Ibotta Shopping at Walmart & Regular Shopping at Rite-Aid This Week

 I hit Rite-Aid on Monday and got all this......

Not pictured are two large tubs of CoffeMate(for Hubs who was almost out).  I had a $9 wyspend $45 Catalina expiring that day and Qs for everything pictured(the clearance make-up and the Neutrogena masks were better than free after those Qs and I used Bonus Cash to pay so  nothing OOP.  I earned $6 in new BC on this($3 CoffeeMate, $3 Air Wick)

I also hit Walmart on Tuesday to do my 5 offers and get the $1 Midweek Bonus(oh boy! lol)......

Not pictured is a bag of dirt which was $5.98 and gave me $10 back on Ibotta(and counted toward a spend X get $X on Fetch).  The Degree body wash/soak wasn't an Ibotta deal but when bought along with the Degree soap bars(which were an Ibotta rebate)they gave me extra Bonus points on Shop Kick so I counted them here.  The WErther's double dipped for a $1.50 rebate and an any popcorn .10¢ rebate.  With the Blue Diamond cans above at R-A this all gave me 7 more rebates toward my $10 big Shamrock Bonus.  I'm only 15 rebates away from that Bonus now.

Anyway, all this plus the dirt cost me $5.26 OOP after using a $25 Swag Bucks gift card and earned me $19.10 in rebates.

I'll hit a Walmart and/or Rite-Aid on the driving part of the trip later this week and finish off that Ibotta Bonus.

That's it for my shopping so far this week.

What have you been up to?

Sluggy

Friday Shopping-Walmart, Target & Rite-Aid

 I had a dr. appointment mid morning on Friday and was attempting to get a blood test done in the same building with a lab.  I got up too early so left then and went to hit Walmart briefly for some Ibotta deals beforehand armed with a $25 free gift card earned from my Fetch account.

1 x RXBar box clearance=$2.00

1 x Glad Flex n/Seal bags=$4.48

1 x Depends Silhouette=$11.97

1 x Success brown rice=$1.96

1 x Goldfish crackers=$1.78

1 x Sensodyne toothpaste (travel size)=$1.47

1 x Pure Protein bar=$2.27

1 x Kraft mac and cheese=.98¢

2 x Super Coffee drinks=$5.74

1 x Cranberry snack boxes=$2.12

1 x Colgate renewal toothpaste=$6.96

2 x Clio yogurt bars=$2.00

2 x Bic highlighters=$3.94

SubTotal.......$47.67

Coupons Used

$3/1 IPQ Silhouette website=$3.00

$2/2 Bic Manu=$2.00

Coupons...$5.00

$47.67-$5=$42.67+.39¢ tax=$43.06-$25 gift card=$18.06

I received back $30.24 in Ibotta rebates and $1.25 in small Bonuses=$31.49 and got 12 of the 15 rebates I needed toward my Weekend Whiteboard $3 Bonus.

I texted this Walmart receipt to Aisle and got $5.50 back in my Venmo account(.50¢ RxBars, $1 Clio, $4 Super Coffee).

I also redeemed for $3 on Coupons dotcom for the Colgate toothpaste and submitted for 600 Kicks from Shop Kick(which is $2.40)for the Sensodyne and the Glad bags.

After the doctor/lab work stuff I hit Target for 2 Aisle items.  My store doesn't carry the Good Culture cottage cheese but they had the Milk protein bars so I got the limit of 5.  I also found ground beef with $5 instant savings stickers on them so got 4 lbs. total of meat for $10.06 or $2.52 per lb. for 85/15% GB.

I paid for all with free Target gift cards and received back $15 for the Milk bars through Aisle(the Milk bars cost $11.50 so $3.50 of that moneymaker helped pay for the beef.). 8)

A quick trip to a different Rite-Aid to finish my weekend rebate turned out strangely.  This is the R-A where I have had register/employee problems before.

The smallish haul......

