I had a BBQ this past Sunday. A few people had suggested a party to celebrate an awning, and hey, any excuse for a party, right? I also timed it for my parents' visit - they always like to meet my friends, and it also takes some of the pressure off of me to "entertain" - not that they ask for that.
I guess the really big new thing this summer is, *koff*, my new boyfriend. Who is an old friend and ex-co-worker, so I've known him for over a decade. The awning party guests were carefully chosen to be people who I thought would be okay with this. He's not really that new anymore, but I feel anxious about judgment from people who think it's just "too soon." Which, frankly, would include me if I saw someone getting into a relationship less than three months after their spouse died. But I guess that's why the say, "Humans make plans, and the gods laugh." Anyway, he catered the whole deal. Big BBQs are sort of his hobby, meaning that he had not just a ton of food, but electric chafing dishes, benches, a pop-up canopy for the yard, his own tables, a standalone setup for boiling brats so that the grill was used for burgers and such ... it was impressive.
My life is so different now than it was last year. It's astounding.
To answer the inevitable question: No, he does not ski, and he's not interested in learning to ski. He says he's fine doing other things during the day, and having cooked a nice meal by the time I get back. Some weekends, anyway. We'll see. If we get that far, ski season will be an interesting test.
