Friday, May 27, 2016

Still in the Weeds in PA

Tonight will mark a full week that we've been home.
And I am still "in the weeds" as they say in the restaurant biz.

While I was gone PA went from late Winter temps to Summer temps.
What the heck happened to Spring temps?!?!  I done missed Spring here.
It's hot and muggy here already.  It just makes me want to leave and head North or hide in my bedroom in the a/c. ugh.

The yard is sad and neglected.  The gardens are overgrown with actual weeds and the beds have not been worked nor anything planted.  Bags of mulch still sit on the side of the house waiting to be used in the flower bed out front......the flower bed without flowers to this point.

I have so much to contend with inside the house that I can't even THINK about the yard.  As long as the lawn gets mowed we are all good out there as far as I am concerned.
So much for having to decide whether to have a garden this season.......

Add in that the deck needs de-molding, cleaning and sealing again this season and it's all too much to think about.

I have finally caught up on the laundry.
Go me.

I came home to a stack of this.......


Bills and more bills!
Another 4 bills arrived and were paid this week in addition to these seven bills.

I've also been tallying up the expenses for May and I can tell it won't be pretty. 8-(  Our c/c bill will be very high for June(but I'll still pay it off in full).

The labs came back from my dr. visit on Monday and I also have a bacterial infection so an antibiotic prescription to clear that up.....which will probably cause the other infection to return so I'll be doing more drugs for that one too.
yay.

Plus my blood work is all kinds of out of whack which has me stressing out, which in turn has my HS acting up.
Oh, the fun just never ends, does it? ha!

Have I mentioned that Daughter will be arriving in 12 days?
The house is nowhere near ready for that either.
And this makes me stress out even more and makes my body turn on me even more.

We've begun the furniture moving in the house.  College Boy's bed, a day bed affair has been moved down into the den.


That was the first item moved and it got done last weekend.
It can be used as a sofa-like item down there and probably a place for Daughter's large dog to recline.

This week we've moved the stockpile of TP out from under the bed in the Daughter's room.......





The TP along with tubs of toiletries and tubs of fabric are temporarily living in Hub's man cave room.

Saturday will see the bed in Daughter's room move to College Boy's room.  Then CB's room can be put back together.  As this bed is higher off the ground, we can store all his college supplies(things he doesn't need to use while home)neatly under that bed and out of the way.

On Tuesday as we started the "Big Reorg", I made CB take everything out of his room, since he said he was incapable of putting it all away.  It became clear as we dug the room out why he had no room to put stuff away.  Since high school this child has thrown nothing away.  As long as his room contents didn't spill out into the hall I didn't worry about it.  He was gone most of the year at college so I could just shut the door and ignore the growing menace contained without his room's walls.

The child couldn't put any of this currently wearing clothes away because his closet and dresser were crammed full of old clothes and shoes that either no longer fit him or were worn out. sigh.

So I sat there and personally supervised as he pulled everything out and decided which pile to toss it all into-the keep or the get rid of pile.

An hour later and this is what came out of his room......


There was also a garbage bag full of trash as well.

Now all his clothes/shoes fit neatly into his room.

And here is a neat-ish pile of cast-offs to take to Salvation Army.


As I went through this discard pile of clothing I put aside a few things that CB threw out.....like brand new pairs of Levis and shorts he has never taken the tags off of and that still are the correct size.  I've tucked these things away for once what he is wearing wears out.....


That bag is a brand new pair of black dress slacks he's never worn as well.  He'll need all this later and I really don't want to have to re-buy all this when he does. sigh.  It can all get stored under his bed once we move it.
The backpack was also uncovered.  It is brand new with tags.  He's also got another one identical to this one that has plenty of life left in it, as well as the backpack he is currently using that I bought last Fall.  I have told him I am done buying backpacks so he'd better make these last for the next 2 years.
If this one is still not needed before he graduates college it will head to eBay as Vans backpacks bring a pretty penny.  ;-)

And another 3 bags of stained, ripped or just worn out clothes headed for the garbage.....


I whittled down the fabric stash and am sending 2 garbage bags of fabric to charity(McVal, look away!!!).........



