The Weekend That Was.....Letting Go, Being Wet and Marking the Years

First things first.

Here is the worst damage Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene did in our yard......

You probably can't make out the clumps of leaves and twigs littering the yard.
And Hubs fished small branches out of the pool.

We got lots of wind and rain.
LOTS of rain according to my makeshift rain gauge.....

Yes, my onion root cellar is a multitasker!lol
We got 8 inches from Irene.
I am shocked that no trees here were uprooted since the ground was already saturated from the abundant rains we already had experienced in August.
My neighbor has a tree that is heavily listing to one side after the storm that may fall during the next windy day.
The yard is like a bog it's so saturated.
You walk on it, you sink.

The sun came out around 3pm yesterday.
Then we had a band of rain as late as 5pm.
Some more winds around 7pm and Irene was kaput here.

Hubs went out yesterday and saw some tree limbs down and road flooding in the usual places when we get heavy quick storms here.
I got a phone call from the school district this morning.  Seems they are excusing students who can't make it in for the FIRST DAY of SCHOOL today, due to intermittent road flooding around the district.
Too bad they called AFTER #2 son headed to school.
He will be pissed he missed the opportunity to play hooky, legally.
Sometimes "the man" just can't catch a break, can he?

Now let's back up a bit to Friday.
To say Daughter was ready to leave home would be an understatement.

She's saying in this picture, "Will you get in the car and start it already!!"

Once we got to college, she set us to work unloading the car and transporting it all to the SIXTH FLOOR(somebody just kill me now!)and then stashing it all away into place.
I think she missed her calling as a Drill Sargent!lol

 After we got things squared away, she consented to a photo....the only one she willingly let me take.

She is still without a roommate in her double room.
She has never made friends easily so I worry that she doesn't have a roommate at this point.
I know she'll overcome this eventually.

As I sat later waiting on Hubs to come pick me up with the car, I watched some of the stuff I saw other parents/students unloading from their cars.

36" Flatscreen tvs.
Seriously.
Who needs to bring that to college?

Refrigerators the size of a small child.
Some were larger than the one in my 1st apartment.

A box of 100 tubs of ramen noodles.
I guess that kid is on the 8 meals a week meal plan.

A waffle maker.
?

We only had to make 1 run to Walmart for longer cables and cords, etc. and then we were done.

I have no photo of Daughter with either her father or me, so I'll end this part with a shot of her "Home Sweet Home" for the next 3 months....

I just wonder how long until I get a phone call that she needs money.
Oh and you KNOW I'll get that call......lol

On Saturday morning #1 son and his girlfriend left to go back to school before Irene arrived, and as of Sunday night he was back ensconced in his dorm for another semester.

On Sunday evening, after the rain let up but before dark, I began weeding the front garden/flower bed jungle.  I figured with 8 inches of fresh rain in the ground, it was not going to get any easier to pull weeds!lol  I filled a black garbage bag with weeds before my back gave out.  There is at least another bag full to pull so I'll finish the job later today.

Sunday was also Hubs and my Wedding Anniversary.
Yes, I have now been married for TWENTY NINE YEARS.
And all 29 to the same man.
I caught a glimpse of us in the mirror the other day and yes, it IS true.
You do start to look alike when you've been together this long.
Since neither of us is/was very attractive to begin with it hasn't been a devastating development.lol
I just don't remember agreeing to get this old, with our without a spouse.
I've lost my youth and I'm barely hanging onto pieces of my mind and my sanity these days, so it's a good thing my sense of humor is intact. ;-)

So now it's Monday and all my kids are back in school.
The Hubs is back at work and I am blissfully alone....except for the dogs snoring gently behind me in their beds.

Ok, I am not really alone.
There are 4 bowls of tomatoes staring at me each time I walk into the kitchen, whispering, "Pssst! You need to can us NOW!"
So tomato prep is on the agenda today.
And tomato canning is on the agenda for tomorrow.

And here is what is still outside waiting for me......*SonyaAnn DON'T LOOK WARNING*........

So what is up in your part of the world lately?

Sluggy

Goodbye Hurricane Holly, Hello Hurricane Irene

Yesterday was spent ushering out Hurricane Holly.
AKA driving my Daughter across PA to college for the first time.

