Who Needs a Giveaway? May Needs a Giveaway!

Time for the Seventh  Sluggy's Boring Blog Giveaway for 2020!

As promised I've gotten the May giveaway up a tad earlier than usual.
Go me! ;-)

Let's take a look at what is in the ol' May box o' goodies..............

1 x Suave Shampoo
1 x Soft Soap Body Wash
1 x Skintimate Shave Gel
1 x Crest Toothpaste
1 x Ace Cold Compress
1 x Betadine Antiseptic Cream
1 x Cloth Adjustable Apron(Veggie Design)
1 x 12 Lindt Truffles(Assorted)

Stuff to make you acceptable looking when you get to go out in public again(shampoo, body wash, shave gel, toothpaste)stuff to help you when you get back out to do yard work or garden(antiseptic for boo-boos and a compress for aches and sprains), a cute apron when you fire up the grill for Memorial Day cookouts and 12 chocolate truffles because well.....CHOCOLATE!!!

Close up shots of these goodies..........

Depending on where you shop the winnings have a reg. retail value of approximately $50.00.
Stuff to clean yourself up, stuff to help with the aches and scrapes of working in the yard, something to keep your clothes clean in the kitchen and something to make your tummy happy. 8-)))

From all the VALID entries I receive I'll pick a winner at random.

* This Giveaway Box of goodies is open to all readers! BUT....this month anybody who enters who has not won a Giveaway yet, their enters will count twice.  So all you non-winners yet, be sure and enter this month because you have the advantage here! 8-)

There is a limit of ONE ENTRY PER PERSON PER DAY(but non-winners entries count for 2)for this Giveaway.  Come back every day and enter though!

In your entries I'd like to hear about your plans for May....Can you go out in your state yet?, Are you planning Summer travel this year and where?, Are you tired of your family yet?, Have you contemplated murder?, Anything you still can't find in stores(here it's yeast!), etc.  Stuff like that.

If you are on my Giveaway emails list just leave a comment and your name to enter. If you aren't on the Giveaway emails list make sure you leave your email in your comment OR email me your email privately after you leave a comment(my email is in the side bar area under "About Me").5
I'll leave this giveaway open until Saturday, May 16th  at 11:59 pm Eastern Daylight Savings Time. On May 17th, Sunday, I'll draw the winning entry and post who won.

*Please note these rules*
I'll post the name/ID of the winner on this blog on  and that person has 48 hours from the time stamp on that post to contact me privately via email(my email addy is listed on my "About Me" page, as well as on my side bar).

Disclaimer--This giveaway is open to those with mailing addresses within the US only.  As the cost of postage to foreign countries has gotten too high I am sorry to say I can no longer afford to mail boxes outside the US.  These giveaways are not sponsored by any companies.  I pay for it all(the cost of items given away and the postage to mail it all)out of my own pocket.

***PLEASE NOTE***

Please make sure there is a way for me to contact you in your comment.

If you're not a registered Blogger User with YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION on your User page, please put your email addy in your comment or email me your email addy privately when you leave a comment so I can get a hold of you. If your Blogger associated user profile is a GOOGLE one make sure your email info is linked to your profile.

If I can't contact you then you can't win.  I am still having to disqualify entries due to this issue and I sure don't like doing that.  Thanks!


So let's get this Giveaway started. Good luck to everyone!!!

Sluggy

Frugal Friday......The May 7th Edition

Not a lot frugal around here this past week if you don't count not going anywhere. lolz  We worked in the yard 2 days and have plans to expand our garden this year....more on that later.
Our county's stay at home order expired so the assholes in charge here extended ours to June 4th.
Because of the moron town South of us in our county(where half of all the county's cases are located) we'll never get the ok to open up again. sigh.
I tell ya there will be both a lot of babies born around the beginning of 2021 and a lot of divorces(plus a few murders sprinkled into the statistics here).  Thank goodness it's not the dead of Winter here so at least folks can get out in their yards and away from their families. lolz

Here's the frugal in my World lately...........

* I got out my leftover seeds and we went to our favorite plant nursery to pick up plants we needed.

