April Louisiana Road Trip...Day 8

Monday, Day 8 of our Road Trip, we left Shreveport and headed back east on the interstate.

The original plan had been to go South through Alexandria, then through Baton Rouge to the Southern half of Louisiana, where we were going to make 2 stops--first at the Abita Brew Pub in Abita Springs, LA and second over the river into Mississippi at the Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company in Kiln, MS.

But as luck would have it, both are closed on Mondays and we happened to be going that way on Monday.
Sigh.

So with part of our plan for the day thwarted, we left a little later in the morning and headed back east on I-20.

Before we left the area though, we stopped so I could get a "Roadside America" style photo-op....

                          
Me and the World's Largest Cowboy

This place was right behind our hotel so why not?


Before you knew it....ok, about an hour and a half after getting on the road, we were back in Mississippi.
I love how this sign is located right underneath a grand old Magnolia tree.  If there is one thing I miss about living in Virginia, it's Magnolia trees....

 

We crossed the Mississippi River again at Vicksburg.....

The Mississippi Welcome Center at Vicksburg is a bitch to park at, but out back of the building they have a right nice veranda overlooking the river....

While I was there a local high school senior was having his class photo done with the river as a backdrop.

Once we got to Jackson we veered off the interstate and went Southeast down to Hattiesburg.  About halfway from Jackson to Hattiesburg we stopped for lunch in the little town of Magee.

Now tell me......how was I about to resist a sign with a catfish on it?!

You just never know what you're going to stumble into once you leave the interstate and chain-type restaurants.

These "trees" with faux flowers greeted us in the lobby.

And here is a shot of the dinning hall after the lunch rush was over.....

This was a Fried Catfish and American buffet type place with a "Down Home Country" feel.
Notice our iced tea came in tin measuring cups.....

Fried Catfish, fried Okra, Hush Puppies(those are fried too), Mustard Greens(not fried)and some Mac and Cheese to round out my cholesterol Feast....and I am not even going to show you the dessert I ate. lolz

And I got brave and took a pickled okra off the salad bar.
I grew up in the South eating southern foods but I have never until that day tasted a pickled okra.
Of all the ways you can prepare/eat okra, pickling one had never occurred to me.

I took one bite and discovered that pickled okra is nasty!  Pickled slimy furry vegetables are not my thang evidently....

Incidentally, this was the second time I saw pickled okra on a salad bar on this trip.  The country kitchen place across from our motel in Louisiana where we ate a few times also had them.

And lunch was not the end of the interesting things we saw in Magee at the Catfish House.....

They were offering for sale these books at the front desk/check-out counter.

Now if you actually go read up on this book it sounds interesting and might be a good read.
But the title?.....it sure made my head snap around when I passed it and had to go back for a photo. lolz

And that wasn't the end of interesting sights at Berry's.
Check out the 10 Commandments in front of the restaurant......

I guess I've been living up North too long now because I was surprised by this...but I shouldn't have been. lolz

After a quick stop in Hattiesburg to pick up a surprise for someone, we soon crossed another state line into Alabama and hit traffic in downtown Mobile.

 

After we got through the tunnel....what a mess!......we have some scenic driving right next to Mobile Bay....

Another half hour or so and we were arrived at our destination for the evening-- Fairhope, Alabama.
We found a nice Holiday Inn Express for the night, unloaded the car and before I knew it I was talking to Lorraine from We are: clamco and arranging to meet her family for dinner at this place in town.....

Chicken buffet rules posted by the front door.

 We went inside to wait and before you know it, in walked the Clamco clan: Megan, Lorraine and Chris.
Hugs happened and we just started talking like we'd been old friends forever.

While waiting for our chicken, Lorraine and I got our picture took and of course I hammed it up because yah, that's what I do......

And I told Lorraine that I absolutely loved her......because she is an awesome person.....but also because she is shorter than me!!
And I never meet anybody who is shorter than me.  ;-)

After gorging on chicken, biscuits, slaw and fries, the Clamcos invited us back to their Clamco Cottage for coffee, tea and dessert.
Hubs, Lorraine and I took a walk down on the Fairhope pier first.  I didn't think to take any pictures of the waterfront but then again, it was dark by then.

