Well It's Over.......Yah!

* WARNING*
This post contains talk about a medical procedure and the subject of poop.  If this is offensive to you, please stop reading now and move on. 
Thank you-The Managment

I survived my colonoscopy.
Or rather.....I survived my colonoscopy Prep.....oh, and the procedure too. lol

After a fitful night's sleep, where I only got about 4 hours of shut eye, I was up bright and early at 7:30am Friday so I could drink my second bottle of PowerAde with a full week's worth of laxative in it.

This hour wasn't nearly as bad as the first bottle at 6pm on Thursday evening which also had 7 days worth of Miralax in it.
By 6:30pm, when I was halfway through the first bottle of deliciousness on Thursday, things started gurgling and happening in my nether region.
Let's just say a combination of FOUR ducolax(which I was required to swallow at 3pm that afternoon), and 7 day's worth of Miralax at 6pm in a PowerAde solution gave rise to an Assplosion.

Yes, if you used the term "explosive diarrhea" here, you wouldn't be too far off........

It was NOT pretty y'all and y'all would have been correct to look at me with sorrow in your eyes and exclaim, "Well, bless her heart". ;-)

The rest of the evening involved much time in the "small room" sitting on my throne.
By comparison, Friday morning's bottle of fun was a piece. of. cake.

Mmmmm.......cake.
Poor choice of words for someone who hasn't eaten since Wednesday evening......

I was worried because the literature they had me read about this procedure mentioned that if you weren't "cleaned out enough" for it, and the doctor couldn't see your innards well enough, then you'd have to go through this again in the near future.
I so didn't want to have to experience this thrill again anytime soon, but I figured since it's me.....who has to do everything the hard way.....my prep wouldn't be adequate so the doc could get the job done the first time!
Especially since I was still, how shall we phrase this?......"leaking" all the way to the hospital.
!!!
I carried a Ziploc bag with 2, count 'em 2, pairs of fresh underwear with me, plus a couple of feminine pads(things I haven't needed to use for years now!), because I just knew I'd cough or stand up too fast or something and would soil myself.

But my fears didn't come to fruition thankfully.
The nurses and doctors were professional and prompt and it was one of the better medical interventions/experiences of my life.



Oh, and the drugs were awesome.......

I don't remember a thing but I came out of sedation quickly, while I was still in the operating room actually.  No dizziness(other than my usual hehehe)and no grogginess.
But I sure looked like hell......but nothing new there.....lol



Sluggy giving the thumbs up sign....notice my fancy jewelry bracelets......they might not be purty but they sure is expensive!

 

And after the doctor said everything looked good and I didn't have to come back for another 5 years....

Damn, I need to tough up my roots again.
And yes, I am that crazy woman who brings a camera to a colonoscopy and takes photos of herself.  8-)

So everything went well as can be expected and Hubs took me to a Chinese Buffet for a late lunch/early dinner afterwards.  I haven't been to a buffet restaurant since Christmas of 2012 actually as that sort of eating situation and that sort of food is basically off my L/S diet.
But this was a special occasion.
Thankfully I didn't pull a Homer Simpson and restrained myself.
 

But goodness!
I had two whole plates of food and I don't think I'll need to eat again for a couple of days.....
Well, maybe until lunch on Saturday. lolol

And I had a nice long nap when I got home so now I'll be up until the wee hours of the morning again.....sigh.

So if you are of a "certain age" and you've been putting this off, just go. do. it.
It's not as bad as you've built it up to be in your mind, once you get past the prep stuff.

And they have really awesome drugs........

Sluggy

JULY 2013 Budget Results.....Food & Toiletries Spending

 

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JULY 2013.

I have posted July's totals on the right side bar under Total Grocery Savings for 2013 and updated the Yearly Totals.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in July.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Summary.

My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 5(3-4+ at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 17.
******************

BIG LOTS
OOP  $16.72
Value  $28.63
Savings  41.60%

BREAD OUTLET
OOP  $10.00
Value  $33.43
Savings  70.08%

MAINE SOURCE(restaurant supply)

OOP  $35.20

Value  $61.22

Savings  26.02 %

PRODUCE STAND
OOP  $10.00
Value  $12.00
Savings  16.66%
 

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $72.48

Qs/Ads  $42.51

Value  $114.99

Savings  36.96%

SURPLUS OUTLET
OOP  $66.72
Value  $133.62
Savings  50.07%

WEGMAN'S
OOP  $46.47
Qs/Ads  $19.40
Value  $65.87
Savings  29.45%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $100.27

Qs/Ads  $75.06

Value  $175.33

Savings  42.81%

I am no longer adding my rebates received into my food budget directly. I will use them on food on occasion and will note that when used.  I will keep track of rebates/gift cards/certs received here as before however.

