I Need A Little Christmas

What a busy day Saturday was!
I am pooped.
Going to Rite-Aid(to rebuy cookie mix...oy!), Christmas shopping with Hubs(2 places and then I said, "Enough!"), the Grocery store(for the 3rd time this week!), writing and posting eBay listings, packing eBay items that sold, dealing with eBay Deadbeats(already?!), filing receipts, putting away all this stuff I've "bought" at Rite-Aid lately, straightening the garage stockpile, dealing with the dogs and the teens.
I was so ready to put my feet up, pop open a Woodchuck Hard Cider and watch a little tv.  Nothing on but Suze Orman(those "Can I Afford It?" Segment people are a hoot!).

Where did the day go?

And as for Christmas here?
Well all I can say is that the tree is up and is no longer 'totally' nekkid......

Perhaps some ornaments will make an appearance soon.  Not that anyone other than Hubs and I even care to decorate the thing. 
If Santa doesn't see the youngins around here scare up a little more enthusiasm than they are displaying now, he might just take a pass at our house this year.

I'll be breaking out the fruitcake tomorrow.
I have self-diagnosed myself and the result is that I am suffering from a candied fruit and nut deficiency.

That and this clip should get me right......


Lucy is no Angela Lansbury but it will have to do. ;-)

Sluggy

The Weekend Here

Well Saturday I spent running around grocery and HBA shopping.  I hit some Rite-Aids(well, that's a given!lol), and did a Cat Deal at Weis Markets(to roll my $8 cat from last week), and did some Instant Savings Deals(like a Cat Deal but you get the amount off that transaction instead of a Cat to roll)at 2 of the local independent markets here.  I have stocked up on food for the Graduation Party, as well as lots of food items for when #2 son is home from school this summer and I am feeding him and his bottomless pit friends for days on end.lol

Rolling the Weis Cat I saved 68.25%.
The one Instant Savings receipt I saved 57.80% and the average of the other 2 trips to the other Instant Savings store gave me a savings rate of 55.41%.
That's the good news.
The bad news is that I have blown my food budget out of the water to the tune of $325.18.....and May is only HALF OVER!
Ugh.ugh.ugh.

Sunday I spent catching up on my bookkeeping, cooking, digging through the freezer and meal planning.  I still have a ton of bags littering my kitchen floor from the shopathon that need emptying and the contents need to be organized and put into the stockpile.

Between what I've stocked up on and the veggies I'm hoping to get from the garden, my summer food bill should be well under my monthly budgeted amount.
At least that is the fantasy I am holding onto in my head. lol


#2 son was on his Marching Band trip to Disney this weekend.  2 full nights sleeping on a bus, 2 nights in a motel and 3 days at various parks.  They had to drag him back onto the bus to go home.  He is exhausted and fell asleep before 8pm Sunday night.  Of course, he spent every penny of the $100 his father gave him for 'necessities'.
You know.....all those 'necessary' sodas and bags of food-like substances to drop by his gullet.

Daughter spent the weekend working her last 2 shifts at her job before she became an ex-employee there.  Now she has more free time for avoiding chores and school work. And she has no source of money so this will put a damper on her constantly wanting to go out with her friends because she knows better than to ask me for money for this.lol
One more month until I can relax when she walks across that stage and actually gets her diploma.

And Hubs spent Saturday driving across the state and back to retrieve #1 son from college.  I might add that #1 son got a 3.8 GPA this past semester......2 years down, 2 more to go until he can go out into the big, bag world and support himself. ;-)
He has a serious girlfriend now and stays up most of the night on Skype talking to her.  He either has to call her earlier or start using his "inside voice".  We don't have cement dorm walls here and I need my sleep. 8-(

Here is my Meal Plan for the week....
Sunday--Meatloaf, Collards(the last from the garden last summer), Dinner Rolls
Monday--Beef Stroganoff, Rice, Rutabaga
Tuesday--Chicken Fettucine Alfredo, Salad
Wednesday--Probably leftovers since we have a school function to attend that evening
Thursday--Enchiladas, Corn, Squash Casserole
Friday--Lasagna with Collards
Saturday--Chili with beans, Cornbread

The only items I need to buy are the squash and some ricotta cheese for the lasagna....and some milk for the week.  I'll probably buy some lunchmeat for #1 son for sandwiches this week as well.

I'm off to go figure out what I want to get done for the next 14 days since I have a strong teen at my beck and call  24/7 for the next couple of weeks.

Sluggy

Weekend Stuff....And Tuesday Feeling Like Monday

Well Hubs and I found a fridge that would fit into the space that we have in the kitchen for it, so we bit the bullet and bought it from the Home Despot on Saturday.  The funds will come out of the Savings Challenge cash we saved last year that we have left. 
The clerk showed us the one we bought(which is almost 2 cubit feet smaller inside than the current non-working fridge)and another one that was the EXACT SAME Fridge we have now.
Ummm, I don't THINK I want to buy the same fridge....unless of course, I WANT to have to replace it again in less than 5 years.lolol

We'll keep the broken fridge and put it out in the garage and look into fixing it at some later date.  We found out that the local power company will haul the old fridge off for free if at some point in the future we decide it isn't worth or can't be repaired.
It also took a bit of the financial sting off of the fridge purchase when we found out that it qualifies for a rebate of sorts from the power company.  Since it's an Energy Star appliance, it qualifies us for a $50 Visa Card.
Nice.....

