This Week on The Dining Table

The "Boo Hoo, my Birthday is Over" Edition.....

Here are the flowers Hubs gave me last week, along with 3 cards I received--

 

The card in the center, except for this photo and when I initially opened it has been living with it's BACK facing me.....

This was Hubs idea of a "great" birthday card for someone turning my age.
Here's the inside......

 

Oh, he knows me TOO TOO WELL! lolz
 

On to the Meal Planning.

Here is what was planned last week--

Sunday--Meatloaf(leftover), Collards and/or Kraut(leftover)
Monday--Roasted Turkey(have), Stuffing(have), Roasted Sweet Potatoes(have), Cranberry glop(have)
Tuesday--Clam/Corn Chowder, Roasted Cauliflower(have), Potato crusted Fish(have)
Wednesday--Meal out-free birthday meal for me, Hubs meal comes out of Entertaining Budget
Thursday--Leftover turkey slices, assorted Leftover veggies(or frozen veggies if not enough)
Friday--Quiche(in freezer), Asparagus
Saturday--Turkey Casserole(leftover turkey), Green Beans(have in freezer)

 And here is what actually happened--

 

Sunday--Meatloaf(leftover), Collards and/or Kraut(leftover)
Monday--Roasted Turkey(have), Stuffing(have), Roasted Sweet Potatoes(have), Cranberry glop(have)
Tuesday--Assorted Leftovers
Wednesday--Meal out-free birthday appetizer, meal comes out of Entertainment Budget **
Thursday--Hubs had leftovers, I had a Turkey Sandwich and Collards
Friday--Clam/Corn Chowder, Roasted Coleslaw, Fried Oysters
Saturday--Turkey leftovers

Some meals moved around and the quiche got bumped to next week. The fish didn't happen with the clam chowder because I hit on a 50% sale on fresh oysters on Wednesday so we had fried oysters.
We spent a lot of nights eating up the leftovers.

**On Wednesday we ended up NOT spending a dime out of the Entertainment Budget after all, except for a tip.
We went to Lone Star for a steak dinner and the evening was a disaster!  More on that another time but they comped our entire meal.  Woot!
  

As for the food spending last week....
There were 2 trips to the grocery store and I spent a grand total of $99.69 on $180.59 worth of groceries at 2 stores. 
I am trying to achieve another $300 or less grocery month for January and I have $2.63 left in the food budget for the rest of this month. 

Leftovers going into this week--1 helping each of sweet potatoes and reg. potatoes and onions, Kraut(2 helpings), turkey casserole(2 helpings), coleslaw(4 helpings), clam chowder(2 helpings) cornbread(1/2 a pan).  I have a head of cauliflower and bunch of asparagus that need using.

Here is this week's meal plan---

Sunday--Breaded fish fillets(have), Roasted Cauliflower(have), Coleslaw(have)
Monday--Free Birthday Burger at Red Robin, #2 Son's burger out of Entertaining Budget, Hubs has leftovers
Tuesday--Chicken and Mushroom Parm(have), Pasta, Green Salad(have) with Feta Cheese(have)
Wednesday--Roasted Chicken(have), Assorted leftover side dishes(have)
Thursday--Leftovers
Friday--Quiche(in freezer), Asparagus(have)
Saturday--Leftovers

That makes 3 new meals, 3 leftover or planned over meals and 1 meal out.

What I need to purchase for this menu?.......not a blessed thing! 8-)
Cross your fingers we can get through the month now without any more food budget spending!

Other items on sale that I want to pick up this week?......chicken roasters on sale .99¢ lb., boned/skinned chicken breasts at $1.88 lb. and mayo at $1.49 jar that I'll pick up on Saturday when the new month's budget kicks in.

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

Sluggy

The Yearly PITA

I've spent the last 2 days in the grips of the Yearly Paperwork Monster........

The W-2s came in late last week so I sat down on Friday and I did the PA state taxes.
Compared to the Federal taxes, PA's are easy-peasy.
Here's basically how it goes....

1. Write down all your income.
2. Write down the total of all your taxable interest and dividends from investments.
3. Add those 2 numbers.
4.  Multiply the number in #3 by 3.07%.
5.  If your employer didn't take out 3.07% and give it to us already, do some subtraction and write down what you still owe us for doing NOTHING for you.
6.  Write us a check for the number in #5 and mail it.
7.  Consider yourself lucky we don't take more.

