Those memorable company dinners

First of all, I want to say bless those of you who have stuck with this little blog lately. It certainly isn't because I give you all interesting things to read! But I have to share something that happened to me last night.

If anyone has been around for a while, they might remember this post. You see, whenever I have the rare chance to actually dress nicely and attend a "grown-up" function, things seem to happen.

BD's company Christmas Dinner is a function we both enjoy every year. This year it was at Fogo de Chao, a Brazillian Steakhouse. Oh. My. Goodness. The STEAK. It just keeps coming! Let me tell you, this place is not for vegetarians, but it was some of the best steak I've ever had in my life!!! You have a disc that is red on one side and green on the other and if you turn it to green, they just keep bringing you different cuts that have been grilled on a spit and slice the type of cuts you like, so every bite is hot and tender and it never ends. I mean the tenderloin! The ribeye! You just finish eating a round of all the different cuts, and they start all over. Your glass is NEVER empty,and they are constantly replacing the side dishes so they are always hot and fresh. And of course we had dessert, the best creme brulee I've ever had. Anyway, we had never eaten so much steak in our lives and it caught up with us on the way back to the car when both BD and I wondered if we might get sick from being so full. But that's not what this story is about.

Being 40 hasn't bothered me at all since I actually feel better right now than I have in a long time. But at events like this, I DO care about looking my best. So when I planned what I would wear ten days ago yesterday, I decided on a top that had a wide vee-neck. Now, in the past, I've had a problem with getting hives on my neck and chest when I get nervous, but hey, I'm 40 now. I've outgrown that, right? I mean, the worst I ever had them was on my prom day when every picture showed those ugly big red blotches marching across my chest as plain as day. But that was over 20 years ago. That doesn't happen anymore. I'm an experinced woman of 40, not a girl of 17!

Can you see where this is leading? That's right. At the beginning of the evening, we all just stand around, chit-chatting with people we haven't seen in a year. And there's always new people you've never met. OK, it's awkward, but we all do our best. So anyway, the waiters came around asking each of us what we wanted to drink and everyone was acting so...well, knowledgeble about different types of wine, etc. So I decided I'd act knowledgable as well and impress BD's co-workers by asking for the only wine I know by name that I like...Gevertaminer. (I have no idea how to spell it). But there was a problem with my plan. The waiters weren't exactly fluent in English. Actually, the one I spoke to didn't seem to know what in the world I was talking about and my little plan to impress BD's co-workers and their dates by gracefully and subtly ordering a specific wine turned into a five minute struggle to communicate. I was hopelessly snarled and didn't know what to do and the worst part was that I felt the familiar red-hot tingle across the skin of my chest and knew my old friends, the HIVES, were back. Finally someone said in my ear, "Just say red or white." I nearly shouted at the man, "Red!" He started to say something about bottle or glass, only with such a heavy accent, again I didn't understand. The same voice told me, "Say glass." I did and accompanied it with a hand gesture that said clearly, "Now go away before my hives get worse!"

So after some nervous chuckling by the group that had witnessed my unraveling, the woman I had just met, the date of a co-worker, turned to me to resume our conversation about her job as a hospital administrator. But her gaze fell to my neck and chest with a confused, then sympathetic/humorous look several times during the rest of our conversation. Yeah. It's pretty hard to look like a cool, composed and confident woman while causing a scene and breaking out in red blotches. But hey, I'm a 40 year old stay-at-home mom from Indiana. I'm sure I carried it off, because after all, that's how I roll.