We got a few veggie plants(things I won't plant from seeds)plus some ornamental and flowers.

* I found money!
Since we were at the greenhouse near the Amish Surplus Outlet we went there too.

I found this penny by the checkout.

* And speaking of the Surplus Outlet--we got a few things there.  Some of the better deals are pictured below.........

big jar of Yuban coffee $4.99
2 bags of whole bean 8 o'clock coffee for $1.99 each
2 lb. bag of rice for .89¢
3 large cans of tomato paste for .99¢ each
2 cans of tomato soup for .50¢ each
1 loaf of PF bread for $1.00
1 bottle of Kranch(ketchup/ranch)for ExCB $1.19
1 box of Melba Toast for .79¢
1 bottle of veggie oil for $2.99(not a great buy but I was out so yah)

Also bought but not pictured were 4 Oikos yogurt drinks(for ExCB) .25¢ each, a huge bag of frozen Birdseye broccoli florets for $3.19, 2+ lb bag of chicken tenders, haddock fillets at $3.49 lb., a lb. of roast beef deli meat for $3.50, a head of lettuce for .99¢, large clamshell of butter lettuce for $1.49 and a box of 4 Smithfield sausage biscuits for $2.59 for Hubs.

* Hubs "made" dinner on Thursday my shot day when I am not up to cooking meals.  He used a Domino's gift card AND I had enough points to get a free pizza too, so we only used the gift card for 2 of the pies(we each get a med. pizza-so we can get the toppings we each like and then use it for other meals-except Ex-College Boy who usually eats his whole pizza within 24 hours of buying it. lol)

* My specialty pharmacy that my insurance provider forces me to use to fill my Humira Rx screwed up again.
I'm suppose to be charged $5 per Rx w/my co-pay card from the manufacturer but they charged me $50 again, like they screwed it up in March.  I called them right away that day it was ordered and supposedly they fixed it.  Got the Rx in the mail and the paperwork and NOPE!, they took $50 out of our HSA for it.  Which meant another call to the specialty pharmacy and I'm crossing my fingers they actually FIX their screw up this time.
That same day I got a letter that the reg. arm of this mail order pharmacy wants me to transfer my maintenance/regular meds to them to fill.
Um, hell NO!  If you can't fill this one drug and charge me the proper amount why on earth would I want you handling any of my other Rxs??!
Ass hats...


* Our only nephew's birthday was May 4th and I haven't been out to Dollar Tree in ages so I didn't have a card for him.  We had picked up single serve Edward's pies for .50¢ each at Surplus Outlet that day and his fav is Key Lime so I donned a mask, threw Chester in the car and went over to his apartment that evening with a bag of those free grain-free chips(he likes that sort of thing)and a pie.
I stood at his door and sang "Happy Birthday' and handed him the bag of goodies.  We talked while social distancing.  He's an essential worker but it's been hard on him not socializing outside of work and living alone now.  I know he's rather have been chatting with one of his friends instead of his unhip Aunt but it's the best I could do for him. ;-)  And he appreciated the pie as nobody else makes him birthday cakes(usually I make him cupcakes or a cake).

That's about all from here.  No Rite-Aid trips this week. 8-(

What frugal wins did y'all have this week?

Sluggy

They Don't Call Me Annie Oakley for Nothing

Sluggy

To-Do List.....April Outcome

Another month in the books so let's see what go accomplished or not..............

* Pay Bills  DONE  Always first thing, then we move on.

* Read 1, 2, 3 Books  PASS 
Since I read a record 4 books last month I hope to read 3 in April what with Coronavirus and all but I only finished off 2(though I got about 1/3 of the way through #3).

First I read this one..........

