The Past Weekend and Coming Attractions....Boring of Course!

I was all productive last weekend.....well, productive for me! 8-)

Hubs was in the midst of getting the pool ready for the season and had some patching to do on the liner.  The bear of the job though was repairing the rusted holes in the steel skin, the outer metal part of the pool.  Fixing these areas required him to remove the top supports/the edges on the pool and peel back the plastic liner to get behind the skin.
Everything was good until it came time to attach the liner back into the channeled rigid rimmy parts(technical term)so the liner didn't fall off the metal enclosure which is your pool.
So Sluggy, the mechanical, logical genius to the rescue to reconstruct how he had taken the whole shebang apart and put it back together again.....much like all the King's horse and men attempted to do with Humpty Dumpty after his plummet off a wall.
But unlike Humpty's friends, I was successful. ;-)
Oh and Hubs helped too......lol

We got the garden bed planted and I got the salad green gutters done earlier in the week.  I just hope the gutters are more successful this year, since all I grew last year was a crop of bumpkiss!  I also planted some old seeds I had here in the oak barrels in the backyard.  I didn't buy any new seeds this year and just used up what I had leftover from the previous years.  I won't be surprised if nothing actually comes up. lol

We got the front bed mulched.....ignore that square brick sitting in front.  It was there as a boundary marker for the mulch.  We still need to put some kind of a border up.

I got my little garden bed "doo-dads" put in as well.  Little snail items(I AM Slugmama after all....hello!  lol)
The snail stepping stone didn't come off very well in the shot....

 

This week, since #2 Son is finished with school until August and has time to help out around here, we'll be working on the back/side flower bed.
It needs serious work!!!  We don't call that area the jungle for nothing. ;-)

On a sad note, we discovered my little lemon magnolia tree died.  This was the tree Hubs bought me for Mother's Day 3 years ago(?).   Last year it took a turn for the worse after we experienced some rather wacky weather patterns and this past winter must have been too rough for it and it gave up the tree ghost.  We went to prune it back to try to save it this weekend and the trunk nearly snapped right off at the base.  It's that little stump in the upper center of the yard.....

This gives credence to the legend that I can't keep anything alive.....
R.I.P. little tree.
I'll have #2 Son dig up the stump this week and we can level and sow some grass seed there.

I also did a slew of baking/cooking this past weekend.....I made a coffee cake, a dozen muffins, a pan of brownies and a big bowl of macaroni salad.  If I was running the oven, why not get a lot of things cooked, right?
Sorry, I forgot to take pictures and most of it is gone thanks to #2 Son.
I did some of this in prep for a visit from Udy with a "J".  She was suppose to drop by on her way to family(either on the way or coming back from)sometime during the weekend.  I also had some adult beverages chilled waiting for her arrival, but alas, she never arrived.
Sluggy makes a sad face......

I guess warning her about the nasty dirty house was just too much for her delicate constitution.
Either that or she thought I'd hand her a broom and some cleaning products and put her to work.... ;-)

So I did some work in the garage in my free time this past weekend too.  Hubs inflated an air mattress we had out there(a leaving from the Daughter)to see if it would stay inflated.  It did so it's gotten a big dose of Lysol and will be deflated and stored in it's case and we can pick out the expensive air mattress with the built in electric inflator that we paid good money for put never held air enough to get a body through the night without pitching them on the floor at 3 am.
One more thing I can say goodbye too in this house....yay me!

Then I cleaned out the old freezer to get it ready for being picked up by the recycling company which is coming next week.  That will be another big item out of the garage and my life......go me again!!

This week I need to get all these boxes of cans/bottles/etc. of food I can't eat out of the living room to freecycle.  I was keeping them around to see if Judy wanted some of it when she came but I just have to get it gone now.
It's blocking my mental energy, ya know?

I am off in a little while for another dr. appointment.  This one is with my new primary doctor, my FIRST appointment with him.  He has officially been my primary for over 2 Months now and I have yet to see him, though I've had appts. with just about every other dr. in the area during this time. 8-P

So what's up with you in the next few days?
Did you do anything exciting over the weekend??


Sluggy

 

You Know You Are Getting Old....

.....When more and more the hit Musicals on Broadway are shows that you remember being brand new on the stage when you were young.

Sunday night's Tony Winner for Revival of a Musical is one such example for me.

