Happenings Lately at Chez Sluggy

First off, here are a couple of deals I got last Wednesday at Weis(PMITA)Markets.....

Nature Valley granola bars and select GM cereals were on sale $1.77 when you bought 4(at least 4).
I had a $1/2 Nature Valley, a $1/2 GM cereals and a .75¢/1 Lucky Charms cereal(which doubles to $1 at Weis).
So all 5 were $8.85-$3 in Qs=$5.85.
Then I received $1.50 in SavingStar cash rebates(.50 for buying 2 NV, $1 for buying 2 GM cereals)so $5.85-$1.50=$4.35 for all 5 items or .87¢ each.

They finally had the variety of coffee I wanted back in stock so I used my rain check.

4 x 8 O'Clock coffee BOGOFree=$10.98
I used 2 Qs-1 Catalina for $3 off wyb 3 bags and 1 ManuQ $1/1.
$10.98-$4=$6.98 for 4 bags or $1.75 per bag.

So on Friday, here is what we got in Thursday night's snow storm......

8 inches of the stuff.  Between Daughter and myself(and a little help from the sunshine we got after noon that day)we got the driveway cleared enough so I could leave to go get College Boy at 3 pm.

The region was set to get snow squalls and showers all day long.
I hit three separate snow squalls along the way, one was particularly bad.
8 miles from my exit I hit a white-out area.
WTF!  Blizzard conditions so bad I thought I was a dead woman in my little purple car.  You couldn't see the road, the edges of said road or the car in front nor behind you.
And pulling over would just guarantee you got hit by somebody who coudln't see you.
Talk about white knuckle driving!
So a line of cars with flashers on crept down the limited access highway going 20 mph for 8 miles until I got to the exit and tried to get off the road.
The exit ramp was even worse but luckily it was all downhill and got onto the road through town.

I stopped at the Walmart to pick up some supplies College Boy needed that I didn't bring from home to drop to his room(so we didn't have to haul this stuff back in a week when we had to haul him and all his crap back too). I got in a bit early and I also needed to get out of the car and walk around and try to get rid of the knots in my back and head from the tension from this drive.  I was just a frayed nerve at this point.

I stayed the night in his dorm room.  He has a double room but he never got a roommate so there was a second bed for me.  College Boy was reticent about me sleeping in his room until I put it this way....either I pay to stay at the local motel or I can use the cash that would go toward that bill to take him out since he is now legal drinking age.
Putting it that way made the idea of mom sleeping in his room more palatable.

And I requested that he PLEASE CLEAN HIS BATHROOM before I arrived so using the facilities wouldn't skeevy me out.
And he did!  I have photographic proof.....

Just don't look too closely at the bathroom floor. lolz

What he didn't do was clean the sink and counter.  Since the sink is outside the actual bathroom I guess I should have specified to clean the sink too.

Here is the sink/counter after I attacked it three times with cleaner and bleach.
I neglected to take a "before" shot.  Just imagine this photo and the counter and sink it SOLID BROWN in color(I guess because the water has heavy mineral content there).
Seriously, solid brown, except for the backsplash.
And his toothbrush was sitting on that.
Bleck!
And yes I made him throw his toothbrush out before we left.

Oh, and his sink was backed up and not hardly draining so I asked him why??
See that French Press coffeemaker?
He's been pouring coffee grounds into the sink to clean it.
Hmmm, do you suppose THAT would have something to do with the lack of draining?!?

So I told him(why does someone have to tell a 21 year old this?  Oh right, he's male!)to put his grounds in a garbage bag and dump or pour his grounds into the toilet and flush.
An Call freaking maintenance to come fix his sink!  

Young males.....what are ya gonna do, right?

So I took him out for dinner and a couple of drinks.
On the way into town we slid into an intersection past a stop sign.
This is because even though there were still students on campus until Saturday the school closed up at 4 pm for break so nobody thought it was a GOOD IDEA to plow the roads on campus.
I tried to stop the car just kept going.  Luckily for us there were only two vehicles approaching and not near the intersection and they were going slow and saw us slide so a collision was avoided.

We got back to the dorm safely and settled down for the evening.  I watched a little tv(he has cable)and he played WOW.
What a terrible night's sleep I had!  A should have known the dorm mattress was going to be shit but his thermostat is also malfunctioning.  It randomly resets itself to different room temps.  You set it for 68 F and 30 minutes later it's up to 74 F.
WTF?
Again, Call freaking maintenance to come fix the shit!!

