For Valentine's Day this year, I gave Cindy a jar filled with 52 activities, ranging from movie night on the couch to a weekend getaway. I know... wife of the year, right? I'm super excited about this gift for a few different reasons. Continuing to date your spouse is a great way to keep your marriage alive and fun! This jar is also the perfect way to squash the "what do you wanna do?" battle that we seem to have every weekend, and it totally takes me off the hook of making a decision! Yay!
I filled the jar with all sorts of things that we both enjoy and/or have talked about doing for the first time. The ONE thing that I was hesitant about adding turned out to be the first one she picked... an electronics free weekend! Okay, so it's technically not a "date." Who cares? I do what I want!
I'm not gonna lie -- I was not super thrilled about this one, but I knew how much Cindy would enjoy it. We have gotten SO bad about zoning out into technology. It is not a rare occurrence for us to be on the couch half watching TV, half immersed in our iPads. For this date, it was decided that we would put all handheld technology away beginning right after work on Friday until Monday morning. I have no shame in admitting that I was not exactly looking forward to this. At all. But, I put the date into the jar and was not about to back down!
On Friday afternoon, we turned off our phones, iPads, laptops, and smart watches. We were completely unplugged. After putting on our Friday night uniforms (pajamas), we got comfy on the couch and watched a movie. Y'all. This was the first movie I've seen at home in a loooong time where I wasn't also scrolling on my iPad. It was so nice to just relax and enjoy a movie night at home after a long, tiring week.
Saturday, we decided to go bike riding along Buffalo Bayou. We loaded up the bikes and drove over to Terry Hershey park. It was such a gorgeous day! We rode about 2 miles before calling it quits... because yeah, we're wimps. To stick to our exercise theme, we headed to Ikea to do a little (a LOT) of walking/shopping before we called it a day.
Sunday, we slept in a little. I don't know about you, but I need at least a little bit of lazy time every weekend! After picking up our groceries, we spent a little pampering time at the nail salon. I am definitely more high maintenance than Cindy, but I've managed to bring her over to the dark side with me. She now enjoys shoe shopping and mani/pedi time about as much as I do!
The rest of our Sunday was quite an eye opener for me! Cindy went outside to clean our vehicles, leaving me alone inside. In the past, when left alone inside, I tend to find a comfy spot to settle in where I become a technology zombie until Cindy comes inside. Not this time! I actually got a lot done! I sorted and started washing laundry, cleaned the microwave, cleaned out the fridge, swept the floor, and I even tackled the daunting task of cleaning out and organizing our storage ottoman. That thing is like a junk drawer on steroids. I was so proud of myself!
Before going to sleep last night, we talked about our unplugged weekend. We both agreed that it was nice to have some quiet time, and decided that we should probably do at least one day a week of no social media. Cindy liked that we were focused on each other and what we were doing, not what was posted on Facebook. I was really shocked to see how much time I had and how productive I was when technology was put away. I usually feel like I don't have time to do things around the house, but apparently all I need to do is put the iPad away!
Our first weekend of the YOD (Year of Dates) turned out to be fun, relaxing, eye opening, and productive. Could you give up all hand held technology for an entire weekend? Give it a try and let me know how it goes!
Have a great week!
Mindy
