JUNE Rite-Aid Trips......She's Back!!!

I ventured back into Rite-Aid the week before we left on our trip.
I had $30 in +Up Rewards sent from corporate expiring the end of June to use.

#2 Son needed bug spray for camp.

So I bought....

2 x Cutters bug spray on sale $3.99=$7.98 *not pictured*
3 x Tootsie Pops bags on sale $1.99=$5.97
SubTotal....$13.95

I used....
2 x $1/1 Cutter's IPQ=$2.00

$13.95-$2.00=$11.95

I used 2 x $5 +Up Rewards....

$11.95-$10.00=$1.95 + .02¢=$1.97 OOP

Yes, I actually paid money this time!lol

I received 5 x $1 +Ups back-one $1 +Ups for each item I bought.

I am addicted to Tootsie Pops.
Love them!  Good for a chocolate craving without being big on calories.
Being on sale for $1.99 a bag and giving back a $1 +Ups means they are .99¢ a bag(if you have +Ups to use).
These bags have more pops than the ones in the Dollar Store so an awesome deal!!

I then bought this.....

3 x Phillips Earphones raincheck FREE=$0.00 *only 2 are pictured because #2 Son took one to camp*

I've been holding this raincheck since November when they were a Christmas special deal last year....$4.99 and they gave a $4.99 +Ups.
It has taken the store this long to get 3 of them in stock so I could redeem the raincheck.
I wanted them for Christmas gifting in 2011 but by getting the raincheck and being somewhat patient, I'll have these for this year's gifting.

$0.00 OOP

I also bought in a separate transaction....

2 x Home Improvement $50 Gift Card=$100.00
I paid $100 OOP and received 2 x $10 +Up Rewards.

As I've explained before, these gift cards are to pay for flooring supplies for a remodel that is going to happen, hopefully soon.  The $100 comes out of the remodel money but I get to spend the $20 in +Ups on food and HBA, so FREE Money!

Then the following day, I bought on another card....

2 x $50 Home Improvement Gift Cards=$100.00
3 x Tootsie Pops bags on sale=$5.97
1 x Cella cherry candy w/discount=$.26 *not pictured, eaten*
SubTotal....$106.23

I used $6.00 in +Up Rewards....
$106.23-$6.00=$100.23
I paid $100 in cash from the remodel money and put the .23¢ on my free Rite-Aid gift card, so $0 OOP.
I received $3 in +Ups for the Tootsie Pops and $20 in +Ups for the Gift Cards.


So I spent $16 of my $30 +Up Rewards, I received $48 in +Up Rewards back($8 for the food/HBA items and $40 for the gift cards), leaving me a total of $62 in +Ups.
I am out of pocket $1.97 cash from my food budget this month and used .23¢ of my gift card. ($200 of remodel money was moved from cash onto gift cards also, which does not affect my food budget.)

And I got $71.62 worth of actual merchandise(not counting the gift card values).

Yesterday I went and bought this.....

2 x Pantene Shampoo on sale=$7.00
1 x Bayer  Aspirin on clearance=$2.14
1 x Cane Tips $4.99 25% off=$3.74
2 x Zero candy bars on clearance=$.48
4 x Reese's cups BOGO=$1.98
SubTotal....$15.34

I used.....
1 x $3/2 Pantene ManuQ=$3.00

$15.34-$3.00=$12.34

I used $12 in +Up Rewards, which made my Total .34¢
I put that .34¢ on my free Rite-Aid gift card.

I now have $50 +Up Rewards left to spend before Saturday night.


Now I KNOW it's been reported on many blogs that the Carex $10 +Up had been pulled.
BUT.....this store still had the $10 +Ups Wellness reward tags up on every single peg hook on the Carex display.
And I have the....what shall I call them here?.....ok, yeah....BALLS.....to buy the product and then stand my ground when the reward doesn't print but the signs are up that I am entitled to get it.
Usually I just have to bring it to management's attention and the thing is made right, because well, this store I go to is filled with CLASSY People and run properly.  It helps that they like me too....lol

So after a few minutes of checking, I also got this....

