Groundhog Day

Yesterday was a beautiful day – mid-50s, mostly sunny – and they promised the same for today, but it’s the mid-afternoon and we haven’t seen the sun yet. Also it’s 41 deg. Hardly mid-50s.

Settling in continues slowly. We received our belated Christmas present from Ray yesterday – a lovely umbrella stand.

It has the place of honor just inside the door, right where I can grab an umbrella when I’m ready to leave the house. I know, I’m not a real Washingtonian if I use an umbrella – but, hey, I prefer not to have a wet head all the time.

We went with the Lunch Bunch to Johnny’s Dock yesterday. It’s on the tide flats, by a marina across from downtown Tacoma. Tasty – and we probably wouldn’t have found it by ourselves.

I have given up and agreed to return to cooking (*sigh*), but only if we eat our main meal at noon. We’ve gotten used to it because lunch portions at restaurants are usually cheaper, and Big Al really doesn’t like going anywhere in the evening. He thinks we ought to be at home once the news comes on. I decided I’ll cook Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Tuesdays we eat at the Bistro because I have Tai Chi from 11:00-noon, and then we play bridge at 1:00. Thursdays we HAVE to have our Mexican fix at Moctezuma’s.

Sundays will be our day to explore interesting restaurants. We already know we love the Sunday Buffet at the Lobster Shop, and I’m not sure when we’ll get to indulge in Silk Thai, our favorite Thai restaurant. Maybe we can skip Moctezuma’s occasionally.

Anyway, we had barbecue pulled pork sandwiches for lunch today with cole slaw. I didn’t do much because we had the barbecue pork in the refrigerator, but we didn’t spend money at a restaurant. I’m already planning to try to recreate Zuppa Toscana because there isn’t a convenient Olive Garden around here, and I’ve been craving it. I also have the makings for chili, and pot roast. I splurged on a Crock Pot when we were down at McCord AFB at the BX last week, so I guess I’d better put it to good use. I’ve enjoyed my 9 month hiatus from cooking, but it IS expensive.

Now that I actually have a closet of my own with plenty of room in it, I got the clothes that I had packed away in the suitcases out and hung them up. Monday I’ll try to pin down someone to hook up the DVD player and all the other components.

I got out the card table and I’m going to start sorting the stuff for taxes. I undershot my estimate in 2011, so I had to make estimated payments in 2012. But that means we’re getting a LOT back. That should be nice!