Chris also showed us his convention display and wares which he had set up in the garage.  He's got a great set-up and I knew he'd do well at his Mobicon show in May.

And even better, Chris made me a present.......one of the Steampunk items he makes to sell.....

It's a cool tube light on a base.  Press the button and the tube lights up in a changing array of colors.
Thanks Chris!

Check out more of Chris's creations at Black Flame Creations.

Here is the clamco couple again.
They are both such nice folks and made us feel very welcomed.

The only negative thing I can say is that we didn't get to meet sooner back when they lived here in PA not 20 minutes away from us!
All those years we lived so close and wasted that opportunity.....*sad face*

The evening passed all too quickly and we headed back to the motel for some shut eye.
It was a lovely end to our day.

Sluggy

June Net Worth

This is the last financial numbers post for awhile, I promise. 8-)

The retirement accounts are up $5,544.25 from last month.
Unfortunately the liquid assets are down $12,250.68 from last month, mostly because of the car purchase.

Overall, we are down $6,706.43 in our financial net worth for June.

Stupid car..... 8-)

Sluggy

$24K Challenge.....May Update

Every year I keep a close eye on our monthly expenses and our monthly income.
Our income is mainly the salary my Hubs draws from his job.  We have money taken off each paycheck from the top to put into savings, before we even get our hands on it.  This money that's taken goes into various pots....life insurance, health insurance premiums, long term care insurance premiums, investments and retirement savings.  It's automatic so we are never tempted to NOT put it into savings.

Once the automatic savings amounts, plus taxes and medical/dental/vision premiums are taken out, it leaves what we get to "live on".  From this amount we budget for bills, both monthly and irregular bills(semi-annual, annual etc.) and our variable bills(like food, eating out, clothing  etc.)  Anything left over once our monthly expenses are paid, I put aside into a Savings Challenge. 

For 2014 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am raising the Goal amount slightly to $24,000 this year, $4K more than my goal for last year.

On to the May report.....

I have posted my May End of Month $24K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the Savings Challenge page tab at the top of the blog for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $2,000.

I have to report that we finished up May with a greater than needed amount.
The extra amount we ended the month of  May with?.......$3,299.61.

Income
We had $3217.59 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
 

Other monies received in May totaled $78.52.  This included interest made on accounts and a per diem from Hub's work.

This brought us to our gain of $3299.61.
Since we have no debt anymore, this goes into savings.

Outgo

As for the expenses this May, here are the good and the bad side of things....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

 

*  The electric bill went down $ 151.72, almost half of what it was in April.
*  The water bill went down $4 and change.
*  The cash withdrawals were $900 less than last month.
*  Private music lessons were $40 less in May(fewer lessons).
*  May was an extra paycheck month which helped our bottom line greatly!
 

HERE are the BAD THINGS

 

*  The c/c bill was $1886.33 more than April's bill.  Most of this was vacation spending from April
*  The food bill went up $54.06 from April's food spending and April's spending was too high.

 

The Food Budget costs for May are in another post, which is located HERE.

The 2014 GRAND TOTAL.....
With 5 months accounted for, our Savings Grand Total for 2014 is $9,370.21
That's only $629.79 short at this point of the $10,000.00 I should have put aside after 5 months.
The extra paycheck in May almost got me caught up on where I need to be at this point and I am less behind than I was last month.

Yay!
  

 

Looking ahead for June......

*  I will continue to do this Savings Challenge and report in each month on how it is going.

*  The furniture purchases in May and accompanying Hubs to his conference in DC expenses will be due on the credit card bill in June.

*  Back to 2 paychecks this month.

*  The graduation party for #2 Son and #1 Son is visiting in June so expenses will be going up.
 

*  The food budget will be full blown out of control this month with all the family coming and the party.  I'll keep all my receipts and when it's all over I'll tally it up.  I'm not going to torture myself and look at them until the month is over. lolz
  

 

So how was your May financially?
  

Did you spend less than the income you had in May?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
Did you pay off any debts or put extra toward your mortgage principle or into savings in an emergency fund or a retirement account?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out your progress too and celebrate with you!