A $10 Gift Card to replace the $10+Ups that didn't print.  So I basically converted $10 in Ups to gift card.

Now I don't have the BALLS to go back now and try to buy the item again here and take advantage of signage if it's still up.  I know when to hold em and when to fold em as they say.
And the cane tips?  It is an item that I DO need....I have a cane, tips need replacing.  And besides, it was a very good price for them!lol

The Bayer Advanced was on clearance, 50% off.  You should look for it if you need aspirin and your store is out of the one that is $3.  If you have the $3 ManuQ for it that just came out, you could use it on this clearanced size, as long as you buy something else to cover the .86¢ in overage(the diff. between the $2.14 price and your $3 Q)at the register.

The Zero bars were on clearance as well....a .99¢ reg. price bar for .24¢ so 75% off.  They were marked with a 50% shelf tag.  I may go back and buy what is left at my store.  These are good for tucking back for Christmas stockings.....as long as you put them in a cool place for the summer and you aren't tempting to consume them all before December.lol

As of now, my Rite-Aid Stats are....

Out Of Pocket....$1.97 cash
Value of items bought....$97.42 

+Ups at beginning of month...$30+
+Ups used....$28+
+Ups received...$48+
+Ups currently...$50+

Stay tuned for more Rite-Aid before the week is up....

Sluggy

Wacky Wednesday...Just For Fun

My buddy Sonya Ann is a fan of LMFAO and their song/video "I'm Sexy and I Know It".

I found this hysterical remake of the song from Jimmy Fallon.

You'll have to go HERE to see it since they've disabled embedding on it.

I'll never think of Neil Young in quite the same way!

Sluggy

The Trip To OH"HELL"IO....Chapter Three

So after a great night's sleep(Mmmm chocolate donut dreams!), we were raring to go on the first official day of the vacation.  Seeing as the first day was spent driving, I don't consider that day part of the actual vacation.

This hotel room came with a free Continental breakfast deal, but we slept in and didn't want to rush ourselves to get to our toast and coffee downstairs.

So we took our time preparing for the day and then went across the street to the Bob Evans Restaurant for breakfast.  And of course, I had brought with me a BOGO Free coupon for 2 breakfast entrees.
We got eggs, meat and a bread/grain item and I also got a big side bowl of fresh fruit.  I had to at least try to keep myself regular, you know.

We are sitting in Bob's and I realized that the guy Bob Evans was from Ohio and his chain of restaurants started out and is based in Ohio.
That would explain the enormous number of Bob's we had passed on the ride down here.
And it would go on to explain why there seemed to be a Bob Evans on the corner of every third intersection in town.

We had a big day planned for Monday!  Well, conditions beyond our control dictated our plan really.
Hubs is a "let's go see historical things on vacation" kind of guy.
I'm a "let's go see weird stuff on vacation" kind of gal.
So we both made a long list of things to see/do(mostly see)and then we synced up the lists.
We prioritized our favorites, found out where/when they were happening so we could pair them up on the same trip/day.....that sort of thing.
After all that, and some arm wrestling, we come up with a trip itnerary.

When doing this final list prep, we hit a snag.  It turns out that everything historical that Hubs wanted to do was somehow connected to the Ohio Historical Society or some such state funded/affiliated organization.  Go onto the Ohio Tourism website and all those historical sites you see there, that you can visit?
Well NOTHING is open on Mondays!
Not.
A.
One.
Ohio rolls up the historical sidewalks on Monday.

Ok, except for maybe 1 or 2 that are very large and outdoors and there is no way they can fence them off and close them down for a day.
Which meant that out of all the historical things Hubs wanted to see in the whole state of Ohio, 1 thing was available to see on Monday.
And it was an hour's drive away in Newark.

Number one on his list is was what we lovingly refer to in the family as his mounds of dirt.
Hubs has been jonesing for years now to go see Indian Mounds.   There are lots of them in southern Ohio, near Kentucky, but there is a site east of Columbus that is not as famous, called the  Newark Great Circle Earthworks. Go HERE if you want to read more about this site.
Seeing as they can't close down the outdoors(at least not til dark), we were traveling to Newark on Monday.