"Everything All At Once:How to Think Like A Science Guy, Solve Any Problem and Make A Better World" by Bill Nye

I have always felt a connection to Bill Nye-first my kids loved his "Science Guy" shows on TV-especially my daughter who grew up to be a scientist and second because his mother went to my college alma mater(and was recruited from there to work in a secret code breaking department during WWII-the Dean of my college, Dorothy Stimson happened to be a cousin of Henry Stimson, whom FDR brought back into government as his Secretary of War once WWII broke out, so with all the men off fighting Henry asked his cousin if any of the ladies attending her school would be smart enough to help out behind the scenes and Bill's mom, Jacqueline Jenkins, was one of those selected).  And who doesn't love a man in a bow tie? lolz

Anyway, this book took a long time to slog through.  Basically it's a book on how to think like a nerd.  Be forewarned going in that Mr. Nye is passionate about two things-space and climate change, so much of it involves those subjects.  There are some interesting biographical tidbits and peeks at his early career that I found lovely.
After I got through with this book I decided that Mr. Nye is an odd duck overall but I am glad I read his book.
3 Thumps Up

Then I read this one........

"Beethoven's Skull; Dark, Strange and Fascinating Tales From the World of Classical Music and Beyond" by Tim Rayborn

I needed a "light" read after Nye's book and this didn't disappoint.  If you like the macabre and strange read this book.  It's all about the strange tales of famous(and not so famous)musicians/composers in history from the Middle Ages to the 20th century.
Who knew that Anton Bruckner had an unhealthy obsession with dead bodies?
Or that Arnold Schoenberg suffered from Triskaidekaphobia(fear of the number 13)?
I even found one of my direct ancestors in this book!(Of course I did, I am related to everyone. lol)-William IX, the Duke of Aquataine, my 27x Great Grandfather.  He was a Troubadour, one of the first of the Middle Ages who's musical works survive into today.  

This author has written a book in a similar vein about theatre called "Skakespeare's Ear" which I'll have to find and read as well, because....theatre!
4 Thumbs Up

* Hold Giveaway  DONE

I actually held Two Giveaways in April........

* Mail Giveaway  All mailed and received.

* Clean the Masterbedroom  DONE
Hubs helped me do a thorough Spring cleaning in our bedroom the last week of April.

* Clean the Masterbath  DONE as well.  Well except the bath as Hubs has to do that one.

* Make Face Masks  DONE  I made about 16 masks(maybe a few more)I didn't keep records of them all.  In PA we were required to don them early on, especially if you worked at a drug or grocery store.

I made a few for friends at Rite-Aid before corporate got them PPE.
A couple of them were fighting over this one above. lolz

I made myself some masks..........

I made one for Ex-College Boy and when I sent Eldest son toilet paper in March I threw in a mask as I figured he'd need one eventually down in VA.

I sent this lot to Daughter in LA, both elastic looped over the ears small ones and larger tie behind the head ones for work(these cover more area with less gaps).

I didn't make tons for donation as just making these many killed my hands(I had medical issues with my hands).  If I get a "good hand day" I'll make more.

* Take Load to Food Bank  DONE  The Food Bank finally called me back and they were at least at the beginning of April still accepting food donations and not just money so Hubs took what I had gathered  up...........

All that baby food I got back in February.

And then stuff I bought(or got for Free on Freebie Friday until they stopped doing that until further notice)for donation and foods I gleaned from the stockpile.

* List Items on eBay  FAIL I figured with this pandemic folks wouldn't be buying stuff on eBay much unless you had TP or hand sanitizer for sale or other essentials so I didn't bother to put anything up there.  The bouts of anxiety last month didn't help either.  When I didn't  have a pressing task I was pretty much paralyzed and didn't get much done other than what HAD to be done.
sigh.

* Hem Hubs' Shirts  DONE  After trying on a shit ton of shirts it was determined that only 2 needed to bee taken up.  In between mask sewing, when I had to change to a color of thread that matched the shirts in question, I worked on those shirts.  Done and Hubs is pleased which is what this was all about.  Though there was a time or two I just wanted to hack him up with my scissors.......*shhh, don't tell him.

