July 4th is already upon us, can you believe it?!

YAY for 3 day weekends!

We decided to do a potluck cookout at work for lunch on Thursday, I am bringing my special recipe doctored up baked beans.
I am going to a friend’s BBQ / pool party on Friday, and I am bringing beans for this also.
See a pattern here? Everybody likes my beans.

You can tell it’s summertime around here, and not just from the heat ! It has been storming since last weekend, and we need the rain! All last weekend it was constant wind and rain - shaking the wind chimeson my balcony rain! And yesterday afternoon’s storm produced pea sized hail at my office! We were all at the window watching it bounce around the parking lot. Supposed to be rainy this weekend as well, that’s fine - I just want it to clear up by the 4th - can’t have our BBQ being rained on!!

I almost forgot, today is Nephew’s birthday!! YAY!! I hope he signed up for all of those birthday freebies I told him about.
Run over to his blog and give him some birthday comment love ’cause he’s my Boy and I love him!
Happy Birthday Boy!
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So, I’ve had this Starbucks gift card floating around in my wallet for a few months, Stepmom gave it to me, I don’t even recall what for….probably for just being PRECIOUS ME! LOL!!
So, I have been going there and treating myself with it……and I have recently discovered the ULTIMATE SUMMER DRINK.

I am a huge coffee hound, but no so much when it come’s to Starbuck’s - I love the Latte’s, and Frappucino’s and all the specialty drinks…but their coffee? BIT-TER…..No sir, I don’t like it. I’ll take the old Double D for plain coffee any day (and I do! I buy it at BJ’s in a 2.5 lb bag and brew it at home!).

BUT….I have recently discovered the wonder that is the SHAKEN ICED TEA at Starbucks.
PURE.
REFRESHMENT.

To be more specific, my recent “get me through the afternoon at work” drink of choice is the Shaken Unsweetened Iced Tea Lemonade . Cool, Refreshing…….Tasty. Just what the doctor ordered on a humid summer afternoon.

YUM.

I am flying up to NJ for Father’s day weekend, not to celebrate Father’s day - which is not a big deal in my life….but for my niece’s graduation and to spend some time with my cousin. Actually, the graduate is not really my niece, she is my cousin’s daughter - but they have always called me “Aunt”…so we just go with that. She is the “All American Girl” - Student Council President , Honor Society, Lacrosse Team, Field Hockey Team, etc etc, and will be speaking at graduation, and going off to Fordham University in the fall - I am very proud of her! I will also be spending time with my other cousin who is like a Sister to me, we are 1 year apart, her Mom and my Mom were Sisters - and her Mom passed 6 weeks after my Mom…..she could not come to my Mom’s funeral because of her Mom’s illness, and I could not go to her’s because of the handling of my Mom’s estate…..so this is the first time we are seeing each other since everything happened. Even though we talk on the phone almost daily, it’s not the same, ya know? Anyway, thank goodness for cheap flights or I would not be going! Gotta love Spirit Airlines TPA-Atlantic City direct for $138 round trip!!

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.

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.

In just a few short weeks it will be the 1 year blogoversary of this blog…and I’m going to have a giveaway to celebrate!
Stay tuned!!

I wanted to wish all of the Mom’s out there a Happy Mother’s Day.

I found it ironic that when I picked up my newspaper this morning the headline read “Mom’s Gone, Love Remains” - a story about a family who recently lost their Mom and is experiencing their first Mother’s day without her. While we never really spent Mother’s day together due to my Mom being on the other side of the state, there was always a card and a phone call. It was just last Mother’s day that Mom was in the hospital and we were finding out that she may have cancer.

My day will be spent at the Tampa Bay Rays game, what started out as a chance to take my little Nephew to his first major league game for his birthday, turned into a sort of Mother’s day outing as well, as my Sister , her Husband and middle daughter, and Stepmom are going. Mother’s day beer and hotdogs all around!! I’m looking forward to it, I know we will have a good time. It’s always fun to experience these sort of things through a child’s eyes when it’s their first time.

Today is the annual National Letter Carrier’s Assn Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. Normally, we only think about these kind of donations during the holidays. But, guess what..? People go hungry all year round…..and your local food bank needs your help.
You may have gotten a flyer and a plastic bag for your non perishables in your mailbox, I have a rural carrier, and did not get one - but that is not going to stop me from helping! I am going to take my donation to the post office, because I want to help.
All you have to do is put a few non perishables in a plastic bag or box, and leave them by your mailbox, and your mailperson will pick them up when they leave your mail.
That’s it.
I normally have an overstocked pantry because I am such a frugal shopper and combine sale prices with coupons to get things free or almost free. And, I also knwo that you read my blog and take my thrifty tips to the store with you as well! I’m sure you have an extra can of soup or green beans in the pantry that you got real cheap with a coupon, maybe an extra box of cereal or macaroni & cheese that you got at a buy one get one free sale. Do something good with your thrifty ways!!
ALL donations go to your local food bank - so you’ll be helping out a neighbor who needs it! Food banks are having a tough time right now, donations are down, and the number of people needing that extra help is way up. Regular middle class people. Like you and I. Going to food banks to help fill in the gaps because prices are so high right now they have to make a choice between feeding their family and putting gas in the car so they can go to work.
If everyone gave just TWO cans of food it could fill your local pantry back up. Just 2 cans…you can do that, right?