The main thing I wanted to do/see?
A graveyard in Columbus.
You should have known it would be something weird, right?lol

So we would be driving all over the place on Monday....an hour east to Newark, then lunch, then back to the west side of Columbus, then dinner and who knows what else?

I had some little other things we could do around Columbus, if time and traffic allowed.....like seeing a Giant Praying Mantis in a park(metal not a real one), or seeing topiary styled to replicate the George Seurat painting "A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte".

                         (seen from a different angle here)

It's been a running joke in the family that Hubs wants to drive hours and hours to go and stare at piles of dirt...Ok, piles of dirt covered in grass.
But he is a Native Peoples History fan so off we drove to look at grassy mounds.

We found the site quite easily and pulled into the parking lot.  The temperature was already in the mid 80's.  Because of my arthritic knees and the heat I figured I'd be able to walk around a bit at my own pace and Hubs could charge ahead and explore his mounds to his heart's content.
There was a long inclined pathway from the parking lot up to the Earthworks with some picnic tables under a shade tree about halfway up.  I figured I'd try to make it the tables first and see how I was feeling.
After resting there about 10 minutes, I climbed the rest of the pathway to a small building/museum type thing.  I didn't know if it was closed like every other historical site's building in Ohio that day, but if it was, there was a bench I could rest my knees at outside the entrance.

Gratefully, the building was open and air conditioned....yes!
Inside was a film about the aboriginal peoples who lived here in prehistoric times, whom they refer to as as the Hopewell Culture, and information on the Earthworks as well as a gift shop.
The film was self-directed and you could view what you wished at your own pace.  Hubs came into the building while I was watching the film.  I must have been watching it for a very long time because Hubs said he had already walked around the whole site and taken some photos.
He watched some of the film, talked with the historical society lady there and then went and bought a book in the gift shop.
I almost said something about the book, since we were on a tight budget and he hadn't told me he was going to spend money here(and the book was $25!).  I figured if we did end up stranded on the road home somewhere, out of money and gas that I could have a good "told you so" out of him spending that money on a book. lol

Anyway.....here are some shots he took.   You really can't tell much since the site is so large area wise(though it is only a small fraction of the original size of the intricate complex that was here). It's hard to appreciate unless you see it from above but a helicopter rental was not in the budget.
You have to imagine that all the trees weren't here back when it was built too.

Here are the picnic tables where I rested.  The entrance to the large circle(formed by the mounds that run around it)is where the small grey sign stands in the middle of the shot.  This is taken from the outside of the Great Circle....

This is another shot taken outside of the Great Circle. 

Hubs took this shot from inside the Circle, looking back at the entrance standing about haflway inside the circle....

Here's a shot, again inside the Circle from the middle, looking at the other end of the Circle, where you can see three mounds inside the Circle that form what looks like a paw pattern....

Another shot from inside.....

They think that this was a ceremonial place, a sacred gathering place, as well as a burial place, for indigenous peoples from all across the continent.  They have found large amounts of natural resources(rock and metal)that are not native to this area, that they feel were carried here from as far away as North Carolina, Michigan and from some Western states too.   It was a geometric marvel in it's design and execution.

This plaque outside the little museum there shows you how the Earthworks originally was situated in relation to the river and how expansive the whole place was.  There are only 3 pieces left intact as indicated by the burnished metal parts on the plaque.  The circle to the far right is the Great Circle where we were standing.

Two things that struck me about the Earthworks.
* As early as 1820, a large chunk of these prehistoric works had already been lost to progress.
Ohio was still considered the frontier in 1820 by the Europeans who came to settle here.  By 1820 the railroad had come through and plowed under/excavated these lands and as towns sprang up, no thought was given to preserving and building around them.  Long time area residents in the 1840's put pen to paper to map out what they remembered the Earthworks had looked like before most of it was lost.
That is the only reason we know as much as we do now of it's design.  It's so sad that one culture couldn't fathom the value of what had come before it and protect it.
* There is still a battle raging to this day, between the native peoples and the scientists/archeologists.
The native peoples still view this area as a sacred place(and a burial sight)and resent that the scientists continue to want to destroy and disturb the land here, in order to gain further knowledge by studying what secrets the land gives up.  It is hallowed ground and should be protected and studied only if that doesn't involve destruction, as in digging things up.
A proponent of keeping the sight as it is commented that if we wanted to take a backhoe and dig up the Sistine Chapel for scientific study, would that culture not be offended?

