My One and Only Trip to Rite-Aid This Week

I had no +Up Rewards expiring this week for a change.
But I did want to pick up some Axe Deodorant for #2 son so here is what I bought....

4 x Axe Deodorant on sale $4.44 but 20% wellness discount was less at $3.83=$15.32
2 x Fritos on sale $2=$4.00
1 x Sunmaid Raisins on sale $2=$2.00
1 x Bayer Advanced Aspirin on sale $3.99 but 20% wellness discount was less=$3.43
2 x Milky War king sized bars on sale .98¢=$1.96
SubTotal....$26.71

Coupons Used
1 x $1 any purchase AdPerk/VV IPQ=$1.00
2 x BOGO Axe products ManuQ=$8.88  **Cashier took off for the sale price, not the wellness discount price
1 x $1.50/1 Bayer Advanced Aspirin IPQ(forgot to take the $2/1 ManuQ...doh!)=$1.50
1 x $.50/2 any Mars candy bars IPQ=$.50
2 x $.25/1 any Milky Way candy bar AdPerks/VV IPQ=$.50
Coupon Total.....$12.38

$26.71-$12.38=$14.33 OOP

I used $14 in +Up Rewards to pay and put the .33¢ on my Rite-Aid gift card.
I received $7.99 back in +Up Rewards(2 x $3 WYB 2 Axe, $1.99 Bayer Advanced) so basically the Axe, Bayer and candy bars were free and I "paid" for the Fritos and raisins with some +Ups.

Since between the discount price, Q and +Ups received back made my Bayer more than free I probably won't submit for the MIR that was in last Sunday's coupon inserts(along with the $2 Q I didn't bring to use).  The form states that the Manufacturer will take off the $2 value of the Q from your rebate submission price, so I'd only get $1.43 back, which after paying for the stamp nets me less than a buck.  I'll keep that Q and MIR form to use another time.

So what did everyone else buy at Rite-Aid this week?
I have $30 in +Ups expiring the end of this coming week so I'll be going back soon to spend those.
The Colgate and St. Joseph's aspirin are basically free this week after Q and/or +Ups so I'll probably get them(and donate the toothpaste to the food bank).


THESE TRIPS
Number of Transactions.....1
Total Spent....$.33 (put on free Rite-Aid gift card)
Value of Items....$39.20
SCR qualified for...$0.00
Other Rebates earned...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$0.00
+Up Rewards earned...$7.99
+Up Rewards spent.....$14.00
+Up Rewards left to spend.....$59.37  And I have $42.69 left on my gift card.


Rite-Aid GRAND TOTALS--JUNE Rebate Period so far

Number of Transactions......6
Total Spent....$1.98 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP
Value of Items purchased....$238.40
SCR qualified for....$0.00
Other Cash....$0.00
Additional Rebates....$0.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$0.00

+UPS Totals for June SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 6/8.....$65.38
+Up Rewards spent....$63.96
+Up Rewards earned....$72.33
+Up Rewards left....$59.37  includes ALL +Ups not just ones from this SCR period

Sluggy

Decluttering P*rn....The June Edition

Who's up for some P*rn this morning?

The Decluttering kind of course!

Various Beanie type dolls
1 Pee Wee's Playhouse VHS tape
2 Books on Healing Foods
7 Bath Poofs
a buttload of Stickers
1 Refrigerator Magnet
1 Fisher-Price toy(vintage)
2 Silver plated Swan Candle and Flower Holders

Here's a close-up of those.  I picked them up at Sallie's years ago and thought when we entertained I could make use of them.....

Well we never entertain so out they go!

1 willow basket
1 bamboo box
3 women's jackets/coats
1 set of men's thermals

A pile of toys......

93 assorted Kid's Meal toys still in the packages.  It may not look like much in the photo but they fill a Hammermill  paper box.
Now I know you are sitting there thinking, "Gee, she is the meanest mommy in the world, not letting her kids open/play with their Happy Meal toys."
Or
"Gee, she let her kids eat waaaay too much fast food!"

Considering this is a pile of Kid Meal toys from 3 kids and it spans all the fast food they ate over a 15 year period, they really didn't eat chicken-like nugget food that often.
Ok, it's not ALL the kid meal toys they got growing up since they did open and play with more of these things than I would care to recall....especially after stepping on way too many of them as I ran the obstacle course of toys left on the floors of their rooms over the years.

And yes, I did withhold the toys as a rule when they ordered a Happy type Meal.  Since I didn't want them having me buy food they didn't really want to eat, just to get a toy, this policy kept them from asking for food when they weren't really hungry.  We weren't throwing out/wasting food or money.
(Let's not talk about all the kids' meals "I" bought to get teenie beanie babies or pokemon toys.....lol)

I'd keep the toys and we'd dole them out at a later date.....say, when they were bored, on long car trips, as prizes for birthday party games, or when they did something to deserve a 'reward'.  So over the years, a large number of these toys didn't get claimed.