I have decided to call College Boy "The child who does not make waves.".
He is an introvert by nature anyway but it seems he will put up with mounds of crap before actually drawing attention to something that needs fixing in his life.
Being me, I just don't understand putting up with stuff you don't have to.
Anybody else have a kid like this?

Moving on.....
We left before 10 am on Saturday and the drive home was not an issue however it was difficult getting OUT of the town his school is in.
Like Joe Btfsplk out of Lil' Abner comics, this town has a dark snow cloud overing over it all Winter long.

Once we got on the highway South of town, the sun was out, the roads were dry it was a walk in the park and a downright pleasant drive.
WTF?!?
We made a quick stop at Denny's along the interstate for a pit stop and drinks/light food and got home before 1 pm.

Sunday was a lazy day at home.  Hubs and I ran out to Kohl's that evening and got him & CB some clearanced duds and now I have $30 in Kohl's Cash to spend. rah.
We also went up to Maine Source(the restaurant supply place)for some groceries.  I had a $5 off $50 Coupon to use.

They had good cuts of Corned Beef for $2.99 lb.  Only thing is you had to buy the full piece.  This one was 13.34 lbs.
I cut this into two pieces and wrapped and froze one and put one into the crockpot on Monday and we had our Irish meal then instead of this Friday.
We'll have tons of Rueben sandwiches this week and next week of the leftovers of that one piece I cooked.

I also got this 4.4 lb. bag of frozen veggies for $5.99.  That comes out to $1.36 lb.  We love a good stir-fry around here.

Rounding out my deals there I got this 9.64 lb. bag of boneless/skinless chicken breast.  I re-bagged this into meal size portions.
I spent some time Sunday reorganizing the chest freezer and seeing what I had to use for my meal plan this week.

I am so glad I went out to the grocery stores on Monday while the sun was shining.  I usually go on Wednesday(the last day of the sales ad)but with the forecast I figured I might have a problem getting to the store then so I went on Monday.
It was a madhouse would be an understatement!  I really didn't need to go but I wanted to get a couple of deals.........

3 x Progresso breadcrumbs on sale $1=$3 and I used a $1/3 IPQ=$2 for 3 containers
2 x Cabot cheese on sale $1.87=$3.74 and I used a $1/2 IPQ=$2.74 for 2 blocks
1 x Borden shredded cheese on sale=$1.99 and I used a .50/1 Manu(doubled to $1)=.99¢ for 1 bag

The Kraft Deal--buy 5 participating items and get $5 off instantly.
4 x dressing on sale 2/$3=$6.00
1 x ketchup on sale=$2.99
SubTotal....$8.99-$5 instant savings=$3.99 for all 5 items.

I also spied a birthday cake with a 50% sticker on it in the Bakery dept. since we hadn't celebrated CB's birthday yet.

1/2 Sheet cake for $13.99 instead of $27.99
Of course this cake cost goes under my Eating-Out budget not the Food budget.

So Monday evening we had a traditional St. Patty's Day meal of corned beef, cabbage, carrots and potatoes, followed by the singing, blowing out of candles and eating of cake.......

The blizzard started Monday night around 10:30 pm.  The snow was suppose to start at midnight or so.
This is what the back deck looked like at noon yesterday.

The Daughter took the dog out around 9 am and measured this crap at 24 inches deep.
Bleck!!!

And it's still coming down.....



It's hard to get a definite final total for the amount that fell yesterday as it's blowing and drifting but we had to have gotten another 3 inches before it finally stopped for good.

Here's a screenshot of the local tv stations Facebook report.  For once, this storm actually was bigger than they were predicting.

Where we use to live East of here in the Poconos got 30 inches but then again, that's typical for that area.
The weather talking heads on the local news said that this storm dumped the most snow in this area for any one day "event" since records started being kept in 1901.
yay......

So today is dig out mode.  College Boy shoveled out around the heating compressor yesterday and helped the Daughter dig her car out enough to get to school today(but they cancelled it for a second day in a row).

Here is Daughter's dog.  She is NOT  happy with the snow.  She is half Husky but she was born and raised in Louisiana until last June.  She just doesn't know what to do with this much snow.
A coating to 2 inches, no problem.  2 feet and she is hiding and refusing to go outside. lolz

I guess I'll actually go outside today, help supervise the kids shoveling and take some photos.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

The "The Groundhog is a Liar!" Edition ........

