My Firstborn Declutters

While Firstborn child was home last week, he went through the closet of the spare room where all the detritus of his life is stored.
"Like mother, like son" I know you are thinking.
But Oh!....you would be wrong.

You know what detritus is, don't you?.....all the stuff your kid leaves behind when he/she moves out for good.
Every parent who has grown kids  has a house full of this at some point in the life cycle.  Depending on your kid, the amount and how long it sits in your house can vary greatly.

Firstborn did a great job with this decluttering and now only has a couple of articles of clothing, a couple of framed things from wrestling and high school and 2 boxes of "mementoes" stored in that closet.  He emptied the dresser and left a huge box of books and movies to take to Salvation Army or pitch.  I checked on Amazon about listing some of these things and selling back the textbooks to them.  The textbooks are not current editions so worthless basically and I'll be throwing those out(or using them for fire starters out back in the camp fire ring).  I know.....I am committing a sacrilege burning books.....lol

Only 3 items were worth the time/effort to list on Amazon so I've done that and the rest I'll send off to SA(a few I'll read first however).

Firstborn also left a bag of "garbage" in the spare room for us to add to our supply on Garbage Night.
But first, I went through the "garbage".
I did that because Firstborn has a penchant for throwing out perfectly useful and good items.......grrrrr

Of the items we found in that bag of "garbage" were.....
* 2 partial rolls of duct tape(Hubs about had a hissy fit over this! lol)
* a pair of hiking boot leather shoelaces still in the packaging
* an armband for a Zune mp3 player(hey, somebody else can use this)
* a Birthday badge for a 21 yr. old(with a spinner to see what you should buy them to drink at the bar)
* a brand new t-shirt I had bought him for Christmas with the tags still on it!

There were a few other things he deemed "garbage" too.....

 

A set of keys.  One key was from the totaled Toyota but I emailed  him to check on the other keys and they are safe to throw out.
With his mindset of throwing out perfectly good stuff, I thought I'd better ask...

A gargoyle and a bobblehead bassett hound figurine.  These were birthday gifts at some point and are acceptable to send to SA.

The Lord of the Rings Hallmark ornament(unused and still in the box!)was a gift again from me at Christmas.  I have an entire cardboard box of Xmas ornaments I have collected for each of my children tucked away for when they set up their own households.  Makes me rethink collecting these ornies for them when I see him toss one away like this.
My firstborn doesn't seem to have one sentimental bone in his body.
More's the pity....

And then I came across this......

Obviously a handmade/handpainted gift one of his friends made for him.  Now tell me, how could one just trash something like this with such a heartfelt, personal sentiment on it??  ;-)

Thanks to Firstborn's efforts, I am one baby step closer now to getting this house cleared out.
I think I am going to need a shovel & a roll off container though when it comes time to get the youngest child's crap outta here!

Sluggy

The Boring Blog Giveaway WEEK 4....Last Week to Enter!

It's Summer.  Things slow down this time of year in the Bloggiverse.
I think it's time for a return of.........

Sluggy's BORING BLOG BOX GIVEAWAY!

 

Here's how it works if you are new here.......

 

I put things in the box(mostly what I have gotten for free or almost free)each week and when the box is filled we draw a winner from all the entries received.

Here is what went into the Box today.....stuff for the girly girls......

 

 

 

1.  2 x  NYC Lip Stain

2.  2 x Magnetix Nail Poish
3.  1 x Maybelline Mascara

 

THE BOX IS NOW FULL!  THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO ENTER.

 

Let's recap everything in this box, shall we?

 

 If this is your first time, please go read all the rules for these Giveaways HERE.  *As always, if you are located outside the US, you CAN enter and win but weight restrictions/shipping costs may mean your prize box will contain less items.*

***Time to enter.....You can enter on this Giveaway post ONLY until I close the giveaway on July 15, Monday at 11:59pm.  This gives y'all just under 1 week to get all those last minute entries in.  Somebody is going to win this box of goodies and the entries are fairly low at this point in time so get your bad self in on this!

1 entry per person per day on THIS POST.
Leave your name/email addy and a COMMENT on this post.  

This week I want to hear about your garden(if you have one)and what you are planning on cooking/making with all the produce you are growing.  If you don't have a garden, tell me about your trips to the farmer's market or trips to actual farms to get produce or your CSA box.  What veggies are you loving now and what can't you wait to get later in the Season?

 

Personally, I can't wait until the local homegrown maters come in.  WoooBoy! Mmmmmm......

