Is it Just Me? and other Randomness

**Is it just me or is it strange that at Rite-Aid you can use your WELLNESS CARD to get a discount on Junk Food?  Every week in the sales flyer there is some candy or snack food on special sale when you use your Wellness Card.
Isn't that kind of like presenting a card to show your membership as a Quaker to buy bullets?

**Is it just me or is October 1st the start of the official Fall Season for you too?  And right on cue, the weather here went from rainy and warmish yesterday to windy and cool today....or as Hubs would call it, COLD!  I swear the man can't take a stiff breeze and temperatures in the 60's without breaking out a sweater or two.  I truly believe Hubs was a lizard in a previous life wanting nothing more than to sun himself on a hot rock.lol

**Is it just me or can you really believe that the year is 3 months away from being over??!  Here comes the triad of American Holidays....Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas(or Chanukah).  Of course, if you've been in one of the Temples devoted to American business(=a store) in the past month or 2, you already know that the Holidays are quickly pressing down on us.  I am so not ready for all the hype and the pressure to be too busy with activities and stuff.  Stop this merry-go-round and LET ME OFF!  Be careful this Holiday Season and don't take a nosedive off of your Financial Future into that deep hole called Debt!  Limit your Spending, Budget for the Holidays and STICK TO IT!!  You'll be so glad you did in April when you aren't getting Credit Card bills still from stuff you bought and the kids broke in December.

**Is it just me or is applying to FIVE colleges overkill?  I've always been told to apply to THREE--the school you want most to attend, a "stretch" school(one you probably wouldn't EVER get into with your grades/scores &/or that accepts a low percentage of freshmen each year), and a "safety" school(one with lower standards for grades/scores/etc. than you possess, that would consider you a great catch even on your worst day).
Unbeknownst to me, Hubs has allowed Daughter to submit applications to FIVE schools.  In retrospect, #1 son only wanted to apply to 2 schools...both of them on par with the other, nothing "stretchy" and we had to insist that he apply to a third.  (He got into all 3 by the way.)
This is not a case of "Daughter has to spread a wide net in hopes that SOMEBODY will want her".  The girl is gifted in many ways(not all of them evil either!lol), scored 1890 on her SATs, ranks around 24 in her class of 250 something, has a 4.2 cumulative average, was in the Carneige Mellon Talented Youth Program for PA in grade school(she outscored 8th graders in the state in math when she was in the 4th grade), etc. etc. etc.
I applied to 3 schools, though my criteria for applying was somewhat bizarre....but then again, my home life during my teen years were somewhat bizarre compared to most people's lives.lol

**Is it just me, or do teenagers do things out of left field sometimes?  This same child from above, also in the last 3 months, has decided she may not go to college directly.  Like her brother before her, she's been told she's receiving XX amount of dollars for school from us, so depending on where she decides to attend/where she gets in, she may need student loans if she doesn't save any money toward her own schooling while in high school.
This seems to be putting a crimp into her grand plans for life as she envisions herself going to medical school eventually and becoming a doctor.  That's great and all but the cost of getting a medical degree is way more than we can afford without liquidating our retirement funds and Daughter is somewhat of a miser-in-training and can't see herself going into that HUGE hole of debt for medical school.  Hey, let someone else take the financial hit is cool, but not her.

That is when she came up with the bright idea to join the military because they'll send her to college for free.  Envisioning my Daughter in the military in my head sounds much like replays of Judy Benjamin in that old classic movie, PRIVATE BENJAMIN.
"See, I did join the army, but I joined a *different* army. I joined the one with the condos and the private rooms.
To be truthful with you, I can't sleep in a room with 20 strangers.
And I mean look at this place.
The army couldn't afford drapes? I'll be up at the crack of dawn here!"

So between what the recruiters are telling her and what her father & I have discovered, she is trying to wrap her head around the pseudo-reality of what enlisting & going to boot camp will REALLY be like.  She is not a morning person and she has a problem with living with 4 other people....oh, to be a fly in the barracks when/if she does join the service!

She had decided on the Air Force IF she enlists since they have a base somewhere with an actual college on it.....and she 'assumes' that is where she'll be stationed.haha  She took the aptitude test last month that they use to see what jobs you qualify for(Daughter wants to be in the medical field).  She scored 93 on a scale of 99 and will find out some time this month what opportunities await her in the military with that number.

