Just Stuff

You would think it's the end of the world here because we got a few flakes of snow on Thursday and it got down to 15F degrees that evening.  Everyone was bundled up in 10 layers of clothing.  And I'm sitting here saying, "Honey you don't know what snow is."

This is snow...........

Or This..........

Or even this........

Wimps the whole lot of 'em! lolz

So I've got all this fabric and was wondering if anyone would like buy some of it.  It's all vintage and some of it was bought in the 1990's and is much better quality then you can get now.  I've got prints to make clothing(some with kiddie prints), wool, corduroy, challis, and some cottons that would be suitable for quilting too(but most of it was purchased with an eye toward making clothing).
Hit me up privately if this is something that would interest you.  I really don't want to have to move my stash again and can make you a much better price than Jo-Ann's, etc. will give you.  I don't have the time or patience to put this on a site and wait for someone to buy something. ugh  Otherwise except for a few lengths of fabric I have plans for it's going to Goodwill.

We've got the next cruise and excursions picked and arranged for June.  Now we just have to move this Shit Show out of Louisiana before then.

If you go on Facebook check out Tanara Double Chocolate.  She is so funny.  
"Everyone's so creative!"
https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1FzdvvgXES/

My youngest child had his birthday yesterday.  I secretly sent the door banner announcing his birth to his fiancée and he put the banner on the outside of the bedroom door.  I am sneaky. ;-)

Then fiancée's parents made him a birthday cake when they went over there.

It hurt my heart not to be there to help him celebrate his day but I know he was happy and in good hands.
I sent him gifts and a card but haven't heard yet if he opened/liked them yet.

Happy Birthday son!!!

That's about all I have to say today.

Everyone be safe and well.

Sluggy

Thank a Veteran & Christmas Card Swap

Today is Veterans Day so if you have someone in your family or a friend or see someone wearing insignia that indicates they are a veteran, during your daily travels, please be sure to thank them for their service.

Here's a photo of my Grandfather and his men during WWII.  He's the one in front center with the mustache.  He served in both the European and Pacific theatres.

We got our first real frost last night.  No wonder.....it spit snow a bit yesterday too.

I've got to start cleaning the house today as Elder son and his GF will be arriving next weekend for a couple of days.  I've also got to come up with a real nice meal for while they are here since they won't be here on Turkey Day and I am NOT going to cook that meal twice in one week(not a big enough fan of turkey to do so). 

I've also got to get the fridges in order(ie-leftovers eaten and cleaned out)so I can fit the bird in there soon.  And I need to figure out what I still need to buy(besides the turkey).....off the top of my head, it won't be much.  ;-)
I will be going to Target this week as they have their "Get $10 GC wyspend $50 on Food Deal".  I sent for a $50 Target GC a few weeks ago paying for that with our credit card points.  Get $10 GC for spending a "free" Target GC?  Yes, please!! 8-)

Also on the agenda this week is a trip to the Food Bank to drop off a car load of HBA/cleaning products .
We'll probably do that the same day we go out to The Christmas Tree Shoppes with Hubs.  There is one North of here about 30 min away now and I'v'e never been to one.  I probably won't buy anything but we are just going there to get out of the house and window shop.  We'll probably eat lunch out that day too.

Oh, and there will be a trip to Dollar General for some Taco Bell GCs as they are discounted at that store this week.
And of course, there will be a trip to, where else?, Rite-Aid......lolz

Lastly, head on over to Anne's blog, "Cooking and All That Jazz" to find out about entering her Christmas Card Swap.  She's done this for a few years now.  It's open to bloggers as well as blog readers so go join in! 

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



 

"The Time has Come," the Walrus said, "To Talk of Many Things..."

First things first.....here's a Rite-Aid shop from Saturday evening.....

I burned about $12 in +Ups on those trash bags.  The rest of it was free at sale prices and Qs.  I put .61¢ on my gift card and didn't get any +Ups.


And I finally got up to Rite-Aid Sunday late afternoon.  The plan is to roll some +Ups into cash and get some freebies too.  Here is what I got....

