Hot Guttered Bum

On the interstate yesterday on the way home from Cullman, we saw a sailboat with a great name--Hot Guttered Bum. I laughed on and off for thirty minutes. 

Wednesday, I told Tommy I wanted to go to Sam's Club and he said, "No, the termite guy was coming." I asked him to reschedule and he would not, so I dropped it. I was pouting in my head but did not let him know. Well, I could not sleep, so got back up. I have no idea how it happened, but I awoke at 5 am with the laptop on my lap! That was weird. So, I went to bed and woke about 10:30. 

Then, he asked me about 12:30 about going to Sam's. I was shocked. He said he rescheduled. Sooo, we got ready and went out. 

That place has changed it's layout since I was last there. Registers were everywhere. I got lost, really lost. 

I had made a list of what I wanted, so we headed out to look for items. Two things I wanted were not in the store. We found the large bags of cups we use for drinking. They were a pretty pastel assortment--blue, yellow, pink, and lavender. I won't have to decorate the house for Easter, just sit these cups all over the place. 

Claritin, Vicks, and Flonase , and two supplements, plus the cups were around $129. The Flonase was $20 for 6 bottles. Each has 144 metered sprays where the ones I have here are 120 metered sprays in each bottle. So, thanks, Sluggy. The two large, 3.53 oz. containers of Vicks Vaporub were a little more than one large bottle elsewhere. 

The only items I got that were not the regular brand were Flonase, Claritin and cups. Claritin brand was almost $20 for a few tablets, whereas the off brand was only about $9 for two containers with 200 each, so 400 tablets for about $9. Prices were amazingly low. If I could put my hands on the receipt, I could tell exactly. I know it is here. I searched and refuse to search more tonight. 

I asked him if we had gotten food to eat there. Yes, we had gotten hotdogs. We each had a slice of pizza and Diet Pepsi. I think it was the largest slice of pizza I have ever seen. We ate it in the car as we don't unmask to eat. 

I gave Tommy two Publix bags to use in Publix when he goes in. So far, he has not used them. However, when we got to the car, he unloaded my electric cart and used the bags. 

We stopped at Publix on the way home. I bought red potatoes, carrots, snack bags, pint freezer bags, apples, bananas, and strawberries. I should have bought another half-gallon of a2milk. Oh well, we know where the store is located. 

Tommy washed the kitchen linens since it will rain all day tomorrow and I hate to ask him to do laundry in the rain. So, it is all done and I need to fold. 

Thursday night, for dinner Tommy had chicken, and grape tomatoes and a salad. I had chicken and a whole tomato in a salad. He made his own dressing, and I had a bit of Miracle Whip, not as much as I would have liked. We have more chicken for lunch tomorrow. I will cook corned beef, carrots, cabbage, and potatoes for Friday. 

The freezer over the refrigerator is stuffed, too stuffed! I told Tommy that on Friday he needed to unload it until he found meat to thaw for the next few days or for next week. I like to cook several packages of chicken at one time if I can. 

Today, I had apple, banana, and strawberries and three vegetables--broccoli, tomato, and Romaine. I try to eat at least three fruits and three vegetables each day, more if I can. 

We have watched Spartacus on TV and now we are watching Ben Hur. So, no Gunsmoke tonight. But, I do have an observation that I will share Friday night about Matt. 

So, I got my Sam's fix and found another product I buy each month from Amazon that is almost half priced at Sam's. So, next time we go, I will buy a three-month supply and cancel the monthly order at Amazon. 

Busy Saturday

 Saturday we went to Cullman since I needed to get my mail and it should rain most days next week. There were bills and the requisite junk mail. I could not go in, so Tommy got it for me. He has a PO Box key on his keychain in case I lose mine or so he can use his key. 

Friday night, I read and could not go to sleep until an hour before he woke me. So, I am exhausted. 

We went to my yard and sat in the car in the driveway for about one minute. Usually, I want and need to sit there for at least five minutes. 

We went to the grocery store where I find carts with great markdowns. I found boxed Hershey's Chocolate Mousse mix for $0.49, so I bought 3.  the expiration date is August 24, 2021, but I am positive they are not bad or stale. The whole thing has 34 carbs, so each of the 8 helpings will be low-carb. 

Also, in the cart were tiny 6-packs of SUN-MAID chocolate yogurt covered raisins. I have never had these, but each 6-pack of snack size was $0.49. Cheap snack. I had never had these and only bought one package. They were delicious!

Those two items were in the cart. The next two items were in the ad.

