Wednesday Ads

 Today, we went for Tommy's milk and Romaine for me, well, for both of us. But, I am the one who misses it. Of course, today is the day to get the ads. I only found one thing--Kraft Medium Cheddar Cheese, four chunks of 8 oz each, for for $10. At $2.50 each, that is the best price in a long time. So, we got four chunks. 

The farmer's market was within 30 minutes of closing, so we bought yellow squash for $5. I purchased a lemonade strawberry drink. It was delicious. Tommy hates lemonade, so I cannot induce him to try it, but that is just more for me. 

I am searching for someone to empty the freezer with Tommy and I helping to get it sorted. There are somethings that need to be tossed, bananas, for one. And, there are things we do not want. The turkey is too much for us to handle! There may be two. Even though they were dirt cheap, we will never buy another turkey. We cannot bend to get this all picked up. We have to get it done quickly and not rest or stop. 

There is one person who might help, but he is interested in me, and not in a nice way. I am not in for having "fun." I am not a carnival ride. So, Tommy does not want him around. He is not jealous, just does not like his attitude. 

Today, I received 10 of my 12 sets of wings but they are half finished. That is another thing I need--a carpenter with right saw. That is a good news/bad news situation. 

The Double Q Salmon is still not in. The raincheck is only good for 10 more days. 

The temperature will be 97 all week, so this is a normal summer for us! Of course, we take precautions so as not to become overheated and overexposed to the heat. The thoughts of going to Death Valley were completely forgotten after my heart complications. I need to cruise to a hospital not to Death Valley. It would probably just cool off before I arrived. 

I am trying strategies to get myself asleep earlier. Last night, I managed to sleep before 8 am. I will keep working on this.

It appears that upon further examination, that the Kraft Cheese deal is the only thing that interests us in the three store ads. Too bad. I need another bscb sale. 

We will cut the tiny watermelon tonight! Or else!

Dinner: We each had 1/4th of the ham slice. It was over 1/2 inch thick. Tomorrow night, we can eat the other for dinner. Tommy had two small pieces of potato. We both had a salad with the Romaine and the tomato from the guy sitting at his curb selling tomatoes I figured came from Finley's market. No matter, the tomato was summery delicious. We kept forgetting to buy salad, so I was desperate for salad greens. 

Any sales at stores in your area this week?

Monday Christmas Talk, Sales & Next Year

 Christmas Day went well! I knew it would. However, due to sleep issues and dogs barking for a long time well before 6 am and right outside my window, I did not go to sleep until 8 am. So, it was about 2 pm or later when I got up, finally. 

I ate a hearty and late meal. Can brunch come after breakfast and lunch? Chicken sandwich on keto bread with MW, lettuce and cheese, chocolates and halo. 

I gave Tommy a tiny flashlight that he seemed to really like and a headlamp and one for me...lol. I still cannot find the other flashlight I want for him. It will sit up and point to the side, so he can see when he puts it down. I had already gotten the first light for me, too, tiny and strong light. 

He gave me a $50 Belk gift card, just what I wanted and a bag of Lindt Lindor Dark Truffles. He knows I love these. 

Christmas Day, we watched The Santa Clause, Santa Clause 2, and Santa Clause 3. I really loved these and had not seen either of them, before. The little boy in the original looked just like my son--his hair facial features, and the fact he had a pretty cry. My son was a pretty crier. Even in the second one, Charlie still looked like my son in that his hair was coarse, shiny, and thick, full lips, heavy brows. It was amazing. All three movies were great! Now, both the Home Alone movies are coming on.  But, since we have seen those, we don't worry about missing a word. We say the lines with the characters often! 

Dinner is almost done. The only thing not done is the gravy, but the hard-boiled eggs are ready for the gravy which will be tomorrow with the leftovers. Dinner: turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potato. Tomorrow, I will make the green bean casserole that I forgot and gravy for the rest of the leftovers.

When I made the cranberry sauce, I used Ocean Spray cranberries, 1c water, and 1/2 cup of sugar. The recipe called for a whole cup, but half a cup was fine. Next time, I might use less than the bag said. 

Christmas Eve, Lynda woke to water in her kitchen, coming from the direction of the refrigerator. After some mopping and many calls to plumbers, she finally found a plumber who insisted on coming out right then, late afternoon, and seeing what was happening. 

He decided he would have to come back Monday, but then took a look at the refrigerator. It was a broken line to the icemaker. She will do without that. But, the problem is solved except for the soaked carpet! It is still wet on Christmas Day, but she used the suction function of the carpet cleaner and got some water from the rug. She has a space heater in there to help dry the carpet. She had to spend $200 on Christmas Eve. 

