Julie had her recipes, I've got our dates. (Thanks, Nana for the first line!).
This experiment is thanks to Kay Donaldson, who has been such an amazing friend. As those of you who are married know, it's a damn hard job. Add to it a child who's cute as can be, but still has his days, mix in a two bedroom apartment minus the yard for this adorable little one, stir in one middle-school teacher with 15 years experience that still doesn't cut it when you have "Joe" as a student, and blend in one unemployed husband who's never been out of a job for more than three weeks and he's going on six months and you've got your recipe for a lot of girl talk and the need for "52 Great Cheap Dates".
Kay is always texting or sending me cute little emails or cards checking in (mostly so she can get an update on Charlie) to see how I am fairing and reminding me that I am loved. Today, two decks of cards arrived in the mail. The first "52 Great Cheap Dates" (she knows we are broke and "52 Things to Try Once in Your Life" (she knows I need to remember the positives that life brings) by Lynn Gordon. As soon as I opened the package, I smiled. The first thing that came to mind was, "Hey, I should blog these adventures. But which deck of cards do I follow?" After spending a few minutes previewing both piles (should I say, that I was doing this while I was teaching...actually, I think it was before the bell rang), I realized I had already "Gone Fishing", "Changed a Diaper (too many), "Dropped Serious Money" and best of all, "Pooped in the Woods". I decided 52 dates with my husband, Kevin, might be more exciting to write about.
Shortly, after I made my decision, I chose a card. It was a beautiful day, Nana was planning on babysitting (our regular date night), and I was on a mission. I quickly emailed Kevin and asked him to have dinner ready by 5:45 so that we could leave by 6:15. "Roger, Wilco" was his response. Excited to put my plan into action, I breezed through the day even after the 1 hour and 20 minute 504 meeting that was designed for the parent not the student. For those of you who are educators, this is all wrong!
Nana, Kevin, Charlie, and I enjoyed a mustard-crusted beef tenderloin salad and a bottle of Rosenblum Zinfadel. I drank too much, not really, but it sure did hit me. Kevin decided he wanted to put something "nicer" on. I still hadn't told him the plan, but quickly told him "Don't worry". If you know Kevin, he changed his shirt. The clock struck, 6:15, I grabbed two coffee mugs (we're saving the enviornment and 20 cents 1 Breve Latte and 1 Soy Chai Latte at a time), Kevin said, "we'll this isn't what I expected" and off we went. "Head to Starbuck's on Lakeshore." Kevin dropped me off, I made my purchase and was back in the car in 10 minutes. "Head for the hills," I directed my husband. "How far?" he asked. "All the way," I smiled. We meandered through Monteclair and admired the houses (this is one of the neighborhoods we'd like to live in) until we reached Skyline. "Left or Right?" Kevin asked. "Find the sunset," I replied and to the left we went. Kevin spent several minutes of trying to locate the perfect place. I was unable to view the city from the first stop. Yes, I couldn't see over the dash. So, Kevin pulled out and tried again. Just getting "there" was an adventure. My Mr. Perfect husband was now driving me mad. Just find a spot! We can see the whole damn bay from anywhere up here, I thought to myself. Just north of Marlborough Terrace, Kevin stopped the car, rolled down the window, and opened the panoramic moon roof.
OK. We're here. Directly, in front of us was Mt. Tamalpais. Wispy clouds hung in the blue sky and the haze distorted our view of San Francisco, although you could see the lights from AT & T Park where the Giants were playing the Pirates. I knew I needed to enjoy this first date, but all I could think of was, "Shit, why didn't I bring a notebook to write with? I should be writing this down. No, I should be relaxing and enjoying this. How do I describe the colors? How do I...." This is so typical Charlotte. I need to learn to enjoy the moment and not worry about what is at home waiting for me. But it's just not me. My mind goes at 100 MPH. I decided to give myself some time to "stop and smell the roses", or in this case, stop and enjoy the view. Here I thought sunset equalled romance and all I could think about was this blog. I finally leaned over and said, "Wanna make out?" We kissed like teen-agers for a few seconds, nothing to write home about, but at least we did it.
The first thing I noticed was the constant stream of bikers (both bicycles and motorcycles) enjoying the clear sky and windy roads. As a group of 5 "guys" on bicycles rounded the corner, I said, "You need to find yourself a group." Five months before Charlie was born (yes, Charlie is about to be 14 months...do the math), a generous sum of money went to the purchase of a new-used road bike for Kevin. This beautiful bike is getting more attention from Charlie (he likes to play with the peddles) than its owner and I would like to see Kevin enjoy a few days/nights a week touring the back roads and yes, getting into shape. Losing myself in this thought, Kevin broke my concentration by pointing out a freighter leaving the Bay and sailing under the Bay Bridge. We watched him or is it her pass by Treasure Island, around Alcatraz, and turn left to make his/her way under the Golden Gate and out into the Pacific to wherever he/she was going. "China," was my guess just because everything is made in China. Besides, this is my date, my blog, and I get to create my own story.
I made sure I did do the one thing that I was supposed to on this date and that was watch the sunset. The sun took it's time melting into Mt. Tam, but as soon as it hit the top of the mountain, the sun quickly disappeared leaving Mt. Tam in an amazing sillouette. During the sun's departure, Kevin told me to hold my thumb up to block the sun so I could get a great view of the colors. I did, but didn't see why he was so excited about this. I must say, the colors were spectacular, muted, but picture perfect. The view reminded me of the southwest. I'm not sure why as I've only been there a hand full of times, but there was something about the way the yellows and oranges turned pink and purple and blended in with the blues of the mountain and Bay.
Kevin noticed that the only "action" taking place was at the ball park and at the Port of Oakland. Being that it is Oakland, I'm sure there was all types of "action" taking place below us.
While watching the clouds change colors, I decided to pull out the deck of cards that Kay had lent me and share my newly found idea with Kevin. I explained the idea of the blog and began to read through several cards trying to decide our next destination. We quickly discovered that many of these "dates" will need to be a threesome. Sorry, not that kind. Yes, Baby Charlie will be a part of these, but we are both looking forward to sharing these future outings with him.
Once the sun had set, it was time to go. It was getting late. 8:00 PM is heading toward my bedtime and we wanted to get Nana home (by the way, she was passed out, hidden by a blanket with the lights out when we arrived home).
What did I learn from this adventure? First, don't forget a camera. I want to document each date with a photo. Thank God, Kevin had his iphone. Second, "stop and smell the roses". I will be able to document our dates when I return and if I forget something, who cares or better yet, who will know. This is all about us, Kevin and I enjoying the hour or two we get to be by ourselves. Third, RELAX! Wait, isn't that what I said in number two. I guess I really need to make that a priority. Fourth, dating can be cheap. It only cost us $6.80 and we could have skipped the coffees if we'd been really trying to save. Fifth, this is going to be a process, not just the "dating", but the writing. I've been at this for over an hour (WAY past my bedtime) and I'm not sure I've finished. I guess I can always add more at a later date. In the meantime, I'm scanning the deck of cards wondering where date #2 will take us.
