Our family transitioned this fall, and it seems that since our anniversary get-away in August, couple time has been rare, if not completely non-existent. I know that every marriage has different dynamics, but for our Greg and I, this "couple" time is important stuff.
Now that the kids are older and more self-sufficient, we do find it less complicated to take a date, but actually making sure it happens hasn't become much easier! A week ago Thursday, we decided that we would take a shopping date to try to wrap up some of the loose ends for Christmas. I can't even remember where or if we ate, but it was so refreshing to just have uninterrupted conversation!
This week's date was a bit less forgettable. Awhile back, the president of the company Greg works for asked if we would like to attend a Christmas party in his place. It was to be held at the most prestigious club in our area, the Shawnee Country Club. He had a family obligation, and wanted someone to represent the company. The invitation was from our local community college, and I took the pertinent information off of it, and didn't pay much attention to the fine print. I thought it was the employee Christmas party for the college, and since Greg's company services many of the college facilities I figured they were reaching out to us, as well. The kids kept saying, "You're lucky...you'll be hanging out with rich people and eating awesome food." I confidently told them that these employees were middle class just like us, and we would fit right in.
About .3 seconds after receiving our guest badges and turning down tickets for "holiday" drinks, I realized this wasn't an employee Christmas dinner. The remaining guest badges had notable names printed on them. The first person I saw was Mr. Ayers, the most prominent photographer in the area. He has been all over the world and won all kinds of awards in photography. He happened to be photographing all of the couples at the event. :-)
Greg hung my coat in the cloak room, and slipped into the restroom for a minute. When he came out, we slowly made our way through this array of faces, many of which we recognized but definitely had no social connection with. Once we had a second to ourselves, he looked at me and half jokingly said, "Let's go to McDonald's and get a coke."
Greg knew it wasn't an employee dinner, but we hadn't had much communication about the whole thing. Within a few minutes, we recognized that the mayor, city council, influential executives and business leaders, and top donors to the college were the recipients of this finery, and once we filled our plates with hors d'oeuvres and had a seat amidst the festive array of Christmas splendor, I began to feel a bit more comfortable. Not knowing anyone at the event on a personal level, we found an empty table. It wasn't too long before we were joined by six other friendly guests and were able to interact and mingle. I have to say that the endless prime rib was better than any other dinner date we've had in awhile, and it was nice to have refills before having to ask. :-)
I wanted to take pictures, but there was a marked absence of cell phones, so I snuck mine out for one shot of the room, and this is all I have. In this ballroom, there were two beautiful fireplaces, a white baby grand piano, tons of Christmas trees (the white ones were revolving), and there was live music. It was beautiful, to say the least.
The exterior of the club was decorated really great as well, but I wasn't brave enough to take a pic on the way in while it was still light. :-)
So, that's the story of our "couple time" for this week. We finished out the evening with coffee and some Christmas shopping. Let's just say I feel a lot more comfortable in TJ Maxx than I do at the Shawnee Country Club! No, honestly, it was a fun evening, and we were able to meet some neat people.
Now I'm off to find a fancy clutch in case there is a next time. Haha!
Wow!! Neat you got to do this!
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