See?!  Easy peasy.....

PA has no exemptions and deductions(except for a very few rare ones that we don't qualify for).
There are no tax brackets and graduated scales either.
Tell us what you made, send us 3.07%.
Done.

And you don't even have to snail mail or electronically file in most cases.
You simply call them on the phone and file that way.....of course, you DO have to mail them a check or give them your credit card number eventually.

So PA is ready to be filed and we owe them another $51 besides what they took out already during the year.

Saturday I sat down and  did all the calculations to figure the charitable contributions, local/state/real estate taxes paid for 2013.  If it's more than the Standard Deduction of $12,200 for our married/filing jointly status, we itemize, but if it's less than $12,200, you are better off just taking the SD and saving yourself some aggravation and wear and tear on your sanity.
Unfortunately(or should that be fortunately?), I get to challenge my sanity this year.

So this week I get to write up all the final paperwork for the Schedule A & B.   Fun! lol

I also sat down on Friday and figured out my final Net income from my gross Blog Revenue, eBay, Etsy and Amazon sales in 2013.
You are now reading a blog written by a "hundredaire".....you know, like a millionaire but a lot poorer.  ;-)

I started filling in the 1040 and am now on page 2(home stretch!) and awaiting the 1098-T forms from 3 colleges(Daughter attended 2 different ones in 2013)so I can see if we get the 2 educational credits and/or offsets from Form 8863 the year and how much they will be.

I went ahead and figured the rest of the numbers without the Tuition/Educational credits/offsets and we will be getting a refund hovering in the $1K neighborhood at least.  Could rise to almost $2K depending on how the 1098-Ts affect the calculations.
Rah......

So until those 1098-Ts come in I'll keep myself busy by doing the.....yes, I am going to say it!......the FAFSA.

I don't have to do one for #1 Son this year since he graduated in 2013(hoorah!)but instead, I get to do one for #2 Son(boo hiss!)who will be starting college in 2014.

It's all just a big game of chicken for us really, since we are so RICH(have retirement $), the FAFSA always tells us we are required to pay the entire college bill the child might have....and usually it tells us we are required to pay even MORE than their anticipated bill!  How is that possible?LOLOL

So we fill it out and wait for them to tell us our kids qualify for nothing.....except loans, EVERYONE qualifies for those evidently.  8-(
So I dutifully fill it out even though it's pointless.

The Daughter has dropped out of college(temporarily)this semester and has no clue whether she will return for the 2014-2015 year so I guess I need to fill one out for her this year, just in case she does drop back in, in the Fall.
But where they want to know what school to send the information to, what the hell do I put? lolz

Possibly 3 more years of this FAFSA crap and then I am done forever.
Whatever.....it really doesn't matter.

Maybe today I'll do something FUN like......figuring out a menu for this coming week and scrubbing a few toilets........or having a couple of drinks.

Guess which one will win out?  ;-)

Sluggy

Ramblings About My Grocery Purchases This Week

I hit 2 grocery stores on Wednesday of this past week.
I spent a total of $99.69.
I am still under $300 for January, but just barely.

At the local independent market I did well, spending $31.38.
$19.42 of that was "planned" purchases for tomato paste stockup, clams, lettuce and OJ.
The other $11.96 I spent was "unplanned" good deals like 6 of my brand of yogurt for .48¢ cup, a cantaloupe for $1.99, 2 bottles of a brand of diet cola I can drink for .99¢ each and a 6" tall bottle of All Spice for $4.99(which I was out of).

And then I stepped into the snake pit called Weis(PMITA)Markets.
I spent $68.31 in there without batting an eye.
Ugh.

I spent for my "planned" purchases of 4 x spaghetti sauce and 2 x Kielbasa which cost me $10.37.

Then I spent another $33.15 on "unplanned" but good buys.....$14.35 of this was fresh produce and $18.07 of it was other buys like fresh seafood, a pack of lunchmeat for $1.19(after instant $2 Off Q), 2 x Bakery Dept. 50% off buys and 3 4-packs of sugar-free pudding for .88¢ each(so I don't go binge on sugared up snacks).

