May Food Spending Week 4, Meal Plan Week 4+/Week 1

I hope everyone had a reflective Holiday. Let's open today's Food post/Meal plan with this clip I "lifted" off someone else's blog......

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And here is the meal plan that actually happened last week.....

SUNDAY--Baked Tilapia, Stuffed Clams, Mixed Veggies
MONDAY--TV Dinners from the back of the freezer....uh, oh.....
TUESDAY--Sloppy Joes, Corn on Cob(or COC as it's known around here)
WEDNESDAY--London Broil and Pineapple on the grill
THURSDAY--Sausage or Chicken patty Sandwiches, Harvard Beets
FRIDAY--Chinese take-out
SATURDAY--Leftovers

We finally got those dreadful tv dinners outta here! Just 1 night of take-out. The weekly food spending was $129.85 this past week.
Again with the going over $100 in a week. ugh 4 times to the grocery stores this past week. I bought some London broils and chicken breast(BOGO deals)and then I spazed out and bought SIX BOXES of frozen fruit bars!lol It seemed like the most logically thing to do at the time and given the sale price and the heat the last few days, those suckers will be gone in no time.lol

Value of food bought was at $210.79 so my savings rate was 38.40% for the week. Total spending for the month to this point is $327.99. It's a good thing I 'upped' my food budget to $400 for May, huh?

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 In terms of leftovers, I'm going into this week with a little Sloppy Joe left, half of the London Broil I cooked last week. After Monday's cook-out I also have a large amount of baked beans and potato salad to use up this week.
The weather here is extremely hot for May, at least until Thursday so I'll be avoiding running the oven until then.

This week's menu.....
SUNDAY--Leftovers and/or Whoppers
MONDAY--Burgers/Dogs cookout, baked beans, potato salad
TUESDAY--Alfredo with veggies and steak slices, tossed salad
WEDNESDAY--Leftovers (crazy schedules night)
THURSDAY--Spaghetti and turkey meatballs, saute veggie mix
FRIDAY--Pizza
SATURDAY--BLTs or Cheese Steaks(diners choice)

This menu gives us 5 new meals and 2 nights of leftovers(or 1 night of leftovers and 1 night of fast food).
As for items I need to buy for this week......hot dog rolls, sauerkraut, meatballs, tomato, lettuce. We'll be buying milk as usual, along with some fresh fruit.

So what is everyone else eating this week?  

Sluggy

The Perfect Day for P*rn

Just when you thought it was safe to lurk here again, the P*RN is back!
The DeCluttering Porn, that is. hehehehe

And here we go!

1 x GI Joe Classic Dwight Eisenhower
1 x Barbie Princess Bride
1 x Atlanta 1996 Olympic Porcelain Plate
1 x black men's jeans(used)
1 x women's wallet(used)
1 x sewing pattern-medieval wench(used)
1 x classic movie monsters pen set
1 x Cherished Teddy in box
1 x Lego set(used)
2 x flat king sized sheets

1 x Star Wars Throw Pillow(used)
5 x Men's T-Shirts(used)
This lot courtesy of #1 Son cleaning out the closet in his old room a couple of weeks ago.

 7 x Micro Machines Star Wars Playsets

1 x Metal Water bottle
1 x 1996 Rep. National Convention Pin Set
7 x Matchbox Miniature Comm. Trucks/Cars in boxes
2 x AirWick Fragrance Holders
1 x Gameboy Case(used)
6 x Disney Millenium Pins
2 x Matchbox cars(used)
1 x Key Holder/Lanyard(used)
1 x Silver Winne the Pooh Charm

Looks like a nice pile of stuff leaving here, huh?
Well, it would be, except that it's tiny compared to all the crap that Daughter brought back from college.
Remember this?....

Imagine that red cart filled TWICE full of crap.
And now imagine that HALF of what was hauled home actually made it into Daughter's room.
Yes, a full cart of that crap landed in my garage........

And it sure takes up more room that what I got rid of.
Ick.

I already feel another load of decluttering forming, at least in my brain.....

I just realized that this is my first bit of decluttering since February and Carla's Decluttering Challenge Month.
I've gone almost 3 MONTHS since I decluttered last!

So how about you?
Have you gotten your DeCluttering Porn on yet this year?
Now that the good weather is here, it's time to fling open those garage/basement/closet doors and wage the battle with your Clutter Demons again.
Who knows?  Maybe this year is the year you WIN that Battle!!

