Update On My Family Drug Dealer....Er, Doctor

And while I am digging through local newspaper articles, here is an update on my family doctor....you know, the one who almost killed me last year.......HERE.
He has been in jail since May 2013 and there are a few more details in this report.

What a train wreck!
And he hid it so well from so many patients, including me......up until February when he was obviously drunk during my appointment.

The man has big problems.  If he hadn't almost caused my demise I might feel more compassion toward him.....

Sluggy

 

Dodged a Fraud Bullet Last Month

First there was the Target card theft ring on Black Friday and now this......
I just saw on the news a few days ago that Hubs and I dodged a credit card scam bullet a couple of weeks ago.
We had gone to the Ollie's in a town south of here(remember my James Brown Christmas CD?)shopping a bit before Christmas.  We ate out afterwards and had I not had an Applebee's gift card with me that day to use, we would have gone to the Chinese Buffet Restaurant in that shopping center.

Thursday there was THIS REPORT on the local news.
Geesh!
We probably would have paid with a credit card had we eaten there that day.
Been there, done that, got the t-shirt, with having credit card info. stolen.

It just never ends, does it?   8-)

Sluggy

Christmas 2013 at Chez Sluggy

Christmas morning before we had to chisel #2 Son out of bed at the crack of 10.....

#2 Son missed  breakfast of scrambled eggs, Smithfield salt-cured ham(sliced ever so thin)and Great Aunt Lula's Rolls.....

Presents waiting to be opened.....

 

 

Max the dog says, "Get that boy out of bed already, willya?!?!".
 

Seems like all our ornaments anymore are "kiddie" themed.....sock money, peace bear, Lamb Chop, Dudley the Dragon, Power Rangers, Pokémon, Big Bird......

Doing my Carol Merrill impersonation.....if you are under 40, Google the name.....

Me--

Carol--

Finally!
He lives........well, after his morning coffee.....

Opening gifties of smelly stuff......

From my brother and his wife.....

Look!
Santa left us an old beagle under our tree.....just what we wanted......

Hubs Secret Santa gifties.......I think these books are going to lead to more expenses, but hopefully, with yummy results!

Hey! It isn't Christmas without sox and undies.....

#2 Son opens his "big" gift(a new $$$ amp), plugs in his bass and cranks up the volume.....thankfully the windows didn't crack!......

Note to self--next time you give a gift like this, be sure to wear earplugs when you come downstairs....

There are never any pictures of me opening up presents.......must be because I am the only one who takes photos.

Can you believe the beagle slept through that?!?  Now I KNOW she is deaf....

The second batch of rolls waiting to go into the oven.....

.....so they can turn out like this.....Hey! Who stole 3 rolls?!

 

After presents and while food was cooking I set about setting the table.  We are still using that folding camping table for the dining room table, but no excuse not to put out the Christmas dishes and good table linens, right?
So I found a gold tapestry table cloth that was the proper length to cover it and pulled out some coordinating cloth napkins.
But for gosh sakes, look at the size of the TAGS on them!

Couldn't hide them when I tried to fold the napkins either......they kept flapping out.....

Snip, snip, say, "Goodbye Martha!".  If you want to come to dinner here, you have to be an unobtrusive guest.....

What an egomaniacal witch she is to have to have a tag that large on a napkin!
I can see a tablecloth(the tag on the table covering was the same size),but a skimpy 12" x 12" piece of fabric too?
Heck, I could probably seam these together and make another napkin! lolz


Forgot to photograph the dinner(too busy eating it), but here is one of the desserts, a Trifle.
Except I don't own a trifle bowl.....oh well, it still tasted fine.

It was a cheap dessert since it used up some items I got cheaply that needed using.....a chocolate Entenmann's cake from the bakery outlet($1), 2 packs of instant vanilla pudding($2), half a container of leftover Cool Whip from Thanksgiving(.44¢), a few squirts of aerosol whipped cream(.50¢)and a bag of frozen strawberries($1-Dollar Tree).
It was by far the biggest hit with the young'uns....

No pictures of the dinner guests, just the desserts.....Hey!, you saw them on my Christmas Eve post and they hadn't changed much in the 18 hours since then.....lol

So how was your Christmas Day?

Tomorrow we take down the tree and decorations and pack 'em away for another year.....

Sluggy

 

 

 

 

Using Those Leftovers

We got 7 inches of white stuff today/last night.
Plus it was bitterly cold & windy despite the sunny day earlier.

Ok, who do I contact to get this snow stuff discontinued?
I don't remember subscribing to this weather!  Take my name off that list please.....


As per my post earlier in the week, here was the Meal Plan for the rest of the week(after we got back home NYE).....
Wednesday--Chicken Parmesan
Thursday--Cod
Friday--Lamb Chops
Saturday--Pork Chops

We had the Parm Wednesday and Pulled Pork(leftover pork roast and coleslaw I made) Thursday.
(I put all the Cod I got on special in the freezer because we had to use the pork.)

Today I went digging in the fridge and found 1 slab of rib roast plus the ribs Hubs had sliced off that had tons of meat around them.
I totally forgot about that leftover from Christmas dinner!

So instead of chops tonight, I boiled the bones down, did a sauté of onions and celery, added potatoes, green beans from the freezer and had Hubs pick up a bag of frozen carrots(sliced).  A little flour to thicken and some browning and fresh ground pepper gave us Beef Stew for dinner.....

We had leftover homemade rolls from Christmas dinner to sop up the juice.

No additional food cost except for $1 for the bag of frozen carrots.....everything was sourced from provisions already here.
And there is enough for 4 more servings, so at least 1 more meal's worth.
A great filling, rib sticking and warm meal for a beastly frigid night!

Tomorrow either lamb or pork chops are on deck with stuffing, apple sauce and Brussels sprouts.

Then I get to make a menu for next week.....oh, the thrills of my life just never end. lolz

We've got Stew and Pulled Pork leftovers, Cod and either Pork or Lamb(depending on what we eat tomorrow night)already here for next week.  Only 3 more meals to go for next week's plan to be completed.  If the cold & snow continues and I don't want to go out in it, I have 2 hunks of lasagna and quiche in the freezer I can thaw out for meals.  That just leaves 1 more meal to thunk up and buy supplies to prepare.

It looks like next week will be a light grocery shopping week.  Sounds good to me!  8-)

Sluggy

Net Worth Report/Changes....2013 to 2014

I started doing a monthly Net Worth statement in January 2013.
So on the heels of reporting in on my 2013 $20K Savings Challenge here is the change in our Net Worth from Jan. 2013 to Jan. 2014.......

This includes all the monies I get my hands on and don't spend(net income, dividends, interest, side income, tax refunds, etc.)during the year, plus all the retirement monies.  I don't include the house value(since we couldn't liquidate it and need to live SOMEWHERE)and the value of the stock we own(a tiny little amount), nor do I include the College Account monies(since that's technically not "our" money but the kids' money....even though it "was" our money to begin with lolz).

Anyway, our Net Worth from January 2013 to 2014 went up $62,734.61.

Most of that up tick is due to increases in the retirement monies because we spent $23,611.66 on emergencies(house improvements, repairs and supplies, car expenses) and vacation spending/travel last year from the $28,907.08 I saved in 2012, so we are only "up" $5,295.42 in the monies I control for 2013 from 2012.

I hope that last bit made some sense. ;-)

$62K is good but not great at this point in our journey to retirement.....but it's still better than a poke in the eye, right?

Sluggy