The Rules

It's been a crazy week. What's new, right? It's definitely been "a break" few days, as we have been traveling for business--I was in Miami, Thomas in Dallas, Memphis and somewhere else I can't recall. We've tried to voice-note, send texts, and talk on the phone....and then MOM arrived! Another wrench in the spokes, as they say.

SO I've decided to come up with a few rules to MARRIED ROMANCE:

1. Never invite your mother to visit the baby if you know your husband is returning from a stressful work trip. The de-stress technique will NOT work.

2. Repeat after me, "Mom, it's Saks Friends and Family." And watch her peel out of the driveway. Alone time, at last.

3. Fill your wine cabinet with the GOOD stuff--not only will she drink more, but she'll think you're doing well. And she won't hear a thing.

4. Take her up on the offer to babysit. She will say, later, that she always wanted to go to that restaurant, but no one ever takes her. Ignore. It was worth it.

5. When she asks. "Any thoughts on another grandchild for me?" just smile and DON'T tell her about the 30 days thing with the radio station. NEVER! Thankfully, she thinks blogging is a new dance craze on ABC.

"I was the best husband today--you owe me!"

OK, I admit it. As much as I loved having Thomas around today because we couldn't get tickets to the Falcons game, he really missed a great one. What an incredible afternoon, and the poor thing was babbling with our baby and feeding her butternut squash. He did do a lot of screaming, though, so I think she got the idea.

So while he was holding down the fort, I was getting a much-needed mani/pedi. OK, I don't feel that bad.

But I promise to make it up to him tonight.

HMMMMM. Maybe he planned this after all?

A Debate on Girl's Night

What's the best way to get a woman in the mood? Send her on a girls' night. I remember a scene in "Friday Night Lights" (my favorite show, so bummed it's now off NBC--what were they thinking??) where the coach is bemoaning his romantic state with his wife after the baby. He advises, "Girls' night," is his perfect Texas twang.

So I grabbed my friend MLF and my "other husband" Drew (who also has a husband) for a wine dinner at Chima. Let's just say lots of wine, and not a lot of dinner. And when you are surrounded by hilarious friends like these, and laugh about relationships, marriage, kids, etc, it puts you in a great mood. 

And then I got home to the debate. There is also something about the political back-and-forth that stirs the romance pot. The energy, the bickering, the stupid comments by the candidates ("That one"???) Puhleeze....so I am thinking we should do a romance game to the debates — a kiss for each "maverick", a cuddle for each "my friend" — and we can save a lot of marriages.

It's almost the weekend and I can't wait! Friday night with nothing to do (hello Fellini's and a good bottle of cabernet) always works.

Why do babies always get sick on the weekends?

So I came home on Friday and was looking forward to a fabulous weekend of romance. And then 

I heard, "I think she has a cough."

Oy.

Why do babies always seem to get sick on the weekends? Labor Day was the same. Cancelled all of our plans because of runny nose. But instead of wallowing in Web MD, we took advantage of the forced "at home" and enjoyed 3 days of alone time. Went to Costco and grabbed the big salmon and lots of discounted wine for a fun date night. And yes, our date nights are tending to end around 10pm unlike the wee hours of "before baby" (aka BB), but it's still date night!

What was I thinking?

Seriously, what was I thinking? "Was that really  Thomas on the phone?" asked my friend Amy. "Are you insane?" I heard it all. After speaking with Charla and Zakk/Jane from DAVE FM, I agreed to 30 days of married romance. After almost 8 years of marriage, we now have an 8 month old and I'm about to turn 40. Oh, and I have a full time job that demands almost as much time as the babies (aka Caroline, Spencer the fox terrier, and, of course, said husband). 

Did I mention I don't sleep? Too much going on, I think.

So this will be interesting. Zakk says that I'm the best wife, and that was only because I heard that I took my husband to the Mansion for an evening of spa, fabulous dinner at Neo and then sent him off to the Falcons game the next day. Yep, pretty perfect. Except instead of the gorgeous lace I usually pack, all I took was the Ambien.

So we start tonight. I wanted to start on Wednesday, after the call with DAVE, but forgot that my husband was rushing out the door on a business trip.

He returns tonight, and I think he's getting into this. I just received a blackberry  voice note. "I'm thinking of you!" he said. It's from King of Queens. The episode where Doug was chastised for not always thinking of Carrie, and he went a bit overboard to compensate.

Looks like I'm downloading the new Robin Thicke. THE most romantic on my playlist. 

Stay tuned....