If you've got some spare time this long weekend, pick an area in your home to declutter.
Just give yourself 15 minutes and see what you can find that needs to leave your house.
What could you live without?
What is laying around that adds nothing to your life anymore?
What is no longer useful?
What is no longer adding joy or beauty to your life?

Go ahead and donate, recycle or throw it OUT!
Make it a blessing in someone else's life if it no longer is one in yours.

Sluggy

Frugaled Out, The Weekend Plans & Songs for a Friday

Like I was just commenting to SonyaAnn over on her blog today, I think I've lost my Frugal Gene.
Ok, maybe just hidden it away somewhere.
I haven't hunted a deal in ages really.
As for hitting up lots of different grocery stores for deals?.....hasn't happened in months and months.
The deals just aren't good enough to get me to drive all over the place.  It just seems a big waste of my time and gas, what with the current prices of that! ugh

I stay in town except on rare occasion and buy at Weis PMITA Market or the ShurSave affiliate independent market.
And if I use a coupon it's a fluke.
And no Rite-Aid still.  The last trip to Rite-Aid was in MARCH.....almost 2 full months ago!
I know some of you are whoozy at that news and need to sit down.lol

But I still don't need any more toiletries.  We are still going strong on my big big stash of those.  So there is no point buying more, even if it's practically free, right? ;-)

I've got some +Ups sent from corporate(for ones that didn't print)I have to use by the end of June so I know I'll be heading back there next month.  But other than that, I'll be laying off of Rite-Aid until the Fall.

I've still got a huge Toiletries stockpile.
I've still got a huge toilet paper stockpile.
I've still got a huge laundry detergent stockpile.
I've still got a decent household cleaners(including hand washing dishes soap/dishwasher soap)stockpile.

As for the food stockpile it's getting leaner and meaner every day.
Lots of pasta, tomato products, peanut butter, spices, canned fruit, hot cocoa, coffee, oatmeal, canned soup, rice, ketchup, mustard, dry soup mix and olive oil.
Using up stuff I no longer stockpile like salad dressing, barbecue sauce, cold cereal, jelly, etc.
I'm going out in the garage this weekend and reorganizing it all.

You are all thinking I am crazy to want to spend a Holiday working in my garage, but since it's suppose to be in the mid to high 80's here, the garage will be the coolest place to be in my house! lol
Plus the kids won't want to be anywhere near the garage working so I'll have some peace and quiet too.
A win/win situation if ever there was one.

If Hubs gets the pool ready I'll probably spend some time in that too, pretending it's not too cold still to swim in it.
No other plans really.
Just sit around and relax, do a few things around the house and drink a few adult beverages this weekend.

I hope you do something you want this weekend too.
I'll leave you with this musical interlude.

Here's a band I used to like a lot in the past.  They started out in Ohio but early on in their musical development they spend a good deal of time in my old stomping grounds in the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, which includes the southside metro area of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Va. Beach and Newport News, Hampton, Yorktown and Williamsburg on the peninsula side.

The band is Blessid Union of Souls, or Blessid Union as they refer to themselves now.  They gained popularity in the 1990's and had a Top Whatever Hit you might recognize which is the 2nd clip below.

The first clip is my favorite song of theirs called "Oh Virginia".  It's a homage to their time there. 
If you google it you can find a music video they did for it but it's fairly lame.  I think their record label at that time put about $8.57 into the production budget for it. ;-)
So I am featuring a live rendition they performed at a gig in Tennessee instead.

There is a longish harmonica solo which isn't part of the song, but the guy is very good.  The mouth organ gives the tune a very 1990's flavor so much so that you expect Blues Traveler's John Popper to jump up from behind an amp.

The guitarist also does some crazy riffs and if I'm not mistaken I heard some Jimmy Page "Misty Mountain Hop" in there, which segued into the beginning of  the Kinks "You Really Got Me" intro.

Ok, so nobody knows WHAT I am talking about so I'll just shut up and bring on the tunes.
Crank it up, put your hands together and Enjoy!!!

And have a great weekend!

Oh Virginia


Hey Leonardo!

Sluggy

Oh Hell No!

Let me take off my mom cap for a moment.
You know....the cap that makes every mom(or dad)out there with kids the protector of your offspring no matter what.
When people do things to your kids that aren't nice.....like lie to them, cheat them, mistreat them in some way, this cap turns you into a defender of your kids.

