Date Night

I remember how much I used to love to go out on a date.  When my husband and I first met, we'd go out several times a week.  When we were newlyweds, we would try and go out once a week on a date night.  By the time the kids came along, we were lucky if we made it out alone once a month.

Well, the kids are pretty much old enough to be left alone.  Okay, they're 23 and 15.  And the 23 year old doesn't even live at home, so yes, it's safe to say that they are grown and that we should be able to have a grown up night out - or date night - like we did when we were newlyweds.

Yeah, not so much.

Why?  Believe me, it's not MY choice.  Whenever I suggest a date night, my husband looks at me as if I've asked if he'd like to have a root canal or a prostate exam.

It doesn't make me feel good, I can tell you that.

So when the RT Book Reviews magazine came out the other day, I wanted to go out and celebrate.  Nothing big - I just thought that we could go out for dinner and our son was completely on board.  Actually, he approached my husband and suggested it (so I would be spared the look of horror).  Well, the son got the look.  And the excuses - "I'm tired", "I have a headache", blah, blah, blah.  My son came downstairs and said, "Sorry, Mom.  I tried."

Gotta love that boy.

So tonight, we went out.  Furniture shopping.  Not the most exciting thing in the world, but it was just the two of us and we did end up going for a late dinner.  But here's the funny part that shows just how much things change.  In our twenties, we would just be leaving to go out at around 9 p.m., in our forties, we were freaking out that we were eating at a pub at 9 p.m. and there was a band setting up to play!  We were both like, "Oh, no.  Quick!  Get the check!  Get the check!  They're starting to tune up!!"

Sad.  Very sad.  The good thing about it all though?  Is that it made us laugh and even though we don't go out like we used to and our ideas on what is cause for a celebration don't seem to match, we still spend a great deal of time with laughter in our home and deep love for one another.  Neither of us has any idea about what movies are playing or when there's a good concert coming to town, but we're caught up on every episode of "Law and Order" and spend a great deal of time getting decorating ideas while watching HGTV.

Throw in a bowl of ice cream and that's a pretty sweet date night too! 

Chas-ing a Dream - RT Book Reviews

Okay, I know I mentioned it yesterday, but I'm still giddy about it today.  I am the cover story for RT Book Reviews Magazine for the month of March!!!  How exciting is that??? 

And thankfully they didn't use an unflattering head shot of me for the article.  Whew!  Dodged that bullet!  Subscribing to RT Book Reviews is super easy and next week it will be shipping out to book stores (select ones that carry it - so check with your local book stores and B&N!).  Click here to go directly to RT's page to subscribe. 

So here's the thing - this was something that was so completely not on my radar.  I always thought about what it would be like to be an author but I never thought of some of these cool things that go with it.  I mean...a magazine cover!  Wow!  So cool!  And with that I get to meet some really amazing readers and fans and bloggers and it's all just been such an amazing experience that I don't even know how to describe it!  All I can say is thank you so all of the readers who have made this possible!

For those of you who go to the big conventions and are planning to be at the RT Convention in Dallas, Texas in May, I will be there!  I would love to meet you!!!