Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Music in the Mountains

On Sunday Hubs and I headed to College Boy's school to listen to one of the bands he is in perform.
This was the Mansfield University Concert Wind Ensemble's first concert of the school year.
Mansfield's Wind Ensemble is one of the oldest college/university Wind Ensemble's in the country, at least that's what they claim on their website.
The Ensemble is made up of approx. 48 students who play woodwind, brass and percussion instruments and competition to get into it is fierce.  College Boy auditioned and made the cut this year.


I guess the kid cleans up good, huh?  Look at him all fancy and shit in his tux.
He had to buy that tux.  I told him if this music thing doesn't pan out he can always get a job as a waiter in a classy restaurant. lolz

The Wind Ensemble performs 5 or so times during the school year; they tour in the Fall regionally at special events/conferences and go to area high schools to perform and possibly recruit students for Mansfield's music department.
They also record CDs and will be cutting one next month.  Past year recordings have been nominated for Grammy awards.  8-)
Conducted by Dr. Adam F. Brennan, the Concert Wind Ensemble interprets the classics as well as commissions new works to perform by noted composers.

 College Boy preperformance adjusting his music stand

Here are a couple of sections from a number they performed(can't remember it's title).  Though College Boy didn't have any solo sections at this concert this part of this piece featured flutes.
I had a bit of a problem filming as a tall old man(with a bad comb-over and an unfortunate birthmark on his mostly bald head) and his wife sat down in front of me at the last minute.  I had to keep adjusting and leaning to the right to get a decent shot.  Luckily, College Boy was sitting downstage on the right so I could see him well.





And HERE is their closing number.  Extra bonus points if you can tell me the classical composer and/or title of this piece.
*For some reason YouTube won't let me embed this music clip so I had to link to it.*


College Boy in the mandatory photo with the parental unit once he shed the monkey suit and we took him out for dinner.......


Seems he is taking the phrase "long haired musician" to heart.  Here's a bit of trivia, especially if you aren't old like me.....long hair was popular with classical musicians and associated with classical music long before it became a "thing" with the rock and roll era. Don't believe me, go google pictures of classical composers of the 1700/1800's.  Many of them wore their hair longer than normal for the time.
Classical was referred to in the vernacular/slang as "long haired music" going way back to the 1930's among musicians and in the media.
In the late 1950's and 1960's it got co-opted to refer to popular and rock musicians of that era(or the Hippie Era).

On the way up, since it was dark 0'thirty when we left for home, I shot a few photos of the foliage. Foliage around here isn't at it's peak yet since we've had a warmer than normal Fall/late Summer but once we hit the Northern Tier of PA the colors were better.



The day was so overcast without any direct sun that the colors don't really "pop" in the photos.




Anyway, we had a nice time even though there were 2 long car rides in one day.  And it was good to see the boy.

Sluggy

Monday, October 17, 2016

And the Winner Is.....

Random dotorg was used to pick the winner of the current Sluggy's Boring Blog Box Giveaway.

And the winner picked is........


Annamarie Voss!

We have a big storm coming this weekend so I'm hoping we don't loose power. I also need to get out to my garden we still have lots of tomatoes and potatoes, I'm not sure that my spaghetti squash will be ready this year.

Congratulations Annamarie!
Please email me your full mailing address from the email you provided for the giveaway within the next 48 hours and I'll get this box of goodies out to you asap.

Thank you again dear readers for playing along and entering these giveaways and come back soon because another Giveaway will go live later this week.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table


It's the "I Got To See This Guy" Edition.......



Hubs and I were up to College Boy's school to see him perform and take him out for dinner this past weekend.
It was nice.
Other than the profusion of hair he looks good and is feeling happier and doing better than he has in awhile now.
My "baby" turns 21 in 4 months.....how did this happen?? ;-)

Moving on......
Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Chicken and Dumplings
2. Monday--Sausage Sandwiches w/Onions, Roasted Cauliflower w/Garlic
3. Tuesday--Leftovers(Rigatoni), Veggie TBD
4. Wednesday--Mac & Cheese w/Ham,
5. Thursday--Caesar Salad w/Chicken Strips, Baked Potato
6. Friday--Fend for Yourself/Leftovers
7. Saturday--Fend for Yourself(Out of Town)


And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Chicken and Dumplings with Carrots
2. Monday--Sausage Sandwiches w/Onions(Kids got Chinese Take-Out)
3. Tuesday--Leftovers(Rigatoni), Leftover Green Beans
4. Wednesday--Chicken w/Mushroom Rice Casserole, Brussels Sprouts
5. Thursday--Mac & Cheese w/Ham, Leftover Broccoli
6. Friday--Barbecue Beef on Rolls, Cole Slaw
7. Saturday--Caesar Salad w/Chicken Strips, Baked Potato

6/7 meals cooked at home, 1 of them a night of leftovers, 0 nights Eating Out and 0/1 nights of Take-Out.

