Brief Update

Okay, so work...is going okay. My office recently was assigned a new mission; something that is pretty new to the DoD in general, so there's no book/checklist on how to do things. This is both good and bad. I'm really excited to get in at the ground floor and help build up capabilities that have never existed before. On the other hand, this is not an area I have any experience with and I am kind of being tossed into the ring with virtually no marching orders (not sure who the real end customers are, what their needs would be, what tools we have available, etc.) and asked to lead (although they haven't decided how they want to break up the office into teams yet). Oh yeah, and they haven't hired anyone else at my level yet either (there are supposed to be two others in the middle management chain), so even if they did decide how they want to organize everyone, there wouldn't be anyone else there to lead them! I know things will eventually fall into place, but I am feeling very antsy. I feel like the gov't is paying me a lot of $$ to basically sit on my ass and entertain myself all day (still no system access), and no one seems at all concerned. I also miss my coworkers a lot (don't tell them, though, as they are already a bunch of egomaniacs ;) One of the best things about my last job was the comraderie we had in the office. I get the feeling that no one in my new office quite knows what to do with me. All of the analysts seem rather wary of being too casual with me (probably because they're concerned that I might end up being their boss - depending on what team they're placed on), and I only rarely see my own boss (he's usually in the secure facility, but I don't have access to that yet since it's taking forever for my clearances to get passed on, grrr!). So I mostly just sit in my office (I have my own office!) and look at stuff on the shared drive to try and get an idea of what it is I might be doing in the near future. Kind of lonely right now :( But, at least they're paying me well! ;)

Things:
- Super Cook is an awesome resource for the frugal cook (especially when you are determined to use everything in your pantry before you go food shopping again!) Recently I have made the fried cabbage with bacon (just as yummy and un-clean as it sounds!) and Kathleen's Potatoes Pascal, which were also delicious and just as bad for you as the cabbage!

- Fried oysters! One of the best things about living near the beach is the abundance of fresh seafood, which is probably why I have developed an overwhelming craving for fried oysters! Hubs is not a seafood person in general (he doesn't even really like shrimp!), but he has taken comfort in the fact that Florida is mainly populated by people who have fled the cold of New York, so there is also an abundance of great Wing places. We have a small bar/restaurant just around the corner from our house which has excellent fried oysters and pretty darn good wings (the best he's had since he left NY, says Hubs, but they could use a bit more heat to be perfect!). Hopefully this new penchant I have for using Super Cook (it's like a new challange every day!) will keep me from trying to order oysters every night or I may not be seeing much of the beach (I refuse to buy a bigger bathing suit!)

- Hautelook.com - check it out, stylistas!