* Plan/Goals for 2020  PASS  Well unless you've been sleeping for the last 8 weeks you know why this hasn't been finished.  We did work on it some but with not knowing when it will be safe for us to travel a component of our Plans for 2020 can't be scheduled.....the component related to us moving.  
Once Ex-College Boy is back to work he will be moving out(not right away but sometime later this year)so we can begin repairs/renovations on that bedroom and the main bathroom which gets us closer to the finish line with having the house ready to list.  So there's something.
I am so tired of this stay at home order and I want to travel.  I keep threatening to drive to Kim's Sissie's house since it's pretty close and I wouldn't have to stop to pee anywhere or get gas.  lolz  I could stand to stare at her four walls for awhile rather than my own for a bit. lolz

I am hatching a plan to go see Sonya Ann this coming Winter too.....unless she moves to somewhere cold(but that ain't happening if I know her). ;-)

Eldest may be moving sometime this Summer and starting a new job in the Fall but with the global pandemic that's all up in the air still too.

While we sit here contemplating our navels we've been talking about where to move.  Besides the probability of back down to Virginia or one of the tax-friendly states I've identified there is also maybe staying in PA, but further South in the state and not here.  Not living on a mountain in PA means less snow than here and I am sure we can find someplace closer to Maryland but in PA that has less expensive housing.
I don't know and it's all still up in the air for us.

So what did you get knocked off your To-Do list in April?

Sluggy

Tired of the Trolls and Their Crap!

I just get so tired of trolly comments left on my blog sometimes.  Well except that unhinged person who keeps telling us boomers we should all DIE now!.....that one is HIL-arious!!

These annoying anonymous comments are usually about what we eat(judge much?!)and in extension troll me about my weight.
I don't see other overweight frugal bloggers getting the same level of these nasty comments.  I guess I am "special".
Yay me!!

Yes I am fat by any medical standards and I know that, so stop telling me my life is being lived all wrong unless you have the magic bullet that will make me healthy and thin.

I have complex medical issues(which give me constant chronic pain) and food allergies(since I was 10 days old)and issues surrounding exercising(that you will never understand)but I am doing the best I can as are most people who don't live up to your standards(because I bet none of us can live up to you and your standards oh perfect one).
How much I weigh is none of your god damned business anyway!

You don't KNOW me because of this blog you read even though you think you do.
You're not here to see what I actually put in my mouth, are you?

You were not elected the food police were you??  If you were please produce a copy of your license to be on that elite squad.
What gives you the right to tell me what I should and should not be eating? 

Just because I make a menu for our family of 3 that includes items you feel I shouldn't be eating, maybe I am NOT eating those items?   Maybe I cook them for the other folks eating here?

And if you actually READ these menu plans you will see that I DO eat vegetables, grilled/smoked fish and meats and SALADS and here's a newsflash just for you--my favorite salad dressing is olive oil and a nice balsamic vinegar not blue cheese dressing or something mayonnaise-y like ranch.

I suspect this is the same person who has made multiple deleted comments about how I should not be eating mayo, sour cream, etc. who thinks no one should use those items(or any fats for that matter)and that the video I posted about a Georgia Cracker Salad was nasty.  Yah, I thought that salad was nasty too but didn't feel the need to tell the world it was like you did two times!  Oh sorry, I deleted all those comments because you left them under Anonymous.  Sucks to be perfect you, doesn't it?

Hey, you are welcomed to your own opinions but you are NOT the judge of any person in this world on what they like/what they eat and we all, the rest of the eating world, don't give rat's add what YOU think of us!

So go back into your sad little corner of the world and eat your kale and other weeds(unseasoned and undressed of course)and your only grilled fake or real meat products.
You are a sad person who must have a miserable life if you can only get your jollies oppressing fat people, one of the last "groups" that it seems acceptable to torment now that any racial group, sexual orientation, etc. are off the table.

So dear actual readers, how do I solve this conundrum?  If I go the route of making the blog private that shuts off not only the trolls but any real reader who isn't here already.  If I go the "You have to have a Google account" to comment then all my lovely non-Google account readers(who btw leave their names in their anonymous comments)can't comment.
If I do nothing I still have to see these crappy worthless comments, these holy than thou trolls leave before I send them off to Spamland.

Maybe I'll just stop talking about what we eat(menus)and what I spend at the grocery stores?
I am all ears(to real readers, not the trolls)................

Sluggy