Date Night

Over this past weekend, The Hubbs and I decided that we absolutely must see the new "Sex and the City" movie.  Okay, you caught me: I made that decision; The Hubbs, being the wonderfully accommodating man that he is, agreed.

Sunday afternoon, The Princess was trucked off to The Grumps' house for a little free time while Momma and Da went out to play.  From what I hear, she did some real damage, though she dropped from exhaustion by eight o'clock.  Terrorizing the grandparents' house is serious business, don'tchaknow...

After checking showtimes and ticket prices (we're nothing if not frugal), we decided on a theater one town over with stellar rates.  Tickets and snackies were purchased without trouble, and we settled in for two glorious hours of fashion and girl talk.  Have I mentioned recently how wonderful my sweetheart is?  Really, he was probably the only man in the theater, aside from the elderly gentleman in the back who accompanied his wife and made some hilarious "oh, my goodness"-style remarks...which were directed mostly toward Samantha's character.

One hour and fifteen minutes into the film, the fire alarm went off.  I kid you not!  Naturally, this was in the neighborhood of 8:15, when all four theaters were packed to the gills with moviegoers, many of whom were families who had ventured out to see the latest installment in the "Shrek" series.

There were probably a couple hundred of us standing outside on the sidewalk when the fire truck pulled to the curb in front of the theater, some holding tubs of popcorn, others wrangling toddlers whose sassitude had turned up to about eleven at being forced out of their beloved movie.  It probably took a good half-hour before the fire department gave the all-clear and the doors were re-opened.  The theater staff did a great job, all considered...this isn't something they deal with every day, to say the least!

About fifteen minutes after we were all comfy in our seats again, the conversation died down as the screen flickered to life and we were all transported back to Abu Dhabi with the girls.

Since we had planned our night around a two-hour movie that began at 6:50, we were absolutely famished by the time we exited the theater in search of sustenance.  It was 9:45 when we returned to our car, and we had a specific place in mind for dinner...but it was two towns away from where we sat.  Fortunately, we thought to call ahead, only to find out that they'd stop serving dinner in fifteen minutes; there was no way we could get there that quickly.

Turning back toward town, we figured something had to be open.  After calling two more places and getting the same answer - kitchen closes at 10:00 - our hopes were all but crushed.  One final call to the pizza/everything-else-you-can-imagine joint in our little podunk town revealed that their kitchen, also, closed at ten o'clock.  BUT.  Even though it was ten minutes until closing, we were able to put in a take-out order, which was ready about five minutes after we arrived.

Back home, The Hubbs and I feasted on chicken parmesan and a sirloin steak with a baked potato, respectively.  We hung out, watching more movies and acting like silly kidless kids until the wee hours of the morning.

It's easy - too easy, really - to forget what it was like when we were dating.  It feels like a lifetime ago.  This is the first time we've done anything like this in quite a while, and it couldn't have come at a better time.  By the time The Princess arrived home with The Grumps on Memorial Day, we missed her like crazy, and we were ready to jump back in feet first. 

Sure, the evening wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I wouldn't have traded one second of it for the world.  Plus, it makes for one hell of a story, eh?