We got the deck cleaned and sealed this weekend.  Since we weren't suppose to get any precipitation, we hired the nephew and #2 son to do the job.  No bending for us and walking around money for them...
It was a 2 day job.....cleaning on Saturday and staining/sealing on Sunday.....and dry enough to put everything back on the deck Monday.
Hubs and I spent a good while on Monday in the garage making room for the broken fridge and doing a bit of reorganizing in there.
Then we finished off the 3 day weekend by picking ripe Roma tomatoes off the plants.
Here's the harvest we ended up with.....

 And there are still a TON of tomatoes out there that are yet to ripen!  These are headed into the freezer now so that I can skin them easily when I get the chance to process and can them.

This Harvest--
TOTAL....10 lb. 12.2 oz.
Garden Harvest Weight Total to date....52 lb. 8.02 oz.

I made myself a BLT for dinner.....anybody wonder why? ;-)
Hubs & #1 son had a traditional American Labor Day meal....Taco Bell.lolol
After dinner I went through the island cabinets in the kitchen and started throwing the accumulated leftover Chinese take-out container into the plastic recycling bin.

I woke up this morning with the decluttering bug still up my rear so I've done some throwing out and "Salvation Army setting aside" as I move around the house.  I'll be interested to see how much I can let go of by the end of today.

I love my family but boy!....I am glad they all went back to school or work today. ;-)

Here's hoping your day goes the way you want it to!

Sluggy

We got a call on Saturday from Daughter who is finishing up her training week at summer camp.  She was suppose to come home with DH on Sunday, when he went to drop off #2 son for his 2 weeks of camp.  Then she was suppose to go back to camp when we went to pick up #2 son and start her weeks of work there.
I guess she impressed the 'high mucky mucks' running the joint and/or some teens didn't show up for their designated weeks to work, as she was asked to work 2 extra week long sessions--the first week in the kitchen and the second with the 'special needs' campers.  So Daughter got 2 extra weeks of employment and is quite happy at the moment not to have to come home to the 'Boring House'.  Yes, not only is my blog boring but it seems everything I touch is boring....

As Daughter didn't pack but enough 'stuff' for 1 week of training I had to spend Saturday packing all the things she says she "desperately needs!" for the next 7 weeks of her life.  I about got writer's cramp taking notes over the phone, making the gargantuan list of items to take to her!  Then I got to spend a few hours hunting down and gathering all of those things in her rat's nest of a room!
Ugh.
So much for my Saturday....
Here are a couple of photos from the website from last week.

#1 son is standing on the far left.  And again, a fine looking group of teens & 20-somethings....

Yes, these are some of the future leaders of our nation...

 

And though my Daughter is very good at avoiding peoples with cameras I did find this lone shot w/her in it...on the left in turquoise with a sign on her chest.  Looks like some king of team building/role playing activity.  Oh, I KNOW she was enjoying that *voiced with a heavy dose of sarcasm*.....LOLOL

DH delivered #2 son & his 'stuff', along with daughters 'stuff' to the camp on Sunday and I got to sit home and babysit the dogs...ah!, the story of my life.....

That massive thundering noise you heard this afternoon was me turning cartwheels at the though of being CHILD-FREE for 2. Whole. Weeks!  8-))
Now if I could just afford to send the dogs to camp too....

I spent most of the day Sunday inside as it was beastly hot here.
Did I fall into a coma and it's really August now and not June because baby, it sure FEELS like August!?
I went online and checked out the weekly grocery/drug store sales flyers and took notes on what looked like a good deal this week.

I saw that Price Chopper(NE) has a teeny tiny Unilever product Catalina Deal this week.  There are ten, count 'em ten items that qualify and you have to buy $25(that's reg. shelf price, not sale price)to get a $7 OYNO Catalina.
The problem is that all the Qs that are out for the products(most had valid Qs available)expire on SUNDAY-June 20th-so you had to do the Catalina deal that day!!lol

I had 3 Unilever product inserts from May so I sat down and figured out I could do 3 transactions, spend $30.46 Out of Pocket and end up with $74.89 of groceries + a $7 OYNO Catalina to roll in the next couple of weeks.
It would have given me....
9 Ragu Sauce
6 Wishbone Dressing
11 Knorr Rice/Pasta pouches
4 Lipton Teabag boxes
3 Ice Cream containers

But in the end, I didn't even go to the store and do the deal.  I am lousy with sauce, dressing, rice/pasta and even teabags at this point and I really don't need anymore.
Yes, I really just said I don't need anymore.
The savings even with rolling the deal didn't give me enough savings to make it worth my while.
Am I loosing my killer coupon edge?