2 x Pure Zzzs clearance $2.25=$4.50

2 x Unisom simple sleep gummies 20% gold discount=$20.46

1 x Nivea moisturizing face balm 20% gold discount=$6.39

1 x Acidil 20% gold discount=$7.99

2 x Neutrogena Hydro gel face masks 20% gold discount=$5.26

1 x Q-tips clearance=.87¢

SubTotal........$45.47

Coupons Used

1 x $10 of $40 spend Anniversary Q on this card=$10.00

2 x $1/1 Pure Zzzs(1 L2CQ, 1 ManuQ)=$2.00

2 x $8/1 Unisom simple sleep gummies IPQ=$16.00

1 x $1/1 Nivea men's item IPQ=$1.00

1 x $3/1 Acidil IPQ from website=$3.00

1 x $3/1 Neutrogena Hydro item IPQ=$3.00

Coupon Total........$35.00

$45.47-$35.00=$10.47+.30¢ tax=$10.77 paid with Bonus Cash.

Except..........the cashier hit the "payment" button for my BC before she imput ANY of the coupons!

(This store ALWAYS does this no matter the cashier....so aggravating!)  They ALL need training there.

So she used all my BC first($17.98 worth)before taking off the $35.00 in Qs and I ended up with a negative balance of $3.70

Plus one of my Unisom $8 Qs only took off $4.87 on one of the bottles..........

And she handed me a bag of stuff plus this.........

Then I tried to redeem at Coupons dotcom $3 for that second Neutrogena Hydro boost product and it said it didn't qualify(but the paper Q worked perfectly?).  I'll just returnn the second Neutrogena mask and maybe the Unisom that the Q didn't take off the full amount.

I earned $14 in new BC($4 Acidil, $5 wyspend $20 Nivea-had tracking to that one already, $5 wyspend Unisom)So I have $14 in BC and $3.70 in cash whereas if the cashier didn't screw things up(and the $8 Q had "behaved")I 'should' have $21.21 in BC instead so I was shorted $3.51.  Instead of trying to get CS to fix this(they are hopeless)or go back to the store and explain until I turn blue trying get them to understand the transaction shorted me I'll just return a Unisom and the Neutrogena mask. sigh.

But I digress.........

The Pure Zzzs, Acidil and Nivea gave me 4 Ibotta rebates(only needed 3 to get the weekend Bonus)totaling $8 plus the $3 Bonus with no money spent OOP.

The upside of all this is I spent $21.56 in Target gift cards and $18.06 in Cash OOP at Walmart and ended up with--

$42.49 in Ibotta rebates

$20.50 in Aisle rebates

$3.00 from Coupons dotcom

$2.40 from Shopkick

239 points on Fetch

And $3.70 cash at R-A.

Sluggy

Some Shopping Lately, Mostly Walmart

So Ibotta came out with a $20 Moo-lah Bonus for September.  You have the whole month to purchase 75 qualifying items to earn $20.  Not a great $ amount to # of items ratio but I figure if I can combine those 75 items with weekly bonuses(Midweek and Weekend Warrior ones-thus getting more mileage out of the deal)and maybe a Swagbucks/Fetch/Shopkick deal thrown in and use some free gift cards I have this will work out well. ;-)

First I did a MidWeek Bonus last week, 11 items at Walmart and 1 at Rite-Aid gave me $21.29 back at Ibotta. (I already talked about this shop.)

One of those 11 items was these tampons which also got me a $5 Walmart e-gift card(along with $2 in rebate above).

Two days later I got a $5 Weekend Warrior Bonus so back to Walmart I went and here are the items I picked up(only a few are pictured).......