I would have loved to have been there for sunrise or sunset, as the shadows grow long and the mist rises from the earth.  That would have been amazing but it wasn't going to happen this trip unfortunately.
I just wish we could have planned the trip better, so that Hubs could have been here for the Summer Solstice as there were to be some Native American ceremonies held here.  But by Thursday, we were already back home.
We'll have to put that on the list for the next time we are out this way.

After I hobbled down the hilly pathway back to the car(thank goodness it was DOWNHILL this time!lol), we got in the vehicle, cranked up the a/c and headed back toward Columbus.
It was after 1pm by this time.
I didn't think we'd been there so long, but we had.
Now it was lunch time.
So we drove back into Columbus and started looking for some place to eat.  As we drove the hour back, I noticed that the a/c was NOT blowing cold air.  When we stopped at a light, it actually blew warm air.  It was now about 94 degrees outside according a bank sign we passed.

I like to eat small and local when we can, and avoid the fast food joints.  We passed an ass ton of Mexican places....little hole in the wall places, not chains.  I just couldn't bring myself to tell Hubs to go to one however.  I find that "Mexican" food can be really good or really bad.  Consistency is all over the map.  So I tend not to want to eat a 'cultural' food some place that it's not known to be good.
Mexican in Texas, or the Southwest?  Bring it on!
Mexican in Columbus Ohio?  Not feeling it.
This all stems from stopping in West Virginia a few years ago at a Mexican Restaurant.
Never again in WV!
It was flavorless food, overpriced, a dirty restaurant, and the customer service was nonexistent.

So we tried to eat at a Ruby Tuesdays.
We drove up to it and it was closed.
We saw this a lot with eateries on this main artery we were on.....lots of closed up ones.

Just as we were about to head back to Bob Evans(at least it was safe!lol), we turned into a little fast food type building's lot and went in.
This place was called "Raising Cane's".
Some kind of regional fast food type place.
And they only serve chicken fingers.
Ok fries and a couple other sides too, but the main item is chicken fingers.

Evidently, the place is named after the guy's dog, Cane.  I had never heard of them before.

You can get a chicken fingers platter or a chicken fingers sandwich.  That's it.
I chose a platter and gave Hubs my fries and 1 of my tenders since it came with 6.  These were quite large fingers.  The batter was light and flaky, not greasy.  Very well done.
I had an unsweetened brewed iced tea.  That hit the spot.
The dipping sauce was a thousand island type thing with a lot of pepper in it, but not too much.

This chain seems to be quite successful given all the locations they have.  I can see why.....they know how to do chicken right.  And it seems popular with the young people.  Nobody over 30 in the place but Hubs and I and the lady who took our order at the counter.
2 thumbs up and I'd go there again in a heartbeat.
And the prices were very reasonable.

It's going on about 3 pm when we left Raising Cane's.  Now it was on to my activity for the day.
I spent a good deal of time back in May working on this.....

It's a notebook I started compiling all my Civil War soldier ancestors in.
As I got back into the 1860's in my census searches while working on my family geneology, I started finding lots of ancestors who had served in the war.  Some family lines had scads some had none.  These are all from my mother's side of the family, the Southern side, which is the side I've been concentrating on lately.
My father's side, the Northern side, won't prove as fruitful in this area, since many on that side were immigrants who arrived after the war was fought.  And I don't have as much/many ancestors located to work with yet on that side.

So if I found a man who had served in the War of Northern Aggression, I'd jot him down into the book and add any information I could dig up for his page.
When I got to this guy......

I found a Find A Grave entry for him on Ancestry dotcom.
It had where he was buried, which sometimes is impossible to find out if the soldier didn't survive the war.
You got a lot of mass graves and burial far from home and the information is lost to family and the future.
But this ancestor had the good fortune(well, not really good!)to die as a POW.
At Camp Chase outside of Columbus Ohio.

