Mornin’ everybody. Today is Charles Darwin’s birthday. If he were alive today, he’d be screaming “Let me outta this box!”

Yesterday was a really good day. It’s the first time in a while that the entire day was good. I went to bed early Friday night and got up early yesterday. I was excited about being productive and buying a lot of shit. Teacher Sis and I started early.

Around 8am, I headed over to Lippincottonia to find a button for my trench coat. I had managed to lose one in a pile of leaves under the stairs in my backyard. Yeah, it’s not coming back. Ever. I also hunted up a floor lamp that La Duchess gave me. I had to search around a bit for the shade for it. Once I had it, I put the lamp in a safe and convenient location for quickly snagging it later.

Then, Teacher Sis swung by and picked me up and we were off. The first stop was the bank. Gotta put that money in the bank if I want to use my debit card. From there we headed to der Staples. I picked up the printer ink that I’ve been avoiding buying for I’d say at least 9 months. We also scored some white board erasers on clearance. Whoo!

After Staples we headed to T.S.’s WalMart* for groceries and GPK cards. I’ve talked Bubba Fett into collecting the cards too, so now I can give him a lot of my duplicates while I continue searching for the 4 cards to complete my collection. I’m still missing 2 of the Adam Mania cards and 2 of the 3D cards. From there, we swung by my WalMart* to pick up an order that I had placed for some tiny tables and a lamp.

Then, we went to eat the best lunch either of us have had in a very long time. It wasn’t just that the restaurant was good, or the food was good, or the other diners in our proximity were good company, it was the combination of all three. Not to hype it or anything, but expect a good article this week.

After lunch it was off to Sam’s Club for some necessities. I totally forgot to get Havarti. Then to le Target for a clearance run and a failed attempt at getting a hammock pillow. Also, my run through Dick’s Sporting Goods was a bust on carabiners and hammock pillows. Don’t worry, I ordered both from Eagles Nest Outfitters (the company that made my hammock) when I got home.

Once I was home, it was time to put some tables together and work on arranging lamps. My hammock oasis is almost complete. I need to run over to Lippincottonia, maybe later today, and see if I can find their extra ocean sounds radio. It’s so close to completion, I can hardly wait.

Tables built and lamp arranged, it was time to start cooking. The theme for last night’s S.A.N.D. meeting was “seafood soup” so I made crawfish chowder. Not seafood. Not soup. It would have been better had I made it there right before we ate, but the Heat and D-Man were both cooking theirs, so the room in the kitchen was tight. The only reason I say this about my chowder is because by the time dinner rolled around the chowder had started to de-emulsify a bit. It still tasted awesome, but it was a little greasy. If only my butter molecules would have stayed hanging out with my cream molecules. The other dishes we feasted upon were (in no particular order):

Teacher Sis’s shrimp and scallop ceviche

The Heat’s infamous gumbo

Shamrock’s build your own salad bar and fresh chips with guacamole

Nicky’s clam chowder

D-man’s crab and asparagus soup

and last, but hardly least, was Data K’s peanut butter/chocolate/banana/bacon pie

After a ridiculous amount of appetizer snacking, four bowls of soup, a bowl of salad, and a slice of peanut butter/chocolate/banana/bacon pie later, a nap was in sight. But, alas, no. The Nerf gun war began instead.

Once again, a bunch of 30-somethings were crawling around on the floor trying to shoot each other and Nicky the Cook and Data K’s 6-year-old daughter in the face with foam darts. Eventually we ran out of steam, but for the 2 hours of war, it was brilliant.

Then, D-Man drank more wine and started talking about his newest venture into reading the bible. There was lots of paraphrasing Jesus. This one was one of my favorites:

D-Man: “And Jesus was like ‘Those guys called me a wine bibber. Fuck those guys.’ ”

Brilliant. There was talk of starting a podcast or video series ala Drunk History where we get D-Man to drunkenly tell bible stories.

Then it was 2am and time for bed. But, maybe I’ll eat just one more of these mini red velvet cupcakes before I go. I slept like a rock last night.

Overall, it was an excellent day. Today, however, it is back to the grind stone. I will be sitting at this desk for the majority of today I’m afraid. I’ve got to finish this post. I’ve got to write an article after that. And I cannot put off my food micro exam any longer. That will be the real killer today. But, I’ve got to suck it up and get it done. I can reward myself with hammock time later.

Anywho, I hope your Caturday was excellent as well. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. More soon. ~SC