The last few days here have felt like a Hurricane.....albeit an emotional teenage Hurricane.
Drama.
Young love drama.
Leaving home and going somewhere I don't know anyone drama.
Take everything you own and worrying that you forgot something drama.

We have been witnesses to most of this drama.
Her father and I the "bear the brunt of her anxieties & rollercoasting emotions from thrilled one minute to deepest despair the next" adult bystanders.
We've helped where we could with organizing and offered sage old people advise and a shoulder to cry on when nothing else would do.
Now that we have deposited her at school, we are just wrung out and are in need of some relaxation and quiet time.

Just in time to greet a new Hurricane, Irene.
I called my brother and his wife yesterday.  They live in the town due west, next to Virginia Beach, VA.
My deceased oldest brother's house is 1.5 blocks from the oceanfront in Va. Beach.
My brother and his wife and assorted family there are staying put.  Not that they have anywhere to go that's out of the path of Irene.  Please hold them in your prayers.

Even little old me and ours are in the path of Irene.  We are east of the I-81 corridor and within the pink "Extreme Damage" area on the map.  We won't get any flooding or surge damage but we are flash flood prone around here.

I worry here about the wind damage more.  We are in the light turquoise "widespread damage" band.
The ground here is so saturated from the abundant rains this summer that more rain and high winds may uproot trees.  And we have some perfect very tall candidates in our yard for uprooting.  Luckily our power lines are underground but the larger lines are not.

We'll be ok I know....just very soggy when it's over.

If you are in the path of this my bloggy friends (Sheila in NC, Mark, Ron, et al), please stay safe!

Sluggy

A Quickie!...The School of Insanity

I haven't had much time to write anything the last 2 days and tomorrow is looking bleak as far as blogging productivity is concerned.

We are in College Packing Crunch Time here!

Both kids are home and frantically going through checklists and putting items aside to load into the cars.
Ok, so maybe the kids aren't really frantic.
They are at the "laissez faire, eye rolling, muttering "Mooooooom!"  under their breath"   phase.
I guess I am the frantic one!

I just KNOW things will get left behind.
Things they will deem VITAL that I will have to mail to them.....probably large heavy things that will cost an arm and a leg to mail.
It never fails, right?lol

Tomorrow we take Daughter to her doom college.
The following day #1 Son leaves to go back to school.

So between the gathering/buying/packing add in he brought his girlfriend with him, so yeah, he's a bit distracted.
And daughter is having some young love exboyfriend wants to reconile drama at the moment as well!
There are just way too many hormones flying around the atmosphere here!
And that's all I'm gonna say about that.

Add in a hurricane roaring up the Eastern Seaboard within the next couple of days when we need to be traveling about the state.
I wish it was Monday already.



I should be back in charge of my faculties by then.......ok, maybe not, but I'll be back to blogging.
Stay dry and safe if you are in the path of Irene and if you aren't, have a great weekend.
And pray for my sanity.

Sluggy

Cranking Up the Decluttering P*rn Again

I just looked and I haven't declutter-ed anything since late June.
Egads!

I'm going to be cranking up my efforts again as soon as I get the 2 oldest off to college and the youngest back to high school in the coming week.  By next Monday #2 son will be back in class and his brother and sister will be on the other end of PA living la vida college, so I'll get my quiet sanity filled days back.
Or something like that.

Here is what has left the house this week......

a mohair Gund Bear
John Glenn HotWheels car/spaceship set
Alice Cooper Hot Wheels sized car
ceramic mug/hot cocoa gift set
2 vintage baby care government booklets(this are hilarious!)
a pair of vintage White Gloves
a Bamboo Serving Set
a set of kid's Shrek Dishware
4 gold plated Racing Champions Cars-that's what's in those white boxes
a Dr. Seuss Watch
4 Correlle Bowls
7 Plates-1 Correlle/6 Melamine
6 packs of stationary

a throw blanket in a zippered case...like for football tailgating and such

2 Zen Rock Gardening sets(what was I thinking...Zen?....here??)

Assorted Power Ranger Party Goods (#2 son liked PRangers when he was 6, making these OLD!lol)

2 Boyd's Bears resin Broach Pins

6 Rolls of Wallpaper Border (from my misguided attempt to camouflage wall damage in the dining room)

1 Beanie baby

6 Happy Meal toys

Also a box of 93 Happy Meal toys I thought left in June and I photographed back then but they didn't actually get into the trunk of the car until now.lol

Look for a lot more Decluttering in September.

