Managing Life with Grace and Ease….or Maybe NOT!

Here’s a screen shot of the YouTube station (channel) I’ve been listening to at work. It’s “Candy Music Rooms”. Usually nice jazz or bossa nova type music. And in many of the scenes there is a cat and also a Roger looking dog (looks like my former doggie).

This Week’s Update:

So the week has sped by fast. I have made some progress at work. My boss and I got to go to out to eat today at O’Charlies as things will be picking up from here once we get back from the holidays.

I’ve been planning our little meal for the 4th. George is trying to keep it simple and I keep trying to make it more special. He’s doing the burgers and hot dogs. We are having beans and chips as he suggested. We have watermelon, and I am making a caprese pasta salad, dressed eggs, and a white cake with chocolate icing. I know it’s just the three of us (Mom included), but I’m ok if we have leftovers to split and enjoy the rest of the work week. Mom can take some home too. What all you having for the 4th?

George will be taking Mom to church this week. And I will cook up what I need to cook. It’s all really easy stuff though.

I’m looking so forward to this 3 day weekend as I have a lot of stuff that has built up. This will help. Plus I have the quarter end ahead. So it’ll be a pretty busy month. Also Mom’s birthday is ahead and then George’s is in August.

I’m happy to report that it is possible I may meet my 7:00 a.m. upload for this week’s video. I successfully was able to get 50 minutes down to about 30. It’s a longer video and people usually stick with you when it’s under 21. But I didn’t want to divide the footage in two and I felt to cut any more out would be to cut out part of the story I wanted to relay. It’s uploading now to the YouTube channel and I hope the upload goes well. I believe this video was during a time that was one of the busiest times of my life. We had some pretty busy times when Katy was with us though so back then some of our Sept-Dec time periods got pretty busy. But this was a taxing one. So I’m letting the entire 30 minutes stand. It goes by pretty fast and can be entertaining at times so we’ll see. But I’m happy I was able to work on it some this week in the evenings.

I went to Publix tonight to get the stuff for the weekend. I was afraid all the stuff would be gone – you know – hot dog and hamburger buns and the like. I also put into play my “new rules” to offset the economic downturn, lol. I am buying the cheaper items instead of the normal brands I love. I also bought some of Publix’s buy one get one deals – if I was needing to buy that item. I saved probably $20 to $40 tonight just by letting go of my favorites. In some cases that does not work – like the Halo ice cream I like – normally pretty expensive but tonight it was buy one and get one free. So yes I got two!

I almost grabbed some pita chips that were $8.99 a bag without thinking or even looking. I just love those pita chips sometimes when I need a salty crunch. But it was the big size – crazy. I went for the small bag. I won’t buy them again for a long time though. Once I have my fix I’ll be good for about 6 months. I usually keep tortilla chips on hand for those salt cravings.

But yes, I’m boycotting the higher prices and doing my part to force prices back down to competition. And in many cases that meant I was buying the store brand. I learned in economic class that your purchase is your vote. It’s so true. The lowest price wins, unless the product just stinks. lol

When I put together the grocery list, I noticed that George had left me some golden nuggets. See for yourself on Alexa’s list below.

The blog readership continues to be down by about 20%. I wonder if WordPress changed something. Or if countries are being blocked from reading or what. Others mentioned it too. I always had a certain number of views per day and was even doubling that for a while and it seems it’s all going backwards. The blog subscription keeps growing weekly but often people subscribe and then never come back. Or they are marketing and want you to follow them. I said a long time ago I was doing this blog for me. I pretty much write what I want. I do sometimes try to clean up the blog though and put ideas and thoughts in bullet format and give it a more professional polish. I kinda like a mix of the two. I have a lot of notes where I’ve written down my thoughts. Some will be random blog posts one day! lol. You all say you like it when I write like I’m doing now, like I am having a conversation with you. I enjoy that too.

Here’s the temps for the upcoming week. Lots of chances for rain and storms in the forecast.

Well, over and out! So glad the weekend is almost here and I hope you have a fabulous one. Don’t forget to let me know what you are having to eat for the 4th! Are you celebrating with family? I love to hear about you guys.

