Tuesday...why can't you be Thursday???

There. That brightens your day, doesn't it? My Poppy's are blooming!

You might notice that I made some changes to the blog...I added a bunch of additional categories (tags) so it would be easier to find recipes...for instance, instead of just clicking on the "Food" tag on the left hand side of the screen (and having gazillions of recipes come up), you can get more specific...like clicking on the "Food - Main Course" tag, and only having slightly less than a gazillion recipes come up! Yay for me! I'll see how this goes, and if needed I will get even more specific and we can narrow according to ingredients. This helps me (and hopefully you!) find recipes, because I use this blog as my online recipe organizer!

In other news, I met Steve's kids last week! Yay! After much deliberation, planning, talking to the kids therapist, making sure they were ready, flipping coins and shaking magic eight balls (kidding), we did it! And so far it has been highly successful. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Steve on being a fantastic father. The last 10 months have not been easy for him - trying to keep the kids and I separate, trying to make sure that we all had what we needed and that we all got enough of his time...but he stuck to his guns and did what was best for the kids. By easing them into our relationship, I believe that he has made this transition way easier on them. They seem so well adjusted, and well...comfortable around me. (Which is a shocker, I know. I imagined lots of awkwardness and effort to make things work...after all, one a scale of 1 - 10, I have pretty much zero experience with children.)  Yippee! What a weight lifted off of both Steve and my shoulders. Hopefully things continue to go as well as they have so far...I'll keep you posted!

*Side Note* I would like to proudly add that Steve's youngest, Andy, the pickiest eater in the universe has agreed to try my cooking both times they were over at my house for dinner. The kid lives off of Kraft Mac N Cheese and peanut butter sandwiches. I would like to report that he devoured my White Cheddar, Chicken and Broccoli Pasta (minus the broccoli), and even tried a marinated, grilled shrimp on the second visit (which he did not care for...but he did eat all of his pork tenderloin! And told us that the next time someone made shrimp, he would try it again...which is a victory in itself!). I consider it my personal mission to get Andy to expand his eating horizons. Wish me luck.

Later on this week I will start posting about my garden (WHOOO HOOOOO!!!), and I will continue to give you updates and pictures throughout the season on how my delicious home grown veggies are doing. I will also give you the recipe for the White Cheddar, Chicken and Broccoli Pasta that makes kids swoon. If I haven't already posted it before, I also may put a recipe for a super-fast and easy Vegetable Soup that will hopefully help me lose 10 pounds and tone my entire body. Before this weekend. Not likely? Well, it's a start. Have a fabulous week!