The Firstborn Comes Home for a Visit

We had a nice visit from our oldest son last week.
If not a too short visit.

I remembered this time to give him his important papers and his savings bonds.

On Wednesday we had planned to have a day together where we would visit the National "War of Northern Aggression" Museum in Harrisburg and then drop in on my blogger buddy MARK for a little visit and a box of wine.

But oldest wanted to see his friends from high school and Wednesday was the only day 2 of them were available last week so we didn't get to fit that trip in.   Sigh

On Thursday we had family over and the weather cooperated long enough to have a 4th of July Cook-out.

I didn't go wild on the amount of food, so we just grilled corn, dogs and burgers.  I had canned beans for those who could have them too.
And this puppy stood sentinel duty under the table waiting to capture any fallen morsels of goodness.....

And for dessert I served an Entenmann cake(that cost me $1 at the bakery outlet)and this....

 Fresh fruit salad with cantaloupe, strawberries, blueberries and bananas.

And watermelon for us Southern gals.

My buddy,  Sonya Ann, has a good idea for those watermelon leftovers today HERE.
Not that I have EVER heard of such a thing as leftover watermelon personally......lol

On Friday Hubs and Oldest had a day out together. 
Here they are before the start of their adventure....

They went to Pottsville and took the Yuengling Brewery Tour.
It was a MADHOUSE from what they told me!  The tour gal said she had never seen so many people as they had hosted that day for the tour in the 5 years she has been working there.
Wall to wall people in an un-air conditioned building in high heat for HOURS!
I am so glad they decided to leave me home.....

That evening we took Oldest out to his choice of restaurants for his birthday--Red Robin.  It's a fancy pants burger joint with overpriced hunks of hamburger.

It use to be pretty good but the prices over the last 6 years have risen so high there and the quality has taken a bit of a nosedive such that I don't really enjoy going there anymore.

And on this visit the wait staff screwed things up such that it was NOT a good experience.  And that's all I'm going to say unless someone really wants to hear me rant about it....lol

But Oldest is a member of their Birthday Club so he gets a free burger on his birthday and a free dinky little sundae.

And I MADE the wait staff sing to him.  What better way to top of your firstborn's birthday than by embarrassing him.....please notice the red cheeks......lol......

So after that he gave me his patented "unpleasant" face.....

He was only funnin' me, here's a normal face....who can stay mad at their mommy when you are full of burger, fries and ice cream.....

We hadn't been to Red Robin in awhile so I was surprised to find this on the table.....

A "Ziosk".
You can order appetizers, bar drink refills, play games or music and pay your check right from your table.

This new "innovation" doesn't thrill me.

First, it's yet another "thing" cluttering up your dining table.  They already have all kinds of crap on the table when you sit down so there is barely enough room once your food and drinks come.
Plus the screen scrolls continuously and if it's in your field of vision, it's VERY annoying while you are trying to sit and converse with your dining companions.

I had to have Hubs turn it around so the screen was facing away from me it was so distracting.

While the games features could keep a bored child occupied, they cost money. 
And in my humble opinion as the mother of 3 almost grown kids, if your kid isn't adequately amused by the fact of being able to go out someplace to eat, he/she is either too young to be there or hasn't been trained well enough to behave themselves or you obviously take them out and spend money on them too TOO often. ;-)

The music feature.....let's talk about that for a bit.  It also costs money to use and it's limited to the songs in the RR muzak system...which you can't even hear half the time anyway because of the noise of the guests AND the volume settings of the 100 television sets, positioned overhead throughout the restaurant, all set to different stations.  It's just ridiculous!

And then there is the fact that this "Ziosk" takes the place of wait person for some of their functions. 
You can order appetizers and bar drink refills without having to wait for your wait person and if you don't want to have to wait to flag down your person to pay, you can use a c/c on this machine for a quick getaway.  While these functions could be a plus to your dining experience(especially if the restaurant doesn't have adequate wait staff or they are extremely busy), it also takes away from the human contact that is part of dining out.  And since you don't feel as connected to your wait person, you as a paying customer might be tempted to not tip or reduce your tip, seeing as you are doing some of the wait person's job yourself.
Anyway, I give the old "Ziosk" a big thumbs down....