As for the grocery spending.....2 trips to Weis, 1 trip to the Shursave market, 1 trip to Target(for freebies) and 1 trip to Maine Source(restaurant supply)store brought my weekly spending to $171.33 and my October food spending Subtotal to $236.04 with 14 days left in the month.

My try at a $300 monthly food spending doesn't look likely for October at this point.  I am thinking $400 a month($100 per adult)is about as low as I am going to be able to go for now.
I wanted to eat down the reserves in October but the free turkey incentives have appeared and the Holiday specials have started as well.  You know.....the cheap butter and baking goods deals as well as the "spend $X get a free turkey for Thanksgiving" deals.
sigh.

I have been doing well however in my savings percentages in October.  Since I buy practically everything on sale price(and use a coupon if available)or buy food at non-traditional sources that home cooks don't frequent, I am saving over buying at regular retail prices.  Last week's shopping netted me a 53.54% savings rate and to date I have a 53.03% rate for the month.(These rates don't take into consideration what I bring home for free from Rite-Aid either.) 8-))

Leftovers going into this week........rigatoni in sauce, small container of flavored noodles, 2 pieces of chicken w/mushroom risotta, mac & cheese w/ham, bbq beef and 1 crab cake.

Here is this week's "food plan".

1. Sunday--Fend for Yourself or Leftovers
2. Monday--Pizza, Salad
3. Tuesday--Chili, Cornbread, Collards
4. Wednesday--Leftovers
5. Thursday--Cheese Lasagna, Salad
6. Friday--Fish, Roasted Cauliflower Acorn Squash and Potatoes
7. Saturday--Leftovers

This week will see 3 new meals cooked and 0 nights of Take-Out(but frozen pizzas one night)and 2 nights of Leftovers.

What I need to buy for this menu? Salad Greens basically and 2 frozen pizzas.  I won't have time to do the pizzas from scratch today if our plans for the day pan out.

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

Sunday, October 16, 2016

Last Chance for the Giveaway

Today is the last chance to get an entry in for the October Boring Blog Box Giveaway.

Go HERE to enter.
Entry closes at 11:59pm Eastern Time, October 16th, Sunday evening.



The winner will be revealed sometime on Monday, October 17th.

Sluggy

Friday, October 14, 2016

I am Not Hopeful

Not hopeful on many things lately, including where our country is heading if either Trump or Clinton are elected(combined with the current collection of chuckle heads in the Congress), but that's NOT what this post is about.

It's about my Savings Challenge Goal for 2016.



I doubt that I will actually hit my targeted amount of $38K.

I am at $28,797.32 saved with three more months to go.  That means I need to stash away $9,202.68 before we ring in 2017 to hit my goal.
That comes out to $3,067.56 each month of the next three months.

We've got 6 paychecks to receive here until the year ends.

Besides the regular bills, we have 2 irregular bills coming due out of those paychecks as well-- a quarterly garbage bill for $84 due this month and a semi-annual $950.33 car insurance bill due in November.  Plus there is the financial mayhem of the Holidays.....well not really mayhem for us as I save and buy for Christmas during the year and don't put it on credit so there is no January financial hangover.

But still, holiday spending puts a dent into what we have left to save.  ;-)

I just don't see, with our increased spending in electricity, water, food and in medical co-pays since June, how we are going to save $9K+ out of those 6 paychecks.

Plus there is the issue of keeping part of December's savings liquid in our account to use in January when the high deductibles of our medical plan kick in for the new year before we see any reductions in what we are required to pay for prescriptions, DMEs, tests and office visits.
Oh goody......

It's just doubtful if I am going to make my goal.

Yes, it's still AWESOME that I have saved $28K so far and anything more I can stash away into savings will be great.
But I so had wanted to make that $38K goal, especially since this will be the first year since I started doing these Savings Challenges that I won't reach the year's mark. sigh.

But it's all good.  A few thousand saved more or less won't change the big financial picture and I am grateful for what I've been able to put away.
After all, every little bit helps! 8-)

Sluggy