Big Night Out

Last night we ventured out for dinner for the first time since returning from China.  Boy, was I excited!  We went to our favorite Italian restaurant.  Before Sarah, Don and I used to go once a month.  We'd get a booth and talk about politics and current events over glasses of wine and wood-fired pizza.  It was a cozy little ritual that lasted through most of the Bush years and into the Obama Administration. 

Last night was a little different, of course, with Sarah in a highchair at the end of the table.  Instead of solving the world's problems, we attempted to keep a toddler from causing problems.  We purposely went early in the week and early in the evening to minimize the disturbance to other diners (and stress to ourselves).  Sarah was very good, though and seemed to relish sitting between Mom and Dad at the table.

We enjoyed our night out together and were home by 6:45, just in time for Sarah's bath and bed.  In all fairness to her, I have to disclose that we didn't stay out much later than that even when it was just the two of us.

The next step is going out without Sarah.  I'm working on that one.  I hope by summer we'll have a regular babysitter once a month, and Don and I can resume our former wild dates, which traditionally include a late afternoon movie PLUS an early dinner and home by 7:30.  It's an ambitious goal, but achievable, I think.