Oldest left on Saturday morning and we were sad to see him go.
He had to get back as he is still trying to find a job plus a place to live in Pittsburgh by the Fall, when the GF has to start classes there.  It's a rough time for these newly minted college graduates to be looking for well paying work.

We spent a bit of time in the pool the rest of the Holiday weekend as the temperatures remained high and the rains held off for the most part and the air conditioning system wasn't being installed until Monday.

So how did y'all spend your 4th of July weekend?

Sluggy

Well I'll Be....

The more I dig into my family's past the stranger my reality becomes.
Take this for instance......

It seems the genealogical discoveries are coming fast and furiously for me this Summer.
I just found out this is my 7th cousin 1x removed....

And the Bush twins are my 8th cousins.
Yah I have to break the news to my 22 yr. old son that he's related to Jenna and Barbara......

One is still available and he isn't so closely related that he can't date her, right? ;-)


And to top it all off, this guy is also my 7th cousin.....

Yah....not so thrilled with that one.....lol

So what do y'all think?  Should I ring up cousin John and Laura and see if they want to hang out with me?
Do you think they'd come over my place for a cook-out this Summer?

I bet I could get John out of a suit and into a Hawaiian shirt and some Bermuda shorts.
Come on cuz....loosen up!

Let's hope Laura brings George too.....now I hear he's the life of a party....well, not so much anymore.....

Sluggy

This Week on The Dining Table

 Let's get to it.....

 

Here's what was planned last week--

Sunday--Beef Stroganoff over Rice, Salad
Monday--Chinese takeout as Hubs is out of town(comes out of entertainment budget, not food)
Tuesday--Chicken Enchiladas(using pepper strips and chicken from freezer)
Wednesday--Not sure, 2 of us might be out of town for the day..Hubs will make pasta or have leftovers.....if we don't go, Quiche(using up half & half)most probably will be served and squash.
Thursday--Cook-Out(if the weather cooperates)-not sure what yet beyond dogs and burgers.
Friday--Red Robin(#1 Son's birthday meal he requested)(entertainment budget, not food)
Saturday--Beef Stroganoff over Rice of Chicken Enchiladas leftovers, Brussel Sprouts

 

Everything was served as planned except for Wednesday #1 Son and I didn't have an adventure so I made Squash Casserole and Quiche(which was the backup plan).

 

It was a big spend grocery week here.  I spent $91.67 on $160.52 worth of groceries at 3 stores last week.  

This means I have $308.33 left in my food budget for the rest of July.

 

Going into this week the leftovers that remain are--2/3 of a quiche, at least 2 servings of Stroganoff, 1 Enchilada, half a crockpot of chili, hot dog and burger rolls, chicken breast(I didn't use all of it to make the Enchiladas last week)and some boxes of previously frozen veggies(had to be put in the fridge when the freezer died, so they need to be used this week).

 

(I've made bold the leftover items I've used in the menu below.)

 Here's this week's meal plan--
 

Sunday--Leftovers(Quiche or Enchiladas)
Monday--Hot Dogs(on leftover buns)w/Chili or Burritos w/Chili
Tuesday--Chicken Salad Sandwiches, boxed veggie
Wednesday--Eating out after taking #2 to camp
Thursday--Mushroom Parmesan, Salad
Friday--Probably more leftovers
Saturday--Salmon, Coleslaw, boxed veggie

I don't have room in the freezer to throw any leftovers so we have to use them up this week, so the order of what's eaten when may change(except for Wed.'s meal) or some dish made new this week may be superseded by a leftover.

On the shopping list so far--Portabella Mushroom caps, Salad Greens, Cabbage(for coleslaw), potatoes, peaches, orange juice, turkey breast lunchmeat, tomatoes, maybe bread.  I might also pick up some canned tomatoes this week as they are on sale for $1 can.  Canned tomatoes, potatoes and OJ not needed this week but at a stock up price.

 

I'm figuring about $38 with the canned tomatoes for groceries this week.

