Date Nights Made Simple

I remember those crazy nights out in Fort Liquor-dale dancing on the bars and gulping more alcohol than my tiny frame could endure. All the sweaty people, the drunk and too young to get inside fake id people, the belligerent want to start a fight with everyone people, the desperately seeking attention people, the too cool for this bar people, and everyone in between. Really the scene was always a zest pool of young adults going out to P.A.R.T.Y. In whatever sense that Party meant to each individual. A cluster of people just trying to let loose. Often, a little too loose! Always, the parking lot smelled of urine and often fresh vomit. The smells are particularly burnt into my memory because on the first night I met my husband, they were the first scents to enter my nostrils. Nothing like the smell of stale urine soaked into the pavement to induce the LOVE endorphins. It was the kind of stench that burns your nostrils, leaving you scarred for life.

To say I miss these nights would honestly be a lie. Maybe at one point when I was not yet ready for the responsibility of what adulthood really meant.Yes. Now? Not so much. I do enjoy getting out, but "getting out" is much, MUCH  milder than those wild Fort Liquor-dale nights. Now, I know that I can not, nor would I desire to drink aimless amounts of cheap alcohol all night. Instead I opt for a glass of wine or a good cold beer. I know that I do not have the energy to stay out until 3 or 4am. I am usually asleep by 11pm at the latest and only awake at 3 or 4am to take care of whichever little one awoke.

Tonight my husband and I had a date night with my mother and Starr. Grayson was at his school for a Pajama Pizza Party. It was not your usual "Date Night" and barely counts because we had other company, but I still would take a night like this one over the crazy Fort Liquor-Dale nights any day. I place no judgement on those who still "Party Like a Rock Star!" I just most definitely am no Rock Star.

Instead, I now enjoy a night out with my husband going out to eat or getting drinks at a local bar. Maybe even a movie if time permits. It is funny how things change with age without an effort being made to make the change. At one time I would be dying to get out to the clubs to dance and drink all night. Now, any time out with my husband or even date nights in after the kids are in bed bring a happiness to my soul that those Fort Liquor-dale nights couldn't come close to. Maybe it is motherhood. Maybe it is age. Maybe it is just pure exhaustion and lack of energy to do anything adventurous. Maybe it is just SIMPLE now.

Tonight it wasn't drinking until I feel sick or dancing until I fall on the floor with exhaustion. Instead, it was good company, laughing, a glass of wine and a decent meal. the word "Date" simply takes on a different meaning now with 8 years and 2 kids under our belts. Things just got a little simpler with the time. We have settled comfortably into one another and just enjoy time with one another. So for tonight we will save all adventurous, different, and crazy "Date" night escapades for another night..........if we have a sitter and the energy!