Recently in Steve Category

At least that's what it feels like anyway. We talk to each other on the phone every night - "Whaddya do today?", "I love you", "I miss you", "See you on Friday" -- and we see each other a lot on the weekends.

Since May, Steve has been out of town with work every single week except two. :yell: So for almost five months - we've seen each other on weekends - and maximum one day during the week. He travels all over the U.S. to the hospitals HCA owns - some they already own, some they are getting ready to take over - and "assimilates" them into the massive HCA network (computer network, that is). Resistance is Futile is his teams motto, I think.

My husband, Steve, works for HCA (he is one of their geeks) and spends at least 3 days a week traveling all over the country to the different hospitals they own or are about to take over. He has kept me updated on HCA's evacuation efforts post-Katrina - and yesterday a company-wide email was sent with details about their response and action after the hurricane. It is nice to read something good - they really stepped up and got things done, and not only for their own hospitals - but they helped another hospital evacuate as well.

Kudos to HCA for being prepared and getting the job done ... (I've posted the full press release in the extended entry - it's an interesting article.)

Four and a half years after starting this process -- Steve's greencard gets the final approval. I can't even begin to tell you how much this means to have this journey over with (for the next 10+ years anyway!) :hug:

He is already going to be in Memphis next week on business - so while he is there he's going to the INS office and getting his new greencard and the nice stamp in his British passport that says he's a lawful permanent resident of the United States of America! :bigthumb:

Four years ago today, I was in D.C. visiting Steve. We'd been long-distance dating for over a year, although we had known each other for at least 4 years (3 1/2 of which he was still living in England). The constant leaving each other at airports thing was getting harder and harder. We had been talking about getting married and all that would mean. Me leaving a job in surgery that I loved in order to move to D.C. (9 hours away from my family). Was he committed to living in the states permanently (because while I like visiting England, I would never want to live there)? Would we try to move closer to my family eventually? Were we ready to go through the horrendous INS greencard process? (After Steve finally got his greencard, I remember telling a friend that I didn't see how people who DIDN'T love each other tremendously could ever make it through the INS process. These people who supposedly get married just to get the greencard ... they must be on crack thinking it's an easy thing. It's a very long process and WHY would you put yourself through that if it wasn't for someone that you loved with every fiber of your being? )

Back to the 4th of July, 2000.

We had planned to spend the 4th in downtown D.C., tour some museums, and then stick around for the spectacular fireworks display. So, July 4th, 2000, we hopped on the subway and went downtown early in the day. Steve was being particularly attentive to his backpack - never letting it out of his sight the whole day. That night, we went to the Lincoln Memorial to claim our spot on the steps to warch the fireworks. (The entire stretch from the Lincoln Memorial past the reflecting pool to the Washington Monument was PACKED with people). The fireworks started around 9:30 and lasted for almost a full hour. They have some of the best fireworks - really beautiful ones that just go up one right after another - there's no break. Everyone should go see the fireworks there at least once! The finale started, everyones faces are lit up by the fireworks in the sky, and as the last one goes up, Steve has moved down in front of me and asks me to marry him.

I said yes ... :heartbeat: The mass of people around us saw him proposing ... and cheered for us! (And now my English husband has something to celebrate on July 4th!)

I arrived at work today, and found a box on my desk delivered by UPS. I have the best husband ever. :heartbeat: Look what he got me:

It's Galaxy Chocolate. The. Yummiest. Chocolate. In. The. World. He had them shipped from England.

Sigh. It's a wonderful thing when your husband knows exactly what will put a smile on your face. :cloud9:

(On an unrelated note ... I took this picture with my phone! Pretty good quality, isn't it? I love everything about my Treo 600! I've had it for about 2 months now and I have to say its the best pda/phone/camera/everything I've ever used or seen. It basically does everything you'd ever need. :thumbsup: I especially love that I got $400 off in rebates!!)

Anyone else out there know what a chip buttie is? If not ... let me tell you about it. It's a weekly meal at our house. I remember the first time my husband made them for me. We were dating and I was over at his place and he asked if I wanted a chip buttie. I was like -- suuuuure! I'll try it. (For those of you who don't know ... my husband is English. Apparently chip butties are a common thing there). First ... you make french fries. And for Steve, they have to be made from scratch french fries. So we peel our potatoes, cut them with our Pampered Chef Crinkle Cutter and then pop them into our deep fryer. Takes about 8 minutes and the nice hot french fries are ready. Next step .... take your bread of choice (regular bread, sub sandwich bread, etc) and slather with butter or if you're Steve, London Pub Sauce (we literally have atleast 8 bottles of this in the cupboard at all times. Steve puts it on everything.). Then you put the french fries inside the bread. That's a chip buttie.

I know it doesn't sound all that appetizing ... but surprisingly enough ... it does taste pretty good. Steve laughs at me beacuse my chip butties are always put together so precisely with all my french fries lined up in a neat row on the bread -- whereas he just shoves them in.

The "butties" don't stop here. Steve also likes Bacon Butties (yes, you've got it -- bacon inside of bread slathered with London Pub Sauce). Basically he likes Anything Butties. If we're having fish, beans and cauliflower .... it all ends up in a sandwich. It's kind of bizarre.

I'm one of those people who eats everything one at a time. I eat all my fish. Then I eat the beans. Then I eat the cauliflower. The only foods I mix up on a regular basis are corn and beans. I got that habit from my grandfather -- they taste much better mixed together :)

Still trying to decide what to give your loved one for Valentines Day? I have the answer .... a VD Card!

I've found some really interesting blogs here lately ... check them out:

Dooce
SimpleBits
LoobyLu
BrainSluice
In Passing

Three years ago, on December 2, 2000, Steve and I were married! :heartbeat: Happy Three Year Anniversary to Us! :hug:

Thanksgiving was nice this year - we had our meal down at my brother's house with all of my family and all of Glenda's (my sister-in-law) family too. It makes it easier for them - doing both families all together - and we all get along, so it's a nice day. My pumpkin roll was yummy ... as was a really delicious pineapple casserole that Glenda's sister did. I keep forgetting to email her for that recipe!

Happy 2-year Anniversary to me! Steve and I have been married two years now - wow! I can't believe how fast the past two years have flown by!

We spent the weekend at a nice hotel in downtown Chattanooga -- great room on the top floor and we were within walking distance of everything. We saw 'Die Another Day' on Friday Night -- Halle Berry is a great bond girl! I've heard rumors that there will be a JINX spin-off ... I think she could do it! I loved her in the movie. If you haven't seen it - skip to the next paragraph (spoilers): It was very strange seeing James Bond tortured over the opening music. You never really see Bond having weaknesses. I think part of the James Bond allure is that he almost always has the upper hand and outsmarts the bad guys -- I didn't really enjoy or want to see him being tortured. It was a pretty good movie though.

Saw 'Twelve Monkeys' for the first time the other day - how weird is that movie?! I was sitting there after it was over thinking that the TV station must have forgotten to air the last 5 minutes of the movie - there's no way it just ended like that. Strange strange strange. Then I had all these dreams about how it should have ended. I guess the movie did what it intended to do then -- make you think. Who knows?! Not my fav Brad Pitt movie though.

Also saw 'Oceans Eleven' again this weekend - my parents had the DVD and we watched it with them. Love that movie.

On a health note, I started the new 'PATCH' yesterday - to replace the Pill. I have felt kinda icky all day - I think my body is probably just adjusting to the new dosage. It's kinda of cool though - I'm wearing the patch on my upper arm - next week I'm going to try my back. You can wear it pretty much anywhere except your chest. Now if only they could make it CLEAR - that would be cool ! I'm sure that's in the works :)