Camp Chase began it's life as a training camp for recruits in the Norther army.  As wounded soldiers began to flood from battle, it became an ersatz hospital, and then a prisoner of war camp for captured confederate soldiers.
I won't bore you more but if you find this interesting, you can read more on Camp Chase HERE and HERE.

My 3rd Great Grand Uncle was detained as a wounded POW, died and is buried in Camp Chase Cemetery.
I thought I should make an effort to see his final resting place when we went to Columbus.

Hubs dropped me off at the gate and went to park the car on a side street, as the cemetery is on a very busy avenue in an urban neighborhood.
It was strange to go from that traffic and noise into the high stone wall enclosure of the burial site.  The noise melted away.
There was this cannonball next to the entry gate.

As I looked around I saw 4 or so massive oak trees to keep me from melting in the high humidity and heat.  It was devastatingly hot and muggy but there was a nice breeze under the canopy of the trees.

In my haste to get out of the car before another car plowed into our stopped vehicle, I forgot to grab the notebook, which held the row and section information.  Having to check 2,260 grave markers was NOT going to cut it in this weather.  They would need to come dig a hole for me too!

I just started walking down the rows and said under my breath, "Come of JJ, help me out here, where are you?!"
And I turned down a row, a row I felt like I was being led down, and started walking and checking names.

And about three quarters of the way down THAT row, I found him......

May I introduce Joseph James Hamilton.  Born 1820.
He enlisted on 16 Apr 1864 in Marion VA as a Private, at the age of 43.
He served in the 6th Battalion, VA Reserve Corp, Company A.
At his age, he was part of the second line of defense, the Home Guard as it were.

He was involved in the Battle of Saltville I, which took place in Saltville, VA in early October of 1864.
Do you know who's ancestor was also in that battle, on the opposing Union side?
Go look HERE.

While the Battle of Saltville I was a Confederate victory, Joseph Hamilton was still captured by Union forces on 2 Oct. 1864 and was taken to Camp Chase.
He avoided dying in the smallpox epidemic at the camp(since he didn't arrive until it was over), but he still succumbed to gangrene due to his injury not being treated properly and he died a slow lingering death 2 months later on 6 Dec 1864.

I spent a good amount of time there at his headstone, talking to him.  Yes, I talk to dead people.....

I commiserated with him, about a good old Virginia boy having to spend eternity buried up in Yankee land(my Southern peeps will get this).....but at least he had a whole bunch of Southern gentlemen alongside him to keep him company.
I told him his service was appreciated and that even though his contemporaries where long gone, his "family" had not forgotten him.  And I apologized for forgetting the little Confederate Flag I meant to bring to put next to his headstone.

Then Hubs showed up and I let him take this horrible photo of me with the headstone.
No make up, my hair is plastered to my head and I am dripping in sweat and about to fall on the ground.

And I took a shot of another part of the cemetery.....

The headstones stretch out as far as you can see.....2,260+ graves......
And I talked to Hubs about what a waste this war was and the high price paid in lives and the repercussions felt in the families of these men.  Children growing up without fathers, wives with no husbands, men not allowed to grow up and live a normal life into old age.

And I cried.
I sobbed.

This is the archway seen from the front that is on the right edge of the shot of me with Jos. Hamilton's headstone.  Under the bronze statue of the Confederate Soldier it says, "Americans".

This place truly moved me.

Once back in the car, we got a drink so I wouldn't pass out.  The a/c in the car was so bad now it was cooler outside the car, so we turned it off and rolled down the windows to get a cool 96 degree breeze.
UGH.
It became obvious to us now that our a/c was deader than Kelsey's nuts.

And we had to find our way back to the hotel during rush hours in downtown Columbus.
Oh joy!lol

I had planned on taking Hubs HERE for dinner.  But with the traffic(we'd have to return to the hotel first and shower and change and then go back into Columbus)and no a/c in the car, Hubs said no thanks to my plan.
So after freshening up back in the room I told him to go next door to here....