Maybe....
But I did hike up to Rite-Aid(where else would I go?!lol)and got some fun stuff.
More on that tomorrow....

Sluggy

TGIF!.....1 more day

Yes, one more day of relatives and counting........and 1 more day until the weekend too. ;-)
This week has been K-double R-AZY!!
House guests, a cook-out, getting the pool open for the season, college smartass son home still(but not wanting to be here-if you know what I mean!), school field trip, hosting dinners for relatives, #1 son having a girlfriend over every-single-day for 3 weeks, doctor's appointments, trying to make arrangements for camp, a teeny bit of eBay stuff, extra cooking, some organizing out in the garage, gardening and of course, a teeny bit of blogging and finding time to sit on my big fatass in front of the computer.
There was also the National Honor Society ceremony at the high school.  Here's our brilliant daughter.....

And here with her aunt and uncle....

And as always, they spelled her last name wrong.
UGH.
You would think that having been in this school district since 2nd grade they could at least get that right?!?

 Here's some pics of the garden beds from the weekend before last, when we finally were able to plant stuff.  These hopefully will have lovely heads of cauliflower some day.....

And here are a couple tomato plants and Italian pepper plants....

Under my Magnolia Tree we put the other pepper plants.....these are suppose to  be yellow when ripe I think.

This past Saturday we bought some more seedlings and have put those in, as well as sown some seeds.  #1 son helped me sew the pole beans and the lettuce mix this week amidst much grumbling and gnashing of teeth....I did the gnashing while he handled the grumbling.
We still have a few patched to sew this weekend.  Some of the seed was old so I'll wait a week and if nothing germinates, I'll lay down some fresh seed.

This weekend we need all hands outside to do yardwork.....lots of weeding/weed wacking around stuff, a flowerbed needs massive help, a dead tree needs chopping down and we need to attempt to care about the lawn and at least make motions like we are fertilizing and sewing grass seed, etc. on it.

My eBay listings/photos/sorting junk/making up Sallie's donations has been put on hold this week, as I have not been free to tear up the living areas and fill them with half filled boxes and piles of stuff.  This will resume after the weekend.

Daughter needs underwear(oh, I hope she doesn't read this!lol)and swimsuits for camp.  She has lost weight and she really needs a whole new wardrobe as everything is falling off of her...literally, falling off.  We'll do a mother/daughter consult this weekend and come up with a plan that doesn't bust the bank or the budget.

I have not been in a store at all since last Saturday and have enjoyed the break.  I think my streak will end today though as we need some groceries and there are a few 'deals' I want...mostly on dairy items....cheese at GiantPA, a diary Catalina at Weis that includes ice cream!!!, and milk at the local Shurfine affiliated market.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and gets some good weather so they can spend some time outside!

Sluggy

Almost Noon on a Monday....

Hubby is FINALLY back to work after taking last week off.....yay!lol
 Love having him around but geez, it sure puts a crimp into my schedule and throws me off of my routine.

(Not our band.)

I spent 8+ hours yesterday working a Band Tournament.  Our school hosted the event so as a Band Parent....ehem....I got to work the gig.  I was the assistant Gate Keeper for the field.  I got to wield the Power on whom could come on the field to prep and who had to wait.  I was more like a traffic cop at times, as the exit path for the bands intersected with the entrance and we had spectators walking through too to get to their seats.
Then you had the band directors who didn't listen to you and were trying to leave the field in the wrong directions and the one prop guy who drove the ATV onto the FIELD EEK!!! and didn't stay on the track. 
All the teams did well and they all seemed to enjoy themselves.  I got to see my son's band perform(although from a weird angle lol)for the first time with all the costumes and props.  Their program this year is the "Gotham Chronicles", an original arrangement using various BATMAN movies & tv series music.

I got up bright and early today(SO UNLIKE ME!lol)and have been super productive(also So UNLIKE ME!hehehe).

Here's what I've done this morning already....
*Fixed son's alarm clock
*Put towels away
*Folded 2 loads of laundry
*Put another load into the washer
*Finished loading the dishwasher and have run it
*Made tea
*Prepped apples
*Filled crockpot w/apples & started the applesauce
*Mixed & baked 4 loaves of Zuke Bread
*Took compost out to pile
*Cleaned Kitchen
*Took pics of shopping from Sat.
*Played Mafia Wars on Facebook lol
*Cleaned out part of the fridge
*Moved frozen food around
*Got mail/opened mail
*Dealt with the doggies(as always)

Time to get the Bread out of the oven and make some lunch now, then get a package out to the PO.

The one thing I haven't done is deal with my Meal Plan....after all, it is Meal Plan Monday. ;-)

So, what have you done today? ;-)

I'll have another GIVEAWAY posted TOMORROW! 
Here's a hint, it's something blue and something good for you and yummy in the Fall when the weather gets chilly.

Stayed tune until then.....same Bat Time, same Bat Channel.


Sluggy