* Smile Direct toothpaste $3.98-$1 Ibotta and $3.50 back on Shopkick so .52¢ moneymaker
* Gold Bond powder $3.64-$1 Q-$1.50 Ibotta makes it $1.14
* Alka Seltzer gum $4.24-$2 Q-$2.00 Ibotta makes it .24¢
* Bic razor $5.82-$3 Q-$3.00 Ibotta makes it a .18¢ moneymaker.
* Gerber Fruit Water(not pictured) $1.98-$1.50 Ibotta makes it .48¢
* 2 x Gerber baby food*not pictured)$1.96-$1 Q-$1 Ibotta makes it a .04¢ moneymaker.
* Ultra Powerade drink(not pictured)$1.00-.20¢ Ibotta plus I got 60 Shopkicks(10 scan/50 receipt)
* 2 pack hard boiled eggs(not pictured).98¢-.25¢ Ibotta makes it .73¢
* Perdue fresh chicken(not pictured)$5.37-$1 Q-$1.25 Ibotta makes it $3.12
* Poise thin pads(not pictured)$4.84-$2 Q-$3.00 Ibotta makes it a .16¢ moneymaker.
* Cottonelle tp(not pictured)$6.48-.50¢ Ibotta makes it $5.98.
* Cottonelle wet wipes(not pictured)$2.43-.50¢ Ibotta makes it $1.93. I also got a $1 Ibotta Cottonelle bonus for buying both and another .50¢ back on Fetch Rewards for buying the tp so $6.41 OOP for both paper items.

* The Arm and Hammer toothpaste was $3.12 a tube so $12.48 for all 4 tubes.  That was a Swagbucks deal and I got $25 in SB back so a $12.52 moneymaker!
* Another Swagbucks Deal was an 8 pack of AHA! seltzer(not pictured)for $3.38. I got $3.04 back in SBs so .34¢ OOP for that.

* 2 Annies crackers/cookies were $3.82 each. I used 2 x .50¢ IPQ(didn't get the $1 insert Qs)so paid $6.64 OOP.  I got $1.25 for each on Ibotta($2.50), another $1.25 for doing the Annie's Bonus and a .10¢ Ibotta for any kid's crackers.  I also submitted for a .50¢ SavingStar rebate so in the end these 2 were $2.29 for both.

* I also bought another box of tampons this trip for $6.54-$2.00 Ibotta and got another $5.00 Walmart e-gift card so another .46¢ moneymaker(if  roll that gift card into my Ibotta/Fetch/Shopkick/Swagbucks deals at Walmart).  I've maxed out that Playtex/Walmart deal now(limit of 2).

* I also bought another ice cream sandwich for $1.47.(Pictured from the previous purchase.)  This earned back $2.18 in ShopKicks.

Just all the Ibotta rebates(with bonuses-Cottonelle, Annies, Sept Level 1, Weekend Warrior)on this Walmart trip came to $28.05.  The total at the register was $64.67.  I used a $15 PandG prepaid Visa card I earned last Winter that's expiring this month, so  I spent $49.67 OOP.

I also got $28.04 back in SBs, (used $22 worth of it to get a $25 Walmart e-gift card), $1.10 on Fetch an.d $5.68 on ShopKicks and a $5 Walmart e-gift card(tampons).

Add in 2 more Ibotta rebates done at R-A(another $6 in rebates)and I am at 29 rebates in Sept. toward that 75 total.

Tomorrow my trips to R-A and Walmart since the weekend.........

Sluggy

Some More Shopping/Deals Lately

I have just been so overwhelmed with life and busyness lately I'm trying to clear out all my photos and stuff.

Beginning of August I found these two items at Walmart on their clearance shelf--
A nice mix of rice for $3(this brand is expensive stuff)and a 5 lb. bag of macaroni for $1.25 which is a GREAT price!  I put the pasta into a big barrel container I have so it keeps.

I found these items on clearance at Weis on Friday--
A bottle of good white balsamic vinegar for $1.74 and 3 containers of grated Parm//Romano for $1.69 each.  Use by dates are not anywhere near time on anything.

I am also stocking up on Arizona brand Rx Stress Relief bottled iced tea at Weis this week as it's $1.97 a gallon(the lowest price here for that-it's normally $3.19 per gallon).  Unless I am drinking water or I brew my own iced tea this Stress Relief variety is my other "go to" drink.