Hubs loves pasta and he loves chili.
What could be better than a place that serves chili on your pasta?lol
We've never had Skyline Chili before so another first for us both.

Hubs got a 3-way....so here is where I make the obligatory joke that what man doesn't want a 3-way.....*snort*

And I opted for my chili and cheese on a baked potato.
I also got a Greek salad that was very good.
In hindsight, I should have stuck to just the salad.  I ate about half of my potato and I was done.
After a day of walking and sweating, I just wanted fluids really.

We've heard people rave about Skyline Chili.
Neither of us particularly liked it however.
I thought it was spicy.
Hubs just though it was neither pasta sauce OR chili.
Of course that didn't keep him from eating every single morsel!

Thinking about it later, I think this chili stuff was closer to the consistency of hot dog chili.  I know the inventor was Greek and you can taste the Greek spices in it.  I just think it's maybe an acquired taste.  It tries to be many things therefore it is not successful at being anything.
Just my humble opinion here....

So we only got 2 things done on Monday...outside of eating that is.  Between the traffic and how large an area Columbus takes up, we just couldn't fit another sightseeing spot in.

Between the heat and the food, we were ready for some downtime in the hotel room.  A little tv and bed and cranking the a/c down to 60...woohoo!!!
And I drifted off to lullaby land burrowed down deep inside a heavy winter blanket on the bed with icicles forming on the tip of my nose.....

Sluggy

The Trip To OH'HELL"IO....Chapter Two

So we backed out of the driveway on Sunday morning, credit card-less, with a prepaid card, my small debit account card and some cash.

The drive to the Summer Camp was uneventful mostly.  We stopped for breakfast at a McDonald's off the interstate about a half hour into the trip.
You know.....for a quick, easy and cheap meal.
We got 2 outta 3.
After dropping $17.84  on some biscuits, hash browns and drinks for 3, I started freaking out in my head.
The 1st time we ate and we are out almost $18!

We've got at least 11 more meals to pay for PLUS tons of GAS for the car and Hotel rooms.  If we kept this level of spending up for every meal I was sure we'd be stranded on the side of the road somewhere on the way home in the middle of nowhere, out of gas and cash.

So I slapped a smile on my face and "poo-pooed" those bad thoughts from my head and alternately noshed and cried into my sausage biscuit.

We stopped near camp and got #2 Son a sack of burgers, since the camp doesn't serve lunch on Sunday, so he'd get some food before dinner time.  Hubs and I weren't hungry so we abstained from that festival of grease.

Had a quick visit with #1 Son, dropped #2 Son and we were off again, headed into Ohio.
This is the sign we pass into Ohio.  The nephew was NOT standing there waving on this trip.

Since it was Father's Day, I planned to take Hubs to PF Chang's(his choice) along the way to Columbus.  I found one outside of Akron so we stopped for an early dinner.
Hubs chose to try PF's over Cheesecake Factory, neither of which he has ever eaten at.

I have been to PF Chang's a couple of years back, when my Brother's wife took me to one in VA.
It's not my "cup of tea" really....pardon that pun.....
The food is good but nothing to write home about.
It's just glorified Chinese food......dishes they have made upscale so they can charge a premium price.
$13 for Mushu Pork?
WTF?!  Maybe in Manhattan but NOT in Akron.lol

Let me translate the sign over their front door from PF Changese into English..... "China Bistro" really means  "Outrageously Overpriced Restaurant".

Some of the traditional Chinese food dishes and Noodle dishes are around $10-$12 a plate.  But they also have other unusual for Chinese restaurants type dishes for an even higher price point.  $18-$40 dishes.

I don't know....you pay for the fancy interior of the restaurant and the "experience" I guess.
Id' rather have less experience and lower prices. lol
But we had that $25 Gift Card so the out of pocket was about $15 with tip.

Not only did Hubs order a fancy-pants pricey entree, he ordered a side dish of Lemon Infused shaved Brussel Sprouts.
Here is what is should look like....

Ok, so you get about a third as much as they show in this photo.
That's ok thought, because they taste like crap.
No, wait!
That's not accurate.