 

 

 

The Groundhog out in Punxsutawney LIES!!!  How on earth can he see his shadow in weather like this!  We've had no sunshine in a week.  He's lying or drunk, take your pick.....
Week 2 of snowy days and nights.
Not.
A.
Fan.

Here's what was planned last week.....................

1.  Leftovers(I had soup, hubs had hot dogs)
2.  Risotto with Chicken & Mushrooms  

3.  Leftover BBQ, Coleslaw

4.  Chicken & Dumplings, Carrots
5.  Bean and Ham Soup, Brussells Sprouts

6.  Tuna Noodle Casserole, Veggie
7.  Leftovers

 

And this is what actually happened--

1.  Leftovers(I had soup, hubs had hot dogs)
2.  Risotto with Chicken & Mushrooms  

3.  Leftover BBQ, Coleslaw

4.  Chicken & Dumplings, Carrots
5.  Chinese Take-out

6.  Leftovers
7.  Leftovers

I didn't feel well so Hubs got Chinese take-out one night(I had Egg Drop Soup)and with so many leftovers the Bean/Ham Soup and the Tuna Casserole didn't happen yet.

Last week I made 2 trips to 1 grocery stores here(just to get some deals) and spent $47.03 on $109.49 reg. retail worth of food.

My spending for January on food is $311.59 for $1202.64 worth of food/toiletries.(Counting Rite-Aid.)
Didn't make my $250 budget goal but a lot less than my usual $400 per month spending.

Leftovers going into this week are barbecue, coleslaw, lasagna, risotto w/chicken, chicken & dumplings, eggplant parm(that I found lurking in the back of the fridge that Hubs didn't finish while I was in VA).

Here is the plan for this week.........

1.  Pizza(frozen that I doctored up), Salad
2.  Leftovers Fiesta lolz

3.  Lobster Ravioli, Salad

4.  Bean and Ham Soup, Brussells Sprouts
5.  Kielbasa on rolls, Green Beans

6.  Leftovers
7.  Leftovers

The poor Bean and Ham Soup. 
If the leftovers hold out the soup may not make this week's line-up either.
 Can you tell I am not a big fan of this dish. 8-)
 

I can do this plan without buying anything this week.  With this week's weather forecast I might not even get a chance to go to the grocery store either.  Maybe Winter will keep me out of the stores. ;-)

 

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?    

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten that week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?

Sluggy

Random Stuff at Chez Sluggy

I go to put the dog out and guess what I see?

* First off, it is snowing YET AGAIN here.  Friday through Sunday we had 3 storms blow through.  It started snowing again late last night.

Looking at the forecast online it looks like all this week is a pattern of a day of partly cloudy/sunny followed by a day of snow.
Oh joy!

* I may be going to that Blogger Meet-up in Delaware next month.  It depends on if someone who may give me a ride there can.  I should know in the next week if this will work out.
I SO need to get away from here for a bit before I start climbing up the walls!

* I just signed up for 3 month mail order refills on some of my prescriptions this morning through a company included in my new insurance coverage.  I paid $25.18 total for 3x 30 day refills last month.  Doing a 90 day refill for the 3 drugs will cost me $48.28, or $16.09 per 30 days.  It's only $8+ a month savings but since we have to pay full freight on prescription until the $3K deductible is satisfied, I'll take whatever savings I can get.
I just hope this works out and there aren't any issues not receiving my meds in a timely fashion.
And speaking of things happening in a timely fashion...NOT!.....

* Today begins WEEK FIVE of trying to get my DME company situation sorted out in regard to my healthcare coverage.  Despite being told over a week ago now by my healthcare company that my DME is covered and the company they passed me along to should have supplied what I need by now, I am still waiting on someone to DO something!  Now the DME Co. says they still need some form or other before they can deliver DME to me, which the healthcare company says it's all set.
No, it isn't.  My good buddy at the DME company, "Shaun", promised to follow up directly himself with the dr. office and get right back to me on Friday.  It's now Tuesday and "Shaun" is still MIA.
So yes, I get to call again and go through this whole rigmarole for the umpteenth time.
So tired of this......

* I got to have a broken filling replaced AND get a cleaning and ex-rays on the same day last week.  My jaw hurt for 2 days after that, as the dentist has a heck of a time getting the rest of the filling out, and she did some yanking on me.  She thinks they glued it in!
I get to go back on Friday for another filling too.
It's just a wild party around here, ain't it?  ;-)

* I get to go to my primary care dr. on Thursday.  While I am holding steady with my weight is it not heading South as fast as I would like it to be progressing.  The month of December was very bad for my weight loss since I gained.  Hey, it was Christmas and a holiday trip to a German Bier Haus.....what can I say?  January wasn't much better between being depressed and the weather et al.  February has been a wash as well.  I am doing ok health wise......no flu, haven't been sick, just depressed and tired of fighting about these insurance issues, which leads to more depression and "what the hell, I might as well eat my feelings" episodes.  sigh.

