Best Dates Ever

I feel like, since I wrote a huge long thing about how crappy my dating life has been, I should at least mention my best dates. Because, even though I did blow up the fountain at prom and get left at the top of the mountain with one ski, I have had some fun dates. The problem with good dates is that there's not much of a story behind it. So this will probably be brief. That would be a first, wouldn't it?

#5. Best Prom Ever: So, junior year, prom was a disaster, but my good friend Keith took me to Prom my senior year. Here are some things that were fun about the date: 1) Keith had already seen the worst of me (tear-stained with bad hair the night of the Preference date gone bad), and still wanted to take me to Prom, so I didn't have to try to impress him. 2) Keith helped me get over the fountain experience by taking me to the exact spot the fountain had been the previous year (no fountain this time), and we danced right on the spot and laughed about it. 3) Nothing went wrong. 4) I got to hang out with my good friend all day and wear a fancy dress without anything going wrong. It was my favorite date in high school.

#4. Bon Jovi, the first time: It wasn't so much the guy I was with (it wasn't at all the guy I was with) that made it so much fun. It was that I got to spend the evening with Bon Jovi, and I finally had an excuse to wear leather pants.

#3. U2: Who wouldn't want to spend a night with Bono? And Tim? I managed to buy 2 tickets to U2, and, after much deliberation, asked Tim to go with me. It was our first date, and I am super glad I took him. Things sure did work out! And he bought dinner and paid for parking, so that was nice. Plus, we can both remember what we did on our first date. And who doesn't like U2?

#2. Romantic surprise: Our first Valentine's Day as a married couple was very modest. We ate Quiznos at the park down the street from our apartment. The next year, we had more money, and Tim surprised me by making reservations at the Roof in Salt Lake, and didn't tell me what was going on until we got halfway to Salt Lake and I started to get nervous. The food was excellent, of course, but part of the fun was that he did something totally surprising and romantic.

#1. Our first date as parents: After our first baby was born, we felt doomed to be stuck at home every night for the next 12 years, until we felt comfortable leaving the oldest at home in charge. So when my mom offered to watch our newborn for an hour so we could get out, it was as good as flying on a private jet to Italy to eat pizza. We were in Vicksburg, though, so we went to Sonic and got cheeseburgers, ate them there, and went to the outlet mall so I could buy some in-between pants. It may not sound like much, but the feeling we had cannot be replicated. Children are a blessing, and so are dates without them. It's good to look back at that day and remember that even though we can't get out much, we can always leave the kids with someone for an hour and go get burgers together.

There you have it, folks. I've been on lots of really fantastic dates, but those are the ones that I really remember. All I need to be happy on a date is leather pants, Bon Jovi, Bono, or a cheeseburger.