The Big Green Egg

Steve cooked for me last weekend! He made me the best ribs I've ever eaten. They were tender, spicy and just finger-lickin' delicious!

He grilled/smoked them in his Big Green Egg, a ceramic smoker/grill/barbecue. He swears by it, and says since he bought it several years ago, he'll never go back to a regular grill.

I made potato salad and beans to go with the ribs. I had to call my Dad, chef extraordinaire, to remind me what all goes in potato salad. He chuckled at me, but I just haven't made it very many times in my life. Potato salad seems like one of those recipes that everyone does a little differently. I used potatoes (of course), low-fat mayo, a little Dijon mustard, salt & pepper, celery and a little juice from the banana pepper jar. (Daddy suggested sweet pickle juice or pineapple, but I didn't have either so I improvised.) It turned out good, but those ribs were the absolute highlight of the meal!

Mirror, Mirror, on the wall...

When you stop to think about it, it's pretty crazy all the things we women do to make our selves "presentable." Shaving, waxing, plucking, exfoliating, moisturizing...sometimes I wonder about all the time and money spent on these activities.

I feel very fortunate that the older generation on both sides of my family have aged so well. Good genes! It gives me some consolation about my changing (aging) body and skin.

I guess not everyone is so lucky. And I probably shouldn't be so judgemental, but...

I saw a woman in a restaurant the other day who had obviously given up shaping her eyebrows with tweezers or wax...she had totally removed them! But what's worse is that she DREW them back with a black pencil at least 2 inches above where her eyebrows should be. Oh, and did I mention she had lovely gray hair? The black wasn't exactly subtle. To top off the effect, one of the created eyebrows had more of an arch than the other, giving her a permanently questioning look.

She MUST have used a mirror to do this. I guess she couldn't take in the whole effect. How often do we really see what's reflected to us? Are we just seeing what we're expecting to see?

Meeting the Family

Meeting someone's family is always an important step in a new relationship. I believe this is even trickier when meeting someone's children.

Steve's son, Declan, came to visit his dad this weekend. Friday night did not go so well, but in all fairness, it could have been worse. It definitely didn't go as easily as my fantasy of meeting him and his sister Hayden and all of us having a laughing good time.

Declan is ten years old. I am the first girlfriend of his dad's that he's ever met. The last time he saw his dad was at New Year's, and he was understandably jealous of sharing any time of his father's with a stranger.

After dinner on Friday, Steve talked to Declan about his relationship with me, explaining that I'm an important, happy part of his life now. After that, things went a lot smoother. On Saturday, they played all day while I did my own thing (errands, cleaning, exercising, etc.) and then we got together for dinner. We had a good time and came back to my house to play Chickenfoot (a dominoes game). Declan was a natural and ended up winning the game. Oh, and he asked his dad if he could ride in my car from the restaurant to my house. :-)

Tonight I had them over to my house for dinner, and then we played Scattegories. I think it was a little too sophisticated for Declan, but he seemed to enjoy himself anyway. He was very interested in my iPod and asked lots of questions about how it works.

I've never dated someone with kids before, and it's more difficult than I had imagined. I'm embarrassed to admit that I miss our alone time and the easy routine of weekends we have fallen into. Still, I'm up for the challenge. I've never known or loved anyone as special as Steve, so if anyone is worth it, he is.

Steve and his son, Declan 

Valentine's Recap

I almost felt guilty about my Valentine's Day this year. It was so great! I felt I was betraying the single women everywhere, like my friend Hannah, who wrote about what a silly frivolous holiday it is.

I was VERY spoiled on Valentine's Day, and I must admit, it's really nice to be spoiled!

Steve sent me TWO bouquets of flowers to work: one a mixed bouquet and one with a dozen roses. My parents sent a box of goodies from the El Paso Chile Company, and my company gave each employee a rose and an iPod shuffle to share with our loved ones. (Steve was really thrilled with his.)

We went to dinner at a nice restaurant in town, Maguire's. We each had steak and then shared an incredible dessert, the chocolate lava cake. Mmmm...

Steve also bought me gifts, some accessories for my camera that he bought me for Christmas. I got him a framed picture of the two of us to put in his office or home. It was just a wonderful day.

Bouquet #1 

Bouquet #2 

My Fix-It Guy

We've had a record warm winter, but I still don't know if I'd consider swimming. A few weekends ago, Scuba Steve braved the cold waters of his pool to find the elusive leak that is continuously draining his water. My job was to watch and make sure he didn't drown or go into hypothermic shock. Luckily for me, he didn't. Unluckily, he didn't find the leak either. It was worth a shot, though. Renting the scuba suit and getting the bulb syringe and food coloring to squirt at the cracks only cost $25. It cost several hundred to have the pool professionals come out to locate it, but now that they have, he's going to fix it himself. I'm so impressed with his ingenuity!

Scuba Steve, ready to take on the frigid waters of his pool. 

Working to Make it Better

To update my blog audience on the my job satisfaction, I've recently been trying new approaches and feeling much better about things. I've been delegating more, pushing back when people are trying to take advantage of my kindness, and I'm getting involved in the company's plans to make this a better place to work. I feel much more in control. While things are still hectic, I feel like I'm being more productive and solution-oriented.

Just venting

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Work has been INSANE. It's so busy, and I'm literally exhausted when I do get outta here. And now I'm getting a cold. I know the stress has lowered my defenses.

I try not to write about work too much. It's somewhat dangerous and not that interesting. But I need to vent.

I got pulled from the new project that launches in London. I'm very bummed about that.

My major account has continued to be a major pain in the rear. It's a huge account for the company, so there's lots of visibility. But it's not well organized and there's too many new people on the account. I don't mind training someone, but this is ridiculous! I've been here for almost 6 years, but four others on the team are brand new to the company, three of these are not in my department. I'm constantly being asked questions about how they should do their jobs and pulled into different directions. Plus I'm trying to actually do my work. Although I'm supposed to be 100% dedicated to this project, I still have 3 other accounts I'm also responsible for. We just don't have anyone to transfer them off to.

I continue to count the weeks to go until Hawaii. My saving grace is Steve. He makes me smile and forget about work.