MMMMMMMMMM.....Chocolate!!! Giveaway at Sluggy's.

Run over to Slugmama's blog and enter her Boring Box Giveaway. She just put chocolate in it!!!

Are You Hungry? Pillsbury® Grands!® Mini Biscuits Giveaway

Bring the mouthwatering aroma of fresh-baked biscuits to your kitchen when you serve Pillsbury® Grands!® Mini Biscuits.

Each 70-calorie biscuit is a delight when served hot from the oven, with a warm fluffy center and golden, flaky crust. Pillsbury® Grands!® Mini Biscuits are the perfect size for kids, or for mini sandwiches and appetizers. There are countless recipe options, from miniature ham sandwiches come lunchtime, to delicious sliders for nighttime entertaining. There are so many ways to make these biscuits and your family will love trying each one.

MyBlogSpark and Pillsbury invited me to come up with my own recipe or place a personal spin on an existing recipe using Pillsbury® Grands!® Mini Biscuits. Without even checking out recipes, I knew what I would make….mini breakfast sandwiches. I take my lunch to work everyday, but sometimes it is hard to put together breakfast to take. I am bad about not planning ahead so, sometimes, I stop and pick up a sausage biscuit or a breakfast taco. That is NOT frugal. So when I was invited to do this Spark, I immediately said yes. I have not made my breakfast sandwiches yet, but will be doing that this weekend. How will I make them? Cook the biscuits, load them up with sausage, egg and cheese. Yummy!! Then I will wrap in foil and freeze. How easy it will be to just grab one, or two, as I head out the door.

If you click HERE you can save $1.00 on the purchase of any Frozen Pillsbury Grands! Biscuits. For delicious recipes, be sure to check out Pillsbury on Facebook today!

Pillsbury and My BlogSpark are giving one of my readers a Pillsbury® Grands!® Mini Biscuits prize pack which includes a VIP coupon good for a free package of biscuits, a $15 gift card to purchase recipe creation/experimentation needs, a biscuit basket, a butter dish and spreader! Here is what it looks like minus the coupon and gift card. (You have to go to the store to get your biscuits. LOL!) Isn’t it nice?

How do you enter? It’s easy. Just let me know what you like on your biscuits. Do you just like them plain with butter.. jelly… gravy, or have a delicious recipe? Your comment is your entry. Please leave your email address in your comment.

For a second entry, blog about this giveaway. Then leave a comment that you did.

This giveaway will end on October 5, 2010PM ET. This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only, 18 years old or over, and the winner will be chosen by using random.org. The winner will be contacted by email for information to provide to MyBlogSpark for prize fulfillment and will have 48 hours to respond.

I received no financial compensation for this post. The people at Pillsbury and My BlogSpark have provided me with a Pillsbury® Grands!® Mini Biscuits prize pack and will also supply a Pillsbury® Grands!® Mini Biscuits prize pack for one of my readers. The opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Bob got lucky on his birthday!

At the casino! His birthday was on Tuesday and after lunch, we headed to the casino. After a couple of hours he called me. "Guess how much I just won?" And he started giggling....yes, giggling. I knew it had to be pretty good and asked how much. $500!! On one hand of video poker. He won a couple other hands and walked out of the casino with over $800!!

We took $400 to gamble with, so even with my bad luck he doubled our money and paid for our entire trip. Yeah for birthday luck! Here he is with his winnings.
We really had a great time and it is even better that it was all paid for by the casino. Yeah!

Having a wonderful time! Wish you were here!

No, really, I do wish you were here....so I could borrow some money. LOL!

It's not really that bad. I am really kidding. Really, I am. We are having a great vacation. We drove to DeRidder, LA yesterday, checked in to our hotel, then met Chance for lunch. He had a great Mexican food restaurant he thought we would like and we DID. It was so delicious! And then ihe offered to buy. I was so impressed at our little boy offering to buy us lunch. But, of course, I didn't let him.