What did me in there was an "88¢ Sale" on certain products when you buy in multiples of 8.
Because of this and #2 Son's wants, I let another $25.52 fly outta my pocket.
Many MANY cans of chili and Mtn. Dew, plus boxes of ramen noodles and peanut butter Pop-Tarts later for stuff he will eat/drink,  I am $25.52 poorer.  If I hadn't gotten this stuff on sale I would have shelled out $40.02 instead so the damage to the budget wasn't as bad as it could have been.
But then again, if some of this hadn't been on sale, I might have NOT bought it......but then again again, I might have bought other items he wanted, which in the end might have cost even more. 8-))

I have $2.63 left of my $300 food budget for January at this moment.
And I have 7 more days to get through before the month is over.

So the plan, once the menu for this week is finished today is to shop in the freezer, fridge and stockpile/pantry for the rest of the month's meals.  I still have a free birthday meal from Red Robin I haven't used so that leaves us 5 days of eating dinners(Saturday's is planned and here, then take 1 day from the next 6 for the eating out).  We have plenty of food so this shouldn't be a problem, besides making the family stay out of the grocery stores! lol

And if there are any irresistible deals this coming sales week, I can go on next Saturday before the ads end as it is February 1st and I'll have a new food budget available.  Yay! ;-)

I need to rethink going to Weis as much as I do each month.
I just can't seem to get out of there without spending on some unplanned stuff!
Albeit, it's usually unplanned GOOD STUFF but still.....

Maybe I'll limit my trips there to once every other week instead of weekly, which is my usual routine.
That chain is very good at drawing you in, ya know?

Can you resist the deals and the crap grocery stores tempt you with?

Sluggy


 

The Circle of Life Sluggy-Style

Here's a little nugget of genealogy I turned up this week.

While digging through old land transaction records in Campbell County, Virginia, I found this one concerning my 5th Great Grandfather, John Mason III(that's the designation we use to keep all the John Mason's straight in this line of mine, he's not necessarily the III but so far he is)and his 3rd wife(or 4th-the jury is still out on which number of wife she is) Frances McDearman Mason.  Frances(3rd or 4th wife)by the way is NOT my ancestor,  details are sketchy but it's probably(2nd or 3rd wife)Jane Parham Mason but definitely not the always given 1st(or 2nd)wife Elizabeth Gee Mason. ;-)

Just so you know Charlotte and Campbell Counties in Virginia are right next to one another and the parties and land concerned are located close to said counties' lines.
Anyway, here's the meat of it....

John Mason and wife Frances sold to Dorothea Henry executrix of Patrick

Henry, late of Charlotte County, 400 acres adjoining John Marshall, Henry

Ray, Mary Ward, Matthews, William Mason (the land conveyed by deed

from Wm Singleton); dated 1 Jul 1799 and recorded 8 Jul 1799 (John

Mason agreed in writing 11 May 1798 to sell to Patrick Henry a tract of land

on Falling River in Campbell County for 80 pounds, paid by Patrick Henry in

his lifetime) [Campbell County, Virginia, Deed Book 4, 1796-1799, page 599;
Microfilm Reel 2, Library of Virginia]



Yes, My 5th GG and wife sold Patrick Henry's widow......

Yes, THAT Patrick Henry.......

.....his widow Dorothea 400 acres of land.  The land sale was arranged in 1798 between John and Patrick but not legally completed until about a month after Patrick Henry died in June of 1799.

And Dorothea Dandridge Henry you might remember from THIS POST HERE (Day 6 of the Summer Road Trip)is my friend's DH's 4th Great Grand Aunt.

Trippy is it not?

Though neither the friend's DH or I have ever lived anywhere near Campbell Co., Virginia, and never traveled in the same social or familial circles, our respective families' DNA still reaches out and seems to attract each to the other.

Sluggy
 

Visiting DA BURGH.....PART 3

Well, Monday morning didn't start out very well.
As some of you may have seen on the post I put up, at the time, Hubs had the minivan up to the Firestone at the crack of dawn, before I was up.
I looked out the window and it was snowing at a fairly good clip.....

Love the hole in the window screen....good thing it wasn't Summer. 

Hubs had said that he was going to stay at Firestone until they got it fixed or call me if they couldn't do the work it needed done that day.
So I was possibly in for sitting in the motel all day long as I had no transportation now.
Luckily the motel had a sort of restaurant so I could eat if I was indeed stranded for the day.