1 x Thermacare on sale=$3.19  *My 20% wellness disc. lower than sale price
1 x Keri Lotion on sale=$6.99
1 x Desenex powder on sale=$6.99
1 x Snickers candy bar=$.70  *20% wellness discount applied
2 x Colgate Toothpaste on sale$2.99=$5.98
2 x Sardines on sale BOGO50%=$1.93
2 x Valentine's candy 90%off=$.20
SubTotal....$25.98

Coupons Used
1 x $3.99/1 Thermacare In-Ad Q=$3.99
1 x $1/1 Keri Lotion IPQ=$1.00
2 x $1/1 Colgate Toothpaste IPQ=$2.00
Coupon Total.....$6.99

$25.98-$6.99=$18.99+$.11 tax=$19.10
I used $19 +Up Rewards and put .10¢ on my Rtte-Aid gift card.
I received back $6.88 back in +Up Rewards(2 x $2 Colgate, 2 x $1 for each can of Sardines and $.88 for the Snickers bar).
I'll submit for 2 SCRs...$6 for each the Keri Lotion and the Desenex, so $12 in cash rebates.

I got $18.88 'back' in +Ups/Cash and spent $19 in +Ups.

So did this transaction again, minus one of the Valentine's candy using BIL's card....

$25.88-$6.99=$18.89+$.14 tax=$19.03
Used $19 +Ups again and put .03¢ on the gift card.

Now, I totally don't understand why my tax was .03¢ more when I bought .10¢ less of products here.lol



Altogether I managed to 'roll' $24 in +Up Rewards into $24 in cash rebates.  I only bought what we'd use or eat too.(Hubs loves sardines....bleck!)

Here are the numbers....
THESE TRIPS
Number of Transactions.....3
Total Spent....$.74 (put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$100.08
SCR qualified for...$24.00
Other Rebates earned...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$00.00
+Up Rewards earned...$13.76
+Up Rewards spent...$38.00
+Up Rewards left to spend....$137.75

TOTALS--March Rebate Period

Number of Transactions......3
Total Spent....$.74 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$100.08
SCR qualified for....$24.00
Other Cash....$0.00
Additional Rebates....$0.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$0.00

+UPS Totals for March SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 2/28.....$161.99
+Up Rewards spent....$38.00
+Up Rewards earned....$13.76
+Up Rewards left....$137.75  includes ALL +Ups not just ones from this SCR period


I still have a boatload of +Ups that expire on March 15th.  I'm considering spending them down & rolling them into SCRs by buying a couple of electronic thingys that are giving $20 SCRs this month.  That might be the solution to carrying these things from month to month.  It's getting tiring finding ways to roll so many.  I can spent 1/3 down,  roll 1/3 into rebates and keep 1/3 for rolling into more +Ups PLUS get a couple gifty type items for giving out later. 
What do y'all think?   Good idea or should I just buy a year's supply of toilet paper or something with them all?





 So if you were starting from 0 +Ups, here is what I would buy this week at Rite-Aid....
First buy 4 cans of sardines for $3.86 OOP.  You'll receive $4 in +Ups back.
Then buy 2 tubes of Colgate Toothpaste....the on sale for $2.99 size.  Use 2 $1/1 ManuQs.  Add in a small filler item(90% Vday candy or something that's about .10¢).  Use your $4 in +Ups to pay.  Some stores will adjust down your +Ups, so you "could" possibly not add a filler item to your $3.98 total and they will adjust your $4 in +Ups down so no OOP.  You'll receive $4 back in +Ups for the 2 toothpastes.
Then see if any of the SCR items available this week in the SCR Directory are things you can use.  Most of them will end up costing .99 after the SCR.  You could save your $4 in +Ups for next week's sale or roll them via a SCR item into cash back.  IE-Get the Comtrex at $4.99 this week.  Spend your $4+Ups plus $.99&tax(or $0 OOP if you have a Q for it) and submit your receipt info. for the $4 SCR on the Comtrex.  By doing this, you spent $4.85+tax OOP and you will get back $4 of it via SCR, so you will be OOP .85+tax and you will have 2 cans of sardines, 2 tubes of toothpaste and a box of Comtrex.
5 items for .85¢ OOP.



When I got back out to my car at Rite-Aid Sunday late afternoon, it was coated in ICE!  I had a nice slide back home.....
The ice storm kept going and going for hours.  We lost power a few times before I decided maybe I should shut down the computer for the duration. 
Yes, I am quick witted like that sometimes.
Before I went to bed the Snunder(Snunder=Snow+Thunder) and Lightning began.


I woke up to this......

Bright sunshine and about 5 inches of snow with an inch of ICE under it.
Who ordered this!!??!!




And the dogs were feeling squirrely.

