Carppity Carp Carp.....Pity Party Rant

This has been my week......lots of carp!
Just switch positions on two letters and you'll know how I really feel. ;-)

Last weekend celebrating Hubs for Father's Day took over 3 whole days basically.
He had taken Friday off so it was an evening at the local Brew Pub.........

Of course Daughter said she was treating him on Friday so I had to pay for myself and the 20 bucks I gave her MORE than covered my sandwich and 1 beer....so I got to supplement what she paid for Hubs.
And nothing of any note got done at home that day.....

Then Saturday is was all day at Hubs favorite not-quite-local Brew Pub.

Of course nobody took my picture so I was forced to do a selfie with the river in the background......

Then Daughter and BF headed off for an afternoon/evening of dirt track racing so I was the designated dog sitter until after midnight.  Even though I didn't want to stay up that late.
And another day when nothing got done at home.

On our road trip in May we got a chip in our car windshield from a truck that threw a rock at us on the highway.  Just a little chip so Hubs took the car in two weeks ago to get it fixed.  They didn't replace the windshield and just filled the chip with resin.
Well we come out to the car on Saturday after leaving the Brew Pub and the chip is now a crack that extends about halfway across the windshield!

Can't make it out well for the glare and clouds reflected but it's major now.  So back the car goes to the glass place and another call into our insurance. bleh.  At least we didn't have to pay ANOTHER deductible since it's the same damage.

On Sunday we stayed home and Hubs decided to do yard work(and I didn't ask him to do that).
I stayed inside and tried to get something put away in this house as it was too hot for me out in the sun.
So Hubs blows up that evening because he had to do yard work all day(no, no he didn't HAVE TO)and I didn't appreciate it and it's Father's Day and I guess he expected us all to wait on him hand and foot.
I wanted to hand him his ass about this time.....

I didn't ask him to do anything all day or for the last 3 days when he was off AND we carted him around to places he likes to drink beer.
So yes, I guess I am a bad bad wife and a horrible person.  I deserve to be yelled at.

So moving on from my thrilling 3 day weekend--

Monday I set up an appointment for Salvation Army to come pick up this stuff.......

I can't take it all in myself with a Chevy Sonic.
SA emails that they will come on Friday......no time frame or anything.

So I hear the truck outside the house BEFORE 8 am this morning.
I go downstairs to cage the dog so I can actually open the front door without her running off(she is a runner!)and speak with the men.
By the time I secure the dog and go open the front door, the truck is gone!!!
They just f*ing left!

Well screw you Salvation Army......

I left a scathing feedback comment on their pick-up website and now I am off to upload these photos to my town's FB sales site to see if anyone here will come get any of this stuff for FREE.
I could chew nails I am so pissed right now.

I feel like all I've done all week besides hide out on the computer doing genealogy stuff is cook and do dishes and deal with a pretty demanding dog when Daughter is not home.  I don't blame the dog....she is settling in well but she is so needy and not trained well.  And I can't occupy her all day long even though I am the one home with her mostly.
I am past the time in my life where I want to train a dog.

And Daughter has not been home a lot this week....between 2 days of her part time job, doc appointment, buying pants, going to another job interview, selling her plasma, going to the chiropractor 2 times in a week, going to the dentist, going to the eye doc and I am sure I am leaving something out here.

My question is why does she waits until she has no income coming in to see a dentist or eye doc......and then she's got her hand out to me wanting me to pay for this, since she's not on our dental or eye plans, just our medical plan, and she has to pay full price?
Or at least it feels like she's always got her hand out for cash. Ugh.

The house is nowhere near where it needs to be and no one, at least I feel, seems to be in any kind of hurry to help me get it to a livable point.
This alone is stressing me out massively.
I can't live in chaos but for so long and I've hit my limit.

I am just feeling overwhelmed I guess.  So much has changed in my day-to-day life and I am not liking it and I don't feel in control of anything in my life right now.

The one bright spot in all the madness that is life here?

I discovered Wednesday that Weis(PMITA)Markets now carries Pimiento Cheese!
And it was on sale!!!
I could just fill up a tub with this stuff and dive in nekkid with a supply of celery sticks. lolz

My phone which College Boy insists he didn't lose is still missing.  He finally went and bought me a replacement phone at Walmart which cost him all of $10.  Yes, it only took him a week to get him off his ass to replace my phone..........