They actually tasted like dirty gym socks that had been washed in lemon Tide.
They had the earthy taste of a dirty sock that had fermented in a gym bag for 2 weeks paired with the after taste of a glass of water mixed with lemon scented Tide poured over it.
And whomever in the kitchen was suppose to shave the sprouts either got tired or didn't come in that evening, because I've seen better shaving on a bearded lady at the circus.  There was a top layer of shaved green matter with big chunks of sprouts underneath....big undercooked chunks.
ick.

Am I getting through to anyone how awful these things were?!?
They smelled fabulous.
But you were better off eating them with your eyeballs.
Even a pound of BACON layered over them would NOT have helped the taste!!

Hubs made the mistake of asking me how I liked them after he made me taste them....and this was after he saw me dive for my water glass as I tried to choke my bite down.
After almost 30 years, he really should know better, right?

And when I told him they were wretched to me, he took offense.
So of course, I had to keep bringing up how truly bad they were, which put a "delightful" countenance on his face for the rest of the meal.  Well since the kids weren't there to piss him off on "HIS" day, someone had to do it!

And when he neglected to finish every last bite of that dish we actually paid money for!, the ribbing continued.
He got so mad that I started laughing.  And when I get "tickled", I can't stop laughing until the tears are running down my face and my legs.  Kind of like last Winter when we went to the Hibachi Restaurant and they got me snockered on sake and then the knife guy pulled a rubber chicken out of his torque hat and I lost it.

About Tuesday evening or so, Hubs decided that he would stop being perturbed and actually started laughing along with me about those horrid sprouts.
The PF Chang's brussel sprouts have now become an inside joke in the family, on par with the gigantic fish sandwich they serve at every restaurant in western PA.

Besides tasting the gym socks, I also made the mistake of choosing a messy food.
The Mushu Pork pancakes were thin and tore and I ended up wearing most of my meal.  That's when I was thankful for the very low lighting and that I had worn a floral dress with a dark purple background.
And we had no leftovers to take with us, since the portions were quite small and much of mine ended up on the floor, in the booth or on me.  If I'm paying $13 for Mushu Pork(which by the way, was mostly comprised of eggs and huge hunks of scallions)I damn well want to have enough left for a second meal.

I have entered that stage of life where I really need a bib again when I eat.  Either that or disposal clothing.
But I digress.....

In the end, we were out another $15 in cash.
And we had to fill the gas tank twice that day, before we got to Columbus.
Please picture the tiny little woman in my brain with an abacus starting to froth at the mouth over what we've spent on Day One.

We got from Akron to Columbus with no big traffic headaches given the late hour on a Sunday.
Once we got out of the general vicinity of Cleveland, until we got to just outside of Columbus the traffic was aok.
But Cleveland was nuts!

And I counted 7 different interstates from the time we entered OH until we left Akron.
90....80....480....271....76....77....71
Seven freaking interstates in and around Cleveland.
Insanity!

Add in another 3 in Columbus......70....270...670....as well as the continuation of 71.
See all those squiggly red lines running through Cleveland?

 Even though it doesn't look too outrageous, the photo below is what the Interstates in OHIO feel like around Cleveland......

I'm sorry but there are just too many different interstates crammed into such a small area!
Just trying to keep straight which one you want to be on is mind numbing to a tourist.

We got to the motel in Columbus well before dark because Hubs drives like a bat outta hell.
He pulls up to the door and goes to check us in.  I'm sitting in the car and some old beat up Lincoln Town Car pulls up behind our car and the guy driving it just sits there.
It's obvious he isn't waiting for someone, to pick them up, and he's not getting out to go check-in.  He's just watching me(as far as I can tell from watching HIM in the flip down visor mirror),  and smoking a cigarette.
Due to the credit card information theft my mind starts running wild.  I'm imagining that this creepy old guy is the one who stole our credit card info.....it makes sense, he would know when/where we were checking in and we'd have PA plates on our car, right?.....and he is sitting there waiting for us to park so he can either follow us up to the room and murder us or break into our car and steal it once we go into the motel.