REBATE CHECKS RECEIVED IN July.....$35.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES....$0

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$35.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES

Zero

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were the Bread Outlet 70.08%, Surplus Outlet at 50.07%, Weis at 42.81%.  I food/toiletries shopped at 8 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$357.86

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$267.23

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$625.09

TOTAL Savings of...................................42.75%

This closes out the July food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into July with $400 budgeted for food/toiletries for the month.  Ended the month $42.14 leftover.  It's a good thing I reconsidered lowering the food budget to $300 in July, huh?  Otherwise I would have been in the red.  ;-)

While I didn't stock up on any meats(other than some chicken)or frozen items, due to not having a big freezer at the moment(let's NOT get into all that again right now tho!lol), I did do some stocking up on shelf stable items like no salt ketchup, canned tomatoes, etc.

I did NO Rite-Aid shopping last month again.  We are still good on the whole range of toiletry items.
The garbage bag supply is dwindling so I did pick up a couple boxes of those in June at the Surplus Outlet as they were a good price.

 

Looking ahead to August---We are going to have company at the house, which will necessitate a little more food purchasing.  Then we have our road trip later this month which means about 10 days of eating will go onto the Entertainment/Vacation budget instead of the Food budget.  With all that in mind, I am going to reduce the Food budget to $300 for August and shift the last $100 of the $400 I usually spend into the Entertainment budget.  This will give us a little extra money cushion for the Road Trip of Summer 2013 and who doesn't want a little extra spending money on vacation? 8-))

 

And here is the run down of my Food & Toiletries Spending for 2013 so far--
 

2013 Total Saved $1,830.11

2013 Yearly Total Value of Items  $4,395.53

2013 Yearly Total Spent $2,565.42

2013 Yearly Savings Total of  41.63%

 

In July, total savings percentage for the year has gone UP .18% over June's total of 41.45%.  So we saw a slight increase in our savings rate on food/toiletries spending for the year.
We are holding steady in the 40%s.
Works for me! 8-)

 

How much did you spend on food in July?
 

Sluggy

The Last Day of July in Sluggyland

So here is how I ended July yesterday.

Besides buying my test prep supplies.....

I was reading the Miralax instructions on the bottle and it's 2 WEEKS worth of preparation.
And they want me to take the ENTIRE BOTTLE over the course of 13.5 hours?
No Wonder I'll be in the bathroom all night tonight....geez!

I bought my prep supplies at Dollar General because they had the lowest prices.....and I used $1 Q on both the Miralax and the Dulcolax.
But even so, that Miralax stuff was $9 for a big bottle!!!

Being majorly constipated is expensive it seems......

I hit the Bread Outlet since my last trip was nearly a month ago and we were on the last dregs of the last loaf of bread.  I also got donuts for $1 a box for a treat for Hubs.

I also bought this stuff.....

A new shower curtain for the main bathroom's tub(because company is coming!) and a couple of dvds and a coffee mug.
Yes, on July 31st I began my Christmas Shopping!

These are stocking stuffers for family.  Since 2 of my kids are now living away from home and I don't know if they will make it here for Christmas, I am trying to keep anything I buy them small, just in case it has to be mailed out.  I "heart" flat rate Priority mail boxes..... ;-)

And at least still having my Christmas/Winter tablecloth on the kitchen table where I photograph stuff(hey! Don't judge me) works for this bunch of things I bought. lol

Then I went over to Ollie's Bargain Outlet(Good Things Cheap!)to just look around.
And you know I can't go in there without finding something that has to come home with me......
That is where I picked up the dvds and coffee mug above.

I ended up buying some food items....mostly junk foods for #2 Son, as he requested a quantity of crap and we've been out for ages.
I've been real good about staying away from foods I shouldn't eat the last few months but I had a moment of weakness and bought a bag of hot dog flavored potato chips.

I went home later and made myself a big hamburger and ate some of those chips.
After about 3 chips I had to stop though as they were sooooo salty to me.
Good but so salty I couldn't STAND it!

The dreaded low salt diet strikes again....it has ruined salty snacks for me.....sigh.
But that's a good thing so maybe I won't crave them so much anymore when I remember this unpleasant experience.
Or I'll just start craving unsalted or lightly salted chips and crap....lol

I also just wandered around in Ollie's Bargain Outlet(Good Stuff Cheap!)and looked at the toys.

Ollie's use to be a great source for me for old toys to sell on eBay, back when I did that.  They get in their Christmas toy stock in August/September for the Holiday season and toys are everywhere in their stores come Fall.
I use to write down information on toys and go home and check eBay if they were at a price worth buying and reselling.
But I had my new camera with me so I just took some pictures of toys on the down low instead.

Model kits of historical guns.
Of course this is in the store, after all, this is Pennsylvania where we cling to our guns and religion. ;-)

Some cool jigsaw puzzles featuring the art of Don Roth.

Something I found that my Daughter would have loved.....if they had made it oh, 18 years ago.....
I use to have to read that book to her multiple times a day/night when she was little.   The words are still locked into my long term memory banks....
"....Goodnight comb, and goodnight brush, goodnight nobody, goodnight mush....."

 Hey!
How about more guns?!