I spent down more Bonus Cash on Friday at Rite-Aid as well---

2 x Big Win Kitchen Trash Bags on sale=$11.98
1 x Arm and Hammer toothbrush refill heads on sale=$5.99
SubTotal was $17.97 and I used a $1/1 L2CQ on the refill heads so $16.97+.72¢ tax=$17.69 paid for with BC.
I earned back $4 in new BC($2 wyb2 BW trash bags, $2 Arm and Hammer).

I was down in the valley so I hit a different R-A and did the transaction again on another card........

This store carries a $1 food section so I got these pretzel rods as well(.80¢ w/my Wellness discount).

Total after $1 L2CQ and .72¢ tax was $19.29 paid for with BC.
Again, earned back $4 in new BC.

I still need to spend more BC down this coming week but the deals are looking pretty slim at R-A.

I also hit the Bread Outlet for 3 loaves of "good" bread paying $4 OOP.  That's almost the price of just one loaf of this brand in the grocery store.  ;-)


Ok, that's all caught up now.
Onward to next week!

Sluggy

What's Happening This Week at Chez Sluggy

Stuff on tap this week around here.....a trip to Ollie's(to use an expiring 15% off flyer), a trip to Walmart(because we'll be near there at Ollie's), a trip to CVS(to use an expiring ECB), a trip to Panera, and a trip to Rite-Aid to try to get an Rx ordered early for my trip plus get some Home Depot gift cards(for stuff we need to buy soon)which will earn me some Bonus Cash.  Oh, and I'll be getting organized to leave on our NH trip.  

Any readers free on June 23rd along our drive home, between Wilkes-Barre PA and Lancaster NH who want a quick meet-up? I promise Hubs doesn't bite(unless you are made out of pasta)and I bathe regularly and we are delightful(in small doses....just ask Kim!lol)  Shoot me an email because you never know, you could be the lucky recipient of some free toiletries as well since I am known to travel with spares! 8-)

 On the blog we've got the end of that Ancestor's Survivor Store, an exposé on having a retired spouse, the start of another giveaway and the first of my 2017 Western Road Trip installments. 
Yeah, I know I am a bit late on recounting that one but I wanted it to "marinate" in my head first before retelling it and then life got in my way and *poof*, it's close to two years later.

So I am off to run some errands this morning while I still have enough "spoons" to do so

I see Anne is frantically cleaning her B&B inn *snort* and reader Jen G. is on her way to Hawaii-the land of $9 creamers?!? with her sister and Kim is chained in her dungeon doing "Wedding Hell Sewing Alterations But She Really Wants to be Playing Outside in the Dirt"(what's new there, right? lolz).


What's on everyone else's agenda this week?


Sluggy

The Grocery Trifecta & a Rite-Aid UPDATE

Stacking discounts is a great way to pay way less than retail on groceries/HBA/paper goods.

First, wait to buy items when they go on sale, and optimally when they go to the lowest price in the stores 6 week pricing cycle.   Keep a price book to know what/when the lowest sale price of the cycle happens.

Secondly, find a coupons if there is one, and if there are virtual Qs(Savingstar Qs)and/or store Qs stack one of those with a "real" Q for double the coupon savings.

Thirdly, look for cash rebate offers on the item you bought and apply for those.

On the Bush's Bean Deal I did last week, I got the sale price(may not have been the lowest which would have been better), had 1 Q to use(more Qs would have been better if available)and applied for 2 cash rebates(one for buying $X worth of product and one for buying certain varieties x 2).

Sale price, coupons and rebates......that's the grocery trifecta.  8-)

Weis(PMITA)Markets puts out a Weis Coupon Book a few/couple times a year.
They just released this one.........

It has a mixed of Qs for Weis brands as well as National brands of items.  These Qs are all Weis Qs so they can be stacked with a Manufacturer's Q.  Add in the sale price over something going that week for regular retail and you have a Grocery Trifecta.

