date night

Once upon a time, when we were newly married, M and I went to Walmart on a Friday evening. M was perplexed at the sheer number of people at Walmart at eight pm on a Friday night. Young people! At about that time, a teenage couple walked by holding hands, and I explained--date night. Life in a small town means that you may have to take your date to Walmart in lieu of anything else to do*. It was kind of a tongue-in-cheek sort of comment but it stuck, and we now often talk about date night at Wally World. We were not motivated enough to go to Walmart on our date tonight, but we did go to a yummy Mexican restaraunt and my taste buds are still zinging with joy. M and I, we have stopped with the eating out, mostly. We went out a few times while his parents were here, and there have been a few special circumstances that have required us to eat out, but I've been cooking almost every day lately. We eliminated eating out from our budget, and created a rule that any money spent from that category would have to be covered by spending less in the "fun" category. (It's sad to say, but we almost never spend everything in the fun category anyway so it works out.) Anyway, this particular dining out experience was in order to celebrate me quitting my job. We've been putting that off for a long time now, and we finally made it out. Of course, by now, it felt not so much like current events, that whole not working thing. But still. It was good and it felt special again, to go out just for fun. Isn't that what it's supposed to be about anyway?

Guess what I did today! I sewed a baby carrier! It's a Ball Baby Mei Tai knock-off, created using the instructions here. I don't have any pictures of it yet, but I LOVE it, so far at least. It's so comfortable! And she feels so secure in it! I made the straps much too long, though, and I'll need to cut them down.. they're ridiculously long. Evelyn seems to like it. I walked around with her for half an hour or so after I finished it, and she seemed content. I spent a total of eight bucks on the fabric, and still have a little over a yard left, so it was certainly cost-effective--compare to eighty dollars. :) It's even kind of cute--I bought it because it was the only thing on the sale table that seemed sturdy enough, but I wasn't in love with the print. It looks better now, though. :) I do love the crafty.

*Or, probably, to be a bit more realistic--date night starts at Walmart for those who put things off til the last minute.. ie, buying some friendly accessories for the evening's activities. Better to get prepared late than never to get prepared at all...

Mei tai picture and cookout dorkiness

First order on the agenda: the mei tai I made yesterday. I had M take a picture of me wearing it tonight. Forgive the clothes; I had already changed into my comfy clothes. I do not wear real clothes at home if I can help it at all. These particular shorts got a giant bleach stain on them the first time I wore them. M was instructed to keep my pants out of it for that reason and then I went right ahead and told you about it. Smart! Anyway. This also means that you don't get a good glance at how ridiculously much too long the straps are. I haven't fixed those yet.

Second order on the agenda is: perhaps writing the agenda. I'm not entirely sure what else I thought would be worth putting in an agenda.

M's boss is being sent to Iraq, and he had a little cookout this afternoon at his house, so we went over for that. We only stayed about three hours but that was more than enough for me to baby-wrangle in 90 degree weather. I took her in to cool off and eat a little in the middle, and we stayed in the shade, so it wasn't too bad, I guess. I made a complete dork out of myself, though. When I went inside, his wife was in the kitchen. I said something about needing to feed the baby, and she told me to go ahead and make myself at home, and did I need to use the microwave to heat up a bottle or anything? And I, smooth operator that I am, had no idea what to say. M and another guy he works with were standing there in the kitchen, and I just blurted out, "No, I need somewhere where I can take my shirt off." DOH. While that is (almost) technically TRUE, I spent the time feeding the baby thinking of a thousand different ways that I could have phrased that without making myself sound like a giant perv who goes around other people's houses stripping. I KNOW that she knew what I meant but still. I felt like a dork.

Anyway, the baby is ready for her bath and bedtime and I am all for her bedtime. :)