Even when your kid might be the one who caused the issue or is at fault in some way, this "cap" makes you blind to your kids faults.
Yeah, I am talking about being objective when it comes to something involving your own kids.

So setting my "cap" aside let me tell you about last Saturday.
#2 Son did a Relay for Life event.
I don't know WHO organizes or runs this one, but it takes place on the high school football field, so the school district is involved in some mysterious way.
I also know they are involved because #2 Son was asked to participate....no, it was more like OBLIGATED to participate through the school's band program he is heavily involved in.
Yes, he was "forced" to go to this thing and given the honor of paying them $20 for the privilege.

Can you see that I am starting out as not much of a fan of this particular event?
Yes, I know they raise money for the cancer research, etc. so it's a good cause, but I digress.

So it's a 24 hour deal.
Held outside on the football field.

Saturday here was very warm.
More importantly it was a very sunny day with little cloud cover.

Now I know #2 Son should have had more sense at some point when he discovered that he was close to SUN POISONING to have immediately called us to come pick him up.
But no....he was having way too much fun with his band friends to notice that despite all the SPF60 he was slathering on that he was turning into a burn patient.

These were the back of his lower calves/ankles 3 DAYS after his exposure.
I won't show you his arms, necks or his blistering nose.

By the time he came home on Sunday, he had swelled up, was running a fever.  I slathered him in Aloe Gel, gave him some painkillers and sent him to bed.  He slept 15 hours straight.
I kept him home from school until he could stand to have clothing on the affected areas again. I was just waiting for someone at the school to call and insist he come in, so I could tell them fine, but he can only wear underwear at this point!

He is finally feeling better, though the puss filled blisters haven't hit yet and THAT will freak him out.

When he came in the door and I saw him on Sunday morning I kept calm and asked if he had been putting sunscreen on during the day.
He said he had but he is a teenage boy so I'm sure he wasn't diligent or regular with applying it.
I know my kid....

Then he said something that made my head explode......

He said that he didn't have any place to get out of the sun and into the shade.

Each group who entered this thing got a tent(or tents).  Tent meaning one of those sun shade tents/awning things.
That's all great but you see, there was NOT enough room under the tents to get everyone out of the sun.
And certain people(adults)brought chairs and parked under the tents and took up all the space.
Meaning certain other people(kids)had no room to get under the tent and out of the sun.

Now isn't that just lovely!?!?
Thank you inconsiderate boobs!

And I want to know what NIMROD running this CrapFest had the bright idea to NOT provide enough shelter for EVERYONE there to get out of the sun?!?!

Is it not ironic that my kid spent a day raising money for BREAST CANCER and in the process also raised the likelihood that he'll wind up with SKIN CANCER!

Now isn't that just lovely?

And here is my message for this CrapFest's organizer......

Sluggy

The Week That Flew By/Dragged On

The one where I fill y'all in on what's been going on around Chez Sluggy lately.....

On the evening of May 10th, #1 Son and his Girlfriend arrived, after driving the full length +  of Pennsyltucky from college.  Finals were over and it was good to see them.
The next morning the 3 of us piled into my minivan to drive 200+ miles back across Pennsyltucky to retrieve my Daughter from her school.

I sat in the car while the 3 of them piled stuff into carts and bags and hauled it down to me so I could strategically pack the van.

Notice Daughter taking her sweet time sashaying back to the dorm to help below.....

And look who got the job of pushing the cart full of her crap up the hill(her brother) and who got the job of carrying 6 garbage bags at once like a pack mule(her brother's girlfriend), while Daughter just carried her guitar.

They informed me later that Daughter just stood around and "directed" up in the room while they bagged(she hadn't even prepared anything beforehand to move it!)and carted her belongings.  They ended up making 2 trips filling that cart!

It's a good thing they came because if she had pulled this on me alone, she'd still be sitting her ass in that dorm today!
And never did a "thank you" escape her lips.....

We wedged in all the crap because what we brought last Fall had fit in the same van with PLENTY of room to spare, had expanded and had had babies while in the dorm.  And she now possessed a "few" "vital" things she had bought while living at school....like dishware and silverware.....and a mattress pad.......and a blow up naked afro american girl doll(don't ask!)......just important stuff like that.
And then she had taken back to school in January when her father drove her back a floor lamp and 2 chairs.
And I was suppose to fit all that into my van along with 4 people?!?

So we get home Friday evening and yes, we made HER unpack it all!
And my house is once again bursting at the seams with her junk.....