Vlasic Dill Relish and Vlasic sweet relish were $0.99 for 10 ounce jars. I bought 2 of each for a total of four jars. I usually buy Mount Olive relish, but these were cheap, so I will try them. Best by date is October 22. But, I would not hesitate to eat these beyond that date. This relish is $0.98 at Walmart, but sometimes it is hard to find.

Dasani water was $3.99 for a 24 pack, so I bought 3. This is on sale this week and cheaper than I have seen it in a long time. 

I was happy with this shopping trip! 

Friday night I scrambled 5 eggs and ate half of the eggs for dinner. Saturday morning, I ate the rest with a sausage patty and a glass of milk in the car when we left. Tommy had two sausages in two slices of bread and a cup of tea before I awoke. It appears buying sausage and cooking it for him has easily broken his Hardee's habit. Those biscuits at Hardee's are too salty. It cost $4 for two sausage biscuit and a cup of coffee. 

At Publix last week or the week before, I found Jimmy Dean fully cooked sausages for $3.99. There are only 8 patties, but they are only $0.50 for each patty. I can stand long enough to cook/heat these in a skillet. So, they work. I may never get them unless they are on sale. I had one with my eggs. 

We arrived home before 2 pm.  I now need a nap at 2:30. 

Piggly Wiggly has Bell peppers for $0.50 each, so I plan to get some of those to make stuffed bell peppers. Tommy loves those. I have the ground beef thawing. 

After the nap.

Tommy called me at 6 pm and I have no memory of that event. He called me at 6:45 and I did get up in a few minutes. He said I replied at 6 pm. Obviously, I talk to him without a memory of talking. Rarely am I ever that exhausted.

Dinner was a bag of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, microwaved. Tommy had a chicken Italian sausage. I took one bite of the sausage and it made me ill, so I just had vegetables with nothing on them. Both items were given to me. 

Maybe I will make a chocolate mousse tonight. Maybe I will cook three packages of sausage patties that need to be cooked and freeze most of them. Maybe I will do nothing else. Maybe I will finish A Painted House. I only have 100 pages to go. 

What is going on in your world this weekend? Bargains? Healthy eating? Something interesting?

A Little Scare, Pressure Cooker, Bargains, New Stores

It is a little past midnight, Sunday night still to me. The high was 86 today, but still warm. It really rained, not just the occasional sprinkle.

My yellow mum liked the rain and sun since I put her out from under the porch. She was getting five hours of sun, mostly afternoon sun. This afternoon when we left, the whole plant had little yellow flowers starting to open. Hopefully, the whole plant will turn yellow soon.

Today, I went to the doctor for sinus and uti. Uti is not much according to doctor. I got a prescription for the sinus problem and a cortisone shot. I started feeling better in a couple of hours but knew it was the injection.

Then, my blood sugar shot to 320 and frightened me. I chugged bottles of water, exercised, ate green stuff and nothing seemed to help much. Then, about 1 am I remembered the shot. The blood sugar is coming down slowly, too slowly for me.

About ten years ago, I bought a 6-quart stainless steel pressure cooker. I had been using the huge aluminum pressure canner to cook meals and decided I did not want to eat from aluminum. I put the canner together and about that time, the House of Usher started having problems. So, it was one of the stored things I brought here from the emptied storage unit. I had to put it together again. This is not the large, new-in-the box canner that was stolen.

Tonight, I cooked whole, peeled potatoes in it in 10 minutes. We had chicken, potatoes, and broccoli. Tomorrow, I must cook the squash we bought last Tuesday if there is any not rotten. We will have chicken, squash and tomatoes on Monday.

All the spices I have are fresh onions, head of garlic and salt. At home I had different spices for chicken. So, the chicken is rather bland, not a problem for me, but I would like to do better. Tommy's black pepper is nasty to me. He only had salt and pepper when I got here. I bought the onions and garlic.

I bought a Sunday paper here for the first time. $3 is out of my league, especially when coupon inserts were missing. As I was in Walgreen's getting a prescription, I bought two cereals for Tommy for $1.99. I got home and found a better deal in the ad of another store and a coupon. While we were out, Tommy showed me two stores, and I looked them up on the internet. I found two deals at one store, and the other does not have ads instore or online.

I should have checked online for the coupon insert guide and then gone through the paper to make sure they were all present. But, I was feeling so ill I just bought the paper. That won't happen again! I went back to the Pig on Saturday and got 5 more $0.72 cent Starkist Tuna, my favorite.

Today, on the way to the doctor, I was excited to find my favorite brand bread outlet. I asked Tommy how far we were from home--13 miles and in an area where we would not frequent. So, I will have to find another one closer. Bummer!