The beagle with the back problems has decided that jumping up and sleeping in "Daddy's chair" is something she needs to be doing.  So little "Miss Jealousy" chihuahua decides she needs to be in the chair too so she can bark at the beagle.  Doesn't it look like the beagle is pleading with me to "get her off of my chair Mom, puhleeeez!" 


I broke down on Saturday and bought a Netflix membership.  Ok, so it's free the first month.  I love movies but I don't buy them, nor do I go to the movies since I consider both of those huge wastes of my money.   And we don't have any rental places close enough that would entice me to get in a car/go rent a movie/watch movie/get back in a car/return movie before the time limit expired or I owed more money for keeping it.  Plus our library's collection of free rental dvds is miniscule and is mostly made up of Disney drek and kiddie films.  I've seen enough kiddie films to last me a lifetime thankyouverymuch!lol

I can deal with paying $9.99 a month to see all the movies/shows I want without leaving my sofa.
At least until it gets to the point where I have seen everything I want to see or I don't utilize it enough to make it cost effective or everything left to see has to be ordered on dvds they mail me and can't be seen instantly.
This 'lifestyle inflation' will be re-evaluated every month.

I still have no Meal Plan done for the week yet and no clue what I am serving for dinner tonight....it's 4:45pm by the way....
I felt it was more important to watch a film about the history and evolution of Skateboarding with my 15 yr. old instead.
Yah see?....Netflix has already become a suckhole......

So what's up in your corner of the world today?

Sluggy

Meal Plan Monday, Weird Weather & What I'm Working on This Week

I am trying not to grocery shop this week unless it's something I really need.  I was good with staying out of the grocery stores last week, until I hit Friday.  Had to take BIL to the store so I was forced, forced I tell ya!, to go into the store so I bought a few things.  I picked up some Kielbasa for $2.50 lb. after holding out for months to find my rock bottom price of $2 lb.....sigh.....salad greens for $1.99 a bag x 2, a carton of OJ for $1.99, some bananas, and a Quaker Deal--buy 5 items, get $3 instantly off your order.  I got 3 boxes of the new Quaker cereal for $2.50 ea. and 2 bottles of pancake syrup since I had none left in the stockpile, so $12.50 for all 5, $3 off and $3 more off because I had $1/1 Qs for the cereal.  The 5 Quaker items ended up costing me $6.50 which is very good for around here.

Then Saturday I went back to that same store...ugh....did another of the Quaker deal(cost me $6 OOP for 5 items this time), more Kielbasa(I have come to gripes with the fact that my new rock bottom price for this is $2.50lb.), got a 2lb. tub of Ricotta for $3.24 w/Q and sale price, and a 1lb. bag of mozzarella cheese for $3.50 since Hubs said I was out of that in the freezer.  Hubs picked up coffee filters since he was out and I bought the kids a container of Nestle Quik since they have been whining for it(and it was on sale, but I think they figured that out themselves lol).

Between these 2 trips and the one to pick up milk last week, I went for spending $0 at the grocery store to $44.96 spent by Saturday.
Ugh.

That is why I am trying to stay out this week and eat from the freezer/stockpile.

I'm having trouble this week coming up with a Meal Plan/Menu.
Just mental menu fatigue I guess.....

Here's what I've got so far--
Monday-Pork Chops, Rice, Veggie
Tuesday-Eat Out...my last birthday gift card
Wednesday-Fish, Crabcakes, Veggie, Coleslaw(leftover)
Thursday-Ravioli, Salad
Friday-Tacos, Corn, Chili(leftover)
Saturday-?? Maybe a big pot of Boston Baked Beans and cornbread
Sunday-Leftovers

I've got to dig around in the fridge and if I find any other leftovers I'll work them into one of my meals.
I've got some potatoes I need to use although I don't feel like having spuds.  I'm sure if I fry them up the kids will suck them down, right?lol

In other news....
The Snowpocalypse never materialized here.  We got about 6 inches of snow, then 2 inches of sleet and ice the following day, which encapsulated all the snow.
The ice was so thick over the snow that #2 Son was out in the yard snowboarding in Chuck Taylors.  He could 'skate' around on the ice and don't break through to the snow layer....

 The sloped part of the yard here was akin to a luge track.  He has pretty good balance to stay on his feet all the way down to the bottom....

Between the snow and ice and the squirrels raiding the suet feeder at the end of the deck, the Beagle was having a great week outside.....

We finally got the last piece of the tax info we needed to do all the tax forms today.
Rah!