PIPPIN

It debuted on Broadway in October of 1972 and ran until June of 1977, meaning it ran the entirety of my teenage years and closed the month I graduated high school.
I bought the album sometime in 1973 when I was 14 years old.

Though I was never in a production of it, I bought the original cast album(remember those....albums?)the day it hit the record store shelves and I about wore it out singing along and memorizing numbers to use as audition pieces.

On Sunday, Pippin also received 3 individual awards for acting to Patina Miller(the Leading Player role) and Andrea Martin(Grandma Bertha)and the Direction of a Musical statuette went to Diane Paulus.
Bravo ladies.....

I so wish I had seen the Great  Irene Ryan in the Berthe role(Irene Ryan =Granny on the Beverly Hillbillies).
Here's a clip of one of Granny's replacements in the video production done in 1981.   A Classic comedienne of the 1940's, Martha Raye took her turn at the role.
She's ok but I picture Granny as better.
It's kind of long this clip so I don't blame you if you don't watch it all.....




Here's the incomparable Ben Vereen as the Leading Player(he was the originator of the role) from that film made of the show in 1981. 
I content that when he was at the top of his game, few interpreted Bob Fosse's dance vision better.
Take a look.   The dance number begins at 3:58....



Now watch this clip from Letterman's show of part of that dance number with the current cast members(it's at the beginning of the clip).  They go on to do another number, but watch the first number of the original Fosse moves.



I know that with Revivals of shows it's a balancing act between recreating the original numbers and the "look" of the show, with a new, fresh interpretation. 
With a revival coming so many years after the original production(40 years!), more people seeing it will have little if any recollection of the original production(unless they are OLD enough to remember the original version). 

For the record, I don't care for this production as much as the original version.
Some of it is more appropriate in a production of "Carnival" than "Pippin".
Yes, it's a slicker more polished version(with modern cirque du soleil type circus acts, instead of a blend of medieval morality plays and commedia dell'arte type moves and characters)of the show.
And you have to agree film technology has certainly come a long way since the early '80's!
Granted the revivals clips aren't filmed on the regular stage the show is presented on, but still....
I guess it's a no brainer to model it on a Cirque show......they sell out and run forever everywhere they play.  They sell tickets and put butts in the seats so why not steal that formula for the Pippin revival.

But it's lost it's dark, seedy and sinister foreboding undertones that the original production had for the sake of keeping audiences....current younger theater goers with shorter attention spans who need flashy and sparkle and can't focus on something for any amount of time without checking their smartphones or something.
The revival has got too much Shinola and not enough shit as it were. ;-)


And here's the opening number from the 1981 film with Ben Vereen.  Near the end of it notice the actress in the mask who says a very sarcastic, "Fantastic".  That's the legend Chita Rivera.





And from the new production,  a clip from Sunday night's Tony Awards show, a montage of numbers from Pippin.





Sluggy

This Week On the Dining Table

I am right on schedule with this post this week....will wonders never cease?!

 

Here's what was planned last week--

Sunday--Hot Dogs, leftover beans, corn and 'new pickles'
Monday--Fend for Yourself night as Hubs was late from an out-of-town meeting
Tuesday--Chicken Fajitas
Wednesday--Chicken Parm, Sumer Squash Casserole
Thursday--Tacos
Friday--Fajitas Redux
Saturday--WTHK---> Who The Heck Knows!

 

We stuck to the list fairly well though not on the days I had planned.  I got Chinese take-out on Thurs. so we didn't do the Tacos, and Hubs wasn't up to a big meal the last 2 days so it was leftover Fajitas for moi only.

I spent $46.02 on $73.93 worth of groceries last week.  Mostly on produce, eggs and crabmeat.


Here's this week's meal plan--
Sunday--Grilled Pork Chop, Summer Squash Sauté, Macaroni Salad
Monday--Tacos, Corn
Tuesday--Ravioli, Salad, Garlic Bread
Wednesday--Sloppy Joes on Buns, Brussel Sprouts
Thursday--Quiche, Salad
Friday--No Clue
Saturday--No Clue

#2 Son is home for dinner 3 nights this week so I asked him for 2 dinner suggestions.  He said he'd eat Tacos(of course!lol), Ravioli and Quiche and I should make other things the nights he's working.
Thus he avoided giving me 2 dinner suggestions....the boy is a genius I tell ya! ;-)

So I am taking suggestions from my readers for what to serve 2 nights this week.  Something for 2 people, that is low sodium but tasty and hopefully I have most of the ingredients to make already here.
A bonus if one meal uses the Fajitas filling(chicken, peppers, onions and mushrooms)I have leftover.
Good luck! 8-))

On the shopping list so far--

fruit, orange juice, produce, salad greens, turkey breast meat, cheese, half and half and "junk" for Noah(ramen noodles, hash browns, burritos, etc.)

