We’ve been reorganizing our house these last three weeks or so. My youngest daughter’s friend moved in with us and we’ve flipped rooms around to accommodate her. The final outcome has been an unexpected thrill even if the process was stressful. I’m not one of those people who enjoy the journey more than the destination.
In spite of the necessary cooperation my husband and I have had to have, we’ve kind of lost sight of each other these last weeks. Quite honestly, he was probably glad he had to get up at 4 a.m. to go to work; I kind of wished I had somewhere to go, too.
My mindset every day during the process was to get the living areas clear before my husband got home. It didn’t happen until recently. In fact we even ended up eating out a lot during the chaos, because I either couldn’t focus enough to figure out what to cook or I was too tired by the time the kids and I slogged our way through another task.
Last week, with Friday looming before us, my husband mentioned we hadn’t had a date night for quite awhile. “Seriously dude?” I thought. “Doesn’t it look like I have enough to do? Wait your turn.” I’ve also been helping out a family whose wife/mother is a hospice patient at her home and Friday night was my shift.
Don’t get me wrong, I felt bad I couldn’t be enthusiastic about a date night, nor could I see my way clear to even schedule one. After all, he’s the bread winner and his male territory has been further trod over by yet another woman. He’s been agreeable, and uncomplaining, but it just wasn’t his “time.”
Then I got a phone call about an hour before I was scheduled to leave for my appointed shift. The gal’s son was in town and so my services weren’t needed. I suddenly found myself free.
My husband was up to a spontaneous date night. To top it off, often we’ll have unexpected moments for togetherness and there isn’t a movie we want to see, but there were actually a few we were interested in.
We discovered we are out of practice: we didn’t get cheap movie tickets from Costco and we didn’t stop at a store to get my inexpensive Milk Duds; we paid full price for everything. It was just so exciting to have nothing pressing to do, we shot out of the house before someone changed their mind.
On Sunday morning, we resolved to clean off the patio. You know how those big home projects are when you get your livable space cleared out, but the remnants of the undertaking will be a chore for months to come.
We shuffled a few things around, reorganized a shed to accommodate all the excess shelving we have (another subject for another day), then made a truckload of thrift store drop-offs. We contemplated which store to take it to (you have to have a strategy when donating), then realized if we went to St. Vincent’s in Kent, we could go see another movie at Kent Station. Two in one weekend!
Another added thrill awaited us: that movie was only $5.76. I don’t know if it was because it played before 11 a.m, because it was Sunday or if that’s the normal matinee price, but it made up for our full-price Friday.
Date nights may have to become date mornings from now on.
Gretchen Leigh is a stay-at-home mom who lives in Covington. You can read more of her writing and her daily blog on her website livingwithgleigh.com or on Facebook at “Living with Gleigh.” Her column is available every week at maplevalleyreporter.com under the Lifestyles section.