I do get to find out about getting off this blood thinner stuff I have been on due to that clot in my ankle last September.  I am due to be finished with this.

* I have had very few Etsy store sales since January 1st.  Frankly I've just neglected doing anything with that this year so far.  I did finally go into the Daughter's old room(aka my fabric lair now)and sort through some piles of fabric so I can get more new pieces up on Etsy.  I had hoped to get the rest of the flannel, corduroy and wool up in January but it didn't get done, so now that all gets thrown back into a tub to wait until late Summer to list it.  At least some of those Winter fabrics are now photographed and written up, so getting them actually for sale on Etsy won't take any time at all.
The last few days I DID get about 30 fabric pieces ready to list(photo'ed, measured, weighed and descriptions done)so I should have those up in the Etsy store this week.

I still don't "get" this whole "favoriting" thing on Etsy.  Someone can "favorite" an item in your Etsy store(it's like hitting the LIKE button on FB)and you can see who favorites what in your store.
I's a STORE folks, not an art show.....I don't CARE who likes my fabric!  I just care who BUYS my fabric!  That's how I judge whether someone likes my fabric or not, if they BUY it! lolz

* I let all the eBay listings expire in January.  I may go and relist everything later this week, just so it looks like I am doing something with it all.  But from what I hear not much is selling there lately for most everyone.  Things will pick up once the tax refund checks start flowing back into buyers' bank accounts though....I hope.  ;-)

* There is still no furniture in my living room besides some boxes of eBay stuff, a coffee table, an old wing chair, sofa table and the folding camp table I was doing taxes on in the dining area.  I just can't pull the trigger on buying a sofa right now.  I am not completely happy with my choices(color, size, fabric and price)plus there is no extra money left in the paychecks until March gets here to cover it.  I know I can yank money from elsewhere but why do that if I don't have to have a sofa right now?
It would just make me grumpier. lolz

* And speaking of taxes, I mailed off the Federal today.
Rah.  Had to redo the Education credit thing THREE TIMES to get it right. ugh.
And that $12K heating/cooling system we bought last year?  Guess how much Uncle Sam lets us take as an Energy credit for it?
$300.
Big whoop. 8-)))

* In GOOD news here.....Hubs gets a yearly Bonus.  We never know how big/little it will be.  It all depends on how his company does for the year, if his part of the business is profitable or not, how he is rated within the company, and the specific formula the company uses to distribute the bonus funds(this formula seems to change ever year and is more complicated than jumping through IRS hoops calculating your personal tax return).
He got his performance review and he was rated as high as is able.  Their business segment also had a fabulous year too.  So it all comes down to the formula they are using this year to decide on how far on the big side of the scale the bonus will be.  We find out Thursday when it hits the bank account.
I am so hoping it's enough to finish off #2 Son's college account with something leftover for us to use elsewhere.
Since as long as I can remember, the Bonus has always been used to fund the kids' college accounts.  At least the last 12 years.....even before we paid off the house, we dumped this money into the college funds.
Next year, if Hubs is still employed there, God willing!, will be the FIRST year in forever that we won't have to put the $ into the college fund.  I won't know what to do with myself if I have to make a decision on what to do with it.....but I'll give it my best shot. 8-)

* Cross your fingers we get to complete #2's fund and have money leftover, because(Sonya plug your ears)we are going to have to buy another car in the next few months.  The Hyundai Elantra needs to go!!  And Hubs won't just wait until August, when #2 leaves for college to just take back the Malibu.
I wish he would just limp along until August, because at that point we won't need 3 cars anymore and it will save having to ditch another car in August.  But he won't go with my plan so we are shelling out more money on cars in the coming months.
Argh.

* #2 Son applied for a new job last night on his way home from his music lesson.  He had quit his old job in January because it was getting so demanding of his free time and left him no time to practice for his auditions for college.  He was working almost 40 hours a week right before he left it.

This new one is just a weekend job so won't cut into his activities and school stuff.  But will give him a little cash so he isn't always hitting me up for some. lol

That about catches y'all up on the Drama here at Chez Sluggy.

What's going on in your world?

Sluggy