Date night

I hate to admit it, but Colleen and I haven't had an honest-to-Gods Date Night in quite some time, especially since Marcus was born. Oh, we'd manage to sneak away by ourselves for an evening on each of the trips to Ocean City, and each January we go to her school's Winter Ball, but I don't really count the latter as a date.

So this past Saturday, we made our plans. After Dad assisted in repairing our washer and left for home, we got Marcus fed and put down for nap so he wouldn't be fussy later on in the day. Colleen got herself dressed up in her "date outfit" while Marcus slept. After he woke up, we got him dressed and took him over to my parents' place (Nana Poppa) so they could watch him.

We treated ourselves to an early dinner at a new place a couple miles up the road from us -- Texas Roadhouse. You step in, and the first things you experience is loud country/Texas music and peanuts. (There's a warning sign on the door for the latter... I should have expected the former.) Your hostess takes you to your table, bringing along a basket of fresh rolls with a sweet cinnamon butter, and pointing out the "meat tank" where you can choose which steak you want. I'll be remembering that for next time.
Colleen got a sweetened tea (freshly brewed on prem), and it was just right for me when I tasted it. (A little more lemon would make it perfect.) I got a cherry lime cooler, which consisted of Sprite, grenadine, cherries and lime wedges. It was quite tasty and definitely refreshing after a hard morning's work.
Colleen ordered up a plate of roadkill. Now before you get all squeamish on me, that's just a chopped sirloin with onions, mushrooms and jack cheese, with an order of brown gravy on the side. For her sides, she choise a Caesar salad (very tasty) and a loaded sweet potato (with marshmallows on top... not sure if it had butter and cinnamon or whatever). I got the chicken critters -- battered chicken tenders -- with steak fries and baked beans. The critters were heavily battered -- so much so that they came out looking like odd undersea creatures, or something you would find on an old BBC science fiction programme. However, the chicken was extremely moist and tender, and the batter had a lot of flavor to it. The steak fries were heavily seasoned, and the beans had the right amount of spice and smokiness to them. We passed on dessert (I had to take some of my dinner back home), and left very satisfied with our dining choice.

Once my leftovers were tucked away in the fridge, we went to the movie -- Shrek the Third (Very funny, well worth it). The West Boylston Theatre is built from the ground up as a cheap/second-run theater. You can catch a movie there for anywhere from $3 to $5, and the concession stand is cheap too. For both of us to get in plus a large drink and small popcorn, we shelled out just under $16. All in all, our date night (dinner plus tip and a movie with snacks) came to under $50. You can't beat it.

So here's to more date nights, at least once a month. We both need it, time to ourselves, and a time to unwind and relax, especially with long days I put in at work, and with school starting back up for Colleen.

Friggin Fallon...

So sometime on Friday, my upper left arm began to hurt. It wasn't a numbing pain or anything like that, it was just something deep in the muscle. It might have actually started Thursday night, but it was only a minor annoyance and wasn't present Friday morning. I really didn't think much of it, thinking I could sleep it off again, but on Saturday it was definitely more than an annoyance, it was downright painful. I was able to get through fixing the washer with Dad, but for the rest of the day, I could really feel it. I downed some Motrin and some Tylenol during the course of the day, but it didn't really take the edge off. The Icy Hot that Colleen rubbed into my arm felt good, though I didn't feel the Hot part, only the Icy. It was a little tough getting to sleep, but I managed.

Sunday, it was worse. I can't raise my arm to the side more than twenty degrees (give or take, I don't have a bleedin' protractor with me) without needing to stop due to pain. It hurts to drive in my normal configuration (left hand on wheel, right on shifter - and yes, it's an automatic). Hell, sometimes it hurts just to let it hang, and it's now also up in my outer shoulder! I can't hold Marcus for too long when I pick him up (though I carry him more with my right arm), and I've looked like Verbal Kint walking around from time to time as I hold my arm. It took longer to get to sleep last night as I couldn't get comfortable.

I called Fallon Urgent Care last night to try to get an appointment for this evening. They told me that I had to call back in today to get a slot. So I did, just after 9am... and a little while later... and again a little while after that... all in all, over half a dozen calls, with hold times exceeding 10 to 15 minutes each. I didn't wait around after that long. So my plan is to just walk into the UC clinic and ask/demand to be seen. If they give me any grief, I'm going to tell them that I tried calling at least half a dozen times with no pickup at all, and that I'm not leaving until someone sees me.