He then took us on a tour of Fort Polk and took us out in the areas where they do pre-deployment training and told us all about it. They have little towns that feel like you were in the Middle East. Well, except there were no people there, since there was no training going on right then. We could not have gone if there had been. It was totally interesting. Here is a picture of Bob and Chance in front of an amazing memorial wall he showed us. He had driven by it many times, but never got out and explored it until he took us. It has so much history on it.
Then we went back to our hotel and hung out for several hours, since Chance has moved out of his apartment and is living in the barracks. We hung out and had a wonderful time, as always. We got to hear a lot of what Chance has been training to do and some of his accomplishments and we are even prouder of him than we were. Later, we went to a steakhouse for dinner where I had the most delicious cheeseburger. Yum! Then back to our room for more hijinks. Chance headed back to base around 8:30 and Bob and I just watched some tv, then read for a while and then to bed.

This morning, Chance joined us for free breakfast at the hotel. Apparently, soldiers are welcome to join their families, who are staying at the hotel, for breakfast. Then we went back to our room and visited some more. Chance had to leave around 10. He was on a pass today, but had to go take care of some personal business, so we said our goodbyes and he headed of. We had loaded the car before going to breakfast, so we headed out too.

It took us about 45 minutes to get to the casino and we were able to check into our "chalet" early. So unloaded the car and unpacked. The kitchen looks like we live here. LOL! We will eat most of our meals here, except for any comped meals we get at the casino.

We headed over for some gambling and played for a while. I started getting hungry, so headed back to eat some lunch and Bob came back a little while later. He was thinking about taking a nap and I told him to go for it. We are on vacation after all!

Now, I think I will watch a movie that is on and clip my coupons. Yes, I brought my coupons with me. LOL!

Hope you are all having a wonderful day. I am!

Vaaaaacccccaaaaatioonnnnnn!!!

Yes, vacation!! I am going on vacation!! Can you tell I am excited!

About a month ago, Hubby asked if we could go visit our son, Chance, for Hubby's birthday, then spend a couple of days at a casino in Louisiana. Yes, sir! I had no problem honoring that request. So we are going on a birthday trip.

We will go first to spend some time with Chance, since he deploys to Afghanistan next month. We are hoping to have a family farewell party for him before he goes here in town, but Hubby and I want a visit with him to ourselves, so we are going. We will stay in a hotel in the town Chance lives in. He said we could stay at his apartment, but Hubby said we could not run around nekkid there, so we got a hotel. I got a discounted room through AARP and it even has free breakfast. Yeah for discounts and free! Then to the casino for a couple of days.

Since I am such a high roller, NOT, the casino comped our room, so it is FREE!(And the regular rate is $95 night!) My favorite. We are staying in what they call a "chalet", which is a little trailer. A little bigger than travel trailers, though. They have a separate bedroom and living space and a full kitchen, stocked with dishes, pots and pans and cutlery.

There is also a nice deck with picnic table and grill. So all we have to take is food to make there. (When we go on trips, we always take food and dishes, utensils, pans and a hotplate to make it. LOL!) We will eat out some, since I am sure I have some food comps at the casino just waiting to be used up, but we prefer not to eat out for every meal. We like to use most of our money for gambling. Yes, gambling.

I know some people have a problem with gambling, but I do not. I consider it entertainment and do not go to win. I just enjoy playing. And we never take more money than we are willing to leave there. We still spend less than we would if we just went on a vacation somewhere else and had to pay for hotels and all our meals.

I plan to spend some time just relaxing in the chalet and not as much time at the casino as I usually do, since I want to get the inflammation in my knee healed up and figure a week off work is the perfect opportunity. I will be taking my netbook, since the room has free wifi, and plenty of reading material. And of course there is a big tv in the living room for a couple of season premieres next week.

We will be home on Wednesday and I plan to spend Thursday and Friday staying off my knee as much as I can.

