Date Night Update*

23/52 A little ride. OK, we completely confess that this date is a stretch. BUT, we're sticking to our guns that it is. Because if we were to take a 30 minute joy ride together, we would count it. So, despite the fact that this 30 minute ride was so rudely divided in half by joint eye appointments (we did chat in the waiting room), we're going to count it. It's our challenge.

24/52 A little lunch. Conversation over Chinese food. Really fun.

25/52 Getting detention at parent night. We held hands in the hallways. See number 23 for rationalization. This time of year is super busy. Enough said.


*Date Night is when you realize you're not newlyweds anymore and so you challenge each other to fit in 52 dates as a New Year's Resolution. And then you realize, you should never make promises if you've had several glasses of really good wine.

Date 22

Seriously? Seriously? We get a good chunk of a gorgeous day as Sam was at his annual State Fair trip with Uncle Tom and Auntie Andi. And I wreck a perfectly good date day by getting a brain buster headache with all the other assorted symptoms that are way too much for me to want to relive here.

Stubbornly, I tried to ride it out, but we were 20 minutes from home and I only had one dose of medicine. Not enough. Honestly, this disease is really getting old. I lose half of my life to it and I have so much that I want to do. Ugh.

I'm counting this date anyway. Because I can't help it that my body will not cooperate.

So, date 22/52 Wandering Ikea. And on a complete sideline just what the bleep were so many people doing here when they should have been out enjoying the day like my intention was? My hope was to pop in for 15 minutes at Ikea and then get to SeaSalt for lunch by the Minehahaahaaa. Didn't even get to tell D of my wishes I felt so awful. Then felt even worse when I wrecked the date.

I'm so lucky he's such a good guy. Honestly, he's a saint.

Now, technically, this shouldn't be a date because we qualified our date requirements as not being at home improvement stores. We were there to look for organizing stuff for the new mudroom (that's not so new anymore, but still not the stellar tool of organization that I hoped it would be.) Anywhooo.... Ikea was all we got too, but we had better intentions and that should count for something.


*Date night is when two people who met almost 20 years ago realize that they should spend more time alone together. And then they realize, life will get in the way sometimes. So, rather than dwelling on the fact that they're far from reaching the 52 dates that they challenged themselves to take this year, they decide that they're just going to do the best they can. (And start counting hand holding in church as dates.)

Date Night Update*

Date 21/52
Dumb Movie Date
2012, where all the budget was placed in the hands of the special effects people and not the writers.

Ugh, at one point I think the star, John Cusack, actually walked off the set. I didn't want to rewind to double check because this was sucking way too much life out of me already, but I know that's what happened.

Unbelievably dumb, so it was a comedy? So many, "I love you man" moments, I got a bit nauseated.

Sam was having a sleepover so we were stranded at home, both tired, and I was still numb and sad about my friend Angi dying. Not a great date, but at least it could pass for one.


*Date night is when you make a New Year's Resolution to date your spouse 52 times in one year. Once a week shouldn't be that hard, right? And no, honey, we're not quitting. This fat lady ain't sung yet.

Date Night Update*

Date 19/52 Ice Cream and Sunset by the Lake. Nice until Darren realized he sat in something disgusting and we had to go home. The laughter this induced was worth missing the whole sunset.

Date 20/52 (Hey, we're in the next decade!) Our favorite taco joint, Casa Lupita, for enchiladas with tomatillo sauce (joy) and a drive through the sweet town and lakeside of White Bear Lake.


*Date night is when two parents challenge themselves to fit in 52 dates in a year as a New Year's Resolution and then realize they might be dating daily from December 1 on if they don't get their butts in gear.

Date Updates

Date 16/52 Dinner on the patio. Delightful

Date 17/52 A Walk in the Park

Date 18/52 An afternoon lazing in the backyard. Swimming, reading, napping. So nice.

*Date night is when you and your spouse make a New Year's Resolution to go out on 52 dates in 2010 and you refuse to feel guilty because summer is really all about family togetherness.

Date Date Date Date

Kid was at a friend's cabin, so we got to catch up on date night*.

Sort of a United Nations Theme?


Date 14/52 You're a Turkey. Lunch at our favorite Turkish Restaurant, Black Sea. Best service and food in town. Follow them on Facebook or check out their website. And if you go, and they ask you if you want to wait, say yes. And then thank us.

Date 15/52 Dinner and Movies. Dinner from Casa Lupita our favorite taco joint and watched The Road (depressing, but true to the book) and When in Rome (don't bother, probably lost a few brain cells and I fell asleep well before the end).



*Date night is when you make a joint New Year's Resolution to go out on 52 dates in 2010 with your spouse and then feel guilty when you realize just how hard this is to fit in. We should be over halfway there! Ahhh life with kid...

Date Catch Up, We Should be Much Further Along!

Date 11/52 A Quiet Evening at Home

Date 12/52 Double Date, wine with friends

Date 13/52 The Shopping Shuffle


I have a feeling that in November and December we're going to be counting trips to the mailbox. Urgh, this is harder to fit in than we thought.

Date 10/52 Does This Really Count as a Date? Chit Chat on the Couch

So, getting in date night has been more difficult than we anticipated. Often, our time together is at the end of our days when we're both so tired and wiped out that the best we can do is just smile and maybe watch some TV or read side by side.