I transferred all my minutes and am now back in business.

Not 2 days later we get a letter from Tracfone.........

Telling me I am eligible for a new free phone! lolz

And now Hubs informs me he wants to go to Maine the beginning of August and has already taken time off from work to do this.
Not that getting out of here is a bad thing but.......
He won't plan the trip so I'll have to do all that.
And if I don't include shit he wants to do(which he won't tell me until the last blanged minute)he'll pout.
And I am just tired of it all.
I'd rather just take off by myself somewhere.
Or better yet, just send him to Maine alone and I'll stay home and clean out his shed, which he refuses to clean.  Those bikes in the photo above?  Those were in the shed and the only reason they aren't still in there is because I got mad on Monday and tore through there to at least get 10 year old bikes out to donate.
sigh.

Hubs also informed me earlier this week he's decided "he" wants to throw a 4th of July cookout.
Well guess who gets to plan and implement the food for this shindig and arrange it all?  8-P

Not that I had any say in whether we have a cookout.
And the deck is a disaster.....it never got cleaned last year or sealed before the bad weather set in so it's green and cracking and nasty.

Want to lay bets on whether Hubs gets it cleaned and sealed before the end of next weekend for "his" cookout?
I am going to tell him if he doesn't get it done I am calling off his cookout because well I am a bitch and I am so over it.
I can't even.

So I survived the week and besides keeping it together I've bagged up stuff to get rid of and burned a large stack of cardboard boxes.
Go me.

So in conclusion I am NOT having a good week.

Here's hoping next week is better and I don't send anyone to the Emergency Room.

Sluggy

Well It Had to Happen......Another Boring Genealogy Post

Having ancestral roots going back to the very beginning of European/English occupation in America I never had a doubt I'd find some amazing people in, or associated through marriage, with my family tree.

My early emigrant ancestors, all of them on my mother's side of my heritage, run the gamut from the lowest classes to nobility.

I have ancestors who came up out of nothing, who came here as indentured servants, for the free ride to the New World.

I also have other ancestors who were offspring of notable Englishmen of the landed gentry but due to Primogeniture rules in Europe wouldn't inherit anything so they needed to start from scratch to make a life.  I guess they figured it would be easier in some ways to do in a new uncharted land.

Then there are still others who came here with wealth and prestige intact and grew that wealth and influence in a society where the sky was the limit.

If nothing else I am inclusive and diverse in so much as my Caucasian ancestry can be. ;-)

Of the ancestors I have tracked back to Europe, so far, I am a 12th generation American born and raised here on some of my family lines.  Using an average of 20 years per generation(which is a rule of thumb in genealogy) that's 240 years of living and dying on American soil.  That's a mighty long time in anyone's book.
But I've got 2 ancestors I've uncovered so far, that came here 406 years ago to plant the Garnett and Flood families in American soil.
Outside of having Indigenous North American blood 406 years in this land is a crazy long time by US standards.

Over many generations these ancestors who came before have experienced heartache and great gain and everything in between.  They have also "married up or down" as the saying goes, and had their lots in life rise and/or fall from one social sphere to another better or worse in our American community.

And all this living and dying over many generations brings me to who I am today and where I am today.

With all these humble, moderately connected, and wealthy notable ancestors, it shouldn't have been a surprise that I would find a few famous folks along the way.

My latest discovery?
You see him every day on your money.
This guy right here........

Yep, George Washington.
The fellow every American wants to be related to. lolz

My connection is through marriage but it's something, right?

Here's the trail--

John Fludd(Flood) came to Jamestown in 1610 on "The Swan", one of the 3 resupply ships owned by Thomas Gates.  This fleet came to "rescue" the Colony after the "year of the starving time" as 1609 became known in Jamestown, when most of the colonists died from disease or hunger and reduced their number from 500 to 60.

John was a mere boy of between 10 and 18 depending on which source you quote, from Kent, England.  We don't know why he got on that ship as he left no record to tell us.