Case in point, I got almost free Snapple single serve bottles of tea for free.
These Snapple "Straight Up" teas are regularly $1.49 retail but currently selling for $1 each at Weis.

There is a $1/3 Snapple bottles Q in the Weis Q book.......

There are hangtag Qs available at some Weis stores.......

So I bought 4 bottles=$4.00
Used 2 hangtagQs(which automatically ring up $1.49 off each)=$2.98
And I paired this Q with a Weis QBook Q at $1/3 Snapple=$1.00

$4.00-$2.98=$1.02-$1.00=$.02 OOP for 4 bottles.

When I spy these Weis QBooks at the registers I snag as many as I can over the course of the few weeks they are available.  With all my trips recently I've got 10 Q Books so far.
The Qs don't expire until Jan 25th of 2017.

*UPDATE*
On those 2 Rite-Aid trips I did earlier this week, seems I had 2 $1 cash rebate offers on Saving Star for items I purchased-$1 off Centrum and $1 off Advil.
So I will get back $2 cash between them.

This new information makes my first transaction a $3.94 moneymaker and my second transaction costing me .15¢ OOP(well in Plenti points).
I just hate when deals turn out even more awesome-r than you thought they would.  ;-)

Sluggy

What a Slug I've Been!

Gosh, I've just done practically nothing since getting home on Tuesday!
Ok,, I DID go to Rite-Aid since I had another $25 in +Up Rewards expiring but as you can see(or would that be NOT see?!?)I haven't even posted about that shopping trip.

See? What did I tell ya........just a slug!

It's already the 17th of the month and I have yet to pay a single bill even.

College Boy is going back to school tomorrow and I still need to finish gathering up his goodies to take back with him(toiletries, food, etc.).

Hubs told me he put away all the Christmas stuff while I was gone.
Ha!
By "put away" he must have meant I've put some of it away and the rest is still sitting in boxes/tubs or is sitting on the dining room table and YOU need to finish this job.  8-(

While away in Virginia I was suppose to contemplate my goals for 2015 and frankly, the thought never crossed my mind while I was there.
8-/

I've also got to get a handle on the food/grocery situation here.  Hubs will eat strange things and combinations of foodstuffs rather than cook or go to the store when he is left to fend for himself and as a result will let perfectly good food sit unloved.
That is the only reason I can think of to explain why an entire homemade apple pie I made for the Holidays is still sitting in the fridge untouched!!
The man is seriously ill(or in his own little world)to let a pie go bad......

And there is also the making of the plan for next week's dinners to work on and Hubs is no help.
I ask him, "What do you want to eat this week?" so I can work in his wants/needs to the plan.
So he answers me with, "How about chicken?"
"OK", I say, "There are only FOUR THOUSAND ways to make 'chicken'.  Which way were you thinking?!?  Narrow it down a little for me, willya?!"
This is what I'm working with here.............

So between paying bills, packing the kid up, cleaning out the fridge and meal planning/preparing and then figuring out our goal plan for the coming year I've got more than enough to keep me busy this weekend.

I am not a big fan of January.
January, post-holiday, is always stressful to me.
It's too cold.
All the year end financial stuff needs attending to.
I get post-Holiday blues.
It's too dark and snowy. (And today it's 5F degrees. bleh.)

I have usually fallen off the eating right wagon w/the Holidays so I don't feel as well as I should.
There are Yearly taxes and FAFSA to attend to. bleh.
I have to pay full price for prescriptions as the high deductible kicks back in on Jan. 1. Happy New Year my ass!
And to top it all off, Hubs paychecks are lighter at the beginning of the year(due to all kinds of local taxes being taken out in Jan.).

The only bright spot is that January contains my birthday(this Wednesday).
Otherwise I'd be happy to just punt January off the calendar.

I did accomplish one thing this week(besides surviving it).
I got maintenance on my Sonic scheduled and completed.
What an ordeal THAT turned out to be!!(Don't ask.)

