In Memory of Those Who Served....Thank a Vet!

Today is Veteran's Day so pray for, be respectful of, and honor the military veterans in your lives today.

Here at Chez Sluggy we have a few family and ancestor vets we think about and honor today......

My Hubs' side of the family there is--
His older brother Tony, who served in the Navy during the Vietnam War.
He is our family's only living veteran.


Those who have gone from us on Hub's side are his Uncle Charles, who served in the Navy during World War II.
The only photo I have of him is this one.....he is the small boy on the right in the front.....

And then there is Hub's dad Steve, who served in the Army Air Corp during World War II.

Those are the only veterans of military service I've uncovered so far on Hub's side of the family.

On my side, I have many many military veterans.
First off, there is my grandfather Frank, who served as a Master Sargent during World War II.  He is the handsomely rakish guy in the front center of this photo.....

He survived the war and went on to make the military his career until his retirement in the 1960's.

Then there are my Great Uncles....

US Navy Seaman 2nd Class Tucker Harper, who was wounded in action but survived World War II.

And Great Uncle "Mack" who enlisted in Sept. of 1942 and served in the Army during World War II.
He was disabled on the battlefield in Europe and ended up stateside in Hospital and never fully recovered.  His battlefield experiences had lasting terrible effects upon him the rest of his life.

His wife Edith, also served in the Cadet Nursing Corp during World War II.  That is how they met.

And if we go back beyond the 20th century, there are many veterans on my mother's side of the family from the Civil War.

Among them are two brothers, my Great Uncles, John & Joseph Harper....

The husband of my 2 x Great Aunt, George Washington Barksdale served as a mechanic in the CSA.

And all my Holt relations-6 brothers who each served in the Confederacy....

From Marcellus who survived the war.....

To John Lee Holt who was KIA at Gettysburg.....

And my 3x Great Uncle William Foster, who served in the Army during the War Between the State. William was actually the last surviving member of his regiment, the 23rd Virginia, dying in October of 1931 at the age of 71+ years old.....

And there is Joseph Hamilton, who served in the CSA VA Reserves and died in a POW camp in Ohio....

 

And going back even further in our country's history, I can count my 7 x Great Grandfather Thomas Foster.  Though advanced in age at the time of the American Revolution he served as a Wagoneer, driving & also furnishing supplies for the Continental Army until his death in 1786 in Virginia.

At least 3 of his son's also served as soldiers in the American Revolution--

Thomas Foster who served 3 years as a private.
William "Billy" Foster who served as a 1st Lieutenant in the 3rd VA Army.  He enlisted 10 May 1777 and by the time the war was over, he was a Major.  He took part in the Battle of Stono Ferry where the patriots held off the British forces trying to capture Charleston, SC.

And brother Robert Foster, my 6 x Great Grandfather, who was an Ensign in the Army(today that rank is only used in the US Navy). 

All three, Thomas the father, sons William and Robert were here during the Winter of 1777-1778.....

 All 3 Foster men survived the Valley Forge Encampment and the Revolution but countless other's did not.

I give thanks to them and all my ancestors who came after them who also answered the call to arms to defend our Freedoms.

Sluggy

Last Week to Enter Sluggy's BORING BLOG BOX GIVEAWAY.....Hurry!

This is the last week of the Giveaway.....Hurry and enter it now!
         *****************************
Well it's time for another 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......

 

 

1. A full size tube of Aquafresh Toothpaste

2. A full size bottle of Blink Eye Drops

3. A Reach Dental Flosser with pre-measured refills

4. A travel size of Colgate Toothpaste
5. A sample size of Crest Toothpaste
6. A sample size of Bodycology Body Wash
7. A travel size of Gillette Body Wash
8. A travel size of Gillette Thermal Face Scrub
9. A travel size of Gillette Intense Cooling Lotion

 

This week's prizes have a value of about $16.
 

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 until I close this post to entries.

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

This week I want to hear about your favorite Thanksgiving and Christmas/Hanukkah/Winter Solstice pie/cake flavor and your favorite Christmas/Hanukkah/Winter Solstice cookie recipe.  We "heart" pumpkin pie on Turkey day and Pecan Pie & Fruitcake at Christmas/Winter Solstice.  My favorite cookie recipe a Coconut Macaroon but I just found a Salty/Sweet Butterscotch Cookie recipe I am dying to try this year. Mmmmm
 

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.

**This is the final week to enter this Giveaway.  I will close entries to this post on Friday, November 15th, at 11:59pm.  On Saturday I will draw the winner and post the name.

Any questions?  Just email me.

Happy Entering!! 

Sluggy

From the Sublime to the Ridiculous Day

I am so cultured today.
First we had precious stones, now it's onto fine art!

I found this on a friend's Facebook today and just had to share.
It's a slew of great works of art which have been "animated".
It's from an Australian tv comedy series.
Be sure your bladder is empty and you are not drinking anything when you watch this.
And a warning to my more sensitive viewers or kids.....bad words and some raunchy stuff in here......

 

Then when you are done viewing that, go HERE to see the "29 Whitest Family Photos of All Time".
I must warn you that some of these are down right disturbing(or should I say disturbed?), but many are funny.
I am partial to #s 8 and 21 myself.  And #26 gives me the creeps for some reason....lolz


Sluggy

Shiny Objects

Just a little nothing post today.....I am so bored.