That's what's appearing on the kitchen table this week here at Chez Sluggy.

 What's getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Sluggy

That Hamilton Woman!

 

No, this isn't a review of that old classic movie about the life of Emma Hamilton, starring Vivian Leigh and Laurence Olivier.

It's a post about Genealogy....of course it is! lol
My family genealogy specifically and a document I found recently.

I am working on my mother's side of things presently.....my old long Southern roots.....my mother's, mother's, mother's, father's parents and grandparents to be precise.
Back about there is where the census information gets spotty and piecing together who's who and where they did what, becomes difficult to follow and keep the continuity of the trail.

Like for instance, my 3x Great Grandparents, Richard W. Baker and Sarah "Sallie" P. Hamilton.  We don't know exactly when they were born.  From the ages on census records you can deduce a range of a few years but no birth records have been found yet.  And the chance exists that I may never find any records to confirm their birthdates due to the records that were destroyed when the Yankees violated Old Virginny.

The possibility of hitting the genealogical Brick Wall at any point once you get this far back is always there, even if you are white.
But by finding various documents in their paper trail you can start to piece together where, when  and how they lived.

I was happy to discover a document that helped me authenticate this part of the family line.
It's a part of the special collections dept. at the University of VA library.....part of the "A Guide to the Valuation of Confederate Slaves from 1864".  I would have to travel to Charlottesville, VA to see that actual document but this digital summary gives me an idea about what it contains.
The documents were purchased in 1990 from a NJ auction dealer.

It's a court decree from February of 1864 concerning the dividing of a group of slaves among the heirs of one Mrs. Frances Flippen Hamilton, the widow of John Hamilton of VA(Prince Edward county to be exact).
Frances and John Hamilton were my 4x Great Grandparents.
Their daughter, Sarah "Sallie" was my 3x Great Grandmother.

Though it's not a "happy" document, being in reference to slaves and holding them, it is a thrill to see my direct ancestors mentioned if only electronically.

The person who wrote the content summary added that they were not sure if the court from which this proceeding were held was in Virginia or not because they could not find Frances or John Hamilton enumerated in the VA. state Censuses of 1850 and/or 1860(which preceded this court event in 1864).
Obviously, the person who wrote out the summary hadn't undertaken the amount of genealogy digging necessary to find Frances and John that I had. lol
It is widely held that John Hamilton died before the end of 1840, and at the time of this court proceeding Frances had been widowed for approx. 24 years.

I did think it strange since this was a court proceeding where it was determined how to divide up Frances Hamilton's, the widow of John Hamilton, slave property among her heirs, took place in Feb. of 1864.   Frances did not die until 1874.

Hmmm.
Distributing an estate ten years before the owner of said estate died?
A true head scratcher this.

Then my Hubs, ever the clever thinker, put out there that perhaps Frances was incompetent by 1864....meaning she was unable to take care of herself and of sound enough mind to direct how her property was to be handled.  Nowadays, someone deemed incompetent makes out(before they become incapacitated) or a court gives someone else a Power of Attorney over someone who is incapacitated so they can be their ward and handle all financial and legal affairs for the person.
I'm not sure if POA's were a regular part of the legal system in 1860's Virginia or if one existed for Frances, but this sounds very plausible a situation.

So if she was judged to be legally incapable of handling her own legal affairs, her estate may have been distributed at that point to her heirs instead of wanting until she passed on.
Especially since this "property" were living human beings and thus had needs to be met on a daily basis.  You couldn't just tuck slaves in a trunk somewhere like someone's good silverware or fine china until the owner died and the folks in the will came into control and possession of the property.
Slaves were people who had to be fed and housed and their physical needs met.