But, we decided, we're not going to feel guilty if date night is much simpler than we expected it to be! Nope, I'm not going to count reading before we fall asleep as date night, but we decided last night that our criteria for date night has to be simpler. After all, we don't want this to be one more thing we feel guilty about!!

So, it's a date if:

• We have kid free time to connect
• It doesn't involve home repair or maintenance

Pretty easy, right?

So, last night, we spent two hours on the couch talking. I know this doesn't seem like much to many, but it was fun. We're so often multitasking, that solely concentrating on the conversation was really nice.

So, we've entered the double digits of Datedom. Here we go.

Date 9/52 I Think We Need to Focus on this More Ice Cream Cone Conversation

"Yes, but our vacation was a 10 day date."

Nice try.

McD's ice cream cone, conversation. We're going to be dating daily from November on to hit our date quota. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGG.

This is really harder to fit in than we thought it would be.

Date 8/52 Sleepover Couch Surfing

Sam at a sleepover, we vegged and watched TV. Chatted and, still jet lagged, went to sleep early.

Watched Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. This has been frequent conversation with my mom friends. (Did you know that candy bars with almonds are ok in Moundsview School District cafeterias since almonds are a source of protein, so they're HEALTHY!????! ugh Think we need a revolution here.)

Date 7/52 Wine, Sunset, and Sea (Gelato babysitter)

Date 6/52 A Couple of Olympic Couch Surfers

We've debated whether or not this is REALLY a date night, but I think it is and so I win. (And I post on here more, so...)

We've been watching the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics!

Sam's hosting a sleepover. We are trying very hard to be invisible and visible at the same time.

It's nice to just be together after a long week.

Date 5/52 Shoe Shopping Mall Walking

Sam and his Auntie Andi and Uncle Tom were off to the Youth Symphony and to have dinner. What a nice Christmas present. He said it was "really fun" while trying not to smile. Too cool, ya know. Wouldn't want to destroy his street cred. He would enjoy a sewage treatment plant tour with those two. Symphony and cheeseburgers, a great combo. And he got to see two of his friends playing in the symphony. Great fun.

We both needed shoes and wanted to search out a travel bag. After a little Greek food, we headed to Midwest Mountaineering to check out Thrifty Outfitters. I bought a couple of pairs of shoes. Darren scored a few things in the attic. We'd been there before, but it's so much nicer to actually get to look around when the kid isn't with.

We both hate the mall, but ended up heading there to find shoes for Darren. He was able to find a couple of pairs and I got to break in one of my new pairs while walking the mall. We never did find a travel bag that we liked. But, it was fun to wander and talk and catch up.

Home in time to catch that big football thing that happens this time of year.

Fun time.

Date 4/52 Closed Signs and Tired People

Sam got invited to another sleepover. I'm beginning to feel like I have joint custody of this kid. Every other weekend, same story! We knew that Saturday would mean sleepover aftermath, so that day would be pretty much shot, so we thought we'd better grab this opportunity for a date night despite how tired we were.

We decided to go out for hot chocolate or coffee or something and went in search of a cozy spot to relax and catch up on our week. Every place we went was either closed or closing and we just didn't have the energy to keep on looking.

Home. Couch. Movie. Was the best we could do.

We laughed our way through My Life in Ruins, especially the Ugly Americans. Too funny. And we decided to save hot chocolate for another time.

Date 3/52 A Fortunate Freebie

With all that is going on in Haiti, we decided instead of spending on ourselves, we'd get a free movie from the library or watch some TV and give a donation to Shelterbox with our date money.

Sam is having a friend sleep over. They disappeared into the Kid Cave (basement) and have yet to surface. I always tell this particular friend that he's a good babysitter. Either he's an Eddie Haskell or he's really the nice, smiley kid that he seems to be! I know it's definitely the second.

Nice relaxing evening. Just what we need after a stressful week. So nice to reconnect uninterrupted.

Date 2/52 Sleepover Sneakout

Sam's at a sleepover, so we've got a date night!

This has been a rough week. I've found myself grieving for my grandma just like I did with my dad. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the tears come. That smack, in your face kind of grief is awful. I've been looking forward to date night just to feel safe and comforted. Darren's had a busy and long week too. It was time to just rest and reconnect.

We needed a relaxing evening. So, we wandered the stacks at Half Price books, picked out a few Turbo Snails and a funky urchin for our saltwater fish tank, and grabbed an ice cream cone at McDonald's on the way home. A little couch time to watch something that's not Sam's choice.

Bliss.

Date 1/52 New Years Eve with a Couple of Crabs

You gotta love restaurant supply! Call it a retirement benefit from our business. I should really go more often. Restaurant supply is like Sam's Club or Costco, but cheaper and no sample ladies. The one I go to has the largest walk in cooler I've ever been in. In our glory days, I would wear several layers, a hat, coat, mittens, and gloves just to shop-- and this was in July!

Back to the date. We bought a 10lb box of crab legs for $33 or maybe it was $42, either way, cheaper than going out on New Year's Eve. Sam was at a friend's for an almost a sleepover. We baked up some legs, shared a bottle of wine, and spent the evening cracking crab and chatting.

We also watched The Proposal with Sandra Bullock. Cute, but there wasn't much to it that wasn't already shown in the trailers.

Great night, relaxing, I almost made it to midnight (but not quite). This was the perfect start to our date night challenge.