I am such a good wife to give Hubby a trip for his birthday. A cheap trip, but it is still a trip. LOL!

Hubby's birthday, last year.

Heredity sucks....

I have been having problems with my knee for the last month. Well, the problem was that it was hurting....most of the time. I did not hurt when I didn't move it, but the rest of the time I was in pain. I figured that I had just strained something at Curves, so thought that eventually it would quit hurting.

It did not.

So, yesterday, I went to an Orthopedic to have it checked out. He asked a lot of questions.

He took an XRay.

(This is not my XRay, but you get the drift.)

He informed me that I have osteoarthritis in my left knee, as well as bone spurs. And I have indications of OA in my right knee, though it is much better than my left. Then he put 2 cortisone shots in my knee, told me to take large doses of Aleve or Advil and come back in a month if it isn't better.

He was really nice, but I am sure hoping my knee feels better soon, so I won't need to go back. It feels a lot better today, though not 100% better.

I told him my mom has bad knees and has no cartilege in the joints, he informed me that mine will be like that eventually, as it is hereditary. Thanks, Mom.

I saved $115!

Yes, I did! Recently, I found out that our cars, both Hondas, have cabin air filters. Who knew??? I have been driving for many years and have had many cars, as has Hubby. I also grew up with both a dad and a brother that are excellent backyard mechanics. And I never knew that there was a cabin air filter in our cars. Maybe they are in all cars. I don't know. LOL!

Anyway, once I found this out, I decided that ours certainly needed to be changed as we had never changed them. I have had my car 2 years, but we have had Hubby's car for 6 1/2 years. So even if they were both changed by Honda before we bought them, it had been a while for both. So, I went on an internet search about how to get this done. When I read that it can cost $100-$150 to have it done by Honda, I of course, decided to figure out if we could do it ourselves.

Then last week, I got a flyer from the dealer where we bought my car and they had a coupon for a cabin air filter change for $64.95. How weird is that that I got this right after I found out these existed?

I went to some DIY car repair forums. Yes, I am either that cheap, or that talented. You decide. LOL! I found instructions and even found that there are how to videos on Youtube. I have no problem following instructions, but a video was just awesome! He and I both figured that I could do this easily. Notice I said I. LOL! He will assist on car maintenance, but he is not as comfortable with tearing apart something in a car as I am. (Please note, I do not do much work on cars. But occasionally, I am happy to jump in and get dirty.)

Last week, Hubby stopped by the auto parts store and got the filters for my car ($16.23), but they did not have his. I told him we would just order on-line instead of him checking stores all over town. Then we jumped on to ebay and there they were for only $9.50 shipped. So he ordered them.

After reviewing the instructions for my car, a CRV, I changed mine on Friday. It was pretty easy and only took about 25 minutes. I was totally impressed with myself. Of course, it only involved pulling out 2 stops on the glove box and the filters are right behind there. Still, I did it and saved. $54.

Hubby's car was another story. We went out Saturday evening after it had cooled off a bit, though it was still in the upper 80s, I think, and really humid. Hubby has a 2000 Accord and it took a little...no a lot more dimantling than mine did. I started unscrewing things. Hubby was my assistant. We worked at it for a good 45 minutes and though I had removed all the screws according to the instructions, I could not get the glove box out. I was hot. I was sweating. Sweat was stinging my eyes. I was getting cranky.

So, I said, maybe I needed to go rewatch the video on this, since I had not seen it in a week and a half. (I was working off paper instructions that I had found.) Hubby thought that was a good idea. (I think I was getting REALLY cranky.)

So in I went and watched the video and cooled off, both physically and mentally. LOL! It showed more screws to be removed than my paper did, so I was ready to proceed. However, by this time, it was really dark, so Hubby said we could wait until the next day.

Yesterday evening, I went out, took out the rest of the screws and it was easy breezy. I finished up in about 30 minutes and saved $61.

