Date night

Rick and I don't go on dates often, like all those marriage books and counselors say you should. It's not that we disagree with the advice, although we DID get 20+ years (between dating and marriage) to do things as a couple before Brian came along. It's mostly that Rick's schedule as an ambulatory large animal vet is pretty unpredictable; we can MAKE plans, but a colicky horse can derail them with one phone call.

Last night was one of those infrequent exceptions, made easier by the presence of my sister to babysit and throw supper hay to the four-legged beasties. Rick got tickets to a pre-season Portland Trailblazers game from a friend is who one of the team dentists (who knew they had team dentists?!). He managed to block off his schedule from mid-afternoon on, so away we went to downtown Portland. Rush-hour traffic was predictably bad, but we arrived in time to eat at a Thai restaurant near the Rose Quarter, find a parking space within walking distance, and get to the game. The seats were AMAZING -- we were about five rows up from the court! It was a fun game to watch, too. The Blazers started off strong in the first quarter, faltered a bit in the second, stumbled badly in the third, and then rallied to win by two points in the final moments of the game. Sitting that close you get a much better sense of how physical a game basketball is (I've played, but women aren't as rough). Watching the players shove and bump each other, especially when it wasn't necessary, reminded me a lot of rams jostling for dominance. I guess testosterone works pretty much the same across the board!

That's it for now from . . .