Lesson #1: Scrapbooking scissors might make cool shapes, but they hurt when you step on them
Let's just say that Patrick is super excited that I finally finished updating the scrapbooks, except for one picture that somehow didn't get ordered while I was at Walgreens. I can't begin to describe how grateful he is that he can now walk in the family room without stepping over page layouts, stencils, and afore-mentioned cool scissors that make fun shapes...just in time for our upcoming vacation to Savannah and Key West, and hopefully tons more pictures!
Lesson #2: If the meat is already thawed, I still have to cook it
Friday afternoon, Patrick called me on his way across the bridge-tunnel and asked me where I'd like to go for dinner. Now, for all you guys with girlfriends, fiancees, or wives, I highly recommend you remember this: girls adore when guys call and take all the pressure off of cooking. BUT, although there is something to be said about spontaneity, a little heads up that either (a) you're cooking for us or (b) you're taking us out is even better! Why? Because in an effort to have dinner ready at a reasonable hour, we probably already got some sort of meat out to thaw or purchased some fresh seafood at the market. If the meat was thawing in the 'fridge, no worries, it can certainly wait until the next night. But I like to leave the meat still packaged (no bugs or contamination that way) and thaw it in the kitchen sink. And if meat has been sitting out all day, I have to cook it that day. Obviously, fresh seafood tastes best if you cook it the same day you buy it. So if Patrick calls me at the last minute and suggests dinner out, I'm still going to have to cook that meat, which kind of foils the whole idea of not cooking!
Lesson #3: Even though we're married, we want you to ask us on a date
Lucky for me, in the last 15 months of marriage, Patrick has learned the previous lesson, so he told me the Thursday night not to worry about dinner; the phone call was merely to "ask" me out on our "date". Yes, even though we're married, I still like the idea of him coming home with a bouquet of flowers for me, or picking up a bottle of wine to go with our dinner, or calling to ask me out to dinner. And even though making reservations in advance has its place in life, it's a lot of fun to wander up and down the street checking out menus to decide where you want to eat. It's also a lot of fun to stop at DQ to share a Blizzard while you search for a good flick at the Red Box. See, a little planning + a little spontaneity = the perfect Friday night!
Lesson #4: Always make him figure out the map or directions
It doesn't matter if I print out directions from Google Maps, copy them from a website, or find the location on a map, Patrick will still question whether or not I got it right (he's allowed; I have a horrible sense of direction)! Our plan for Saturday involved touring the Yorktown Battlefield and lunch at the Yorktown Pub, both of which were to be accomplished in enough time to get to Colonial Downs for the last weekend of thoroughbred racing this summer. I got all the information about the racetrack from their website, wrote down everything from directions to dress code to admission fees, and assured Patrick that the Downs are "somewhere near Williamsburg...30 minutes from Yorktown, max". They're not. They're strategically and inconveniently located half-way between Williamsburg and Richmond. But we didn't figure that out until we were half-way between Williamsburg and the track and had missed the first post time by 45 minutes. And, according to my Kentucky raised husband, it is a cardinal sin to go to a horse race and neither bet nor drink. And when you're 70 miles away from home, drinking isn't a great idea. So we made a U-turn and came home; and that was good, because then I got sick. But Chick-Fil-A and An Officer and A Gentleman is almost the same as bourbon and horse racing, right?!
All in all, though, this weekend we really had a great time just spending time together and relaxing...not worrying about cooking or worrying about meeting a strict schedule and being somewhere at a specific time. We really enjoyed Gosport Tavern in Olde Towne Portsmouth Friday night. If you live in Hampton Roads, I highly recommend it for Happy Hour (daily from 4 to 7): they offer $2 domestic beer, wines, and several appetizers that make excellent meals (I enjoyed my first fish tacos ever). The new Tagalong Blizzard from DQ is equally divine, and Taken will make every Little Princess happy that her Daddy was (and still is) overly protective! The National Park Service offers a great tour of the Battle of Yorktown that offers awesome historical insight to a little-known but massively important battle in American history. And Yorktown Pub has some of the best hamburgers I've ever tasted!