I thought this trivia game was cool.  It's for adults and went for $50 suggested retail.  But it's not worth selling on eBay....
I might buy one though and bring it on my road trip in a couple of weeks anyway.

 

 More stuff not worth bothering with to resell.....

Yes, the last thing I need to do is get into buying stuff to resell on eBay again and I resisted.
Go me!

I did pick up a Birthday card for my Aunt.
I reconnected with her this week, when she returned my phone call I made to her last week.
My brother had gotten a call from her at Christmas time last and he gave me her phone number and address.  I had an address for her but turns out she hasn't lived at that place for years now, so whoever lives there now was not having my cards returned and just throwing them away, so I never knew my mail was NOT reaching her! ugh.

Well that's all in the past now and hopefully we can have some sort of relationship going forward, and I can get back in touch with my only cousins, whom I haven't seen since I was about 10 years old.
My Aunt will be 80 in just over a week from now.
I am thinking about putting a small package together to send to her for her birthday but I have no clue what she likes.  I don't know what foods she can eat and I don't know if she likes flowers either.

So if you had an 80 yr. old relative who you didn't know anything about to gift, what would you send?

Sluggy

 

Guess What I Am Doing Today?

I'll give you a big hint.
I ran some errands yesterday.

Look at what I bought......

If you are a woman or man "of a certain age" you KNOW what I am doing today!
It's become a "rite of passage" as it where at my age. lol

To all the rest of you out there who can't figure this out.....just wait until you turn 50 and get to join this exclusive club.......you'll find out.......

So besides that I'll probably be posting a lot today/tonight since I have to be near a bathroom and can't GO anywhere else...so to speak.  ;-)

Sluggy-not having a fun day

The Estimate Redux & Bamboo Floors

After thinking of these estimates and looking at everyone's comments.....thanks for those everyone, it's nice to get some other perspectives on this!......I have decided to just have the Handyman do Jobs 1, 3 & 5.

The sheetrock repair and spackle, install crown molding, fix/rehang the closet door, replace the garage trim, shutters and attic vents.

We'll get either Lowe's or the old handyman guy(if I can wait until Jan.)to do the living/dining room flooring and we'll do the painting of the living/dining room ourselves.

At some point, maybe during the winter, we'll contract to have the hallway upstairs and the stairwell/ceiling done then.  This is the painting I can't do because of location.  (This part of the painting isn't urgent and can wait until contractors are begging for the work in the bad weather, so we might get a break on the price then too.)


This brings out Grand Total estimate to $3,145 + however much of that $300 disposal of materials fee he is charging us for the debris generated by those 3 jobs.

The painting job will cost us whatever the paint/supplies will be.
And the flooring will run us approx. $700 because we already have 3 boxes from the last floor we had done....of course it won't "cost" $700 because I have about $300 in Home Improvement Store Gift Cards to redeem.  8-)

So after forking over $3,145(+$300)and $400 for the flooring, we'll owe Lowe's $1,650 OR the other Handyman approx. $ 800-$1K(I am guesstimating)for installing the flooring.
High end estimate now is under $7K for all with us doing most of the painting.

Almost $7K is MUCH BETTER than almost $10K.....
I'm liking that number a lot better! lol


Some of you commented/asked about bamboo flooring.
We had our master bedroom done in bamboo back in 2007 or so and then they did the upstairs hallway and stairs in the same materials.

Here's a photo from back in 2007.....

and here's a shot from Feb. 2012....pardon my junk....lol......

It still looks great.
Of course, we don't wear shoes upstairs in our house and the bedroom is not a high traffic room.

The bamboo stairs on the other hand have taken a beating.  Between getting marked up when they hauled the washing machine and dryer up the stairs and the pounding the stairs took from the kids over the last 4 years, they aren't looking very good.  I think if we replace the sections(mostly the edge pieces)on the stairs that have taken the brunt of the wear, the rest of the flooring on it should be ok.
The upstairs hallway, which is large enough to put a computer desk and chair in, is also done in the bamboo, but there is a large area rug over the central parts of it which has protected it from wear.

Once we get ready to sell the house, I'll probably have to replace that hallway area rug so the hallway looks better.

We are putting the same flooring materials down in the living/dining combo room.  I'm not worried about wear, even though it's a more high traffic area because I already have an area rug to put down in the living room part and will get a rug for under the dining table set later.

We have 2 dogs but they are not allowed in the dining/living room since the little one likes to use it as her bathroom. 8-(  So we put up baby gates when we first got dogs at this house back in 2003(I think)so they didn't get the run of the house.  The baby gates also keep the dogs from roaming upstairs.

In the downstairs hallway and kitchen we have porcelain tile on the floor, the den off the kitchen has a Pergo laminate and the powder room has a vinyl floor.  These are the rooms the dogs are allowed to wander through.

The idiots who installed that laminate did a half-assed job so we'll be replacing that floor right before the house goes on the market.

Bamboo seems to show blemishes more than traditional hardwoods if you get the lighter colored stuff.

Sluggy