We'll be subsisting on sandwiches and salads when those babies start ripening!!! 8-))

 

You can come directly to this blog post or find it through the link on the right side bar to leave 1 comment per day.  The current Giveaway Post will be linked right at the top of the side bar.

Please NOTE--You MUST be a follower to enter the Giveaway.  If you aren't one, just click on the "Follow" button on the right hand side of my blog to become a follower.

There are 2 ways to get 2 EXTRA entries on this and each new Giveaway Post.......

1. Put my blog on your blog's Blogroll.  Leave an extra comment for this entry on THIS POST with the URL of your blog so I can go check it out. **If I'm already on your Blogroll, say so in an extra entry comment once each week of this giveaway.

2.  Blog about this Giveaway on your blog with a link to this post.  Leave an extra comment for this entry on THIS POST with a link to your blog post so I can go view it.  You can do this extra entry once each week of this giveaway.

 

These giveaways run about 4 weeks, depending on how often I get a blog post done.  The winner will be drawn from all valid entries received before the closing date of the giveaway.


 Any questions?  Just email me.

Happy Entering!! 

Sluggy

The Firstborn Comes Home for a Visit

We had a nice visit from our oldest son last week.
If not a too short visit.

I remembered this time to give him his important papers and his savings bonds.

On Wednesday we had planned to have a day together where we would visit the National "War of Northern Aggression" Museum in Harrisburg and then drop in on my blogger buddy MARK for a little visit and a box of wine.

But oldest wanted to see his friends from high school and Wednesday was the only day 2 of them were available last week so we didn't get to fit that trip in.   Sigh

On Thursday we had family over and the weather cooperated long enough to have a 4th of July Cook-out.

I didn't go wild on the amount of food, so we just grilled corn, dogs and burgers.  I had canned beans for those who could have them too.
And this puppy stood sentinel duty under the table waiting to capture any fallen morsels of goodness.....

And for dessert I served an Entenmann cake(that cost me $1 at the bakery outlet)and this....

 Fresh fruit salad with cantaloupe, strawberries, blueberries and bananas.

And watermelon for us Southern gals.

My buddy,  Sonya Ann, has a good idea for those watermelon leftovers today HERE.
Not that I have EVER heard of such a thing as leftover watermelon personally......lol

On Friday Hubs and Oldest had a day out together. 
Here they are before the start of their adventure....

They went to Pottsville and took the Yuengling Brewery Tour.
It was a MADHOUSE from what they told me!  The tour gal said she had never seen so many people as they had hosted that day for the tour in the 5 years she has been working there.
Wall to wall people in an un-air conditioned building in high heat for HOURS!
I am so glad they decided to leave me home.....

That evening we took Oldest out to his choice of restaurants for his birthday--Red Robin.  It's a fancy pants burger joint with overpriced hunks of hamburger.

It use to be pretty good but the prices over the last 6 years have risen so high there and the quality has taken a bit of a nosedive such that I don't really enjoy going there anymore.

And on this visit the wait staff screwed things up such that it was NOT a good experience.  And that's all I'm going to say unless someone really wants to hear me rant about it....lol

But Oldest is a member of their Birthday Club so he gets a free burger on his birthday and a free dinky little sundae.

And I MADE the wait staff sing to him.  What better way to top of your firstborn's birthday than by embarrassing him.....please notice the red cheeks......lol......

So after that he gave me his patented "unpleasant" face.....

He was only funnin' me, here's a normal face....who can stay mad at their mommy when you are full of burger, fries and ice cream.....

We hadn't been to Red Robin in awhile so I was surprised to find this on the table.....

A "Ziosk".
You can order appetizers, bar drink refills, play games or music and pay your check right from your table.

This new "innovation" doesn't thrill me.

First, it's yet another "thing" cluttering up your dining table.  They already have all kinds of crap on the table when you sit down so there is barely enough room once your food and drinks come.
Plus the screen scrolls continuously and if it's in your field of vision, it's VERY annoying while you are trying to sit and converse with your dining companions.

I had to have Hubs turn it around so the screen was facing away from me it was so distracting.

While the games features could keep a bored child occupied, they cost money. 
And in my humble opinion as the mother of 3 almost grown kids, if your kid isn't adequately amused by the fact of being able to go out someplace to eat, he/she is either too young to be there or hasn't been trained well enough to behave themselves or you obviously take them out and spend money on them too TOO often. ;-)

The music feature.....let's talk about that for a bit.  It also costs money to use and it's limited to the songs in the RR muzak system...which you can't even hear half the time anyway because of the noise of the guests AND the volume settings of the 100 television sets, positioned overhead throughout the restaurant, all set to different stations.  It's just ridiculous!

