Random Stuff

* Do the grocery stores where you shop put out those ultra-smelly "decorative brooms" that are treated with cinnamon oil and smell like an overload of "Fall"?
You know.....the ones that have that overpowering cinnamon smell.
Weis(PMITA)Markets in my town puts them out in the "foyer" area of the entrance, which gets a lot of sunshine, and that extra warmth in an enclosed area that acts like a solar oven just adds to the release of the cinnamon aroma.

I do love me some cinnamon smells but it's quite disconcerting when it's September and the brooms are out since late August and we have a heat wave of temps in the 80's and as high as 90, and I walk into the foyer and am hit with a wall of hot cinnamon fragrance while I am dressed in Summer attire and sweating my brains out.
It just isn't a pleasant thang.......

* A reader left a comment about why I do giveaways.  Well, people like free stuff, right?  I make a teeny tiny bit of $ on my blog from advertisements(thanks to everyone who clicks on those)so I can afford to pay to ship a box now and again out of that income.  Plus I get stuff for cheap/free at Rite-Aid and occasionally at other places too.  And I like to give stuff away(and it gives me an excuse to buy things, the few things I do buy).
So, why not? 8-)))

* As of this past week I have passed the 1.7 million views threshold for my blog.  That's a whole lot of people stopping by to read since this here blog opened for business in January of 2009!


*  My computer updated Windows last week and when I opened up my mail program(OE)the update had done something strange to my inbox.  I was no longer able to delete emails in there.  Well, I could delete them but if I closed out and opened the mail program up again they were magically back.
WTF?!?!  By Wednesday, which was when everything righted itself(sort of), I had over 400 New emails in my inbox(most of those unwanted).  I tried to google a solution but everything I could find was at least from similar problems people had 2 years ago and didn't apply to my situation.
Everything is sort of back to normal now except that now I have two inboxes....one with all my old emails from before the Windows update that is now inactive and the other new inbox.  I guess once I get the new inbox cleaned out I'll migrate all the old inbox mail over to it.
This whole episode does point out that I really need to clean out my mail hoard however. lolz

* I already did a post about College Boy's concert that that's about it for things going on around here lately.

What's happening in your world?

Sluggy

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

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!

Annamarie VossOctober 12, 2016 at 9:48 AM

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

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