One store, forgot which, has Pict Sweet frozen vegetables for $1. I will stuff the freezer with those. I paid $1.17 at the Pig last week for PictSweet, or some price like that.

Do you ever kick yourself when you screw up and buy something, only to go home and find it cheaper elsewhere? What do you do to try to recoup the loss? I take the receipt and coupon and ask for the difference back. With the Pict Sweet vegetables, I am just buying more at the better price.

Bargains and Not

I do buy bottled water. And, I only buy Dasani no matter how cheap any other is.  I only started buying water after I was diagnosed with diabetes. I forget water and end up buying it. Usually Dasani 24-pack is $4.99. I only bought it when I could find it on sale for $3.99. Publix has frequent sales of buy 2 get one free. I passed this by. THEN, one day I decided to do the math. It turns out that each pack cost cost something like $3.83. Happy day! Now, I only buy at this price.

I would buy a bottle of water no matter the cost if I really needed it. Tommy sat in his vehicle until he was dehydrated, had keys taken away from him, and having to have police and EMT minister to him. He now listens and drinks water. I get two bottles of water from my trunk to take to his vehicle. Before, he would scream out the window that he did not need water. Then, he would not drink it and tell me to take it out of the car. Now, he says nothing and drinks it.

When I buy Coke without Caffeine, I buy it only on sale- 3 12-packs for $9.99. That is what I got this week and suddenly realized that 4 for $11 was a better deal if only by a few cents for each can--$.28 vs. $0.23. I will do better next time! Then, I figured out Walgreens has the same cartons--$8.99 for 3. UGH

cherries--$1.99/lb
Cokes--$9.99/3 12-packs
Daisy Sour Cream--3/$5 I only got one.
2 European cucumbers--free
Ruffles Chips, party size 13.5  ozs.--$2
Breyers Ice Cream 1.5 qts--$2

I think I have a bit of cream cheese. If so, I will make cucumber sandwiches.

I am so sleepy I can barely type right now.

There were many sales this weekend, but not a lot I needed or wanted. How about you?

Blood Sugar, Bargains, Pollen

Okay, it looks like I am in business.

Since Nov. 27, 2018, lots has happened. I have found some great bargains and my problems with the meds for diabetes is over. However, the early and intense spring  blooms have caused me constant health problems.

This is my second laptop this year and I love this one. I can no longer use a black laptop keyboard. It's just too hard to see the keys. This one is silver and has lights under the keys that can be tuned on for better viewing at night. It was on sale! Of course, there are sales all the time.

Now, I have to retrieve the money from Paypal  to pay for this. Thank you so much.

Two weeks ago (Tommy says it was two months ago) I had a brilliant idea. There is an event every year that has awful food. They use a processed turkey roll, nasty dressing, and a Little Debbie Christmas tree for dessert. I think  they used a slice of sweet potato, and tasteless veggies--so forgettable!  I suggested  I pack those divided dishes with a lunch and we take them out in time for the dinner. He exclaimed that it was a great idea. So, it is settled.

I called Tommy yesterday/Friday afternoon. I thought I had awakened him. He was lippy and, hurting my feelings--terse. I told him I was going to call the police if he did not talk to me right. Yep, they made a welfare check and got his blood sugar up to 60 by feeding him from his refrigerator.  When I told him what he said to me, he was shocked. He said they questioned him about lots of things and left only after they saw him eating cereal and milk. He scares me so.

He has no awareness of the fact he is slipping away. I am aware of my problem if my blood sugar goes too low. I asked him to come into the exam room with me when I went to an excellent doctor, endocrinologist. Finally, I said, "I think I sound like I am drunk." Tommy agreed. I know when I slur my words. He is not aware.  I don't know what is the difference between our awareness of our own states.

He remembers my calling at 10 am and then the police were at his door around 5 pm. Actually, I had called him three other times before I had the welfare check done!

The other times I called were short calls because I thought he was napping, and I thought I disturbed him. I also thought he might be watching something on tv and was terse because he wanted me to go away...lol.

No, I have never drunk until I slurred my words, but I have heard others slur words.

Publix had 10 oz. packages of Ghirardelli dark  chocolate chips for $1.50 each  The regular price was over $4. I bought six packages. I would have bought more if I had had more money.  I eat a few chips when I want chocolate. It is much cheaper than other iterations of chocolate.

None Such Mincemeat in the little boxed, concentrated chunks were marked down to $1.50, so I got six of those. The end of 2021 is the use-by date. Original price was $3.49.

Do you have problems with someone who is not aware of the fact their blood sugar is falling or too high? What do you do?


I will be here until I can get back into my blog!