The wreath never made it to the door because somehow the big red bell fell off and Tommy did not see where it fell when he brought it in. So, it is hanging on the inside of the front door.  Just now, I see the Home Alone house has a wreath on the inside of the door as well as outside. So, maybe that is a thing?  We never found the ornaments for the tree, so it still has only lights. However, that is not a problem. There is lots of light and decoration in the living room. 

Sunday night, once again I could not sleep. I had told Tommy to wake me at 11 am to go out. I normally would have wanted to get out shopping earlier on Christmas day after sales, but we did not want to leave the house before the temperature was at least 32F or above. 

Consequently, the stores were packed and all I might have found was gone. I wanted a few things specifically, like curling ribbon. I did make a few purchases, nothing related to Christmas. A box of 12 wrapped Cella chocolate covered cherries was $1.64--got two boxes. 

Silly me had Tommy return something. I forgot that there would be a long line. But, he said there were only 10 people ahead of him. That was only because it was late in the afternoon. When I went to see what took so long, there were about 15 people behind him. 

Hopefully, I will be able to sleep better tonight. Tomorrow should be warmer, Tommy can take the light out of the washing machine and wash my clothing! I finally have two loads ready. One  "load"is my two red blouses. 

We may have broken out of something, some attitude. I want to invite Tommy's cousin here for lunch and Tommy said, "Yes." So, every day we are improving on the condition of the living room and keeping it uncluttered. There was still a bit of clutter when Lynda came over. His cousin takes us to Bright Star where he loves to eat, but I am not going out to dinner until some of my health problems are resolved. 

I have been thinking about next year. I am not trying to rush 2022 out the door. Mostly, my plans revolve around health. But, I have two larger items I want to buy, so I need a way to fund those. I am working it all out in my head. I will discuss next year later this week.

Dinner: turkey breast, plain baked sweet potato, green bean casserole, halo. Later, I will eat half an apple. 

What did you get at the post-Christmas sales today? Did you look for something and fail to find it? 

I Thought I Was Well Tuesday and More Bargains

Tuesday, I wanted to shop the ads since Wednesday is the day new ads come out. I felt better, so no problem. Well, not well, not really. 

In Publix, I always check the sale rack. There I found the ziploc  bags with Christmas designs marked down. I ended up buying 10 boxes at $3.15 apiece. I checked the shelves for the regular, non-holiday theme. There were more bags in a box in the holiday-themed ones at a cheaper price. So, check Publix for cheap storage and freezer bags. The Christmas designs make me smile in July! Plus, I think of what a bargain I found. Oh, part of the bags with Christmas designs were still on the shelves with regular products, so check there if the sale rack has none. 

After the Publix trip, we went to Piggly Wiggly for coleslaw and potatoes. There was a third store to visit, but suddenly I became tired. All I bought in Publix was bscb and ten boxes of Ziploc. 

Before we went to the two grocery stores, we went to a food giveaway. Some weeks, there are only three cans of food and a pack of hamburger buns. Not much. Other weeks, there are 8 kinds of breads and rolls. It is all inconsistent, but I have no complaints. Today was a good meat day. We got:

Huge pack of Publix ground chuck $19.99

2 chicken breasts $13.66

2 organic chicken breasts $12.77

4+ lbs of chicken thighs $6.81

apple bourbn pork tenderloin

$13.00 shoulder blade steak

6 huge, sweet potatoes

4 bags and boxes of salad greens 

Low sodium potato pancake mix...will give away. 

The thighs are thawing so I can cook them with the two packages of chicken breasts I bought for half price (bogo) at Publix. I could barely get part of the meat in the freezer. I left the flank steak to cook for dinner on Tuesday night; So, four packages of meat went into the freezer. 

Two of the bags of salad greens went straight into the trash. One was slimy green and the other was turning bronze and wilting. 

At 5:30 pm, I was staggering and could barely walk, so I told Tommy to put the meat and the three potatoes in a freezer bag with half cup of water and tie it up and stick six holes in the bag and cook it on 300F degrees, wake me in an hour and a half and let me look at it. 

Folks, he can cook!

As I came out of the bedroom, I asked him if he put salt and pepper on the meat. He said he thought about it and did not want to put too much. "Salt and pepper it as you would something on your plate, but not heavy." 