Sluggy

April Louisiana Road Trip.....Day 6 & 7.....a Quick One

Saturday of our trip to Louisiana started off with a trip to the grocery store, since we were supplying breakfast for Daughter, her BF and ourselves at BF's parent's house.

               I don't think we are in PA anymore.....

Once inside the grocery store I saw many freestanding shelving units like this.....

Filled with Louisiana sauces and mixes and crawfish boil concoctions and hot pickles and peppers, etc.
"Slap Yo Mama" brand seems to be a popular one down here....lolz

Daughter fixed breakfast and then Hubs, Daughter, her BF and I were off to see that new foreclosure listing with Realtor #1.

And the kids fell head over heels for it.
We did go to the property that Hubs and I had picked out, out of all the ones we had seen so far afterwards, but Daughter had made up her mind and the new foreclosure was to be "the one" to buy.

So we got all the information about how to submit the offer and Daughter made plans to go to the real estate office on Monday to "do the deed".

Then we four went off to the brewery in Shreveport......

Great Raft Brewing
They opened last October and it's the first brewery in Shreveport since Prohibition.

They named their brewery for a natural phenomenon, a huge logjam or "raft" that occurred in Louisiana on the Red and Atchafalaya Rivers.

 By the 1830's it extended 160 miles and impeded travel, business as well as settlement west of the city that became known as Shreveport.

Henry Mille Shreve, a steamboat builder and river boat captain, made it his job to start clearing the raft and by 1838 the Red River was navigable in large part due to his efforts.  The town of Shreveport was named after him in thanks.

See?  I bet you didn't know you'd actually learn something reading this blog! 8-)

 Daughter and Hubs having a pint.  I had a small glass of the "Reasonably Corrupt".

 

Daughter and her BF

 

 

If you are ever in the Shreveport area stop by this place on a Weekend for a glass, a free tour, or a growler fill.

After some adult beverages it was time for a late lunch.  Daughter took us to a Shreveport landmark--Strawn's Eat Shop.
They've been around since 1944 and are known far and wide for their "ice box pies".

Of course, I neglected to get a picture of a pie...lolz.....but I did take a shot of my lunch.....

 A Spinach, Feta Cheese and fresh Strawberry Salad.
Mmmmmmm!

 Here's Hubs double cheeseburger and "fries".  Looks more like large hash brownie-type potatoes to me.

And a shot of Daughter stuffing her face.  Oh, she'll love me for posting this one....lolz

Of course I had pie too.  I had to settle for a piece of Butterscotch with real homemade whipped cream since they were out of  the Strawberry, which they are known for.  It was mighty good even if it wasn't Strawberry.


On Sunday we all assembled at the BF's parent's house and the Daughter cooked Easter dinner with a little assistance from her mom, me.  ;-)

She invited some people from her work who otherwise would have been alone that day and it was a jolly good time.
After the work friends left we sat down and went over financial stuff and how this buying the house deal was going to work.
Ah numbers and personal finances.....I was in my element. lolz

We got back to the motel late into the evening and packed up.
Monday morning we were heading back home to Pennsylvania, by way of Alabama first.

Sluggy
 

This Week on the Dining Table

The  "I've Been Home 2 Days and I am Tired of Cooking Again" Edition.......
 

 

What I had in my hand in DC from 5 to 6 every day. 

 

I could get use to having a complimentary "Wine Happy Hour" every day from 5pm to 6pm and then go eat in a restaurant.


Here is what was planned last week--

I didn't have a plan.
We just played it by ear and used up stuff we had already.
Then I bought some things for #2 Son to eat while we were away.
Because of this I had food waste today.....the kid didn't eat the leftover asparagus while we were gone so it got pitched.

 

As for the food spending update......I have spent $524.63 on groceries in May.  I spent $191 and change on Saturday to get us to that total for May, but most of what I bought Saturday will be used for June's meals.

For the Summer I am changing up how I meal plan.
I will come up with meals but I am not going to assign each to a specific day.  Since I never know who is going to be home on a certain night to eat, I never know how much if anything will be left, meaning if leftovers will happen.  And some things I only make when #2 Son isn't home since he doesn't like/eat them and I never know when he is going to be eating at home these days.
Add in that I never know what bread products #2 Son will be bringing home from his job so I need to be flexible to plan those into the menu.

