Beep! Beep! Beep! Sandy Sanders laid on the horn. She couldn’t be late again, or her boss would never let her hear the end of it. Of course, her boss was her mom. Her parents had started a home and family blog, called “Sander’s Home: when she was little, and she had recently begun writing for them. She peeled into the parking lot and jumped out of her car. She sprinted for the door, ran down the hallway, almost spilling her co-worker Paul’s coffee in the process.
“Sorry Paul,” she yelled, without a glance back.
Paul chuckled, “Late again Sandy?”
As she turned the corner she saw her mom closing her agenda.
“You’re late,” her mom said. How did she even see me, Sandy thought, still standing right outside the door.
“I am so sorry mom. Traffic was terrible. I know that’s no excuse though,” she fidgeted, wrapping a strand of hair around her finger, a nervous habit of hers she only did around her mom.
“Well, I was going to have you go visit that hardscape landscape contractor in Point Loma you like so much, for an exclusive interview. Unfortunately, you weren’t here, so I assigned it to Paul,” Sandy’s mom said with a smug half-smile.

Sandy’s hands clenched, and her face redden, “You. Gave. It. To. PAUL. Okay, you gave it to Paul.” Her fingers tapped the top of her head. “Well,” her wheels were turning, “Tell Paul I’ll do it instead.”
“Hmmm, no, I don’t think so,” her mom replied. “Actually, I have a great idea, you’ll do it together!”
“That sounds great,” said a voice from behind them. Sandy turned and none other than Paul had poked his head in. He had traded the coffee for some sort of sandwich. A drop of mustard fell onto his tie, “Should we get going then?”
“Fine, but I’m driving,” Sandy replied. They coast down the road in beautiful San Diego, and just 20 minutes later they had arrived. “Okay, just follow my lead,” Sandy said.
“You got it,” Paul replied with a goofy smile.
They approached the door and inside found a quaint waiting room. No waiting was required, however. “Hello, you must be from Sander’s Home. It’s great to meet you I’m the owner Shaun,” said a man leaning against the counter. He extended his hand which Sandy instinctively grabbed for. Unfortunately, Paul beat her to it. Sandy had to grab her ear, she was sure there was steam rolling out of them.

“It’s great to meet you Shaun. We just have a few questions then we will get out of your hair,” Sandy dove right in. “First, what inspired you to go into this line of work?”
“That’s easy, being a part of someone’s home is a privileged. I am lucky to do what I do,” Shaun said.
Sandy smiled, “That’s Awesome, second question: What are your top three tips for creating a beautiful backyard?”
“Hmm, that one’s hard. I guess first, when you are working in with high-end landscape in San Diego, you have to know your colors. With the beautiful weather we get all year, you need to keep that in mind. Second, it’s all about the outdoor kitchen. We just did an outdoor kitchen in del mar that would blow your socks off. If you want to make a great impression with your backyard, you should have the kitchen. Last, make sure it works for your needs, no keeping up with the Joneses,” Shaun replied with a wink.
Shaun was easy to talk to, Sandy thought. “Okay, last question, what does the future of your company look like?”
Shaun looked back and forth between Sandy and Paul before replying, “Like your relationship, bright.” Paul smiled his goofy smile. “So, how long have you guys been dating,” Shaun asked.
“We aren’t,” Sandy said.
“I’m still working on it,” Paul replied with a smile.
For high quality landscape work in San Diego check out:
Torrey Pines Landscape Co.
P.O. Box 6742, San Diego, CA 92166