But about 10pm, Hubs showed up at the room with #1 Son in tow.
The guys at Firestone said they could do the work that day, so Hubs called our son and had him pick Hubs up and bring him back to the motel.
So #1 Son was going to be our driver for the day in his own car.
Since the weather was so shitty we couldn't do the Duquesne Incline like I had wanted to so we were at a loss for cheap sightseeing activities(as some of the indoor ones were closed because it was Monday).  But we made do.
#1 Son took us firstly, to his favorite Giant Eagle grocery that sold beer.  It was quite the long ride from his apartment.  I bought a bottle of Sam Adams Gingerbread and Southern Tier Choklat Stouts, as well as a large bottle of Cherry Lambic.....

 

After that we went to have lunch here......

 

Unfortunately, everyone on this side of Pittsburgh ALSO decided to have lunch here that day, so not wanting to wait an hour for a table, we ended up eating next door at Sam's Sandwich Shoppe......

Then we went shopping since we were in a shopping center.  I hit 5 Below and Bath and Body Works but bought nothing. 
Eh, nothing I wanted/needed.
Hubs and son hit the liquor store.  I don't recall if they actually bought anything there or not.

Afterwards we tried Burgatory again, since #1 Son really wanted me to try one of their milkshakes.
What the heck, why not?

Here's Hubs trying #1 Son's shake.  It has bourbon in it.
Mine is in the foreground.  It's a Choco Taco Shake(crushed waffle cone, peanuts and chocolate)and has vodka in it.

Ok, so I drink folks, if you didn't know that already.
But I am NOT a vodka drinker.

I swear, every time I took a sip, another one magically appeared in my glass!

About 5 minutes into drinking this thing, the vodka slammed into my brain.  I think the photo above illustrates that event.....

Then I just got real silly and everything anyone said was hysterical to me.....

I didn't even finish that shake.
And they had to pour me back into the car to go back to #1 Son's apartment.

I was able to snap this shot before I staggered back to the car......

 

And here are some bad photos I snapped from the back of the car as I sloshed from side to side, while #1 Son drove through downtown.....

Yes, anonymous buildings. 
I tried to get a shot of the giant Heinz ketchup bottle all lit up, but I was too lit up evidently.....

Hubs called Firestone and they had completed the work on the car, so Son dropped us off to pick up and pay for the car.
Ouch.
$900 later we drove the minivan back to the motel.

That evening, we went back to the #1 Son's apartment and he made dinner for us and I got acquainted with Lilly, my newest grandbaby while Hubs and Son drank and talked beer.

Gratuitous cute cat photos......

About midnight we headed back out to the motel.
Here is an unexpected Christmas decoration in this part of the world......

The next day, we hit up the Breakfast buffet for the last time and headed over to #1 Son's place.
We sat around and talked until Lunch time.
Hubs & #1 Son went out to Yinz BBQ to pick up lunch.
It was pretty good.....for a Yankee joint.  8-))

Then after saying our goodbyes and a photo of Hubs & #1 son, we left 'Da Burgh.

The ride home was quite the adventure, but not the kind anyone enjoys.
You see, the skies opened up on Tuesday and snowed like a MoFo along the stretch of road west of Pittsburgh we had to take to get home.  Between Monroeville and Altoona it was some awful white knuckled driving!....at least for me.
And I wasn't even driving. lol
We saw a guy somewhere in that stretch pass us, then try to make a right turn onto a road and end up sliding into a culvert.

Good times......and unfortunately I didn't take any photos of the ride home.
I think Hubs would have pushed me from the car if I had....

When we hit Altoona we got off the interstate to get gas and then go into a Kmart store to use the bathroom.
As we were leaving the Kmart a woman standing next to me, a total stranger, at the store asked us for a ride somewhere.....we had no clue where it was.

Do perfect strangers come up to you and start conversations or ask you for favors like they seem to do to me?
What about me attracts weirdoes?
I just can't figure this one out!  8-)

So after bidding my new best friend goodbye and good luck, and no, we didn't give her a ride, we got back onto the interstate.
The skies were threatening the rest of the way but the snow held off until we got home.

We DID get to drive through a prison on the way home(we had also driven through it in the opposite direction to get to Pittsburgh).  This is near State College PA. 
You aren't allowed to stop along this part of the interstate unless you have an emergency....you know, so you don't pick up escaped prisoners or drop off firearms for them.

That's about it for excitement on our trip home.
Heck, I needed a stiff drink or four by the time we arrived due to all the tensing up I did on the drive home.

And thus ends another Sluggy adventure.  8-))

Sluggy