This fancy pants new car displays a message when you need to take it in to change the oil, have the system reset, rotate tires, etc.  And you have 600 miles once the message displays to have the car services OR ELSE......they don't say what happens if you don't but it sure sounds ominous.

Of course the message came on while driving back from Virginia.  I have been so paranoid lately about that message coming on while I was not at home in Pennsylvania and not being able to get the car serviced before that 600 miles.  I've fretted bout it happening when I went to the Family Reunion in Sept., we rented a car for the trip in Oct. to OC so it didn't happen then, and again on 2 trips to get College Boy.
So of course it happens while in Virginia, right? lolz
But we were only 200 miles from home so it turned out ok.
The car is good to go and happy again with new oil/filters/etc.

So car tuned up, Rite-Aid +Ups spent and a few groceries picked up this week.
Now it's on to the weekend chores and getting back into the regular routine at home.
Or maybe I'll just go back to bed, pull the covers over my head and ignore my life for a couple more days. ;-)

What are you up to this weekend?

Sluggy
 

Sluggy's Solo Road Trip.....Part 2......OH to IL

So after choking down a half stale bagel on Saturday morning at the Ramada in Elyria OH, I got onto the Turnpike heading west into Indiana.

My head wasn't in a good place that morning.
A not-so-restful night at the dingy motel combined with weather that was off and on again miserable Plus a general sense of trepidation as I drove toward the outskirts of Chicago and the clusterf*ck of traffic I'd have to dodge just took all the wind out of my emotional sails.

I stopped somewhere in IN at a turnpike rest area during a torrential cloudburst to eat a fish sandwich and some apple slices and buy a soda for the ride since I needed a caffeine boost to keep me going.
I downloaded the On Star directions that would guide me to Sonya Ann's house while I waited for the skies to let up.

I had a printed out MapQuest direction sheet but felt better having the GPS thingy on too, since once in traffic, it's hard to be looking at a paper for your next exit while driving 70 miles an hour.

I kept driving in and out of rainstorms until right before I got to the western edge of IN.

Once I got near my exit onto I-80 West I panicked when I saw that my exit was CLOSED due to construction.  And just where did the fine folks of the Department of Transportation detour me to?
The Chicago Skyway.
Crap!
Anyone who has driven this piece of Roadway Hell knows why I was crapping in my pants.

Hubs and I were sent through this Death's Highway last August when we went to IL for his sister's wedding.  But last year, HUBS was driving, not me.
Fan-so-tastic!

So I was doomed to the Skyway.  sigh

I have to say that the On Star GPS thingy worked well and other than the permanent marks left on the steering wheel from my white knuckle driving I did aok.  All those rainstorms slowed traffic around Chicago way down(which was good in a way), but it also made the time it took to get past Chicago longer.

Ok, here is where I get to rant and rave about the outrageous tolls I had to pay driving through OH, IN and into IL!

The Ohio Turnpike robbed my pockets to the tune of $17, the Indiana Toll Road for $10 and the Illinois Toll Authority/Chicago Skyway for $5.50.
$32.50 total.....and that was just one way on the trip!
Thankfully I was NOT returning along that route to get home again.

Incidentally, this stretch of the trip was the only part with toll roads in it.  Everywhere else I went had the good sense NOT to charge me to use their highways.

So my original plan would take me west of Chicago past Joliet, past the urban centers and then north, up to Sonya's house.   It was sort of a roundabout longer way but with less driving stress.
With the I-80 detour that plan didn't happen.  It was the Skyway around Chitown and then up to the suburbs. bleh.

Since the rain had stopped by the time I got to the Skyway I made a stop in Kildeer IL to do some shopping at a World Market store.

I won't go into the "almost incident" that happened in the parking lot at this shopping center when a over botox-ed anorexic old bimbo with an expiration date of 1990 walked out right in front of my car as I got between her and the overpriced shoe store she was wanting to get to, and she made a face at me(even through the Botox, what an effort that took!)and I saw red and pictured myself calling Sonya Ann from a local jail cell to come bail me out, after I had run this bitch over.
Nope we won't go there......