Anyway, moving on.....

2 women's bathing suits
1 sweatshirt(new)
1 pair Joe Boxer shorts
7 skateboarding themed t-shirts

And finally.....

6 pieces of Cape Cod Cranberry Glass
Before these hit Salvation Army I'm going to try to sell them locally.
Either way, they will be gone by the end of this month.


So that's my 1st June decluttering booty.
Are you getting rid of junk this month too?
Tell us about your efforts to pare down and declutter!

Sluggy

They Don't Make Em Like They Use To

Some of y'all may still be scratching your heads today over something I posted and said yesterday.
In reference to a Tony Awards musical number from the show "Catch Me If You Can".
I said that the actor Norbert Leo Butz was channeling Jimmy Cagney in that song.

Here is the clip again.



Watch Norbert dancing in it again and then go HERE and watch this clip of James Cagney from the 1942 movie "Yankee Doodle Dandy".

Do you see what I saw or not?

I'm guessing there are scads of people out there(mostly younger than myself)who have never watched "old" movies(anything before color film)or have watched very few of them.
Many know Jimmy Cagney only from his very successful "gangster/hoodlum" films and don't know that he was a versatile actor who could play a wide range of characters.  Among his accomplishments, he was an excellent comedian, a singer and a very talented tap dancer.  He began his career in vaudeville and his first role was playing a woman.  Pretty good for a tough guy, huh? 

No real point to this post other than to ramble I guess. ;-)

I saw that the American Film Institute has Mr. Cagney on their Greatest Film Stars of All Time List at the #8 position for the Men.  This list came out in 1999.

Who do you feel should not be on that list or who did they leave off that is your favorite?

Sluggy

T-T-T-Tony Fun

Having been a thespian from an early age, I always try to catch the Tony Awards show each June.
Not so much anymore to catch glimpses of the work of people I had known in my younger days who went on to accolades and successful careers in the theatre but just because I enjoy watching people who have devoted their lives to legitimate theatre with little regard for being a 'star'.

Nowadays I enjoy watching the musical numbers, especially when there is a year which produces a bountiful, high quality crop of shows.
And this year did not disappoint!

I'm not sure what I thought of the Opening number.....what do you think?

This was the year of religion.
Yes, there was something for every persuasion.

From Catholic nuns.....

To Mormons.....

To Capitalists....
Harry Potter can sing and dance......who knew?!?!

This was one of the more fun numbers from a show based on a movie from 1994.....

And this number, while NOT from a Broadway show(it was a limited run NY Philharmonic engagement) was certainly a tv viewer favorite.
Once I got past Neil Patrick Harris' major note/pitch flub at the beginning it was good--not as good as the production a few years ago with Raul Esparza in the NPH role, but enjoyable.
See how many famous or semi-famous people you can pick out here....

Starting June 15th, this production of Company will be showing at select cities around the country too. You can find out where and when HERE


But my favorite has to be this number.  I became a big fan of Norbert Leo Butz a few years ago when he was in the Broadway adaptation of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels".  Even though I hadn't heard/seen any of the Broadway remake of the Tom Hanks/Leo Dicaprio film "Catch Me If You Can", as soon as NLB opened his mouth I knew who it was playing the Tom Hanks role.

It's a rousingly hot production.
And tell me that Norbert is NOT channeling Jimmy Cagney in this number......

Sluggy

Circumstantial Pomp 2011

So I've been MIA from the Blogging Universe for the last couple of days.....ok, the last THREE Days!

I plead Insanity your Honor.

In the last 8 days I've half-assedly cleaned the house from top to bottom, had 3 relatives & a kid and his GF come to stay-over for various lengths of time, thrown a party and done all the cooking(Sis-IL did help with some of the prep work), helped pack a kid up to work across state for 2 months, fed various relatives various meals besides the party along with all the usual crap I do here.  And I fit in a couple of blog posts last week, as well as 1 trip to the grocery store, 1 trip to Kmart and 3 trips to Rite-Aid.....like you even considered I'd NOT go to Rite-Aid??? HA!

I so wish I had more of a stack of photos to share from my week.
But there are 2 reasons I don't.
1--I don't have a camera growing out of my hand like some people do cough *mark* cough and....
2--My camera sucks.  It's old and not very powerful and doesn't have good features beyond your basics.
And add in a #3 that I don't take very good photos either.  I just don't have 'the eye'.

With that said, here is how the last week went down......

The Sis-IL arrived last Sunday with her teddy bear companions(don't ask!).  I was so busy the first few days with cleaning and staying cool(it was almost 90 here for most of the week!)and not going insane that I didn't think to snap a photo of anything besides my Rite-Aid booty until Thursday when #1 son arrived with his Girl Friend.
Here is is trying to turn her to face the camera for a photo and her smacking him in the face.
Ain't love grand?

Here's a better shot of them with a couple of old fogies(Hubs and Sis-IL) in the way....