I had to go up to the local jeweler's this afternoon to get a ring appraised for someone in the family.
That's all I can say about that here since someone with big ears(or should that be big eyes?!) might be reading this.


While I was there, I took up another ring I own to get it appraised since when it was inherited by me, I was not given a written valuation of it.

My mother left me this shiny object when she died......

It's a diamond cocktail ring from the early 1970's in a 10K white gold setting.

The jewelry store gal said it was 1 carat total wt. but that was a quick evaluation....she didn't measure all the stones, just the big one.
She gave me a ballpark current retail value on this baby of $4500.

My mom was big time into shiny objects like this.
Me?...not so much.
But I can't bring myself to sell it since it's now a family heirloom.
Plus my mother would come back to haunt me if I did. lolz

 

 

I guess it will give my kids something to fight over when I die.


Sluggy

Rite-Aid Pillaging....And 54% Savings at the Grocery Store

I shouldn't call my Rite-Aid excursions pillaging anymore should I?
Since they tightened up the deals and the coupon policy and the coupons just aren't as good this year, I don't get much for FREE.

Anyway, let's get to the details, shall we?

As of last week I had $5 in +Ups expiring on 11/6, which is today.
So last week I bought this.....

2 x Dawn dish liquid on sale for .97¢ each=$1.94
I used--
1 x .20¢/1 Dawn ManuQ
$1.94-.20=$1.74

I used $1 +Ups to pay
$1.74-$1+Up=$.74+.04¢tax=$.78 OOP

Then today I bought this......

1 x St. Joseph's Aspirin on sale=$4.99
2 x Purex Ultra Packs detergent on sale BOGO=$6.49
Subtotal......$11.48

I used--
1 x $1/1 St. Joseph's 120 ct. CatalinaQ(this spit out last month at Rite-Aid)=$1.00
1 x FREE ITEM Q Purex Ultra Packs detergent(up to $6)=$6.00 *Won from Frances' blog thanks Frances! ;-)
Total Coupons.....$7.00

$11.48-$7=$4.48

I used my $4 in +Ups I had left to pay....
$4.48-$4.00=$.48+.03¢tax=$.51

I paid .51¢ OOP and received a $4 +Ups for buying the St. Joseph's Aspirin.

Then I made an impulse buy.....uh oh......

2 x Axe Body Spray/Deodorant(this scent was on clearance 50% off so $2.99 ea.=$5.98

I paid .36¢tax so a total of $6.34 OOP.
Axe sprays/deos are Buy2/Get $3 +Ups this week on Select Unilever items, so I got back $3 +Ups AND another $2 +Ups for the purchase of Body Sprays, for a total of $5 in +Ups back.

Spend $6.34, get $5 back.
Wish I had had a couple of coupons to use too..... 8-)

Let's recap--
I got

2 dish liquids-who doesn't need this?
1 bottle baby aspirin-I use this.
2 packs of laundry detergent-who doesn't need this?
2 body sprays/deos-both son's use this.

I spent $7.63 OOP
And I have $9 in +Up Rewards to spend during the next 2 weeks.

Even if I don't get things for free paying $7.63 instead of the reg. shelf price of $36.13 and getting $9 to spend on more stuff isn't half bad, is it? ;-)

Then I went to the grocery store and did just as well!
I got $189.25 worth of groceries for $86.92.
That's a savings rate of 54.08%.

I hit the marked down meat-2 steaks for $2 lb., kielbasa for less than $2 lb., $2 off 4 packages of bacon which goes for $4.49 so $2.29 for each bacon, 85% angus burgers for $3 lb., some produce & fresh bakery muffins(for #2 Son)for 50% off, a rotisserie chicken for $3.99 to use for lunchmeat, fish fillets and grape tomatoes for BOGO, tuna fish for .74¢ a can and a can of crushed tomatoes for .50¢ after Q.
They have a deal this week if you buy $15 in Swanson/Campbell's/Pepperidge Farm items you get an instant $5 discount, so I bought 16 cans of soup on sale for $1, used $3 in Qs and after the $5 discount, paid $8 for 16 cans, so .50¢ a can.  I can use these in cooking.

Plus there was another deal-Buy 7 select Smuckers/Hungry Jack/Crisco items and get an instant $3 discount.  One of the items was 48 oz. bottles of Crisco oil on sale half off($2.14 instead of the reg. $4.29 price).  That's a great price for oil so I stocked up(#2 Son can go through some oil between making French fries and frying burritos).
So I got 6 oils and 1 pancake mix(for $2 on sale).  Total should have come to $11.48 after sale prices and $3 discount, but for some reason the register only took the $2.15 discount off of 2 bottles,  not all 6.
So since the register/computer rang the price wrong, I got 1 for free! 8-)

I also had a subtotal over $125.00 so I could use a $12 off your order coupon Weis sent me in the mail.
So my $189.25 in groceries, which should have come to $89.06 after all my discounts/coupons ended up costing me $86.92 (with an additional $2.14 subtracted for the free bottle of oil).
I am now over what I wanted to spend on food this week but I hadn't planned on such good meat deals and stocking up on oil, soup and tuna.
It's all good though since I have plenty of cash left for the month in the budget. 8-)


Sluggy