Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Last Rite-Aid Trips for August & Grand Totals for the Month

Basically, I've been on a break from Rite-Aid this month.
Not a full break, but I haven't darkened their door much and when I went there, I didn't haul much home.
As a result I don't have many +Up Rewards left or many items to report.

And face it, the fact that I had 2 Stockpile/Garage Sales this summer where I sold the stuff I get from Rite-Aid AND I still have a big load of stuff left, I really don't NEED to be hauling things home from Rite-Aid. ;-)

First let's catch up on 2 weeks ago.
2 sales ads ago I bought this.....

1 x Nutella raincheck price=$2.50
1 x Crest complete toothpaste on sale(20% wellness discount less)=$3.43
SubTotal....$5.93

Coupons Used
1 x $1/1 Nutella AdPerk/VV Q=$1.00
1 x $1/1 Crest toothpaste ManuQ=$1.00
Coupon Total....$2.00

$5.93-$2.00=$3.93 OOP
I used $3 in +Up Rewards and put the .93¢ on my gift card($30.55 balance).
I received $2 in +Up Rewards for the Crest toothpaste.
At least I was suppose to get $2 in +Ups.
My receipt says "you have received the maximum number of +Ups for this offer".
The sales ad states Limit of 1 +Ups offer for this sale item.
Well this was my one and only transaction at Rite-Aid that week, so it was my one and only tube of Crest that week.  Don't know how I could have maxed out on the offer.lol
I have had so much going on here with the kids' college stuff I didn't get around to contacting Rite-Aid about this screw up.  I may just return it as it's turning into a huge hassle, at least in my mind, and the last thing I NEED is more toothpaste, right?lol
Moving on.....

I went back this past Friday evening to check for Nutella and bought this.....

2 x Nutella raincheck price=$5.00
1 x Crest toothpaste! on sale=$2.99  *Yes MORE of the SAME toothpaste, but a smaller tube
SubTotal....$7.99

Coupons Used
1 x $1/1 AdPerks/VV Wellness Q=$1.00
2 x $1/1 Nutella AdPerks/VV Q=$2.00
1 x $1/1 Crest toothpaste ManuQ=$1.00
Coupon Total....$4.00

$7.99-$4.00=$3.99 OOP
I used $3 +Up Rewards and put the .99¢ on my gift card(balance of $29.56).

I DID receive the $2 +Up Rewards for the Crest this time.  That week, the smaller Crest complete tube gave a $2 +Up and the limit was 2, but I only bought 1.

Now I KNOW you are wondering why all the toothpaste.
Well, there is a SCR #35--Buy $25 of select Crest/Oral-B/Scope items and get a $5 rebate.  I needed $5 more so the last 2 toothpaste tubes were to put me over $25.

Nutella?
That's easy.....#2 son is addicted to it.  I need to purchase stock in that company....it's THAT bad here!lol

The August SCR Period ends today, Tuesday, August 30th.  I don't plan on going to Rite-Aid today, so this is my end of the month post.

  THESE TRIPS
Number of Transactions.....2
Total Spent....$1.92 put on free gift card
Value of Items....$19.05
SCR qualified for...$5.00
Other Rebates earned...$0.00
Gift Cards earned....$0.00
+Up Rewards earned...$4.00 *but I only have $2 right now*
+Up Rewards spent.....$6.00
+Up Rewards left to spend.....$4.00
And I have $29.56 left on my gift card.


And now, the monthly totals.

Rite-Aid GRAND TOTALS--AUGUST Rebate Period

Number of Transactions......10
Total Spent....$7.68 put on free Gift Cards/Certificates so ZERO OOP

Number of Items purchased.....57
Value of Items purchased....$156.77
SCR qualified for....$22.99
Other Cash....$0.00
Additional Rebates....$0.00
Additional Non-Cash Rewards....$0.00


+UPS Totals for August SCR period
+Up Rewards carryover from 8/13.....$6.00

+Up Rewards spent....$46.50
+Up Rewards earned....$
28.00
+Up Rewards left....$4.00  includes ALL +Ups not just ones from this SCR period





So in August, I spent $7.68 of my free gift card "money", brought home $156.77 worth of items and Rite-Aid will be sending me cash rebates of $22.99 for shopping there.

How was your month at Rite-Aid?


Sluggy

Monday, August 29, 2011

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

Saturday, August 27, 2011

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

Thursday, August 25, 2011

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

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

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