The particulars of the court decree were concerning 26 slaves in the possession of Frances Hamilton.
The total value of these 26 slaves, in 1864 dollars was $37,750.  In 2013 dollars that's equal to $563,432.84.  That ain't pocket change....lol
The slaves were divided up into 7 lots to be distributed to the 7 living heirs of Mrs. Hamilton; Richard W. & Sally Hamilton Baker(my direct ancestors), James & Anne Hamilton Ireson, William A. Hamilton, John F. Hamilton,  ? C. Hamilton(this was probably Joseph but not definite), Robert P. Hamilton and Martha Hamilton Leffew.
While this document with her children's names helped substantiate some of them, it also caused more questions for me about others.  For example, other genealogists have Robert Hamilton dying in 1849, 15 years before this court proceeding, but he is one of the inheriting heirs(and his children and/or spouse are not mentioned instead)?
But I digress.....

Each slave lot was worth $5,392.85 but separate from the slaves was a sixty-two year-old female slave named Betsy "nearly blind and Valueless".  The other 6 heirs were to pay $500 to William Hamilton, who took possession of Betsy, "for the keeping for life the said slave."   I truly hope my ancestors followed this court directive willingly and supported Betsy for the rest of her natural days.

The summary doesn't give the names of all the slaves concerned but it does indicate that 3 separate family groups(each a mother and her two young children)were worth $3,500 per family group.
My natural curiosity wants to know the names of all of these slaves and which ones my 3x Great Grandparents inherited.  Slaves who were no doubt released the following year if not sooner.
Having this information and putting it out into the electronic world, may also help someone of African American slave descent to connect the dots with a long lost ancestor of theirs as well.

I hope to someday get to Charlottesville again(I lived there for a year back in 1982-83....wish this document had been there back then and I had knowledge of it too)and get a chance to view the information contained within personally.

Sluggy

 

Toiletry Porn & Decluttering....Don't Stop Me Now!

I just wanted to explain to all my readers who come here to see what I get from Rite-Aid(for free or almost free)why you haven't seen me shop there since something like January or February of this year.

Yah see, I really don't need to buy any toiletries right now.
And I probably won't need any for a few months more.

The last week or so I have been making trips to my storage locker and have gotten the last of my tubs of spare toiletries I was keeping in there.
Yes, I am down to my last 5 tubs of toiletries stockpile items.....well, if you don't count all the toilet tissue. ;-)

And I finished clearing/cleaning out the Daughter's bedroom.  Got a box of items to ship off to Salvation Army, paired down what it stored in the closet and got both dressers cleaned out.
The dressers are now filled with toiletries.....

That's part of it.
There are 5 more drawers I didn't pull out to photograph.

There are also 2 tubs in the hall linen closet which I think I can combine into 1 tub now as some items have been used up in those.

And on tonight's agenda is reorganizing and going through the hall linen closet.

On the Decluttering Front--
We sent a broken inflatable bed(had to be re-inflated every 4 hours!lol)and an old lumpy futon mattress to the garbage last week. 
Then #1 Son took my oak Queen Anne leg, butler-style coffee table back with him when he left this morning(pardon the dog hair tumbleweed in the photo)......

He and his GF can use one and this one is small so it will fit better in the apartment they will most probably rent.  Hubs kept his mother's coffee and end tables when she died(which have been living in a bedroom upstairs)so we'll use that coffee table in the den now.
I have another smallish Asian style coffee table which may or may not go in the redone living room. but I am not ready to part with it yet, just in case.

I am not a big fan of coffee tables anyway, because we are "horizontally surface challenged".....meaning-we see a flat surface and we can't help ourselves but pile it with crap.  8-)

This morning, since I was on a "roll" in the getting rid of stuff department, I also boxed up a set of 8 Christmas themed drinking glasses and a Wizard and Dragon Votive candleholder from the kitchen and the dining room hutch, respectively.  Now Hubs has room to put his beer glasses in the kitchen cupboard and I don't have to have them sitting out on the counter 24/7.  I swear, some days with the barware and the empty bottles, my counters look like they need an intervention by the Bar Rescue Guy.....

I have decided to make the curtains for the living room out of that lime green bolt of fabric I have.  Hey!, they may end up being loud compared to the other colors in the room, but I'll like them. ;-)

And I'm taking all those drapes/curtains I bought back to BB&B for a credit on my card.  That's $150 back in the wallet to spend on something we need/want more.


So what has everyone else been up to in their copious free time this past week/weekend?


Sluggy