Now I can fit the fabric I want to use soon onto one shelving unit, which was moved into the corner of my bedroom............sort of fit it all....lolz......



The empty identical shelving unit will go into College Boy's room after we get the bed moved into there.

CB needs places to set stuff other than the floor, which has been his "go to" place for stuff the last 2 years.

I also took a bit of time out to go to Weis(PMITA)Markets on Wednesday.  I picked up 6 different Instant Discount Stickered Meats.......


After discounts I paid.....1 package of Italian Sausage patties($2.62), 1 package of Salmon($3.74), 1 packages of Chicken Thighs($1.90), 1 package of 2 small steaks($2.31), and 2 packages of Cubed Steaks($2.13 and $2.68).

Back to the house and by Wednesday I've got both dressers in Daughter's room emptied(save for the tops of both dressers which still have toiletries on them).  Still to come out of that room are a small rolltop desk, the recumbent exercise bike and a small rickety shelving unit which will be put on the trash pile when it is removed.

So this weekend while everyone else is cooking out and partying, here at Chez Sluggy, we'll be moving furniture, organizing crap and storing it away.  And making multiple trips to Salvation Army with discarded stuff.
And hauling out the 2 room window a/c units for the s bedrooms upstairs.  It's already in the 90 degree range here now and muggy as heck!

Once we get the house put back together I'll be tackling the garage to make some space in there too.
The fun just never ends here.......... 8-)

Sluggy




Wednesday, May 25, 2016

How Could I Not?

Had to go to Rite-Aid for a prescription earlier this week so how could I not take this stuff home.....


1 x Dove soap 6 pack on sale=$6.00
1 x Dove body wash on sale=$6.00
SubTotal........$12.00

Coupons used--
1 x $1/1 Dove soap 4 pack or larger ManuQ=$1.00
1 x $3/1 Dove body wash(22 oz.) MailedQ=$3.00
Coupon Total.....$4.00

$12-$4=$8.
I used $8 in Plenti Points and earned $4 in new Plenti points.
I also got this......


$2 on your next purchase Catalina.
I also earned $2 in cash rebates in my Saving Star account($1 for each item).

So $4 spent in points and $4 back in cash and catalinas.
The deal would have been sweeter if the Checkout51 $2 in rebates was still available but when I went to claim them there were none left. 8-(

Sometimes things just don't work out the way you want but it's all good.

Sluggy

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

I'm Back.....yaaaay!

We got back late Friday night.

It's Tuesday and I am still digging out!

I've spent more time in my laundry room than in any other room so far this week.
Not only do I have Hubs and my laundry from the trip but even though College Boy has been home 2+ weeks now, all his laundry is clogging up the works.  Plus all his bedding from school.
The boy couldn't find time to do his laundry but he found plenty of time to practice(which is good), have his buddies over to eat/drink a ton of my goodies/mess up my house/break shit, and sleep late.  He did also go to work so there's that to balance all the negatives.

I also think he let friends sleep over here the last 2 weeks and they dirtied every sheet and blanket in the house.  I couldn't even get INTO the laundry room on Saturday there was so much crap piled up in there! lolz

So basically I've been washing every cloth item in the house the last few days.
And unpacking.
And putting shit away.
And starting to rearrange the whole house in preparation for Daughter to move back in.
Ugh.
Can I just leave again and come stay with one of y'all?

And to top my exciting life off, I have to cook and meal plan and buy groceries again.
I tell ya, life is just so not fair.......

There are various musical instruments filling the spare room and the living room still from various jams sessions/band rehearsals......from guitars, to drum sets to a doumbek.(That's a Middle Eastern drum is you really need to know.)

The money I gave College Boy for groceries while we were gone is no more.  However, none of it was spent on groceries but on gas for the car and take-out pizza.
It's a good thing we won't be making these long trips to Louisiana in spring anymore and leaving him home alone, huh? ;-)

And to top it all off I brought home a lovely lady parts infection from Louisiana with me.
Oh joy.........pass the anti-itch cream please!!