The shoulder blade steak looked like it would be fatty and tough. It was.  However, I will cook it again to make it more tender. Since it was frozen solid, it did not cook long enough to tenderize. The taste was delicious. I asked Tommy how he liked it..."It was beef and not ground hamburger meat." 

We did a drive around the neighborhood to find a pink bag of ads and coupons. Tommy cut all them for my friend who is in charge of the food bank. We saved out the coupon for Cheerios. Tomorrow, we will get more packs of coupons in pink plastic. We only want the Cheerio coupon. We ask people if we can have them or take them from vacant houses. 

So, I was not as well as I thought I was today and now I am worse! I have med to last Wed and Thursday. Then, these meds will quit making me feel so awful. But, I did have a good day. Today, I really needed to be out. The temperature was 53F and the sky was a brilliant blue, not a cloud in the sky! 

I know the weather is rough in some places and people are stranded in cars. Here's hoping you are snug and warm in your house or other abode. 

Have you ever bought the Ziplock freezer and storage bags with holiday designs?

Beautiful Weather Tuesday and Wednesday.

On Tuesday, we both went into the store where I won the $100 grocery certificate. I was looking for something in particular and told Tommy to buy it. The manager found it and we asked where it was since it appears to change locations often. She said, "over where the $1 items are." Tommy and I both went to look at the $1 items. He looked happy as he found huge tubes of Pepsodent for $1.and bought two. I had him buy two of the covered dishes with 3 partitions...$1 each.He loves a good bargain. I guess that is cheap, but I never price Pepsodent toothpaste. On the regular soap aisle, I found a very small pink Dove for $0.79. I bought it and looked at it later. The Dove was made in Germany and had Farsi writing. I suppose it was Farsi. At any rate, we are both in the running for $100. Keep your fingers crossed.

At Publix I found glass storage containers by Pyrex that had the snaplock lids. These storage pieces were bogo. So for $8, I have two nice storage containers. The ad was going off on Tuesday, so I got two round ones with the lids for about $7. There are no containers here that I consider safe to use. Now, I have four in two sizes. Or, they are at least two shapes. You cannot beat these prices for glass.

On Wednesday, I was in CVS to purchase Melatonin, the brand I like, Natrol. As usual, I checked out the $1 aisle. There and up front in bin was the same huge tube of Pepsodent reduced to $0.50. You might check this out as there were two more buggies back in front of greeting cards were there were more $1 items reduced to 1/2 price. oh, I did not find Natrol Melatonin.

The weather has been mild neither hot nor cold, in mid 60s. Going out has been pleasant. The nights are not too cold at all, in 40s. My feet are not cold but my upper body still gets too warm. A sweater is even too warm.

The doctor visit was not good news except I have no kidney disease, much less a uti. So, it is off to more doctors to find out why my swollen ankle suddenly turned into a swollen leg. But, I lost more weight! That is either good news or bad news. So, I will find out. I am more exhausted than usual.

My clothes are getting too large. Well, not all of them are too big, just enough to make me look like I am wearing someone else's clothes. Of course, shoes are too tight. I turned over the top of pants I bought. Then as I was walking, I thought they had come unrolled. So, I rolled them over once more. Then, I could not get my hands into my pockets.

The clothes from Saturday, the ones given me do not fit. Rats!

I bought Ocean Spray cranberry sauce, just one can, for $1.38. I still believe it will be cheaper. But, this stuff disappears quickly and I do not want to be store-hopping at the last minute. Still, other things are not on sale that I want.

Since I am not supposed to indulge in fiber, I am torn between buying and eating celery! But, it is not on sale anywhere that I have found.

Tonight, Tommy had the rest of the soup, and I had the rest of the spaghetti. I had no pasta like I thought I did, so toast subbed. I knew it didn't taste quite right. I had forgotten to put Parmesan cheese on it.

Now, I am going to check on online ads and make a list.

How are your T day preps and shopping coming along?

Saturday Nothings

It was 96F by Tommy's car thermometer. It really was hot out. When I bought tomatoes and greens, I let them ride up front between my feet. It seemed still too hot in the back seat.

When I asked Tommy about any Farmer's Markets, he said there was one right near his house or at lest on the path to other places. He showed me too late, so I did not get to see it. Besides, it was closed. Next time I saw it, we had other things on our minds. THEN, when I saw "oranges and bananas" listed along with fruits grown locally, I knew it was not the market for me. We go to Cullman about once a week for whatever, so I will still buy there.

I cancelled my colonoscopy in Cullman that would have been around 12 noon. When I scheduled it for Birmingham, the time to show up was 6:30 am. Boy, did I make a mistake! I hate to change it back but for another date in Cullman, but I am tempted.