10 responses to “Prepping for July 4th, Boycotting the High Grocery Prices, and Lower Blog Numbers Visiting the Site”

  1. Pamela Rainey Avatar
    Pamela Rainey

    I’m making a 4th of July bean casserole that has different kinds of beans and bacon and hamburger in it . I put the recipe in my blog. I don’t have an outdoor grill to cook out on so this is what I do. I also got some strawberries, blueberries and cool whip for dessert. Our weather is looking pretty hot too and I got a watermelon in case I visit with one of the kids! Hope you have a great weekend!

    1. Backporchwriter Avatar

      Sounds great Ma! It’s good to hear from you and hope you and yours have a great holiday! Much love!

  2. Catsandcoffee Avatar

    I don’t do much for the 4th. I really don’t like all the fireworks.

    1. Backporchwriter Avatar

      I like to have e the extra day off and it’s a good day for families to have a picnic. I always lamented when we didn’t see extended family. I love burgers and dogs! I’m not fond of being around fireworks but love to watch them. Anxious to see if Dexter will be afraid.

  3. Sybil Avatar
    Sybil

    Hi Sonya, I’m glad that your going to be having a nice long weekend, and hope you enjoy it. No mention of Dexter today ? Presume he is still behaving himself….mostly LOL. Wonder what he will be like with Mum and Fancy on the 4th….I sure hope the behave and like each other Dexter is such a puppy still and Fancy is certainly no puppy !! Hope the weather behaves for you over the weekend. We don’t of course celebrate the 4 th of July so my weekend will be almost same as most weekends. But I am going out for lunch on Sunday with my niece Beth and husband Max…wonder what will be on the menu this week !….
    Well love have a very nice July 4 th give George my love and tell him I say same to him….givethat wee Dexter a good old tummy rub for me…. God Bless

    1. Backporchwriter Avatar

      Thank you Sybil! Mom is coming but not bringing Fancy this time til we know parasite is gone and shots are complete. Plus Mom can asses his behavior and see if he’s to big to be around while he is puppy. Dexter has been pretty chill. He did pull strings out of the new carpet when my office door wasn’t shut good and he got in. But it’s not bad. He loves to get into things. He’s a master at stealing George’s socks! lol 😂 Likes for George to chase him down!

  4. charliefarlie99 Avatar

    I’ve seen exactly the same pattern with my WordPress stats. It doesn’t make any sense. It seems like I’ve lost a lot of views on my home page, blog views are down yet new subscribers are consistent. Not that you blog for stats, but you wonder if you’re doing something wrong when the number of views halves!

    1. Backporchwriter Avatar

      Yes. Something must have changed. Maybe some things are being blocked.

  5. Rose Avatar
    Rose

    Oh the big 4th of JULY! My family used to love the parade (3 hours!) and then to the persons house to celebrate! Such fun and great memories. My nephew when he was little used to sing our fave patriotic song, “I’m Proud to be an American” by Lee Greenwood every year. We all cried like silly family does! He was a little love. And well, then family changes. Divorces, deaths and yes, even family fights. (Those I hate!) But it happens. And things changed.
    But Monday my lovely sister invited my family to be with them for the day and they have a brand new pool! YIPPEE! My grands will be happy swimming in their new pool instead of my pool! LOL Can you say spoiled? LOL I wouldn’t change it for the world. So it will be a fun day! And I am making a red, white and blue trifle which is delish! Look it up on Pinterest under that name and there are some different variations of it. Mine will be with vanilla pudding, real whipped cream, pound cake , strawberries and blueberries. And a little flag decorated on top of the whipped cream with the fruits including raspberries! Its a hit , trust me ! And because of the heat I didn’t make my cookies I normally make and bought them… .shhh… don’t tell them! lol

    I can’t believe the inflation! I have boycotted real butter and some other things. And I am a brand girl like you. Its tough for me to put my hands on a box of cereal that doesn’t have my fave brand name but I can not in good faith buy them! its seems sinful.

    Love your husbands Alexa list!! To damn funny!
    Happy 4th of July!!
    Rose 🙂

    1. Backporchwriter Avatar

      Oh your 4th sounds wonderful! As does the trifle! Loved hearing about your 4th. Enjoy! I’ll be cooking tomorrow! Well a few things. I’ll try to take pics!

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