 

Here is my list of meals so far for June.----

1.  Sloppy Joes, Rolls, Veggie
2.  Taco Salad
3.  Barbecue Chicken, Potato Salad
4.  Beef Stroganoff, Rice, Veggie
5.  Chicken Parmesan, Salad, Pasta or Bread
6.  Chicken and Mushroom Risotto, Veggie
7.  Broiled Salmon, Veggie, Coleslaw
8.  French Bread Pizza, Salad
9.  Ginger Garlic Shrimp Stir-fry(leftover)
10.  Breakfast for Dinner
11.  Scallops and Shrimp en Croute, Veggie
12.  Pulled Pork Sandwiches, Coleslaw or Veggie
13.  Hot Sausage and Spaghetti, Veggie
14.  London Broil, Fettuccine w/Sauce, Sugar Snap Peas
15.  Pizza, Salad

 

What I need to purchase for these meals?.......lettuce, cabbage, pastry shells, Parmigiano cheese, and milk.  I have everything else here already.  Between these 15 and leftovers from some of them, this list should get us through the month(besides when company is here this month).

I made the barbecue chicken last night and the sloppy joe is happening tonight(have ground beef that needs to be used or frozen).  Tomorrow will probably be the chicken parmesan(have fresh chicken to use or freeze) and the French bread pizza(using bread from #2 Son's job)on Wednesday.
That's as far as I am going to plan for the week.  ;-)

What is getting fixed and served at your house this week?
Do you make a menu and how flexible is your plan?

 

Sluggy

Food & Toiletries Spending.....May Update

 Onward to May's food spending report.......

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for MAY 2014.

I have posted May's totals on the Total Grocery Savings for 2014 Page located HERE and have updated the Yearly Totals there.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in May.  If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Summary.

My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable. We are a family of 4(3 at home this month)& 1 dog. No kids under 18.
******************

DOLLAR GENERAL
OOP  $21.16
Qs/Ads  $12.71
Value  $33.87
Savings  37.52%

MAINE SOURCE
OOP  $117.76
Qs/Ads  $43.05
Value  $160.81
Savings  26.77%

 

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $147.43

Qs/Ads  $93.93

Value  $241.36

Savings  38.91%

WEIS MARKETS

OOP  $238.28

Qs/Ads  $159.57

Value  $160.81

Savings  40.10%

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Weis at 40.10%,  the Local Grocer at 38.91% and the Dollar General at 37.52%.  My WORST savings rate was at Maine Source at 26.77%.
I shopped at 4 different stores this past month.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$524.63

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$309.26

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$833.89

TOTAL Savings of...................................37.08%

This closes out the May food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into May wanting to trim the spending to around $300.
Not.
Even.
Close.
LOLZ

Actually though I spent $333.20 for May through the 30th when we got home.  If I had waited until Sunday the 1st of June to do grocery shopping, instead of going out on Saturday the 31st of May, I would have been close.

Technically everything I bought on Saturday was for eating in June so the last $191.43 I spent in May should go on my June spending sheet, right?  8-)

I'll leave it on May's and try to stay under $400 for the rest of June.



LOOKING AHEAD TO JUNE......

Well we have a graduation party to throw and then #1 Son and his GF are coming to visit for a week at the end of June. 
So much for staying under $300 this month! lolz

 

If you have other ideas or guidelines you follow please leave a comment and share yours with us all.

Total spend on food/toiletries so far this year.....$2,036.09
The average monthly food/toiletries spending this year so far is $407.22.
We are over $400 per month average now.  I will get it back under $400 as soon as possible.

 

How much did you spend on food/toiletries in May?
Do you track your yearly food spending?
 

Sluggy

June is Here!