At a place I frequent and spend money, they were giving tshirts with their advertisement. I asked for one, then dared to ask for one for Tommy. She gave me two tshirts and one for Tommy because, "I just want them off my shelves." . New clothes for free! We wear anything like this in yard or house. Besides, I need a new shirt for using when I color my hair.

I heated the rotisserie chicken from the foodbank for use to eat tonight. Salad with it was perfect.

I have had a huge package of frozen boneless, skinless chicken breasts that I bought on sale last spring in the refrigerator, thawing. These are some I bought, knowing they would not fit in my freezer and sent home with Tommy to keep until I had room. I was just to the point I was going to have him bring them to me. Luckily, they were still here instead of at my house. Hopefully, they will be thawed by Sunday night.

Since all this happened, I am having to gather clothes for all occasions. I passed a rack with leopard print knit skirts, found my size, found it had been reduced to $7 and paid $5 for it. YAY! I rarely wore the one I had, but really wanted another. It's a size too large...sigh...so I can get the smaller size if it is still on the rack after the markdown. If not, I will just cinch in the waist a bit. Actually, it does not fit like it is too big, but I can feel the waistband moving.

I suppose if I have to buy clothes, this is the best time of the year for a sale. I buy anything I need for the next winter in the spring since I cannot stand 3/4 or long sleeves.
at one store, the clerk was nice enough to get me a chair and bring clothes to me. I will probably never get that lucky again.

Well, it is bedtime according to Tommy, so I will get out of his way.

Washing Dishes, Grocery Markdowns, Rain Checks

I have been saying to my male friend/neighbor that I am going to pay someone to wash my dishes, some of which may have been here for over a year. (no judgment) I complained mightily. Today, he said he was going to come over and wash my dishes. Well, okay.

He brought a huge pan in which to heat water since I still have no water heater. He brought a gallon of Dawn. I have at least that much so I insisted he use mine. He worked for about two hours and went home for lunch. I was ready for a nap when he called since I had been up since 4:30 and had gone to Farmer's Market and to grocery.

I was lying down while he worked. When he left, I fell asleep. He came back and washed more dishes and left. All the while I was sleeping, oblivious to everything. I called asking him if he was coming back. That's when he told me he had been here. I was sleeping soundly!

When I opened the door, I told him I would rather he mowed the yard. He said he just mowed his and it was hot out. Oh well. No, he wanted to convince me of something.

He exhausted me trying to convince me to do something for my own good!

Oh, when he came, I told him to put any trash on the counter into a garbage bag. Now, I do not keep trash, but a zip strip opener on packages sometimes falls in between dishes, so I expected a handful of stuff. I went in and it was nearly full and heavy. I peeked in and there was a wide-mouth Ball canning jar in what he called "trash." I asked him why he put a canning jar in the trash. He said it was icky/nasty inside and he figured I had a million jars. I said I do have a million jars and never throw them in the trash. So, my project now is to hand sort the trash!!!

Earlier, I went to the store to redeem a rain check. The item was still not in. I also wanted to get something in the current ad that also had not come in on the truck. sigh... I asked the asst. manager about the two items. I also asked what I could do about the rain check expiring. So, he extended the expiration date on the coupon.

While I was there, I passed a cart with Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup on sale at $1/4. Tommy said he would take two. I got two. The expiration date is the end of August. The only time I eat chicken noodle soup is when I have a sinus infection.

A cart right net to the soup cart had hotdog buns for $0.50. I put those in the freezer. That is cheaper than the bread store.

My car had splashed mud on it. The wheels were so black (new) that I took it to the carwash to make the car look good, too. The carwash is one of the kind that a wheel, only one, has to go into a track. The guy showed me the sign--take foot off pedals, put it in neutral, hands off steering wheel. It was so loud it was nerve-wracking. I remember my babies being terrified of car washes. This was worse. I only went to the car wash once with my son because he was so terrified and crying unconsolably. I can see why...lol.

There were so many brushes and floppy things hitting the car. And, the soap was so thick and all was blue. That was eerie. I usually have my car hand-washed by me, person I pay to wash it in driveway, or some school car wash by Auto Zone.

The trunk under the spoiler did not come clean when I had it done several months ago. So, this time he used a long handled brush and it is now shiny like the rest of the car. I really think a car wash will ruin the finish.

UGH! I need to transfer wash to dryer. And, I am soooo tired.

How do you wash your car? Do you think the carwash can damage the finish on a car?