So dealing with the house, that is a wreck and needs to be organized asap, dealing with medical stuff(more on that later) and dealing with massive amounts of money leaving the accounts(May has about done me in financially)is where my world is right now.
The yard is also a disaster but I can't even.......

I am confident that Life will all sort itself out in due time but for now, it is kicking my large pasty white ass.

I hope things are better in your world.  If not, tell us all about it and make me feel a bit better that I am not alone in the "Land of WTF?!".

Sluggy


Monday, May 23, 2016

This Week on the Dining Table


It's the "I'm Home and Back to Cooking....Rats!" Edition......

I seem to always have this gloom and doom about cooking when we get back from a vacation(though this vacation wasn't much of one and more of a "taking care of business" trip).
Do you feel the same way when you return from a trip where you haven't had to do much if any cooking while away?

I hope this isn't "just me"....lol


Moving on......

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Steak and Catfish in Texas
2. Monday--Chinese Buffet
3. Tuesday--No Clue
4. Wednesday--No Clue
5. Thursday--No Clue
6. Friday--No Clue
7. Saturday--No Clue

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Steak and Catfish in Texas
2. Monday--Chinese Buffet
3. Tuesday--BBQ, Fried Green Tomatoes, Greens, Pimento Cheese Sammich
4. Wednesday--1/2 of a small Pizza, Salad, Turkey Sammich
5. Thursday--Cheese Burger, Salad
6. Friday--Liver w/Onions, Mashed Potatoes, Broccoli, Cup of Chowder
7. Saturday--Meatloaf, CA blend Veggies

1 Meal cooked at home and 6 nights of eating out while on the road. I am happy to report that we ate very few burgers and/or french fries while away.  I think I ate my weight in fried green tomatoes though......that IS a vegetable, right?  ;-)

As for my grocery spending..... I spent a total of $20.21 the week before last week. (I went to the store a day before we left and forgot to tally it until we got home.  So $20.21 spent last week.)
I spent a total of $93.29 on groceries(mostly stuff to bring home but a few things we ate/drank while on the trip)during the last 2 weeks.  Even though it was purchased on vacation I put in under Groceries spending and not under Trip spending.

I have spent $210.48 in all for May so far and have $89.52 left of my food budget with 8 days to go.

Leftovers going into this week......nothing really.  Anything College Boy didn't eat in the past 2 weeks was thrown out. 8-(  We didn't leave many leftovers so it wasn't much but he did let an entire loaf of bread go bad by leaving it sitting out and not putting it into the fridge.

Here is this week's "food plan"--

1. Sunday--Spaghetti and Meatballs, Mixed Veg.
2. Monday--Fish, Garlic Mashed Taters, Cauliflower
3. Tuesday--Pecan Chicken, Corn Casserole, Collards
4. Wednesday--Shrimp Alfredo, Salad
5. Thursday--Tacos, Corn on cob
6. Friday--Salmon, Leftover Veg Dishes
7. Saturday--Leftovers

This week will see 6 new meals cooked and 1 meal of leftovers or "Whatever You Can Find" and 0 meals of Eating Out.

What I need to buy for this menu.....Salad Greens so far and maybe some milk, a watermelon or other fruit and bread(if I go up to the Bread Outlet this week).  I have to check if College Boy ate all the cheese or not here while we were gone for the Tacos.  Most everything on this menu is from the freezer and/or pantry, as I am trying to clean both out.  I believe CB lived on chicken strips from the freezer and take-out pizza while we were gone.  So predictable that one!  lolz

I am only going to buy necessities this week and any loss leaders we can use.  I really don't want to jump into lots of grocery buying so soon after getting back home.

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

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten last week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?

Sluggy

Saturday, May 21, 2016

And the Winner Is.......



The Boring Blog Box Giveaway winner is Wendy aka MamaHen  ......

Please enter me! I would love the shampoo (love DOVE products) and my 14 year old daughter would love the nail polish.

Congratulations Wendy!
And a big ol' thank you to everyone who entered.

Look for another giveaway soon here on the blog.
We just got back from our road trip so I may not be online much for a couple of days while we dig out here at the house.

Sluggy