**Is it just me or do you think Daughter has some interesting ideas about how the whole higher education crazy train runs?  Daughter "thinks" she's going to get all the options first--her career track offerings from the military and her acceptance letters from the schools WITH how much in scholarships they will give her(even though I've told her that that actual financial award letters come much later AFTER she accepts and her parents have divulged all their financial matters & they don't offer money to those who don't accept first so she'd have to accept admission to all who offer it to get all the aid letters!lol)--BEFORE she decides whom she will grace with her presence.
Yah......not only does the child has NO ego problem here, but she has only a teeny tiny clue.  It's a good thing we love her or someone around here would have met an early grave years ago....;-)

Sluggy

Randomness on a Saturday

As I sit here contemplating one last run up to Rite-Aid before the September Single Check Rebate Period ends this evening, I've got some randomness on my mind to share.

Well, one thing I won't share since I'm expanding my thoughts on it into a full blown blog post all it's own.
I know, I know.....you can't wait for that, but you will have to. ;-)

* First I want to thank everyone who left comments on the passing of our BAGEL(Beagle/Basset Mix) Hound, Peanut.  Your heartfelt words were very much appreciated and touched me deeply even if I wasn't able to email and thank each one of you.
Peanut & I butted heads alot due to both of our rather large passive/aggressive streaks but he added joy to our family when he wasn't eating us out of house and home.  The photo above was one of the last ones taken of him before he left us.  It's fitting that he's sporting a rather large drool bubble on the left side of his muzzle(on the right facing the photo).  Though he was crippled and incontinent and half-deaf, in true Peanut style he NEVER lost his appetite when there was food around.   The week or so before he died he had resorted to opening up the cabinet where the trashcan was located.  #1 son always said Peanut was an idiot savant of the Dog World....dumb as a mud fence but when it came to food, he was a genuis.  ;-)

* Let me say that I sure didn't expect the negative reactions to THIS POST earlier this week.  I received quite a few hateful comments for my unvarnished honesty about my feelings on the subject.  Everyone has their own opinion and that's what makes the world go round, right?
I'm cool with diverse opinions but....when you call me evil and a witch, how can I not feel a tad unloved?
Fortunately for me, I moderate all comments(due to spamming issues) so those comments won't be published. 
However, if the commentators in question would like to step up and not hide behind posting as "Anonymous", I am more than willing to put through their comments.
Sluggy ain't afraid of being called an ass as long as I know who is doing the calling. ;-)

* Tomorrow after harvesting yet MORE tomatoes and a few other things, we'll be putting some of the garden to bed for the year.  Basically all that's left in the garden is the aforementioned tomatoes, collard greens, peppers(red bells, roastings, jalapenos)and the butternut squashes.  Most of the fences will be coming down and some of the compost moved into the beds that we clear.  I will leave the collards until the 1st frost because every Southern gal knows that collards left to harvest until after a frost are sweeter and tastier.....

I'm also hoping to get some cleaning done Sunday while the manly men are home to help me with the heavy lifting and moving part of it.  Plus get some things into Hubs trunk so he can make a Salvation Army run this week.

* I'm waaay ahead of schedule for this coming week with my Meal Plan.  Between the meals we changed up this week and didn't fix/eat and the meal ideas I listed already using what we have on hand, I've got 10 meals now for the family to choose from.
And I really hope there is a good deal soon on pork here since I am down to my last package and it would be a good way to use those OYNO of meat Cats I need to use this coming week at Weis.

* I guess my "Call for PA Bloggers" was a raging failure, as I haven't heard a peep from anyone.  I have 2 local/sort of local PA blogs I follow.  Go check them out......HERE and HERE. 
Strictly Deal Bloggers who cover most stores in PA and are located around Philly are HERE and HERE.

* I just found out yesterday that my mother's family's Yearly Family Reunion is/was being held today/Saturday.  Would have been nice to have had some advance notice.  Oh well....
It's not like we could have attended anyway.  We are in the midst of Marching Band Season here so most Fridays and Saturdays are full up.  Fridays for football games and Saturdays for band tournaments.  Today #2 son is down near Quakertown PA for a tourney.  Hubs is driving the prop/equipment truck and I get to stay home with the doggies since Daughter is working and the pups can't go all day without food, water and toileting.  Just me and doggies....Do I have to mention that it's been a nice quiet day here?lol

Have a nice Sunday and I'll be talking to ya'll on Monday!

Sluggy

Dumping the Contents of My Head

Yep, that's just my colorful way of saying this post is just a mish-mash of random things rattling around in my head.


eBay
RE:Mr China/NY/CA Guy--Not a peep heard from him on Sunday.  Oh, did I mention he is now unregistered?  Gee, I wonder why.......!lol  I filed on him and got my fees back on 1 of the items.  Now that eBay has unregistered him, I'll write them to try and get my fees back on the other item.

