Until the rain comes

Kurt has duty today.  This means very little in general, not like what “duty” entailed when he was on board ship.  Then, he would leave for work one morning and come home the next evening, adding up to a 36-hour workday.  Of course, he was able to sleep on the ship, but it still sucked, probably more for me than for him.

At this command, “duty” entails being present for morning colors, relieving the guy on the quarterdeck (basically the receptionist) so he can go eat lunch, relieving said guy for dinner, being present for evening colors, and making sure the building is all locked up after evening colors.  Easy speezy, as my good buddy Art would say, especially since he can come home in between all these little responsibilities if his duty day falls on a weekend.  But today he’s working and he has duty, so instead of coming home after morning colors, he stayed at work.  He managed to take his regular two-hour lunch break, only today was a little later.

This office job gig is awesome.  I will so dread going back to the high-stress, highly scheduled life of the ship.

We had planned to go for a walk on his lunch break, like we did yesterday, but it kept raining.  I’m still not sure that the rain is gone for the day, even though the driveway and the sidewalk are slowly drying.  Each time I look out my front windows, I am encouraged that I will make my walk.  But then I look out my back windows and see dark grey clouds gathering.  I wish it would just rain and be done with it so I can go for my walk!

Here’s what a nerd I am — I’ve been checking the radar every hour or so to see if the rain is leaving the area.  Kurt’s rubbed off on me, is all I can say.

Because of Kurt’s duty (doo-dee, ha ha), I’m off the hook for dinner tonight.  Two nights in a row — woo hoo!  Tonight we’ll just go to the galley (“cafeteria” for you land-lubbers) where Kurt will eat for free because he has duty, and my dinner will run a paltry $3.85.  What can I say, I’m a cheap date.   I’m not sure Grace is charged, but if she is, it’s something tiny like a dollar.  Did I mention the galley is all you can eat?  It’s not great food; don’t think it even approaches the wonder that is Golden Corral or Old Country Buffet.  Generally you select from two entrees, and choose up to two veggies from the three options that are offered.  They have an all-you-can-eat salad bar that’s really good, pretty much its saving grace.  And the last time we were there (without Grace), Kurt was able to have a slice of Reese’s Peanut Butter Pie, which nearly sent him into paroxysms of ecstasy.

Mmmm peanut butter…

Last night, I had full intentions of making dinner.  But by 4pm, I was starving.  Like serious, tummy-rumbling, my stomach caving in on itself, feeling like my body was starting to devour itself.  Hungry.  Also Kurt had a meeting to go to last night which started at 6pm, so he had to eat before he went.

We had a coupon for a local pizza place: buy one entree, get one free.  Can’t beat that with a stick, so we tried it out.

The ad mentioned that the place was under new management, and it felt like we were one of the first customers in the place.  As we walked in, the owners were busy with a sales rep, so we just made our own way to a table.  The whole time we were there, we were the only customers — but then we were eating very early.  Kurt tried out the tortellini with alfredo sauce, while we got Grace fettucine with alfredo.  I got the man-sized manicotti, which wasn’t actually man-sized; I just love that line from Grumpy Old Men.  The manicotti was delicious, while the alfredo sauce on Kurt’s and Grace’s pasta was watery and lumpy.  Kurt’s tortellini was overboiled as well.

But you know, this couple running the restaurant was so adorable, I think we’ll go back anyhow.  They wanted to bend over backwards to make things perfect for us.  The husband, who spoke English better than his wife (I think they’re Russian), kept coming to our table and wanting to know how he could make our dinner better.  The wife was so enthralled with Gracie, and kept telling her she’s so beautiful and knocking on wood each time she said it.

And have I mentioned the garlic bread??  They took Italian bread, split it down the middle, spread butter on each side, and added a liberal dosing of minced raw garlic to the bread.  Under the broiler it went — which caused the scent of garlic to waft through the restaurant.  Both of our stomachs began growling at that moment.  It took about three minutes flat for us to devour this delicious garlic bread, and we were given a full plate of it.  That in itself was worth it.

I just got another coupon in the mail for this restaurant; I think we’ll definitely have to make a trip back!