We escaped from DC and made it home.  We left at about 5:30pm on a Friday and hit no rush hour tie ups....imagine that!!! lolz

Got in before 10pm and that was with an hour long stop for dinner at an IHOP in Latham, MD.
I fell into bed and have been nursing my knee and sore feet all weekend.  All that walking in DC about did me in. ;-)

Yesterday was all about shopping and the yard........I went to 3 stores procuring food provisions.
Saturday was the last day to qualify for a $10 in free meat deal at the local market so I had to get a second $10 of meat in before it ended.
I also hit the restaurant supply store for meat, cheese, produce and a stock up on paper plates for the Summer weather and the party later this month.  Got some plastic platters so I can do a veggie crudité and a fruit plate for the party.  $117 later I left that store.... 8-(
Hit up Dollar General(the Sad Store)also for soda for the party.

I made Ginger Garlic Shrimp stir fry for dinner last night and used up 2 partial bags of wild and long grain rice.

Hubs dug up a shrubbery and worked on the bed we are making on the South side of the house.  There is also mulch to be spread.  We'll get that done next weekend.

Today the weather has been beautiful as well.  I got all caught up on my bookwork this morning, June 1st Net Worth calculations and my May Spending report, as well as my Grocery Spending for May.
Then I did some cooking and prep for dinner, and when Hubs finished moving the lawn, he helped me get out "Precious" and I officially kicked-off the 2014 Grilling Season.....

A few hours in Precious and we'll have some smoked chicken thighs ready for the barbecue sauce.

Off to put my feet up for a bit, open a cold one and relax.....

Sluggy
 

Collect the Set!

Well wadda ya know!

Here in Washington DC, they have replica dolls of your Congressmen to take home.

Ok, so they're cuter than your Congressman and more useful too!

Instead of the heart shaped flag it should be $ sign shaped......

Sluggy
 

Evening Scenes....

 

Crabcakes!

Could have sworn I was in Kansas this evening and Miss Gulch flew by......

Sluggy

 

Where's Sluggy?

More later.....

Sluggy

Sluggy Brain Dump

I haven't been in a great place in my head the last few day.
Just so many things coming at me all at once and I don't feel like I've made any progress in any area of my life.

But here's what's been going on around here lately.
I bought a bench at a cabinet/furniture store that was going out of business awhile back and finally got around to taking it out of the box.....

Putting the legs on it.....

And now I have a purple bench(with storage under the seat) to use in the living room and/or in the dining room when we need extra seating.

#2 Son had his French National Honor Society ceremony, the last one we ever have to go to....

Later this week is the Senior Night(which we aren't invited to)and next week is the Class Night(which we are invited to)and after that it's Graduation from high school.

I decided to accompany Hubs to DC this week.  I am having a physical issue so I don't know if I'll be up to going out sightseeing on Thursday but I'll find something to do.
The 6 hour guided tour is $70.  While this option is less expensive, I'm not sure about buying a bus pass for the Hop On/Hop Off tour buses since I don't know how much actual walking I can do that day.  And I have a fear of not making it back to the hotel before the bus stops running for the day and being stranded and having to hail a pricey cab.
Perhaps I'll just stick close to the hotel or stay in the room and take advantage of the in-room spa massage or in-room yoga feature.  12 hour a day yoga channel in the room along with a basket of equipment.  Oh yes, I can see me doing this. lolz
Ok, so there is a complimentary Wine Hour in the lobby every weekday evening so you know I'll leave the room at least once per day.  *snort*

Last week I sold 4 cuts of fabric from my Etsy store.
That's how it seems to go......long stretches with no sales and then a flurry of activity.
I've sold 54 pieces since I started last October 30th.
meh.

That was a chunk of the fabric back last September when I was going through it to list and photograph.  Now it's all stacked neatly(sort of)on an étagère up in the spare bedroom.
Well what's listed now is stacked, the Winter stuff I have written up as well as stuff I haven't gotten to yet is also stacked neatly in tubs next to the étagère....though there are ALOT of tubs not done yet.

I still don't "get" this "favorite-ing" thing....I had 18 people favorite my Etsy store of a particular piece of fabric in the last week.  For gosh sakes folks, "favorite" me by voting with your WALLETS! lolz
At this rate, I'll unload all this fabric by the time I hit 90 years old. lolz

I have sent some of the fabric to Salvation Army for donation, mostly the boring or stuff that is bulky and would be too expensive to mail if I did sell it.

I have considered taking some of these piece goods and making "stuff" out of it and then offering that up for sale, thinking I'd be able to sell it more readily.

