Date Night

Jeff and I had a lovely date night last night!! Zach did awesome with being at Teagan's school. He ran right in and made himself right at home. When we went to leave, he whined for a split second until Ms Tori reminded him that the kids were all headed down the hallway to Ms Sally's room to visit Spidey- the pet tarantula. *shiver* The kids love Spidey- and Zach did, too, because that is all he talked about on the way home! Anyway, off he went with Big Sis and Ms Tori and off we went on our date! We drove around a bit to see what was near the school- and didn't find anything of interest. So we headed up to Hamilton Town Center (one of those "outdoor malls"). Jeff took charge (I love love love it when he does that) and decided we would eat at a place he'd been to once before. He said that when he ate there, he knew it was totally the kind of place I would love. It totally isn't the kind of place he would love- too many sauces and ingredients for his plain palate. But he wanted me to experience it. Stone Creek Dining Company It was soooo yummy. We started with an appetizer- Chimichurri Beef. A red tortilla shell filled with chopped tomato and avocado (I got that all to myself), skewers of chimichurri beef, some sort of buttery sauce on the plate. For dinner, Jeff had Parmesan Chicken and I had the Mustard Crusted Chicken. From the menu: "Pan seared with asparagus, caramelized onions, artichokes, portabello mushrooms. Served atop garlic mashed potatoes and finished with gorgonzola, pecans and rosemary cream." It was heavenly!! I couldn't eat all of it- we each brought home half of our food. Oh! And they serve this homemade bread with some sort of herbs on it and a house specialty dipping oil- olive oil, balsamic vinegar, a hint of jalapeno, dried roasted red pepper, kosher salt. So yummy!! After dinner, we strolled around the shopping center. In all honesty, we rolled our eyes a lot at the stores. We just don't do mall shopping or buy mall clothing. Aeropostale, Holister, Victoria's Secret... none of it means anything to us. I did guffaw when I saw a mom going into Victoria's Secret with a little girl who looked to be around 10 years old. Sooooo many things I could say on that one. Ir hurts my heart and stomach... but anyway... We had a destination- Borders. Back when we were "dating," one of our favorite things to do was get hot chocolate and peruse a bookstore. We would look at some things together... wander away from each other for our own sections... meet back up at look at magazines... Getting to do that again last night was so nice! Then we headed back to the car, relaxed, holding hands. Got the kids (Teagan was exhausted and very ready to go home; Zach would have happily stayed another hour but was also happy to head home to bed). Home to bed (Zach was happy to get into bed... Teagan was past that point and had a complete meltdown). A much needed night out... We almost didn't do it. We almost skipped it. And even when we went for it, it was more to support this new program at the school and less about taking a night for us. We've been crabbier with each other lately. We've been not working together. We've been snipping and snapping. Not fighting... but not really being our normally contented selves. The school is offering this every month. I doubt we will do it every month. But I know this was a good reminder of how important it is to get out together, to hold hands, to be with each other. Good thing God knows to put people in our path who can be wise for us when we need it most!