Cleaning, Spam and more automotive antics

So much cleaning. Thursday we had steak and salad for dinner, then cleaned; Friday we had taco salad for dinner, then did a massive cleaning, not finishing until well into Saturday. Saturday there was also cleaning, but by the time we finished, the house looked really good. There were also haircuts on Saturday – I am no longer a hippie. We actually got finished in time to relax before our friends John and Meredith arrived from Richmond (after heavy traffic) and we all rushed off to DC.

We had dinner at La Tasca, a yummy tapas place, with 3 other friends. I didn’t think we’d been to the one in DC until we got inside and I realized we’d been seated downstairs. Jill had aparagus, fried eggplant, flank steak and bacon wrapped shrimp with white sangria, while I had spinach, sausage, and ribs, plus we split some cheesy bread. We tried some of the other tapas as well.

I’d made the reservations for 5PM because that was the only time for a party of 7 (unless I wanted 7PM), and it turned out to be a good thing, as most of us were late, and we were there until 7:15. Jill had found on street parking, and we elected to drive over to the National Theatre rather than walking over and back later. We chatted in front of the theatre with our party until the bell sounded and we went to our seats. In order to get the cheaper ones, I’d purchased tix on the sides of the Mezzanine, so our group was split during the show. But it was fun, I really hadn’t thought about last time we’d seen Spamalot, and I’d forgotten just how funny it is. We might do it again when it comes back December 2007…

Afterwards, we chatted a bit with the crowd, then everyone went their separate ways. Constitution Ave. was slow due to the 66 bridge construction bringing it down to one lane, but we were cruising after that. After we got off the toll road, I was thinking “I hope there’s no car trouble this time”, only to stop for the light onto Spring St. and a cloud of white smoke come out of my car. So I kept going, noticing the engine temperature was near the top. I took it slow, but nothing helped, and we pulled to a stop at our mechanic (again). Popped the hood, and the radiator was steaming. We all walked over to Safeway, bought some antifreeze, then walked back. The radiator seemed empty, and we filled it. The car seemed ok when started, so I drove it back. Some steaming and minor leaking, but didn’t seem too bad. It was after midnight, but we kicked back, had a drink, and watched some TV.

Sunday when I got up, John and Meredith were up watching tennis, so I walked Illa then made egg sandwiches for everyone. They headed home shortly after, and we did our errands. We dropped off the car so they could check for leaks tomorrow, then picked up groceries (meat at Safeway, and fruit at Trader Joe’s) and dropped off paper recycling. Then Jill dropped me off and went shopping (where she was pleased to find she’s now a size 16); I took Illa for a walk and read the paper. I marinated some chicken in a maple syrup/brown sugar (Splenda mix)/oil and vinegar mix, then got out the camping supplies and assembled the tent. The tent got packed poorly after Falcon Ridge last year, and I wanted to air it out. I grilled the chicken while Jill sauteed zucchini, then we ate outside. Jill helped me pack the tent up, then I finished arranging the camping gear while she cleaned up and prepped the fruit for lunches. I hopped on the couch and opened my monthly box o’ comics while Jill walked Illa, then made a run to satisfy her Dairy Queen craving (cone for her, Blizzard for me) – refreshing after getting hot and sweaty. Then she assembled a giant Goodwill donation while I came up here; now she’s headed to bed.