Whatever happened to a HALF GALLON of ice cream?

As I was browsing the aisles of my local Publix today, I noticed something. The ice cream shrunk.
At first, I thought it was me…..but, no, I confirmed it. Allow me to explain myself, and feel free to offer your thoughts.

Publix carries 4 brands of ice cream.
Publix Premium, sold in a HALF GALLON for $4.29.
Breyers, sold in 1.75 Liters, anywhere from $4.99-$5.29
Blue Bell, sold in a half gallon for $5.29 - and they have printed in big bold letters right on the tub “STILL A FULL HALF GALLON” .
Edy’s sold in 1.75 liters, $4.59-$5.29.

As I was looking at all the ice cream containers, I noticed something. Edy’s changed their packaging a little….the color scheme was different..and something else was off…? What was it..?
And, then……I got it.
The container was smaller.
I was sure of it.
I looked closer, and behind the new ones was an old container…..yep. a FULL INCH SHORTER, and the new one was not any fatter to make up for it. On closer inspection, it was 1.5 Liters!!
ONE POINT FIVE.
I looked over at the Breyers, and damn if they didn’t do the same thing! 1.5 liters! I KNOW they used to be 1.75 liters - not quite a full half gallon - not they are shorting us even more! And, they are real subtle about it, sneaking in the fancy new label thinking we wouldn’t notice that the tub was smaller! AND, doing it right before summer starts knowing how much we WANT our ice cream!!
Bastards!
ICE CREAM - of all things to short me on, do NOT mess with my ice cream!!
it’s not enough that the price of everything has gone up and we have to emtry our savings account to buy milk and eggs…… now we have to keep an eye on the containers too?
FREAKING COMMIES!!

So, keep a wary eye out shopper, because you may not be getting your money’s worth on your ice cream aisle!!

As if being first place in our division wasn’t enough to make you cheer for the Rays.
As if the fun of watching a young team grow and win wasn’t enough to make you cheer for the Rays.

Well.

Then, how about FREE PIZZA?

Yeah. Thought that would get your attention.

The Rays have a deal with Kane’s Furniture - every time the Rays strikeout the opposing team 10 times in a home game, you can get a FREE Papa Johns 10″ Cheese Pizza!!

Oh….didn’t watch the game last night?
What’s that? You find the sports section of the local paper boring?

Then you won’t know that LAST NIGHT WE HAD 10 STRIKEOUTS AGAINST THE WHITE SOX AT THE TROP!!

Yep.
Free Pie.

Take your ticket stub to your local Kane’s furniture and trade it for a gift card for a FREE 10″ cheese pie,

What’s that? You didn’t go to the game? NO PROBLEM.

Go here and print the page (it stays live for 24 hours after a 10 strikeout game) - bring the printed page to your local Kane’s Furniture and trade it for a Papa Johns gift card for a FREE 10″ Cheese Pizza!

Put away your air tools and go get your self some pizza. I got mine!! GO RAYS!

Next week is my 1 year blogoversary, and one of YOU will be getting the gifts!! That’s right kids, I am going to have a giveaway to celebrate…the prizes have been gathered, no teak furniture
or anything, but a few cool things, and I think you will be pleased! So, stay tuned next week to see how you can get entered!!

I now have 4 incomplete sets of wine glasses! I have those under counter mounted wine racks for your glasses, and every time I reach into the treat jar to get something for snoopy, it seems I knock one of the glasses, and have now officially broken 3 of them, each from a different set! I’m thinking it was a bad idea to mount one on the same side of the counter as the microwave…..either that, or just a bad idea to store stuff on top of the microwave. Lack of space seems to be my main issue in the kitchen, whcih forces me to mount things under the cabinets, and on top of the microwave.

I was out of town, so missed Super Saving Saturday - but I still had to run to the store and pick up a few things…..I had a picture of my CVS loot - but am having issues with my pictures showing up as a picture, rather than a red X!! (If Sister is reading this, maybe she can take a loook at that for me..?)

Anyhoo, on to my great deals!

Publix has a LOT of Buy One/Get One Free deals this week - you have to be careful with these, as they jack the price up a tad when they do this, if you have a coupon though - you can save big!

