Gratituesday: The Blessing of a Simple Date

As I write this, I am happily full from some of the leftovers from last night's dinner. While I do love leftovers ( less to cook), most don't leave me overly excited. This time, however, it's from one of my favorite restaurants. We splurged a little last night, hubby and I did. In celebration of both our birthdays, paying off the car, and just the fact that for the first time in a long, long time, we were alone.
    If you're even the least bit familiar with this blog you know that my son has moderate autism. He is with us all day, every day. But last night, my mom and older brother blessed us with the offer to have J over for the evening and we accepted. At first I was having doubts that we'd even make it out of town before we got the phone call to come get him. After all, he's known to be noisy, loud, rambunctious, and can meltdown in a hurry. But the new medications seem to be working. He did rather well over there and was for the most part, quiet.
  Meanwhile, the hubs and I took this opportunity to dine at a restaurant we both like. The prices are fair and they load you down with a lot of food. In my refrigerator sits enough leftovers to feed at least four people. After dinner we found our way to a few stores, just doing regular shopping that needed to be done for the week and enjoying one another's company. We marveled at how nice it was to be at a grocery store without an adult sized child fretting over being there, shrieking at the top of his lungs to let everyone know he's there, or sitting or lying down in the middle of the aisle because we stopped to compare items. 
   While I don't expect to have one on one dates every week, this one sure was nice. I think J enjoyed the hours away from us as well. Meanwhile, I'll be off to the grocery store once again soon enough because I promised J that I'd make some pizza today for dinner if he did well last night.  

This post is part of Gratituesday. 
Join us for Gratituesday at Heavenly Homemakers!

Date Nite: Tim Holtz, Italian Soda and Conversation

I highly recommend date night as a way to connect with your spouse, although a true date night, which does not include a child, is very elusive these days. But still, it's nice to get out of the house and enjoy yourselves. Tonight was our time to get out and relax. 
  In today's economy money isn't always available for extras, but there are ways to have date night without spending a lot of money

• Put the kids to bed early and have dinner for two, whether at the table with candles or on a blanket in the living room.
• Redbox or Blockbuster both have movies for $1. Pop some popcorn and cuddle up on the couch!
• While the weather is nice, pack a picnic and head outside, either to a local park or in your own back yard. 
• Take a walk around the neighborhood. The kids can ride bikes or be pulled along in the wagon. This way you can hold hands and chat while getting some fresh air and a little exercise.
• Grab a $5 pizza to go and afterward go hang out in a bookstore.

I'm sure you can come up with more ideas. Feel free to add your own ideas in a comment. As for our date night tonight, after dinner I was treated to a visit to Hobby Lobby where I found a Tim Holtz paper pack on sale for half off. Then we went to the local bookstore where I tried an Italian soda for the first time ( club soda and peach flavoring. Not bad) and looked at some stamping magazines. Hubby found a few science / tech magazines, and J found his favorite spot to sit. Always the exact same chair under some black and white posters. 
  And now that we're home? J has gone to bed and hubby and I are still sitting together --both on the computer. Okay, not exactly romantic but I'll take it for now. We have the alone time with an ear to J and we talk and show each other interesting bits. And i get to snuggle close to him. :)  A great night to all....