The Fludd name is Welch in origin, going back to Ririd Vlaidd of Shropshire, an 12th century Earl of Penlyn.  A descendant of Ririd Vlaidd was Sir Thomas Fludd who was knighted by Elizabeth I.
Thomas Fludd had a son, John Fludd, who was the father of Richard Fludd.  This Fludd immigrated to Drogheda Ireland circa 1645 where the family name was angelicized to Flood.  So all us Flood/Fludd descendants in America are cousins to folks in Ireland named Flood.

Sir Thomas Fludd had another son, Nicholas Fludd.  Nicholas was the father of our John Fludd/Flood.  I suppose John Flood came to America for one of two reasons....
1. He was not the oldest son of his father Nicholas and thus would not inherit anything.
2. He was young and restless for adventure.
Or maybe for both reasons.

At any rate he hopped about the Swan and landed in Jamestown.
John Flood was known to be an interpreter for the local British government with the coastal Algonguin speaking Native Americans living there(mostly Powhatan tribes).  He was paid in tobacco, acquired land on the banks of the James and became a wealthy planter.

He survived the Jamestown massacre of 1622 and when the first muster roll was taken in 1624 he was listed living at Jordan's Journey(which was on the banks of the James River across from present day Hopewell, Virginia).  His household included a wife, Margaret Finche Fludd(who arrived with her husband, William Finche and their daughter Frances in 1620 on "The Supply").
John and Margaret had as many as 6 children(depending on which researcher you use), one of those being Mary Flood, born circa 1635.

Mary Flood was to marry 4 times before her life was over.

Mary was sent to England to be educated, as many wealthy planters' daughters were, then returned to the Virginia Colony about 1655 to marry for the first time to Richard Blunt of Isle of Wight County, Virginia. They had a son, Thomas Blunt, in 1656, before Richard died shortly after their son's birth, passing at the age of 39.

The widow Mary Flood Blunt then married Charles Ford 9 Apr 1657, and he passed away that same year, and there was no issue.

Mary thirdly married John Washington 13 Oct 1658 and they had a son Richard Washington, in 1660. John also died soon after their child was born, passing away at the age of 30.

Lastly Mary married Henry Briggs circa 1661.  We know they had at least 5 children together from Henry's will--Henry, Charles, Samuel, George and Marie(or Mary), before Mary Flood Blunt Ford Washington Briggs died in 1679 in Surry County, Virginia.

Mary Flood Blunt Ford Washington Briggs is one of my 9th Great Grandmothers through her son with Henry Briggs, also named Henry Briggs. (My previous research indicated that I was descended from Henry & Mary Brigg's son, Samuel Briggs, but that was false.  Their son Henry, who married Elizabeth Lucas, is my 8th Great Grandfather.)
Mary's son with John Washington, Richard Washington, is my 8th Great Grandfather's half brother and my 9 x Great Uncle.

My line as related to the Washington line--

Mary Flood Blunt Ford Washington Briggs and Henry Briggs
Henry and Elizabeth Lucas Briggs
James and Elizabeth Briggs Chappell
John(II)and Elizabeth Briggs Mason
John(III)and Jane Parham Mason
Joseph and Elizabeth Weatherford Mason
William and Sarah Mason Driskill
James and Mary Agnes Driskill Harper
Robert and Jennie Vie Tucker Harper
Wirt and Lillian Vassar Harper
Francis and Carole Harper Bowman
Me


John Washington, Mary Flood's 3rd husband, is the Grandson of Lawrence Washington(1565-1615)and Margaret Butler(1568-1622).  Lawrence had a son Richard(John's father)and another son, Lawrence Washington(1602-1653).  This Lawrence married Amphillis Twigden and they had a son, John Washington(1633-1677).
This John Washington immigrated to Virginia in 1656, a young man of about 23 years, aboard a merchant ship transporting tobacco between England and the Colony.  He had invested into this shipping venture.
This John Washington was George Washington's Great Grandfather.

Lawrence and Margaret Butler Washington
Lawrence and Amphillis Twigden Washington
John and Anne Pope Washington
Lawrence and Mildred Warner Washington
Augustine and Mary Ball Washington
George Washington

In other words, George Washington is the 1st Cousin 3 removed of the Husband of my 9 x Great Grandmother.