So I roll up the windows in the car even though it's 90 degrees out at 8pm at night and keep one hand on the door handle and one eye on him via the visor mirror in case I have to make a mad dash to the lobby.

I guess this whole situation has me just a teeny bit paranoid, huh?

                        (not my eye)

Hubs finally comes out and we park and lug the luggage up to the room.
My creepy friend is still sitting there in his car, not pulling up to the door now, but just sitting in the middle of the parking lot road and watching us as we disappear into the motel.
I insisted that we ride the elevator ALONE to our floor.....who knows?....creepy guy's accomplice could be in the lobby waiting for us to be cornered in the elevator with him....alone.  Hubs just looks at me like I've lost it while I keep pushing the floor button in the elevator and won't let anyone else inside.

So we settle in and crank the air up in the room.
Long about 9 pm. Hubs wanted some coffee.  He drinks two tree(2 tree=2,3) cups every evening so I tell him I saw a Tim Horton's across the highway from our hotel.
He decides to drive over and get himself a large cup of caffeine.
Since I am now hungry again after spilling my fashionably small plate of dinner all over myself 4 hours ago and my nerves could use some soothing, I ask him to pick me up a coupla donuts....bonus points if they involve chocolate!

I was surprised to see a Timmy's this far South?!  The donuts were stale(sitting for hours I guess)but the chocolate on top was comforting.

A chocolate donut was just the thing to relax me so I could drift off to sleep without creepy guys lingering in my brain.  I did, however get up 3 times that night to check and make sure the security latch was engaged.....

Stay Tuned for Chapter Three.

Sluggy

Food spending June Week 3 & Meal Planning June Week 4

You will recall that I did NOT do a meal plan in last week's installment of Food Spending/Meal Planning.

The reason?

We were out of town for 4 days and I didn't want to think about what to serve when we got back.

So I made it up as we went along.

Plus, since Hubs was still on vacation, even though we were home the last 3 days, I didn't want to have to cook if I could avoid it.

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And here is the "meal plan" that actually happened last week.....

SUNDAY--McDonald's  for breakfast, PF Chang's for dinner
MONDAY--Bob Evans for breakfast, Raising Cane's chicken for lunch, Skyline Chili for dinner
TUESDAY--Free Hotel breakfast, Arby's for lunch, Chef Ernie's for dinner
WEDNESDAY--Free Hotel breakfast, The Dragon Chinese Restaurant for lunch, Arby's for dinner
THURSDAY--late breakfast, Bob Evans for early dinner
FRIDAY--late breakfast Christo's Greek Restaurant for dinner

SATURDAY--Chinese Take-out lunch, Pork Chops and Asparagus for dinner

Lots of meal out and away from home.  1 meal cooked at home this week.  While I was glad not to have to cook for a change, spending the added money to eat while away from home doesn't sit well with me.

The weekly food spending was $24.58.  It was 2 trips to Weis. You can see what I bought HERE.

The short version, I did the Weis Dairy Month Instant Savings Deal twice, bought 11.75lbs. pork loin(to cut into boneless chops), a few more dairy items and some store-made muffins.  

Reg. retail was $97.84 for all so we saved 75% for the week.

I've spent $331.49 of my $400 food budget for June.  I have $68.51 left to spend this week.

Since I have $59 in expiring Cats to use this week, I hope to spend very little actual food budget money.

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This week's menu.....
SUNDAY--Kielbasa on rolls, grilled Squash
MONDAY--Salmon w/maple bourbon glaze, crudite plate(radishes,celery,carrots)with dressing dip

TUESDAY--Spaghetti with Meatballs, Salad

WEDNESDAY--Potato and Toppings

THURSDAY--Zucchini Chicken, Rice

FRIDAY--Hamburger Helper type meal, leftover veggies

SATURDAY--Homemade Pizza, Salad

What I need to purchase for this menu?

Zucchini, Squash and Salad Greens is all I need to make this happen.

We need fruit too this week.

I've got some leftover veggies in the fridge to incorporate, a bag of taters in the root cellar, as well as a hunk of pizza dough in the freezer from the last time I made pizza to use up.


So what's on deck for your menu this week?

And how is your food spending going this month?

Sluggy