And then there is the fact that this "Ziosk" takes the place of wait person for some of their functions. 
You can order appetizers and bar drink refills without having to wait for your wait person and if you don't want to have to wait to flag down your person to pay, you can use a c/c on this machine for a quick getaway.  While these functions could be a plus to your dining experience(especially if the restaurant doesn't have adequate wait staff or they are extremely busy), it also takes away from the human contact that is part of dining out.  And since you don't feel as connected to your wait person, you as a paying customer might be tempted to not tip or reduce your tip, seeing as you are doing some of the wait person's job yourself.
Anyway, I give the old "Ziosk" a big thumbs down....

Oldest left on Saturday morning and we were sad to see him go.
He had to get back as he is still trying to find a job plus a place to live in Pittsburgh by the Fall, when the GF has to start classes there.  It's a rough time for these newly minted college graduates to be looking for well paying work.

We spent a bit of time in the pool the rest of the Holiday weekend as the temperatures remained high and the rains held off for the most part and the air conditioning system wasn't being installed until Monday.

So how did y'all spend your 4th of July weekend?

Sluggy

Well I'll Be....

The more I dig into my family's past the stranger my reality becomes.
Take this for instance......

It seems the genealogical discoveries are coming fast and furiously for me this Summer.
I just found out this is my 7th cousin 1x removed....

And the Bush twins are my 8th cousins.
Yah I have to break the news to my 22 yr. old son that he's related to Jenna and Barbara......

One is still available and he isn't so closely related that he can't date her, right? ;-)


And to top it all off, this guy is also my 7th cousin.....

Yah....not so thrilled with that one.....lol

So what do y'all think?  Should I ring up cousin John and Laura and see if they want to hang out with me?
Do you think they'd come over my place for a cook-out this Summer?

I bet I could get John out of a suit and into a Hawaiian shirt and some Bermuda shorts.
Come on cuz....loosen up!

Let's hope Laura brings George too.....now I hear he's the life of a party....well, not so much anymore.....

Sluggy

This Week on The Dining Table

 Let's get to it.....

 

Here's what was planned last week--

Sunday--Beef Stroganoff over Rice, Salad
Monday--Chinese takeout as Hubs is out of town(comes out of entertainment budget, not food)
Tuesday--Chicken Enchiladas(using pepper strips and chicken from freezer)
Wednesday--Not sure, 2 of us might be out of town for the day..Hubs will make pasta or have leftovers.....if we don't go, Quiche(using up half & half)most probably will be served and squash.
Thursday--Cook-Out(if the weather cooperates)-not sure what yet beyond dogs and burgers.
Friday--Red Robin(#1 Son's birthday meal he requested)(entertainment budget, not food)
Saturday--Beef Stroganoff over Rice of Chicken Enchiladas leftovers, Brussel Sprouts

 

Everything was served as planned except for Wednesday #1 Son and I didn't have an adventure so I made Squash Casserole and Quiche(which was the backup plan).

 

It was a big spend grocery week here.  I spent $91.67 on $160.52 worth of groceries at 3 stores last week.  

This means I have $308.33 left in my food budget for the rest of July.

 

Going into this week the leftovers that remain are--2/3 of a quiche, at least 2 servings of Stroganoff, 1 Enchilada, half a crockpot of chili, hot dog and burger rolls, chicken breast(I didn't use all of it to make the Enchiladas last week)and some boxes of previously frozen veggies(had to be put in the fridge when the freezer died, so they need to be used this week).

 

(I've made bold the leftover items I've used in the menu below.)

 Here's this week's meal plan--
 

Sunday--Leftovers(Quiche or Enchiladas)
Monday--Hot Dogs(on leftover buns)w/Chili or Burritos w/Chili
Tuesday--Chicken Salad Sandwiches, boxed veggie
Wednesday--Eating out after taking #2 to camp
Thursday--Mushroom Parmesan, Salad
Friday--Probably more leftovers
Saturday--Salmon, Coleslaw, boxed veggie

I don't have room in the freezer to throw any leftovers so we have to use them up this week, so the order of what's eaten when may change(except for Wed.'s meal) or some dish made new this week may be superseded by a leftover.

On the shopping list so far--Portabella Mushroom caps, Salad Greens, Cabbage(for coleslaw), potatoes, peaches, orange juice, turkey breast lunchmeat, tomatoes, maybe bread.  I might also pick up some canned tomatoes this week as they are on sale for $1 can.  Canned tomatoes, potatoes and OJ not needed this week but at a stock up price.

 

I'm figuring about $38 with the canned tomatoes for groceries this week.

That's 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