How's that for a kick in the head? 8-)

Tasty Leftovers

2 Sundays ago I roasted two whole chickens.  I am still trying to gauge how much to prepare for a meal with all 5 of us home to eat.
It's amazing how out of practice you can get at fixing meals for a large crowd once your kids mostly leave home and it's just you and the spouse to cook for.

Anyway, I ended up with one whole chicken leftover after that Sunday's supper to figure out how to use up in another dinner.  I pulled out the crock pot on Monday evening and set the leftover whole chicken to simmer overnight in some of the stock I harvested from roasting them both last Sunday.
By Tuesday I had a very rich stock along with tender chicken pieces I picked off the carcass.

So I decided to try one of those copy cat recipes for the Olive Garden's Chicken Gnocchi Soup that are floating around on the internet.

The one I used is located Here.

It was fairly quick to prepare.  Of course you could make your own Gnocchi(I've never made gnocchi however and didn't want this dish to be my guinea pig)and it would take longer but be more homemade from scratch.

My only change was I didn't add the dried Thyme because I didn't have any and had no car yesterday to go run out for any.  It didn't seem to hurt the flavor however to leave it out.
Oh, and I just used 2% Milk and not Half and Half.  And I added a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch to thicken it up more(as I like a thick soup)instead of using more flour beyond the initial amount of that ingredient.

4 out of 5 diners approved this meal, served with some whack biscuits, if a sopping up the liquid item was needed to accompany this soup. ;-)
The only change I would make would be to put the carrot shreds in sooner rather than later so they soften more.  I didn't care for crunchy carrot bits in this.

Along with the biscuits(bought on sale and with a coupon)the cost was around $10 for 7-8 hearty servings.  We have 2 servings leftover for quick lunches.
A container of this soup To-Go at Olive Garden would run you $5.79.  Even if that container held 2 servings, you'd need to spend at least $17.37 + tax to feed a family of 5 with this soup.  And that doesn't include the cost of any bread products.
Also the OG version has 1,420 mg of sodium per serving, which is more than I want in my soup.  The recipe I used has added salt but it's to your taste and I added about 1/2 teaspoon(=1,150 mg for the whole pot of soup)which made it plenty salty.  Spread out over 7-8 servings that way less than the OG version.

Really, this is just a psuedo-Italian version of Chicken and Dumplings with added spinach and some herbs we Southerners don't put into our version.
This will be added to my recipe collection and be made again....especially since the Daughter bought me two bags of gnocchi and I only used one, so this will get made at least once more.

Now my problem is I have shredded chicken from half a roast chicken still as this soup only used 1 cup of the shreds.  And now I also have most of a bag of fresh spinach to use up as the recipe only called for 1 cup and what store sells that little spinach at a pop? lolz

I am thinking of using the chicken leftovers in a risotto.  I am not a big risotto fan but Hubs loves anything Italian and the BF loves anything Carb-y evidently so it will be eaten and go over well.
If I had more chicken left I might have prepared fajitas or quesadillas.

The spinach is slated to be used in a Spinach Salad with some boiled eggs and bacon because well, who doesn't like anything with bacon, right? 8-)

Have you got a "go to" use for leftover roasted chicken?

Sluggy

More Genealogical Discoveries......My Synchronistic Life

Well I was working on my SUBLETT lines this morning and I uncovered two more cousins you may know of.

Actually I "visited" with them Spring of 2015 on our Louisiana Road Trip while we were traveling through Western Kentucky.

If you are a longtime reader you might remember me taking a selfie in Central City KY with this memorial to two natives of that city.

You can read about that part of the trip HERE.
(The pertinent part is near the end of that post.)

Yes, Don and Phil Everly aka The Everly Brothers are my 8th cousins 1 x removed.
Their 3 x Great Grandmother was a SUBLETT by birth, Mary "Polly" Sublett.
Mary Sublett's Great Grandfather, Jacques "James" Sublett, was a brother to my 7 x Great Grandfather, Pierre Louis "Peter Lewis" Sublett.

So let's go back into our time machine and listen to some of their hits...........

Here's a strange clip from 1970.....by then they were already retro. lolz

Another clip of them late 1960's with Roy Rogers and Dale Evans......