So that's where the food money stands now and what's appearing on the kitchen table this week here at Chez Sluggy.
What's getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy

The "A" Triple Play

Well I have known for awhile that on my mother's side of things, I come from a line of French Huguenots who fled France around 1572.

But I never for the life of me thought I'd find a Huguenot connection on my father's side of the things....the Catholic side of things......and in, of all places Ireland!

I have a double dose of French blood it seems.....
Sacré  bleu!

And not only does this line make me a distant cousin of a known(or should that be infamous?)French Revolutionary & Anarchist in recent generations.

 

VIVE LA RÉVOLUTION!

 

 

 

It also seems I come by my dramatic nature honestly, as this same line contains quite a few Irish "Scenery Chewers" aka "Stage Hams" aka Actors.

And to top things off, I appear to have a rather large contingency of relations in......
Australia!

Actors, Anarchists and Aussies......

Sometimes fact is stranger than fiction.

Sluggy

$20K Savings Challenge......May Update

In our family we save money. It is important to us to put money aside for "rainy days".  You know.....those unexpected days when things happen in your life that you can't plan on, but that DO happen and they cost you money you didn't know you'd need to pay out.

Our income is mainly the salary my Hubs draws from his job.  We have money taken off each paycheck from the top to put into savings, before we even get our hands on it.  This money that's taken goes into various pots....life insurance, investments and retirement savings.  It's automatic so we are never tempted to NOT put it into savings.
Once the automatic savings, plus taxes and medical/dental/vision payments are taken out, it leaves what we get to "live on".  From this amount we budget for bills, both monthly and irregular bills(semi-annual, etc.) and our variable bills(like food, eating out, etc.)  Anything left over once our monthly expenses are paid, I put aside into a Savings Challenge. 

For 2013 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am going to keep the Goal amount at $20,000 again this year.

On to the May report.....

I have posted my May End of Month $20K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $1,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up May in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of May with?.......$3,129.06
This was only possible due to the 3 paycheck month in May, as we had a rather large hospital bill co-pay due this month.

Income
We had $3045.02 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted. 

Add in a per diem expense reimbursement check and interest gives us another $84.04.  This brought our gain to $3129.06 for May.

Outgo

As for the expenses this May, here are the good and the bad side of things....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

 

*  The water bill was within a dollar of being the same as last month.
*  The credit card bill was $900 less.
*  There were no semi annual or quarterly  bills to pay.

*  The electric bill was almost $100 less.
*  The prescriptions were about $67 less than April.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

 

*  The dr./hospital bills(co-pays/deductibles) were $1500 more than in April.

*  The cash withdrawals were $280 more(mostly because of graduation).

*  We had a $346 vet bill(their annual visits + meds).
*  The food bill was about $100 more than budgeted food(and $65 more than last month).

The Food Budget costs for May are in another post, which is located HERE.

We overshot the food budget by $100.55 last month.

The 2013 TOTAL so far.....
With 5 month behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2013 stands at $11,726.84.  Only $8,273.16 left to save and 7 months left to accomplish this.

That comes out to $1,181.80 per month for the next 7 months to reach the goal.

Looking ahead for June......

*  Still waiting for the other medical shoe to drop(ie--medical bills from tests and procedures to slowly drip into my mailbox).  I foresee more medical spending on co-pays and deductibles this month.
 

*  Hubs is repairing and opening the pool for the year, which means a sky-high water bill in June.

*  The only non-normal bill from last June was extra cash spending for a short vacation to Ohio, which isn't happening this June.
 

So how was your May financially?
 

Did you put ordinary living expenses on a credit card last month and not pay it off in full when due?
Did you spend less than the income you had in May?
Did you received any "extra" or unexpected money in May like a tax refund or bonus at work,
and what did you do with those funds?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
Did you pay off any debt or put extra toward your mortgage principle?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out your progress too and celebrate with you!

Sluggy