What Constitutes a Date?

I was watching the kids last Friday while Faith was at the school volunteering with Micah's class. When she's there she helps the kids learn typing and computer skills among other things. I was reading text books for my next course coming up June 1st and ended up giving up it out of frustration. Some of the things the author was saying grated against me like fingernails on a chalkboard. Judah and Aslynn woke up from their naps, so I thought it would be a good idea to get them outside into the sunshine. They were thrilled because it hasn't been the greatest weather this spring.

I got outside and thought to myself, "There's a lot of junk here," and started pulling construction garbage out of the backyard to take to the dump. Then I made a quick phone call to a friend who could look after Judah and Aslynn while a plan formulated in my brain. When Faith returned home Micah-free (he was invited to a friend's house for supper), I got her to ship the younger two kids over to our friends' house while I loaded the van. Then I got the recycling. By the time we left it was close to 4 PM.

Now, I know some of you are thinking, "What does this have to do with going on a date?" And now you're groaning to yourselves and thinking I'm some sort of freak who ought to be locked up for mental and emotional spousal abuse. For starters, I couldn't fit the kids in the van with all the garbage in there and I didn't want them playing at the dump. Secondly, we never get into Moose Jaw, just the two of us, and talk during daylight hours. And third, what I was doing was because of a request from Faith to get rid of the junk and clear the clutter in and around our house.

Well, we got to Sarcan (the recycling place) and unloaded old paint cans into the right spot in their yard, gave the milk containers to the handlers, and tossed a load of clothes into the community services bin. The van did a few gymnastics trying to find the right places to pull in, but I managed. Faith was pretty sure I hit a curb or backed over someone at one point, but I had everything under control.

Then we went exploring for the dump and got turned away at the gate when we had forgotten to bring cash (they don't take debit or Visa). A few clicks and a little cash later, we were up on the pile with the van tossing garbage to the wind. It was actually quite therapeutic. Faith and I cheered every time I smashed one of the old windows and she would tell me which ones hadn't broken yet. Breaking them was like telling our old trailer "Ha!" so we could move on from the dump that it was.

Next stop, Home Hardware. New hot water tank. I got it for 60% less than what I was quoted by anyone else in town. That's gotta make a person feel good. So we loaded our purchase into the van and headed for a restaurant. We had trouble deciding, but we chose to go to The Mad Greek. The food was alright, but the company was great. And yes, we washed up before we ate, thank you very much. It was a relieving and relaxing meal without children to help or the burden of these other things hanging over us. And the calamari was done right too.

Now the question, is that a decent date? I still think it was lame, but entirely worthwhile. What's your opinion?

- Mark

P.S. - I still think this is the best way anyone has ever been 'dumped' while on a date, don't you?