Incidentally I am cousins with Roy Rogers(aka Leonard Slye)too, through his mother, Mattie Womack.
My blogger friend, Jay, who died last year, was cousins with him through Roy's Father, Andrew Slye, and the Slye line.

A music video they made in 1984 of one of their hits......



One of their last appearances with Simon & Garfunkel is located HERE.



And Don Everly appeared the year Phil died in this concert....


I told College Boy about his famous musical cousins, ya know, thinking he'd be impressed and enthused to be genetically related to people in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
Nothing.
He had never heard of them.
8-O!

Seriously?!  The boy is into music and had no CLUE who they were/are.  Where did I go wrong and fail him that he doesn't know them.

Sluggy

This Week on the Dining Table

It's the "Father's Day Weekend" Edition.............

We began Father's Day celebrating on Friday since Hubs took off that day(was suppose to be my surgery check-up appointment day).  Daughter treated him to the local brewpub(I had to pay for myself...humph!).  Then on Saturday, a gorgeous day weather wise, we headed to Berwick for his favorite brewpub there.  We sat outside in the Bier Garten overlooking the Susquehanna River.  BF even joined us there.  Afterwards we got ice cream cones and then Daughter and BF headed west to go see some dirt track racing and Hubs and I headed home to dog sit.
Sunday was spent doing little here as it was 90 degrees....a little yard work and Daughter cooked dinner(with some help)and we turned on the a/c.
Yes, we party wild, don't we? ;-)

Moving on......

Onward to the meal planning!

Here's what was planned last week--

1. Sunday--Roasted Chicken w/Roasted Onions, Potatoes, Zucchini
2. Monday--Leftovers of FFY(Fend For Yourself)
3. Tuesday--Marinated London Broil & Skewer Veggies, Fettucine Alfredo Noodles
4. Wednesday--Chicken Enchiladas(using leftover roast chicken from Sunday)
5. Thursday--Steak Sandwiches(using leftover marinated London Broil), leftover Collards
6. Friday--Fish, Cole Slaw, Hush Puppies
7. Saturday--Leftovers

And this is what actually happened--

1. Sunday--Roasted Chicken w/Roasted Onions, Potatoes, Zucchini
2. Monday--Leftovers of FFY(Fend For Yourself)
3. Tuesday--Marinated London Broil & Skewer Veggies, Fettucine Alfredo Noodles
4. Wednesday--Chicken Enchiladas(using leftover roast chicken from Sunday)
5. Thursday--Steak Sandwiches(using leftover marinated London Broil), leftover Collards
6. Friday--Panninis at the Brew Pub
7. Saturday--Leftovers(I ate some pickles.)

6 meals cooked at home, 2 of them nights of leftovers and 1 night of Eating Out.  Fish didn't happen due to Eating Out at the Brew Pub so that meal moves to this week.

As for my grocery spending..... I spent a total of $137.17 on 4 trips to the store last week(Bread Outlet, local Shursave store, 2 x Weis).

I have spent $273.58 for June and have $126.42 left of my $400 food budget with 11 days to go in the month.
We might stay under budget, we might not, only time will tell.

We had some food waste last week unfortunately.......a piece of pecan chicken, some Brussels Sprouts, and some Deviled Clams that all got pushed to the back of the fridge.  It doesn't happen much here but....oh well. 8-(

Leftovers going into this week......roast chicken and collard greens.

Here is this week's "food plan"--

1. Sunday--Ravioli w/Italian Sausage
2. Monday--Fish, Cole Slaw, Hush Puppies, Collards(we didn't eat on Sunday)
3. Tuesday--Chicken Gnocchi Soup
4. Wednesday--Kielbasa on Rolls, Beans, Veggie of some kind
5. Thursday--Chicken Risotto, Veggies of some kind
6. Friday--Stuffed Pork Chops, leftover Veggies
7. Saturday--Leftovers or FFY

This week will see 6 new meals cooked of which 2 meals are planned-overs(using leftover Roast Chicken)and 1 night of leftovers.

What I need to buy for this menu.....Gnocchi, Spinach.  Probably more milk as we are going through a gallon+ a week now.

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?

Was last week's plan successful, did you go off plan or did you not even plan what was going to be eaten last week?

Any great deals on food at your stores this week?

Sluggy