How are your decluttering efforts going?
Did you get anything sent off this summer?  How much clutter do you have left to deal with at your house?

Sluggy

Week 3 Spending for August....Hitting the Food Spending Ceiling

My food spending seems different this month.  I have been ignoring most of the "deals" at the grocery stores.  I can't recall the last time I bought a boxed, processed item....well, except for those frozen pizzas that kids want.lol
I have just been buying ingredients as needed these weeks along with produce, meat and dairy buys I find.  Throw in a trip to the bread outlet and I've spent $88.18 of food in Week #3 of August.

I spent $4.78 on 6 bread items at the outlet that would have run me $22.74 at the grocery store.
$4 at the Dollar store in snacks for daughter to take to college later this week. 
$20.10 at the local market for hot dog rolls, OJ, lettuce and frozen pizzas(at the kid's requests)and 4lbs. of ground beef for lunch burgers.

My big expenditure last week was at a new restaurant/party supply warehouse on Saturday.  Daughter requested I cook ribs in the smoker for her before she leaves for school, so I got ribs, as well as 5 more pounds of ground beef, a big bag of onions, 2 lbs. of bananas, a 40 count bag of pot stickers and a pork butt.
Cost?....$59.31.
I made 42 meatballs with half of the ground beef and browned/crumbled the other half for tacos/beef pie/sloppy joes. I now have 5 meals + leftovers worth of meats ready to go from that ground beef.   I smoked the ribs on Sunday, along with making baked beans and cornbread from scratch, and we have enough left for another full meal.  The pork butt will be made into a Pork Ragu this week at #1 son's request when he gets home in a couple of days. This pork/pasta meal will supply another full meal in leftovers. The pot stickers are a quick lunch item for this week.
Next month I'm hoping to see some chicken and/or fish deals since we have been light on chicken and fish the last month.

I made the leftover steak from a week ago Thursday into Beef Stroganoff on Saturday night.  We have almost another full meal of this for leftovers.

So here is what I am starting this week with in leftovers or precooked  foods.....
1-Beef Stroganoff w/Rice
2-Taco meat
3-Meatballs
4-Beef Pie meat
5-Sloppy Joe meat
6-Ribs(from last night)
7-Squash Casserole
8-Green Beans
9-Baked Beans
10-Cornbread
11-Pickles, always!lol
Plus I have the Pork Butt.

Here is my Meal Plan.....

Sunday--Ribs, Baked Beans, Cornbread, Pickles  done
Monday--Sloppy Joes, leftover veggies(squash/g beans)
Tuesday--Leftover Ribs meal and/or Stroganoff
Wednesday--Pork Ragu, Salad Greens
Thursday--Dinner out before kids leave for school
Friday--Assorted Leftovers
Saturday--Spaghetti Meatballs or ?, Zucchini

I have frozen veggies to add in where needed, so the only items I need to buy for this menu are more salad greens and zucchini.
Imagine that?...I need to BUY zucchini!lol
Along with milk, some more fruit for snacking(I'm thinking watermelon and peaches)and we are done with shopping for the week and hopefully the month.
$20-$25 should do me.

I've spent $262.33 up until now in August on food.
If I add in my $14.19 so far in rebates and my Toluna check for $20 into my food budget, that gives me $284.19 in the kitty.  If I can spend $21.86 or less for the rest of August, I'll still be on budget.

I am feeling the frugal burnout lately.  Inflation has made it harder to find deals and stay on budget. 
I am just tired of working so hard on this. 

We will be down to feeding 3 people again after the oldest 2 leave for college, so I am hoping I can still keep my $250 food budget for awhile longer.  Or am I being unrealistic in this economy to spend so little on food?
What do you think?

Sluggy