But then again, I'd have to "invest" more time into this venture, all that sewing and listing, so really that's probably more of a loose/loose situation than I have on my hands now.
I suppose I have about 4 more years until I HAVE TO have this fabric gone so I have time, for now to figure out a plan.

And this doesn't include all the fabric I am KEEPING....lolz


I also broke down and bought a sofa for the living room the Saturday before last.  It was delivered last Tuesday.....

I went with a neutral color and size that would fit into any room/décor we have in our next house.  It's a Laz-y Boy and we have protection on various components of it. It should hold up for at least 10 years and we paid too much money for it(IMHO).  But then again, the old adage, "You get what you pay for" seems to hold up with furniture.  The stuff I saw at a lower price point looked cheesy and not well made.

Now I have to buy a chair or two.
Thinking about these ones......

Really like, kind of bright and it's leather.....

Like the colors but the stripes might be too much with that rug with circles....

This is a floral design with purple, not crazy about all that white however.....

While it's purple, a WILD color, it's the most sedate of the ones I like. lol

Or this midcentury modern chair from a used furniture store.....

I like the lines of the used chair but the color is a bit too avocado for me and I worry about what condition the fabric on it is in and I don't want to have to have it reupholstered for the price they are asking (!!!).  Plus I have to drive practically to Philly to pick it up.

If you haven't guessed by now, I have Eclectic tastes. lol

Anyway I need to make a decision on chairs, I have to buy two and no, I won't buy matching chairs and yes the ones pictured with ottomans come with them.

What do you like?....keeping in mind the sofa color(brown), the rug, the curtains(which are bright green, on the lime-ish side) and the wall color.

We took 2 loads to Salvation Army the last 2 weekends.
Some of what left our house.....

During the long weekend I worked on the living room curtains as well as a project for the kitchen but I didn't finish either....heck, I didn't even get very far on either. lolz

I'll be doing some work on the curtains again later today.

The Daughter is STILL waiting on the bank which owns the property they are buying to get their shit together.  The latest hold up is the title search or something.
She was suppose to close on this house a MONTH ago!!!
She help up her end and we got our shit done in a timely fashion but now the bank is dragging their ass and she can do NOTHING about it.  She can't drop out of the sale without losing our earnest money($5K!) and she can't move in or even have the work done to it that needs doing before they can move in.  And now she's going to have to pay rent for another month!
Banks suck.....

We didn't picnic this past weekend really, had no one over either.  We had take-out pizza and stromboli for Memorial Day.
I didn't feel like cooking after we completed a little outdoor project.......putting rocks around the HVAC system compressor outside......

We had to level the ground(sort of), attach and stake in the border pieces, lay newspaper for a weed barrier and dump marble rocks on it all.  Plus I weed whacked next to the front flower bed as it was a thatched up grassy overgrown mess.

I know it looks cockeyed but it's quite symmetrical in person and it looks a heck of a lot more presentable than having weeds all around the thing.  This will make it easier to mow around it without getting too close to the wires and make it easier for anyone who has to work on it.
And did I mention we  don't have to weed around it now?

We love this new rubberized border stuff.....it's made from recycle old tires and quite indestructible, even with weed whackers and mowers beating it up.  It doesn't fade or disintegrate like that hard plastic black landscaping edging either.
The only problem is it's quite pricey at $10 per 4 feet length.
We wanted to use something that will last since this is a home improvement item we don't want to have to do again in 4 years time when we go to sell our house.

We are putting in another of these beds along the other side of the house, which will run along most of that side.  That one will have a tree and shrubs in it and I can plant some flowers in it.  I'm also putting a bench in it and will use pea gravel(but in the same color)so it's not painful to walk on. lolz
We got the edging yesterday and will tackle that project as soon as we have a couple of good not-too-hot days.

In financial news......not much really.
Paying bills, balancing the checkbook and spending more money than I want to. lol
While I don't have the hard figures on the outgo yet, I've kept an eye on the balance sheet and we haven't spent more than we made this month so it's all good.

After pizza and project yesterday afternoon, I cracked open this......

Release the KRAKEN!!!

And what can I say?.....the rest of my day/evening went down smoothly.... ;-)

Sluggy