Lipton/Knorr Sides $1.49 / BOGO, minus .75 off 2 mfr Q = .37 each!
Kraft Salad Dressing $2.69 / BOGO, minus .75 mfr Q = .97 each!
Bertolli Frozen Pasta Meals (LOVE these!) $4.99/BOGO, minus $1.25 mfr Q = $1.87 each!
Ragu Pasta Sauce Pouch (I make my own sauce but these are great for recipes, etc) 3 for $5, minus .75 mfr Q = .92 each!

CVS - 7 iterms for 99 cents out of pocket!!!!!

Tums Quik Pak $4.69, minus $1 mfr Q, plus $4.69 ECB back and a full price rebate = FREE PLUS LOTS of overage!
2 Revlon Nail polish @ 3.99 each - $3 ECB back on each makes them .99
1 Adidas Deodorant $4.99, minus FREE mfr Q and $4.99 ECB back = FREE plus overage!
1 French’s Mustard @ .66 each (special 2 day sale)
1 Kraft BBQ Sauce @ .66 each (special 2 day sale)
1 Absolutely Divine Choco Chip Macadamia Cookies $1.99, minus $1.00 CVS Q = .99 cents

Total was $20.97
Minus Coupons of $2.00
Minus Extra Care Bucks of $17.98

= 99 CENTS OUT OF POCKET!!!

And, I got back $15.68 in CVS Extra Care Bucks!!

I am over in Orlando for the weekend visiting friends, and we are having a great time. Hit the Cracker Barrel last night for fish fry, and came home and watched my latest Netflix, The Departed (which was littered with F bombs by the way!). We headed out to Ikea this morning and spent about 2 1/2 hours browsing the entire store, with a top at the eatery for a plate of Swedish Meatballs ! YUM. (Frugal note: they now serve a “cup of Swedish Meatballs” in the downstairs bistro for a DOLLAR!)
Tonight, they have to attend a local dinner event, so I am on my own - which is fine with me. I am going to be prepping some of the food for our BBQ tomorrow, and probably run out to the local mall for some browsing and a bite to eat.
Tomorrow after church, another old friend is coming over with her family, along with the son and daughter-in-law of my hosts - and we are going to have a nice BBQ by the pool!
Good Times.

OK, so everyone watched the American Idol finale last night, right? Yeah. I did not watch all season, but there was nothing else on last night so I tuned in for the finale. Of course, it’s an hour and 58 minutes of fluff, faded has-been singers, and all the runners up doing cheesy song and dance numbers….and then they announce the winner. Yeah David Cook, congratulations, you are very talented.
My big question of the night is….what in the blue hell happened to George Micheal????!!!
Is it just me, or is he NOT aging well at all??!!
Maybe it’s all the drugs?
MAN.
I used to think he was THE HOTTEST thing going!
I drooled over WHAM!
Faith was the first CD I ever owned…I played it ALL THE TIME.
I drove all the way to Orlando ON A WORK NIGHT to see him in concert!
I dated a guy just because he had the facial hair fuzz thing like George did.
And now? Psshhh. I thought he looked horrible.

The freebies out in freebie land have dried up lately. Although, my mailbox has been quite full of the ones I signed up for a month ago!
I have nothing going on in my life worth talking about. (this is a good thing!)
I have been working a lot.
Gas is up to $3.75-3.80 a gallon in these parts. Thanks to my trusty Rally cash card, I am still paying 5 cents less than the price on the sign.

I am going away for the weekend to visit my friends in Orlando - am looking forward to a nice relaxing visit with them.

Other than that, I got nothin.

I had my free outing at the museum yesterday, and it was a very nice way to spend an afternoon! Apparently, I was not the only one who thought so, as downtown was crowded, and there were lines at the more popular museums. We went to the St Pete History Museum, which had the added bonus of a Princess Diana exhibit , and the Museum of Fine Art - where we spent most of our time gazing at the paintings…always my favorite spot..I can get lost in a good painting. We saw some Monet, Georgia O Keefe, and many other famous works. I thought we were going to have to duck under some