I am embarrassed to say how long it has been since I took Terri out for a “date night”. Despite both of us acknowledging how important such nights are, a combination of my weekend classes, school events, fatigue, child care, and just plain laziness have kept us from spending much time out of the house and away from the kids. We had to make up for some lost time last night!

We decided to spend the evening at the Riverwalk in Jenks. Now granted, it isn’t exactly the San Antonio riverwalk or even the Oklahoma City “Bricktown” area, but it is on the river and there are a number of restaurants and shops to peruse. It was a beautiful fall evening, a gentle cool breeze making it a perfect night to stroll along the river. We sipped margaritas and munched on chips and salsa while waiting for a seat in Los Cabos, had a delicious meal there (Terri loved the ceviche and bacon wrapped shrimp!) and more margaritas,. I tried not to look over her shoulder TOO much to see the score of the Oklahoma-Missouri football game! Then we strolled back outside to hear a band doing covers from the 70’s/80’s. We sat down, enjoyed the music and the good company, watched the cute kids dancing in the aisles, and just reveled in the fact that it was just the two of use enjoying each other’s time. We were also amused that most members of the band were probably not even alive when many of those songs came out.

We eventually meandered down to the theater to watch “The Kingdom”, a movie that was disappointing, given the interesting story that could be told about the United States and Saudi Arabia. Still, it didn’t spoil our evening and it was nice to sit in comfortable chairs and relax after our big night.

Every time we do this we always say we need to do it more often. I think it is important for couples not to get entirely consumed by work, home, and kids and to preserve an identity with each other outside of those roles. I work long days and often long nights and I also take weekend classes. It is too easy for moments like last night to become all too rare. Perhaps I need to break out the calendar and set some dates in concrete!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!