Mr. Didn't Pay Me $249 Yet--Still no payment.  He has been filed on too.

Ty Lawyer Bullies--I changed "beanie" to "beanbag" in the listing.  DH gave me a "look" when I suggested I play around with these snakes.....playing with snakes will just get you bitten so I'm just going to let it go.

I sold a couple of things over the weekend...yah!  Now I need to get more listed while I'm on a roll.

One of the items I sold was a massive Mega Bloks set.  I went to the storage unit Sunday to fetch it so I could prepare it for shipping.  Now this box is 4.5 FEET tall and 3 FEET long.  I asked DH to get it out of the car for me.  DH knows me....I usually have multiple boxes of stuff in my car at any given time.  So he asked me how he'd know which box I wanted him to carry in.  I said, "It's the big box."  He just looked at me and reinterated, "How will I know it's the right box?"  I gave him a "look over the top of my glasses look" and said, "Unless you are dumb as a mud fence, you WILL know!"
He got the correct box....and on the first try!
LOLOL

Food
My new favorite food--I Love a freshly grilled hamburger or beefalo-burger.  Just season it up well with sea salt and slap it medium rare on a plate with a little puddle of ketchup.  If you have to bun it, bun sea salt, burger and a slice of tomato...that's it!
No cheese.
No other condiments or onions or bacon or other gunk.
Just the salt to enhance the beefy/buffalo-ness and some tomatoness.
Simple and nothing better.

I have also discovered that no candy/junk is better tasting than Peanut M&Ms.....DARK CHOCOLATE Peanut M&Ms. I picked some up for free on one of my many Rite-Aid excursions and finally opened a bag to try.
Dark Chocolate heaven!!!

Clutter/House Stuff
Other than it looks like a bomb went off in the Den, I need to get more stuff out of here.  I've got another load in DH's car heading for Sallie's on Tuedays and I started another load on Sunday to put in his trunk as soon as he empties it in a couple of days.
The living room is a mess too with all the stuff I got listed while DH was out of town.  I need to pack it all into boxes now and wait for people to buy it so I can ship it out.

I had daughter help me bring up toys from the basement on Saturday.....I had forgotten I still had stuff down there.  I am trying to be ruthless as I go through it all on whether to keep to sell or donate this stuff.
So far I've decided to send about 75% of it to Sallie's.  I'm only keeping to sell the stuff that after fees/shipping will give me a profit of at least $5 over what I paid.
The eBay criteria now is to list stuff for a REALISTIC Price that it will sell at quickly.  If it doesn't in 30 days, relist for a bargain price and if that doesn't work, off it goes to Sallie's after the 2nd 30 days.  According to my CPA brother, if you can't recoup at least 60% of what you paid on something in cash, it's more financially prudent to donate and take the tax write-off.  Of course, if you really really NEED the CASH, that rule of thumb flies out the window and you take whatever Cash you can get for stuff.lol

Anything that is very pricey to ship, that is not rare or valuable, will also just get donated since buyers don't seem to want to pay for shipping.


I donate every year to the local volunteer fire dept.'s fundraising auction that's held in the fall.  But the woman who runs it won't accept my donates until the month of the auction(even though they do have space to store the stuff in the fire hall).  I'd love to donate some of what is going to her but she's totally rigid on this.  I'm not planning on having much if anything left that donate-able by Nov. so she's totally getting nothing from me this year.  Her loss....

I am addicted to 2 shows:the one on Sunday on TLC and the one on Monday on A&E.  Both are about Hoarding.
It's a fascinating subject to me because it hits close to home.  We have the hoarding 'gene' in my family and I believe this condition is partly to blame for my oldest brother's death...indirectly but still, it did contribute to his demise.  I've seen this stuff up close and personal and have helped a hoarder clean...if you can call it that.  Some nights I just want to reach through that tv screen and shake these people it's so frustrating that they just don't get it.  If only they could get out of their own heads and look at themselves.
agh....
Last night's episode they said the woman was an organized collector type of hoarder and that she had 60 bottles of shampoo, among a bazillion other things.
60 bottles of shampoo, huh?
Well don't look at me!lolol
I wonder if someone saw my hundreds of rolls of t.p. and my 50 bottles of shampoo if they would want to sign me up for this show?

I've rattled on long enough I guess.  Off to make a list for the food bank and get some stuff hauled up there.  Then it's back to going through eBay 'treasures'....oh joy!

So what is everyone else up to on this fine Monday?

Sluggy