Promised Post: Date Night

I promised I would post about my date with Michael.

Here's the thing.

It wasn't a big deal.

We didn't spend a whole bunch of money.  We didn't go far away from home.  We didn't do anything especially "romantic" or "sexy" or "fancy". 

We went for coffee.  We shared desserts.  And we talked. 

Okay - I mostly talked.

But Michael listened to me.  And that, I suppose, makes it a big deal.

I don't know if I've posted about it here before, but I love coffeehouses.  Everything about them. 

The atmosphere, the feeling of holding a warm cup in your hands, the steam coming from your drink, the music, the people chatting in all corners of the room - like they have no where else to be.  In coffeehouses, people give one another their attention.  It's a rare occurrence, I think: to give someone your full attention.

When I was teaching theatre we used to take our Theatre 4 students to Philly every year in February to see a few shows and generally explore the city.  We took them to South Street on one of the afternoons and told them to stay on the street and hang out with a friend or two.  Then Michael and I would go to Starbucks.

It's a two story coffee joint on South Street with huge windows on the top floor facing the street and the alleyway next to the building.  We would grab our drinks and escape to the top floor.  From there, we could see the kids skittering around South Street not knowing we were keeping a watchful eye. 

The second year we went on the trip, it was snowing that afternoon.  We headed to our favorite perch and sipped caramel apple ciders with whipped cream and chatted while the snow drifted silently to the ground below.  The sky was red and purple and growing ever darker.  The snow sparkled and floated and paused and strayed and we watched it while we listened to our voices talking and the voices around us and the hum of the city, falling more and more in love with Philly, and, I'm sure, with each other.

 We don't get to do dates very often.

Babysitters are expensive and dinner out or a movie are even moreso.  When you have kids you pay double for dates. 

This time, a friend offered to watch our kids for free and Michael used his "blow money" to pay for our date.  We give ourselves $15 each every two weeks.  He spent $12 of it on our date.  On me.  On giving me the quality time that I need.  Well...  that's love.