I am so macho!

For the College Students

You all know that I have not monetized my blog. I am not here to make money, just to have fun. And I am not here to sell you anything or advertise for any business.

That being said, I have been playing on the Barnes and Noble website, researching a purchase that I will tell you all about when I make it. In the meantime, I found something quite interesting. It is called Nook Study. It is for college students and professors and sounds really useful.

It was interesting enough that I sent the info to my sister, the college professor. I plan to tell Samantha about it. And I am sharing it with you. It sounds like it could be very useful to college students.

But wait, there's more! LOL! B&N is giving stuff away to people that download Nook Study. From a press release:

To celebrate the launch of NOOKstudy, Barnes & Noble is providing a number of fun promotional offers for the college audience. Students who download NOOKstudy now through the fall semester will receive a free College Kick Start Kit which includes 50 Survival Tips – advice about how to win at college, including time management advice and even ramen noodle-based gourmet recipes. Also included in the College Kick Start Kit are 12 Essential Books for College – free, high-quality Barnes & Noble Classics eBooks including Canterbury Tales, The Scarlet Letter and Poems of Emily Dickinson, and others.

And there is the potential to win MONEY!

Students who download NOOKstudy through October 29, 2010 will automatically be entered in the Barnes & Noble College Giveaway Sweepstakes, offering one lucky winner a $5,000 cash prize. (Sweepstakes details are available at www.NOOKstudy.com). And students who visit and "like" the new NOOKstudy page on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NOOKstudy, will also have the chance to win a $1,000 Barnes & Noble gift card.

I wish I were a student!

We could use a little rain

But I don't know if we need this much!

I did not even know there was a tropical storm on the way! I didn't watch much news this weekend, obviously. Hubby and I went to Kroger yesterday....he has redeemed himself and is allowed in the store.....and the sun was shining. While in the store, we heard thunder. We walked toward the front of the store and it was POURING rain! And the wind was swirling, so the rain was going every direction. Ugh!

While I was checking out, Hubby went and got the car. When I got outside, he motioned me to a spot near one of the doors, then backed up under the overhang to let me load groceries into the trunk without getting wet. Several ladies huddled there commented on how sweet it was that Hubby did that. One of them then sent her son to get the car. LOL! And another backed up under the overhang near us. Hubby started a trend of nice gentlemen helping their wives or moms stay a little dry.

By the time we got home, the rain had tapered off to a drizzle, but I checked the weather on line and saw that there was a freaking tropical storm hitting Texas! Here is what it looks like right now....(See Houston? That is where I am.)

It is dark, thundering and raining outside. I have to turn around to see out of the windows, so have not seen any lightening. For our neighbors south of us, I hope the storm passes quickly for you.

Thank goodness I am inside today.

We had a lovely holiday weekend, spending most of the time just relaxing at home. I ran out to Walgreens on Saturday to get some deals. I came home with:

2 Nice & Easy Haircolor

4 Softsoap Body Wash, $3 total after RR

2 Colgate Total toothpaste, free after RR

2 Carmex Lip balm, free after RR

2 Wags 8 count tampons, free after RR

2 hand sanitizer, $.75 each on clearance

1 Visine

1 30-count Wags brand of Claritin

Total out of pocket was $34, which was a little steep, but I didn't have any RRs to use. (I only had coupons for the haircolor, one BW and the Visine), but I earned $22. So, I was really happy.

On Monday, Hubby and I went and ate pizza for lunch, then stopped by Kroger. He did really well and only got what we came for. LOL! We really only needed bread and some diet sodas, but I had read of a deal on Ronzoni pasta and had printed out coupons, so got 10 packs of Ronzoni for $4.45!! What a great price. I may print out coupons at home and get more if the sale goes on through next week. Darn, I should have checked the shelf tags. Well, I will check HotCouponWorld. I am sure someone there will know.

We had a really nice weekend. Hope you all did, too!