A typical date night

Call sitter.

Invite friend's daughter to share babysitter.

Daughter starts saying that something in her mouth hurts so I give her some Tylenol.

I make pizza for the kids and start to get ready.

"Where should we go for dinner?" husband asks....we haven't made any reservations...great.

"Well, whatever you want!" I say...because what do I care except that I get to leave the house!

A girlfriend is staying with me for the weekend b/c she's going to a reunion from our college, so she stops by between the beach activity and the dinner activity to get cleaned up. Cool. Except she brings 3 other people who needed showers...and towels...and an iron...and my blowdrier. Of course, I actually don't mind because I love that people came over and that I get to see another old college friend who has kids the same age as mine! I start to feel bad, though, that I have no beer in the house for the guys and that I'm walking around the house with wax on my face because I was doing my eyebrows when they showed up.

"Should we just cancel our date?" I say.

"Nope...lets go....we haven't had a date in months" says husband, who, as you remember, has unloaded the dishwasher today in hopes of a romantic encounter that evening.

Okay. Sitter shows up and I'm not ready. That's cool. Husband shows sitter how to use the VCR (yes, we still love our VHS) and I scramble to get ready. So no shower, a little makeup, a little extra deodorant, a glass of wine in a to-go cup and we're out the door (that's a to-go cup for me...not husband who is driving).

"So, where do you want to go?" I say. He is driving suspiciously toward a neighborhood that I was not picturing for our date this evening.

"I thought of a place we could try" he says.

"But...could it maybe be in the city?" I say

"Uh...sure." U-turn.

Of course, Lalapalooza was going on in Grant Park this weekend so traffic was a little hairy. We passed the big sign and tried not to run over the thousands of people crossing the street. Small argument between husband and I over whether or not he was edging the car a little too close to the people who were crossing the street.

"So, how 'bout this place?" he says, pointing to a nice Italian joint.

"We're a little underdressed."

"Okay, how about this place?"

"Well, how about the mexican place. You love mexican."

"But do you really want that?"

"Sure...lets try it."

Carne asada for two, red sangria for two, a big load of chips and salsa, and we were ready to go home.

"Wait...I need gift cards for the church babyshower thing tomorrow...and cupcakes." So, of course, we end our date the way we end every date: wandering around Target.

At LEAST the kids will be in bed when we get home. Oh wait...naughty 3 year old is still up giving the sitter a hard time. And sitter says "your daughter went to bed really early...I think she may be sick." Marvelous.

Now the real question: had I had enough Sangria to overcome all the problems and still be ready for husband's hoped-for romantic encounter? Well, that's for me to know. ;) I'd tell you, but remember, I'm trying to "reign it in."