Goal for 2013: Spend at least one weekend per month together as a couple (/family) with absolutely no prior plans. No parties, no dinner dates, just take it as it comes!
I don't remember the last time we had a weekend like that this year. It was probably sometime in January or February, and it did a lot for my mood.
Friday, we went to the new Winspear Opera House to see Jekyll & Hyde. It's been one of my favorites since I saw it as a kid- probably somewhere around Middle School. I became a Linda Eder fan from listening to the soundtrack so many times. I just knew Bean would like it if he ever got the chance to see it- because it's dark and kinda manly. Overall, I'd give this performance a 6 out of 10.
The Opera House was incredible. We enjoyed grabbing a bite for dinner, even if we were in a little bit of a rush to get there on time, and giving each other our critiques on the venue. They made the musical more modern, by eliminating a lot of extra cast members and changing the sets. A few of the songs were cut out; they were a couple of my favorites but leaving them out didn't really take away from the story line.
Constantine (apparently from American Idol) played Jekyll & Hyde, and I knew as soon as he started singing his first song I would be disappointed. He was not able to restrain his voice when he played Jekyll, in fact he already sounded like Hyde. The transformation scene was so boring, he was just hooked up to some tubes sitting in a chair and again his voice didn't transform back and forth. Plus he was over zealous in his vibrato use; as in, he used it as often as possible, which I don't like. The women in the cast were excellent, and I loved when it was their turn to sing. Baby Buck loved them too, and kicked and wiggled constantly when they were on.
Saturday, we woke up and had cinnamon rolls for breakfast (Bean's choice), then started doing some work on the nursery and other small house projects. I wasn't in the mood to prime and paint the final 3 doors that have not been repainted, so instead I just took the door handles off. Bean went to prime the crackle stripe in the nursery with some oil spray primer. Eventually, the smell wafted downstairs and I felt sick so we absentmindedly went to Home Depot for something to hang artwork with and new smoke detectors. And didn't buy anything.
Then we decided to stop by a couple of furniture stores in the area to find a dresser for the nursery. Instead we found an awesome rug in exactly the right colors, size, and interesting pattern, plus it was 15% off! I am so excited about that rug! Then I found out Bean is worried the room won't look 'baby' enough (when all along I've been trying to make it the complete opposite of 'baby'). Soon we found ourselves at an antique mall in Grapevine to see what furniture we could find. Lots of weird stuff in that store!
We stopped back by the house to decide what to do for dinner and decided to go to the dine-in movie and see Lincoln. The movie was really good, the food was good as always, and we had a good conversation about it on the way home. Finally, the oil primer smell was gone from the house! We both fell asleep on the couch after all that.
Sunday, we grabbed a quick (delicious) breakfast at Corner Bakery on our way to a baby registry appointment. I was so glad we got Jen, a young sales associate who was someone we would enjoy having as a friend, and who was also completely honest, even if what she was recommending is not sold at the store where she works. She helped us pick out an excellent stroller and car seat, and we talked about baby carriers, breast pumps, and lots of other things. She made me feel so much more comfortable with being able to take care of a baby. In fact, I can't wait to meet our Buck and push him/her around in the awesome stroller we are going to buy!
Then we stopped at another baby store to see if we wanted a registry there. We walked through, but I needed a snack to concentrate so we grabbed a late lunch at In & Out Burger before grabbing a scanner and going to work. Talking with Jen at the first store made both of us feel informed and capable, which I think we held onto while we looked through all of the thousands of items. It was fairly easy for us to pick out stuff that will work now and for all of our future kids. We even found one stuffed animal we both like! (Apparently neither of us particularly like stuffed animals, I probably detest them more than he does though.)
Bean really wanted to stop by Ikea on the way home; even though I was exhausted and starting to notice my feet swelling to fill my shoes, we went. And found a really cool/different option for the dresser/changing table: a kitchen cabinet. Really weird but we both loved the way it looks. The only drawback is I don't like the color of the wood so it's just one more thing we will have to paint. I hit a wall as we were heading out and couldn't stand all the errands anymore. I just wanted to be home relaxing. I have such a great husband, he drove us home immediately and started the 3 loads of laundry we needed to have done while I laid down.
It was just such an easy and relaxing weekend. The only time constraints we had were ones we were comfortable with; we never felt pressured to be somewhere we didn't want to be without having time to relax. I suppose I should be grateful that we have such an active social life, and maybe that's not even the problem; maybe we work too many hours to have an active social life and weekends off to just enjoy time together.
Either way, I want to make it a regular thing. I felt like myself this morning.
Until I was at work for about 1 hour and the irritable complainer came to visit again. I'm grasping for straws with this one. My practical side is making the life change I know I need seem so far away. I know one day I'll look back on these past few months and realize it's all for the best. I guess I just can't wait for the rest of my life to start! It's so close!
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