January's 31 Day Challenge & Is It Cold Enough?!

If anyone wants some motivation to declutter in January, go check out Peter Walsh on Facebook HERE.  Just scroll down until you find the video for each particular day(One through Six are on there and he adds a new video/goal each day.).
He is conducting a small clutter busting goal for every day in January.

It's small doable cleaning/decluttering jobs for those that have a problem tackling large purging goals.
Sort of eating the job one bite at a time, instead of seeing the big goal of a totally clutter-free home at once and panicking. lolz

While we have missed 6 days of the month and their specific jobs, it's not too late to jump into the decluttering band wagon(plus catch up on those 6 days worth of chores during the rest of the month when you get a chance)and play along.

While I spent November and December getting rid of tons of items, mostly in storage or in the garage, I could stand to sweep through the house this month to tidy up and purge some more things.
So who's with me and Peter?  8-)

They closed the schools here last night in anticipation of the extreme cold.
I've got the cabinets under all the sinks open to keep the pipes unfrozen and the room controls jacked up to 65F degrees and it still feels like 30F in here.
Brrrr!
I have finished all my important crucial chores for the day so I am going back and hiding under my blankets!
This crap is for the birds......
I'll see y'all when I thaw out. lolz

Sluggy
 

This Week on The Dining Table

The "Did you eat your Black Eyed Peas for New Year's so you can have luck this year?" Edition .....

Shame on me for buying ready to prepare peas and not soaking mine from dry peas!
My Southern ancestors are spinning in their graves I am sure. ;-)
I did a simple sauté of onions and bacon with bacon grease, add the peas to heat til hot, and serve preparation.

Around here they do pork something with kraut since it's heavily Polish-descent population.
But we hold to our Southern roots in this house.....

What is your family New Year's food tradition?

On to the Meal Planning.

Here is what was planned last week--

Sunday--Eating Out on Vacation
Monday--Eating Out as Son's apartment
Tuesday--Whatever we found in the fridge when we got home

Wednesday--Chicken Parmesan, BEPs
Thursday--Cod
Friday--Lamb Chops
Saturday--Pork Chops

Everything as planned(or not so planned)until Thursday, when we had pulled pork sammies with coleslaw from the pork #2 Son didn't eat while we were away.  Then Friday was Beef Stew using leftover rib roast from Christmas and Saturday was Kielbasa Sandwiches with California Medley Veggies(kielbasa, rolls and veg was already here).
 

As for the food spending last week....
There was 2 trips to the grocery store & 1 trip to Rite-Aid and I spent a grand total of $73.53(including my Rite-Aid trip at $.69)on $157.70 worth of groceries/toiletries at 3 different stores.  I am going to strive for another $300 or less grocery month for January.  At this much spent, I am on track to accomplish this, crossing fingers. ;-)

Leftovers going into this week--Pulled Pork, Coleslaw, Beef Stew, Lula Rolls, Roasted Cauliflower, Corn Casserole.

Here is this week's meal plan---

Sunday--Lamb Chops(have), leftover Roasted Cauliflower, leftover Corn Casserole
Monday--Leftover Pulled Pork Sammies, Coleslaw
Tuesday--Leftover Beef Stew, Biscuits
Wednesday--Mushroom(have) Parmesan, Green Salad, Pasta(have)
Thursday--Clam(have) Chowder, Cod(have), Sugar Snap Peas(have)
Friday--Pork Enchiladas(using leftover pulled pork), Green Beans(have)
Saturday--Pork Chops(have), Red Apple Kraut, Stuffing(have)


What I need to purchase for this menu?....... Potatoes, Mozzarella Cheese, Tortillas, Red Cabbage, Grape Tomatoes and Salad Greens.  Other items needed(not for dinners)are lunchmeat and bread and maybe milk. 


What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy


 

Two More Xmas Mentions....

Okay, so I lied when I said I was over posting any more Christmas related stuff. 

I forgot to post about the card Hubs gave me Xmas morning.......

Words to live by, right? 8-)))



And we have a Christmas Mystery this year.

I used this gift bag to put one of Hubs presents in.....

It was a bag we got last year with a gift.  I "believe" this bag held a gift for #2 Son and came from my brother and his wife.
It's a nice bag so I reused it this year.

When Hubs pulled out his gift and the tissue paper, this flew out too......

