Date Night

Last night, my wife and I had a date.  An honest to goodness, kids are sleeping over at Grandma's house, night on the town.  Excitement was high.  The possibilities were endless (by that I mean we both knew we'd be home and asleep by 10pm).  By 5:45 we had completed the usual bartering, begging and bribery to get our sons squared away.  We were on our own.

Since spontaneity is not our strong suit (i.e. we're too old and too far out of the social loop to just "go out"), we had our nightly activities planned with military precision.  First... grab some dinner at 6.  Then, hit a comedy show in St. Louis that started at 8.  Even if the comedian did an encore, we would still make our 10pm curfew.  That's how we roll.  Don't judge us.

Let's get this party started.

In our BK (Before Kids) days, we were a little more foot loose and fancy free.  Heck, our first date consisted of an afternoon matinee showing of Dazed and Confused followed by a quick stop at the local Dairy Queen.  Our second date was even more exciting.  She came over and we watched City Slickers on VHS.  Those were wild times.

After we got married, our options expanded.  We'd go to the theater, restaurants... we were even invited to parties once in a while.  I distinctly remember the last fiesta we attended (circa 1997).  It was one of those nights where I felt really "on".  My jokes were met with thunderous laughter.  My throaty rendition of "Bohemian Rhapsody" had them spellbound.  At the end of the evening (when all the other guests had left) the host and hostess sadly announced that they were moving to Alaska in a few weeks.  They thanked us for coming, and we said our goodbyes.  Oddly enough about six months later, we spotted them buying charcoal and a party platter of veggies at the grocery store.   To this day, we choose to believe the Alaska gig just "fell through".

 

or bust.

Enough about that... it's 16 years later.  My wife and I were out on a date! 

Long story short... we had a great time.  Our structured evening kept us moving and entertained (and home and asleep by 10).  But beyond the structure, we found greater joy in the little things.  You know, those things that only your long time partner and you think are funny.  For instance, I noticed that nearly everyone at our restaurant had an oddly shaped nose.  Hook noses, pointy Bob Hope noses, overly aggressive Roman noses... it was a plastic surgeon's wet dream.  My wife missed that one, but we talked about it for several minutes in the car.

At the concert, we both noticed at least 30 women with the "angled bob" haircut (or the Mom Bob as I like to call it).  I want to like this haircut, but I just can't.  Now I realize it looks passable from the front.  But ladies... c'mon.  Once you leave the salon with this 'do, you should immediately be issued keys to a mini-van and $20 in Kohl's Cash.
 

the good, the sad, and the fugly.

The funniest sight of all was the couple in their 30's wearing matching Adidas sweat suits. They were breathtaking to behold... almost as if they'd magically breakdanced out of an old Run-DMC video.  My wife was sure they had to be married.  I chose to believe they were having their own best "date night" ever and secretly laughing at us.