I "heart" WM.
I picked up 12 more gourmet sodas, which happened to be half price!

A bottle of a most excellent sparkling Moscato from Australia that is now discountined at WM

Bottles of Torani Syrup(also on sale), a couple of single bottles of craft beers for Hubs that we can't get in PA.

                                 One of the beers for Hubs--ChiTown

3 bags of dried cantaloupe fruit(love this and can't find it anywhere but WM), 2 large bars of Ghiradelli Chocolate at 55% off(A $1.26 for chocolate?  Yes, please!), and a bag of Maple Bacon flavored Potato Chips.
Mmmm....bacon......

 

This particular WM has just begun carrying hard liquor, besides the beer and wine offerings all WMs sell.  I spied a Utah based whiskey Hubs can't get in PA, so that also left the store with me as well.

You can tell Hubs likes it because it's already half gone! lol

After dropping $127 at World Market I gave Sonya a call and said I'd be arriving in about 45 minutes so get my drink ready because after the drive I just had, I really needed one! lol

And 45 minutes later I pulled into her driveway and gave her a big hug.....before taking my drink and parking myself in her living room.

The rest of the day was devoted to drinking and gabbing, then a little eating(it was a spaghetti feast & Den made a really good dip/salsa thing with sun dried tomatoes too!)and then more drinking and gabbing until we just couldn't do either anymore and we fell into bed(well, 2 different beds....get your minds outta the gutter willya?!).

Next time, Sonya makes a big impression, we go to Vegas, buy out a liquor store, frugal shop and eat cheap steak.

Sluggy






 

My Christmas Week(Ok, Maybe 10 Days?) in Pictures

 Making the medical rounds.....

I saw a local TV Personality/Newscaster in the waiting room at this doctor's office.  He came out from over on the side where the plastic surgeons' offices are........hmmm........

 

Decorating the tree.....

 

Keeping up my strength to celebrate the Season.....

 

It snowed again.  Nothing is melting it is so cold.....

Late last week I went to the Dollar Store to buy some really cheap Dawn dish liquid(real cheap because of the coupons I had).
I had a weak moment in the store and bought 2 rolls of gift wrap.....ugh......I so don't need this!

 

But how could I say no to Thomas the Tank Engine and Justin Bieber for 1 dollar?!?
I did however, resist the TWILIGHT themed paper.......


 Then the Winter Solstice came to town.....

Followed the next day by Santa on a fire truck......

Sunday saw Hubs and I running out for necessary supplies, like Gingerbread flavored Marshmallows....

 And as we went down a depleted Christmas décor aisle I saw a stack of music CDs of Holiday tunes.
I exclaimed as I pawed through the CDs, "I wonder if they have a copy of "A James Brown Christmas"?
I really did say that, ask Hubs!

And then a Christmas Miracle happened and I pulled out this.....

I didn't even KNOW he had recorded a Christmas album! lol
Moral of this story.....Be careful what you wish for!!
Of course after that, I just had to bring Jimmy home with us.
After all, you don't want to piss off the Universe when it provides for you......plus it was 50% off to boot! ;-)

I saw this bank sign on the way home........and yes Sonya Ann, that is an adult bookstore sign next door to the bank.......

And here is what my fire pit looked like 24 hours after the Solstice.....

Before......

The After this morning......

Went out to get blood work done this morning and saw Santa walking down the highway.
Didn't get a picture unfortunately but you all know what he looks like, right?

Came home to bake some pecan pies......ALWAYS a tradition at Christmas in my home......

 

Next the Chocolate /Cinnamon Chip Cookies Hubs requested.....

And one big Cookie for Santa tonight.....

(For Santa=whoever goes to bed last gets to eat the cookie.)

