Jerky samples were good but we don't have much call for eating jerky in our house.

Oh poop!....I just realized I didn't include that venison purchase in my food spending in August since Hubs put it on the credit card.
We haven't eaten any of the venison yet but I am told red deer venison is not gamey like white tail deer venison.  I'll let you know once we dig into it.

Sluggy