And while this was all going on, Hubs was off in Washington DC having a grand old time at a work conference.  He's staying in a Hilton, eating hoity toity restaurant food and I'm refereeing the 3 kids + girlfriend, none of whom want to be here and dealing with the others.

Hubs gets back Saturday morning, sleep deprived so he sleeps through most of that day.

Sunday was Mother's Day.  I got some flowers....

 And among the cards I received was this one, from the Daughter.....

This is a FAMILY JOKE.
So now, I get one of this kind of card every year.....or a Giant Novelty Card.

Monday afternoon Daughter went out to find a job since she is going to live here next year while she
attends the community college.
She came home a couple hours later with a job in hand, landed at the first place she applied!
I find it interesting that my nephew(who graduates from high school next month)claims to have been applying for lots and lots of jobs over the past few months and has had no callbacks or offers.
Hmmmmm......

Wednesday evening of last week #2 Son had his French National Honor Society ceremony.  This is his second year making it.
You need 6 consecutive quarters with an A average in French to qualify, so you can't even be considered until your 2nd year taking high school level French.  This is his 3rd year in the subject though he is only a Sophomore.  There is an accelerated language program in this school district in which certain middle school students can take either math or language high school level courses 1 year early with permission.  (This can only be done because the middle school and high school are in the same building so there is no additional cost to transport them from one location to another for the classes.)

So #2 Son lit the candle and got his 2nd year pin while his siblings and the girlfriend were forced to watch.  Payback for all those times he was forced to watch them at ceremonies, in concerts or on teams.lol

#1 Son and the Girlfriend stayed until Thursday morning, May 17th.  Mostly #1 was dealing with appointments and getting business things done and seeing some friends and taking Girlfriend out, along with doing some clothes shopping.  He needed to be back on the other side of the state to start his summer job the following week(this week).
He is getting an apartment this coming school year so we talked about how much money he has left in his college fund, the apartment he wants to apply for, the lease(since we have to cosign it), etc.

#1 Son turns 21 in July.  He has already invited me to come over and stay at his apartment and come drinking with him anytime I feel like getting away from the dogs, his dad and his siblings.
I might just have to take him up on that...... ;-)

We also had some really nice weather last week!
The Rhododendron bloomed.....

Of course, that also meant all the weeds in my flower and garden beds and around the trees and next to the front porch were growing like.....well.....WEEDS!lol

And hardly anyone here, between back backs, other medical issues and allergies, was in any condition to tame the mess in the yard.  So it's coming up on Memorial Day Weekend, and my flower/garden beds are laying fallow, with no hope of things changing in sight.  So many yard projects to do and nobody to help.  I can't even get #2 Son interested in doing anything for money.  bleh.

I bought this recently on eBay.......

 I had hopes of watching it with my history major #1 Son last week.  But there are 2 things his girlfriend doesn't like evidently-politics and history documentaries-so this was a no go.
So I'll rewatch it in August when #1 comes home again without the girlfriend.

We are big history buffs and we enjoy a good political discussion in this family.  I hope the girlfriend knows what she is in for......lol

Last week I did something to my shoulder AGAIN to make the bursitis flare up.
Ugh.  So I started taking Percocet to ease the pain.  It helped the pain but it depressed my breathing so that I couldn't catch my breath if I walked around.  And I couldn't sleep at night because my breathing was so shallow it woke me up if I dozed off.
So it was be pain-free and sleep deprived and panicky or feeling the hurt but breathing and trying to sleep through the pain.
I chose to breathe......yah, I am crazy that way.....

To add to my joy the hot weather arrived like gangbusters!  And between all this other health stuff the humidity made my legs and my one foot start swelling.  It got so bad I thought my breathing and legs indicated I had thrown a blood clot into my lung.  Luckily it hadn't but that was one scary thought! 8-(

Between dinners out, lunch out with #1 Son and Girlfriend, making large and more expensive meals at home, taking #1 Son shopping for some apartment needs, and sending others to the grocery store when I couldn't, and paying for gas and meals for 2 trips across the state, it's been an expensive week+ around here.
 
So that dear readers is the short version of what I've been up to  and why I haven't been blogging much.

I can't believe that this coming weekend starts Memorial Day stuff and #2 Son finishes school 16 days from now and leaves for camp a week after that!

Maybe I'll just go hide under the bed covers for awhile....

Sluggy