Date Night

Last night Chris and i left the house, together sans children, for the 1st time in over 3 years on our first ever, post-children Date Night! :O

We had tickets to see Bat for Lashes, who apparently aren't as well known as i thought because almost everyone i say that to is like "Huh? Who now?" Anyway, she was playing at Manchester Cathedral and we've had the tickets, and the babysitting arrangements in place for a loooong time now.

Our best friends Emma and Ben came over and sat for us.  We all had dinner together and then put the boys to bed in what was possibly the speediest manner ever, threw on some clothes that did not have any snot, baby vomit or smears of food on and rang for a taxi.  Toby stayed asleep all night, as he does usually but Rudy was up three times (we were out for about four hours maximum).  He is full of a cold today though so i am thinking it probably had more to do with that, rather than him feeling abandoned or anything (or at least my Mummy Guilt hopes so!)

In the few days preceeding Date Night when my excitement bubbled over and i just had to tell people about it's impending arrival, i got some pretty strange responses.  Mostly it was along the lines of "WTF?! THREE YEARS?!" but i also had three separate individuals say to me "Well, be careful or you might be having a surprise in 9 months time!" which is possibly a bit of an inappropriate thing to say depending on the kind of relationship you have with the person in question, or at least i think so anyway, and also demonstrates a complete misunderstanding of what Date Night is actually about. I.e. time to reconnect as a couple outside in the actual world.

Other people wondered (aloud) what we would have to talk about besides the kids.  Admittedly this is an area which may take some practice (and once in three years doesn't really cut it when it comes to practice i don't think!) In the taxi on the way to the gig we chatted about poo.  Specifically, whether or not Rudy had done one that day and if not, would he do one whilst we were out and throw Emma and Ben for a loop, after we'd told them he doesn't need nappy changes during the night?!  Once we came to a conclusion (that he had in fact pooped that day after all) i said "So this is a romantic conversation huh?!" and we decided we should probably stop talking about such matters...after which a looooong silence followed.  Haha.  Later, on the bus on the way home (feeling less flush, having forgotten how expensive having a social life is) we chatted about shifts..."What are you working again next week? Oh yeah, and what am i working?! Ah shit, that sucks..."  Again, majorly romantic.  It's probably a good thing that the most part of the date itself involved listening to live music so minimal conversation ("Another drink?!") was required.

The gig itself was brilliant.  She is really good live and the venue definitely added something (I've never  been inside the cathedral before, let alone for a gig).

There was a minute, during the support act, when the lead singer's mic went off, and the lights came up, and there was some chatting and then she announced "apparently, there was a fire...but there isn't anymore!" and Chris and i chuckled at how much of a SIGN FROM THE UNIVERSE that would have been, if our first night out together in over three years ended in a fire in one of Manchester's most historic buildings after we'd been there for a grand total of about 30 minutes!

There was so much i'd forgotten, it was like stepping into an old pair of shoes and finding they still fit and wondering why you don't wear them more often.  I bought drinks, i checked my coat, i laughed at with Chris, i watched other people, i listened to music, really actually listened to it.  I'd forgotten what it is like to feel the bass reverberate through your entire being and to dance because you want to not because a 3 year old is demanding you to!

All in all it was a really good night.  We both had a lot of fun, the boys were fine, Emma and Ben did a great job of trying to settle Rudy and also washed dishes and tended to my (poor ailing) plants while they were here! I am marking it as a huge success and Chris already wants to know when we are going to do it again.

Look, no children anywhere in sight! Crazy!

How random is this?! A ko'd mannequin in a shop window in town, it totally cracked us up on the way home, maybe you had to be there (and have consumed beer)?!