An unmarked envelope that evidently was sitting on the bottom of the bag.....with this card inside....

And the inside of the card......

Now neither my brother or his wife are named Sharen or Bev.

So either one of them got a gift from someone named Kim, who previously got a present from Sharen and Bev and never saw/opened the card in this gift bag and she reused it to gift my brother or sister in-law and they never found the card either, so the card/envelope went undetected through 2 cycles of gift giving(or more!), until we found it.
Or.....I haven't a CLUE who/how/why this card was in this bag!

It's a bona fide mystery.
But we hung the card up with the others anyway.  It would be a shame not to enjoy it even if no one here is named Kim.

Sluggy

 

What Santa Brought Me.....2013 Edition

**I promise, this is my last post about Christmas.  I know most people are anxious to "move on" from the Holidays and get it behind them, but not me.  I would keep my tree and lights on the house up for Months if I could. lol **

I know everybody is anxious to know exactly what presents Sluggy received for Christmas in 2013.

Oh come on.....you KNOW you want to know.  ;-)

Yes, we are lavish gift givers around here.

It's all about the bling.......the luxury........the decadence........
 

No, around here, we don't expect anyone to spend a big wad of cash on a pile of gifts for us.  We gift sensibly.  We give what someone wants/needs(within reason) and we try to get a deal if possible.

Here are a couple of gifts I got from family & friends......

 

First from my brother and his wife....a blender sports bottle......

 

 

 

And Tanner sent this awesome set of HUGE coffee mugs if you missed that post.......

 

 

 

 

We do an immediate family Secret Santa gift exchange and #2 Son got my name again this year!.....

Ollie's....One of my favorite places to shop thus one of my favorite gifts this year!

 

 

 

#1 Son bought me....

 

2 lbs. of sugar-free gourmet Chocolate.  From caramel thingys, to dark chocolate nut clusters to ginormous peanut butter cups......mmmmmmm

 

 

Plus he got me a 4 pack of Sprecher's Hard Root Beer.  I discovered this stuff on our Summer Road Trip in the liquor store in Sonya Ann's town and have been looking for it/craving it ever since.  Of course, you can't get this anywhere around where I live!  Figures, right? lolz

 

Here are the goodies Hubs/Santa gave me--

 

"Santa" filled my stocking with this strange mix of goodies....

 

 

A metal Spatula with a silicone edge(so you can use it on non-stick cookware)

A Chocolate Bar

A pack of Batteries? (It's best not to try to think too hard why he puts some things in the stocking.)

A canister of Lens Wipes
A GOOD manual can opener(It got put to use immediately as ours was on it's last legs so it's not in the picture.)

A small Rake with a purple handle

 

I asked for the small Rake with a purple handle actually.

 

It's a telescoping back scratcher......

 

Wish I had one of these when the kids were little and acted up in the car.  I could have smacked them while driving.

 

And the "big" gifts.......

 

 

2 Bottles of hard cider I have never had before....one is an imported Irish brand.

A box of dark chocolate. Mmmmm!

A $25 prepaid Visa card

A rayon batik tunic.....

 

I showed him a couple of tops I wanted(this one and another design)and he said he wasn't "doing eBay" to get gifts.

Sigh.

So I went ahead and bought a couple of tops from this seller in early December because I needed some new shirts AND since this sort of clothing is "out of season" now, the deals were really swell.

One of the tops I got was this particular one.

 

A classic case of "Don't buy yourself anything around the Holidays" happened.

Doh.

Now I have 2 of this one, so when I wear one out, I'll have a spare.

Good thing I REALLY like this tunic! lolz

 

And that is all my gifties for this year.

 

I am almost shocked that I did not get a book this year, as Hubs usually gives me a book(in his mind, it's the PERFECT gift).

I guess since I still haven't finished the book he gave me last Christmas he figured out maybe buying me reading material I didn't ask for isn't the best use of his gifting cash. 8-))

As you can see, we just live on the edge, walk on the wild side, spend money like it's going out of style!!

Not.....

 

So what did Santa bring you this year?
I want to see it all!!!

 

Sluggy

 

It's Almost Time for the Abbey

About an hour and a half to go before the premier of Season 4 of Downton Abey on my local station.
Can't.
Hardly.
Wait.

Until then, check this parody out......lolz......

 

Sluggy