Then Santa's helpers finally arrived with the Christmas Drawers.......it wouldn't be Christmas without new socks and drawers in this house........

Now Christmas can REALLY happen!

Off to start Aunt Lula's Rolls......

Sluggy



 

What Passes for My Life Lately......Pretty Boring Stuff Ahead

I use to have a travel mug back when I was a student doing summer stock theater jobs.
The mug had a little man standing in a vise with the caption, "Oy! The pressure."
I wish I could find a photo of it online to share with you all.

That mug was sooo apropos during that time of my life.
And I sure wish I had that mug for THIS part of my life too!

Firstly, I am slowly feeling better.  Besides leaving me with very colorful bruises, that accident knocked alot more out of me than I had thought previously.....or it could just be that I didn't take the time to slow down long enough to recover fully.  Yah, it's probably the latter.
Here are some awesome photos of parts of me I took late last week......if you are squeamish, scroll past them.
First my shoulder....how many colors can you see?lol

Then my leg.....

The bruise started on the left side and capillaries under the skin burst and spread that lovely rosy hue all the way across my leg.

And lets not leave out my knee, the left one.....

I didn't even see it for a week since it was on the side.  I wondered why my knee hurt....duh!lol

Everything is fading away as of this morning and I should not look like a domestic violence victim much longer. 8-)

Here is a photo from the French Honor Society ceremony.  The lighting is atrocious in our auditorium on the stage area but passable on the apron(or front of the stage area).
Daughter is the VP of the French Club so she and her buddy who is the Prez of the FC had to read stuff en francais during the ceremony.
Daughter is the dark blurry one on the right in the photo....

Here is the whole group of inductees on the stage apron.......

Daughter is 2nd from right end in the front.
#2 son who was inducted into the Society for the first time is on the far left in the white shirt.

Félicitations!

Tomorrow is the National Honor Society ceremony so I'll hobble back to the school to see Daughter go through that ceremony for the third time.

On Friday I got to drive across PA to take #1 son to the camp where he works for the summer.
His girlfriend met us part way so I didn't have to drive the full 5+ hours there and back again.
I also got to finally meet her.  We had a nice lunch and then I got back on the road for the trip home.
I did snap this shot of them both before I took off....

Saturday and Sunday were spent cleaning out.  It was beastly hot here(even hotter today!)so Hubs put the A/C units in.  Since the weather and my body(the day after the accident)didn't cooperate last week, the garage sale didn't happen.  I had #1 son put all the spare toiletries put in the living room to sort and price for the garage sale.  Since the sale didn't happen yet, we moved all the toiletry boxes into the now cleaned out garage because family will be showing up beginning this Sunday for the Graduation festivities and we need the living room cleared out for sleeping accommodations. So we moved all those boxes into the garage....

And I've begun organizing and putting things up on the shelves already.  I counted 20 boxes of spare toiletries......good gosh!
Still no idea when this garage sale will happen but it HAS TO so I can reclaim my garage!!lol

We cleared out a flower bed on Sunday....

Here's Daughter hacking off branches on a tree we were removing.  There were 3 trees that took root in there the past few years and started growing.  Those 2 rhododendron bushes were half the size when we moved here.  Not only have they taken over the flower bed, there is a little fir tree to the left and back of the bush on the left that has been overtaken.  We took down the 3 trees, trimmed back the rhodo. on the left and took out the rhodo. bush on the right. 
We still have more work to do in there(like digging out the stumps and moving the little fir tree to a different spot)but that will wait until school lets out and #2 son can do the grunt work.

Monday we did what most red-blooded Americans do on national holidays.....we went shopping. ;-)
Daughter needed some more new clothes and Hubs needed to replace some dress pants for work so we hit a few sales.  Then we got Chinese for lunch and headed home.  It was a good day to be in a/c'ed stores since it hit a muggy 87 yesterday. 

So that pretty much catches you up on the Life 'o Sluggy.

What was your weekend like?  Any exciting goings on?

Sluggy