Guess what is on my agenda for the rest of the week now? ;-)

First I have to do our State taxes, so I can get that info I need to do the Schedule A for the Federal taxes.
Then I get to calculate all the charitable donation amounts(Sallie's, Food Bank, Car Donation).
Then I get to see if we can file the Schedule A or just take the Standard Deduction.
After the taxes are finished, I get to start on the FAFSA x 2.
And on and on and on......
Are we having fun yet???!!! 8-)

I didn't get to the Food Bank to drop off the donation on Friday as I had wanted to because I had to take BIL out to do errands.  There is a very small window of time on Fridays where I can drop it off so this week, unless the weather intervenes, I'll make a point of getting there.

I'm updating my "To-Do" List on the blog this week as well.  I won't be putting more books on my list since I have tons of taxes paperwork to do this month.  Besides the paperwork, I'll be trying to finish the items carried over from January's list.

Dentist appointments are also on the schedule for this week.
Oh....and runs to Rite-Aid of course!lol

What is everyone else up to this week?

Sluggy

A Trio of White Things Hodge-Podge

Ok, so the unifying thread that ties all my babbling in today's post together is the color white.

What is missing from this picture?

Ok.....here's a visual clue.......compared to this photo, what is missing above....besides the sunny day?

We've got a case for Unsolved Mysteries here!
About a month ago, the new, bigger RV aka The Behemoth got pulled away.  Since it was in the midst of the school year(and they have a kid)I figured the Grandparents had taken it out for a fall camping getaway, since they have borrowed it in the past for trips.
But the Behemoth has been gone for a month+ now.....and the Grandparents have never taken it out for that long before...and never this deep into the Fall weather(meaning when it's this cold).
No one has said anything in regards to the Behemoth that I have been able to overhear.
I may just have to think up an excuse to go over there and ask.....not that I don't mind it being gone!

And speaking of weather....
It's almost the end of November and we have had(I know I'm jinxing us with this)NO SNOW yet!
Not.
A Single.
Flake.
The photo above I had to dig out from last February's stash of pics, to show you some of what we ususally have.

This is northeastern PA people.....and we live on top of a MOUNTAIN....albeit a small mountain, but still....
Very rarely do we get to this point in the calendar with not at least 1 or 2 'snow events' that don't instantly disappear upon hitting the ground.
I could get use to this though since the PITA Chihuahua won't go out in snow.
She thinks she is the freaking Queen of England or something and won't go off the deck if there is a dusting of white stuff.  Guess who gets a foot shoved up her hiney to get her off the deck on a regular basis in the winter?

I'm sure we'll pay for this fluke "No Snow In Nov." thing with  lots of APRIL SNOW(which by the way is so WRONG!)on the tail end of Snow Season around these parts.

And speaking of white stuff.....
We now officially live in the "bad" part of town.....if you can call this a town.lol

Our next door neighbor rang our doorbell the other night and let us know that someone had thrown something on the teen's car earlier that evening.  His grown daughter's car, she was visiting from out of town, also was a recipient of this special honor as well.  Both cars were parked down at the street when it happened.
Neighbor's daughter called the police so there was more doorbell ringing here as the patrolman wanted to get our information for his report, etc.  No damage that couldn't be washed off.

I went out the next morning and took some photos of the *ahem*, artwork......

Hubs deduced that the 'media' used in this graffiti art was New England Clam Chowder.
WTF??!!lol
We both simultaneously said, "What a waste of a good cup of chowder."


Now I could see throwing a cup of hot coffee, or spraying a bottle of soda pop on a car.....but who the hell joyrides around with containers of clam chowder for the singular purpose of decorating someone's parked  car?
And the landlocked mountainous area of PA is not where people go around eating clam chowder much anyway, nor is it a popular carry-out food item at any restaurants here.

At least it could be washed off and didn't leave a permanent mark.
It's an 18 yr. old car for gosh sakes so who cares about how it looks, right?lol

I'm just glad the 'hooligans' who did this didn't use rocks or bricks and smash windows or slash tires....this time!
The policeman said he was going to go check up on the whereabouts of our neighborhood, as he called them....*ahem* "freqent flyers" (aka juvenile deliquents).  We've got about 4 rotten egg teens living around here who may or may not be involved.
I'm not getting myself all worked up over this until they do something like set my mailbox on fire....
Once they start destroying the holder of my free samples and coupons, then it will get ugly, I guarantee that!!

Sluggy