Date Night

Friday night I received the unexpected gift of freedom when my dear friend, Donnie (who also used to be my husband), invited Grace to stay the night at his house with him and Nathan. What's a single-parent to do when she suddenly has no kids for the night? Go on a date with myself, of course.

I had been wanting to see a movie at the theater for some time so I chose the one that is best seen on the big screen since I didn't know when I'd have the chance again: Avatar. It worked out perfectly that I was able to make it to the cheap "Twilite" show because when I tried to pay the $7 for the ticket and "3-D technology" my credit/debit card was declined. I had $13 cash and my plan was to get a bite after the show or/and go write or read at Starbucks or something. I wouldn't be able to do both now, but as it turned out I was pretty tired and not up to going to Starbucks after the show anyway.

Oh, the card was declined for security reasons that I will write about in another blog (my identity was recently stolen from an international fraud ring--I was in the process of getting it resolved...that particular card being invloved was something new, but I wouldn't let myself worry about it on my night out with myself).

After the movie I went to get some carry-out at the new Thai place near my house which closes at 9pm; it was 8:40 and the very sweet owner informed me that they had just run out of pad thai noodles did I want anything else? A second declined credit card; no more pad thai noodles? Hmmm. What was going on? I went for a dish called Kow Bai Gra Pow (basil fried rice with vegees, which the owner charged me $6 instead of $6.50, so nice) with tofu. I like spicy, but not so spicy that it messes up the enjoyment of the food for me, so I got "mild" spice since, to me, their mild is more like medium. I'm basing that off of the type of salsas I buy--medium--some kick, but nothing that makes my nose and eyes run.

It was a crisp, clear night so I invited myself to eat the carry-out on our front porch swing so I could listen to the wind chimes and gaze up at the bright stars. It didn't last long. Five minutes? Maybe. Between the cold Michigan breezes and the "mild" spice of the Kow Bai Gra Pow, my sinuses were singing for sweet mercy that not even the swigs of almond milk after each bite could provide. I asked myself amidst sniffles and teary eyes, Should we just go in?

I said, Yeah, we can be cozy on the couch with a book instead.

I imagined that if Joel were there, we would've gone in to watch TV or another movie together...or something else (Oh how I miss that something else with him). But I was content to be with myself and not have to worry about what the kids want to do, or bedtime routines, or getting up to requests from Grace for this or that, or any of it. I could let myself do whatever I wanted for the first time in a very long time and it felt good.

I really liked the basil rice dish, but it was so HOT. I figured they were in such a hurry to serve everyone (it was crowded at the Thai place, there was one cook and the owner running the rest), so I thought the cook must have made a mistake and dumped too much hot pepper into my dish. It finally occurred to me that maybe the red and yellow peppers in the dish were not sweet peppers. I tasted a single red one, HOT. And a single yellow one, also HOT. I chortled and shnortled at myself knowing Joel would've loved to have been with me to laugh it up, too.

If we are single-parents and have a spouse working in another state or country, or if we are single-parent who does not have a boyfriend or girlfriend, we can still have an enjoyable evening away from our kids to recharge our batteries and connect with ourselves.