We decided to play Boggle that evening for fun.
Let me explain that I am the Master of the Boggle Universe....at least in our family.
None of them has ever beaten me at Boggle...ever.
Not just NOT beaten me in points for the whole game, but NOT beaten me in points for a single Round either.
Wow.....the secret is out now.  I blew my chance at ever being a World Boggle Shark, haven't I?!

Anyhow, we started a friendly game of Boggle.
#1 son had the great idea to level the playing field by spiking my lemonade with SoCo(aka Southern Comfort).
He was really probably trying to sneak himself a drink of it and when I caught him he came up with the leveling the field idea.

Either way, he didn't get any and I still won at Boggle, again! ;-)
Granted I couldn't stand up afterwords....

On Friday around noon my Brother and my other Sis-IL arrived, Hubs went to get BIL and the Nephew and Daughter brought her Boyfriend over.  After #2 son got home from school, his 2 buddies from down the street wandered over about the time the food was ready.  It's amazing how teenage boys have food radar like that, huh?lol

We had a family preGraduation cook-out from 2ish until 4.
I would have loved to share gorgeous shots of us all cramming our mouths with food but I was too busy manning the grill on the back deck and the smoker on the driveway out front.
Of course no one else took any pictures.

After we ate people found comfortable places to lounge and some of us snoozed.....

This is my Brother's wife.  They had an 8 hr. ride to get here and her everyday life is even more Crazy Busy then my life was this past week.  She deserves to nap any damn time/place she feels like it.
Don't judge.....

Everyone was feeling full and relaxed.
Here's the future Graduate and her BF goofing off for the camera.....

Then it was time to get to the Arena for the Commencement exercises.
I won't bore you with how I went over and dressed down some rude, young adults in the audience by us who were there to talk loudly amongst themselves through all the speeches and the kids' performances so no one around them could hear anything and then only SHUT UP doing that long enough to scream and yell at the top of their lungs when their buddies' names were called.  Hubs held me back from swinging at them with my big heavy black cane too.
I guess with all the money we will be spending next month on college tuition there isn't much left to pay my bail.

Here is one shot Hubs took of Daughter leaving the Arena....

She was the 5th one in the processional in and one of the last in the recessional out.
My, my.....another awkward sentence.lol

And here are a slew of the obligatory Graduation photos of the newly diploma'ed with her family....

First the boyfriend.
Daughter is tall which makes the BF a giant......

Then with soon to be broke Mom & Dad.
And no, I am NOT bald.  I don't know where my hair was....

Then with Uncle and Aunt from VA.....

Then with Hubs family--another Uncle, the Cousin and another Aunt from IL.....

Then again with Mom & Dad.
My hair is still MIA and I look like a happy lunatic.
I was probably asking for an adult beverage by that point.....

And finally with her 2 Brothers.
Yes her older brother really went all out dressing up for the occasion.
And I actually got the hair out of #2 son's face long enough to get a photo.  He is giving me the stink eye.  I didn't push it and try for a second take because he just finished playing Pomp & Circumstance with the School Band a bazillion times inside the Arena.

Then we asked Daughter to pose alone.....the elegant Graduation shot for posterity, and this is what we got.

And Sis-IL's arm too boot.

Then it was back to the house for cake.....or as Sis-IL from VA kept pronouncing it, "keck".  She's been on a "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" movie kick lately.
Here's the Graduation Cake, er Keck......

 Daughter ordered the cake herself.  The school colors are red and black.  Not very festive a combination unless it's a wake or Halloween.  The least she could have done is had them put flowers on it.  Big old Black icing roses would have perked that baby up, ya think?

She also ordered a half yellow, half chocolate cake.
I kept referring to it as the diversity cake.
All the grown-ups got a big laugh out of that.
All the young'uns groaned and rolled their eyes at me.
Yes, I am so witty when I am exhausted and sleep deprived.

I made Daughter cut and serve everyone a slice.  She was very methodical and deliberate about it and took forever.
I think she should concentrate on cutting instead of loony bin once she gets to medical school since she dissected that cake with the skill of a surgeon.

After cake and gifts Daughter left for the Senior Lock-In and we old folks all collapsed into our respective beds.

On Saturday Sis-IL from IL hit the road for the trip home.
The young'uns all went off to see friends and do various fun stuff.

The grown-ups?
We laid around and napped and ate and napped some more.

Then we took everyone who was left out for Chinese.
We sat out on the deck and talked.
Then we all went to bed early again.

On Sunday morning #1 Son, GF and Daughter left for camp....

Brother and Sis-IL followed suit a half-hour later and left for their trip back to VA.
And I went back to bed and slept a good part of Sunday away.

Which leads us to this fine Monday morning.
The unseasonably hot weather has abated, the house is finally quite(at least until noon when #2 Son returns home from school)and I can begin contemplating my summer plans.

And I can begin boring you with posts again.
Aren't you one lucky devil?

Sluggy