Date Night With My Mate!

Date Night with my Mate!

My mate and I are both over 50.
We have been together for around seven years.
Neither of us are sure exactly how long. Neither of us are big on anniversaries, partly because we met each other in the post-divorce years. While there are things we do not see eye to eye on, there is one thing that we both cherish: our children. He also has four grandchildren-that I get to vicariously love-and I have a grand dog and a grand kitty. Together, my mate and I have two dogs and a cat.

Having pets is one of the reasons why we like to spend date night at home. When we first met, we actually left the house to go on date nights, but we live in the Appalachian region of NW North Carolina. One need only look out the window or go outside in order to enjoy beautiful landscape. The higher your elevation, the more magnificent the view. Wood is our main source of heat which contributes to the ambient warmth. We cook a nice meal. He enjoys his beer, and I am fond of red wine. We can find any genre of music on the television. We tend to listen to classic rock, classic country, seventies. The kind of music that a couple of hippies remember from their Glory Days. We can dress up or dress down. We tend to be a jeans and tees kind of couple.

So, Now! My mate and I mostly spend our date nights at home.

We play several games and often in the same order.
Just to jazz things up, we take our blood pressures periodically.

It is actually quite fun because we make it fun.

We have tournaments.

The following is our lineup:

Round one:

Eating Crow!

We begin with Rook.
Rook is generally played with four people rather than two.
The way we handle that is by playing with ghost, or some call them, silent partners. If you are familiar with the game of Rook, then you will understand that the dynamics of the game change rather dramatically when your partner can play any card rather than having to follow suit.

According to the back of the Rook box, “Make your bid, name your trump, win the trick, and score! Grab a partner and get ready to play!”

When we play Rook, the Rook card serves as the highest trump card and is worth 20 points. The person/partners who take the last trick gets the five cards that were discarded by the the person who took the bid. The reason why that matters is because there can be points in the discarded.

We also play for change. We each have our own baggies that we reserve just for our date night tournaments.
Playing for money is another way we spice things up.
Finally, we have what we call the 180 Trophy. Anytime either of us make an 180 hand, that person gets his or her photo taken with the trophy which automatically records the date of the trophy win.

The person who wins the most hands in Rook is the official Round One winner.

Round two:

I’m IN!

While I tend to win Round One, it is extremely rare that I win Round two:

Texas Hold ‘em!

Once again, it is a different kind of game when you are playing poker and there are only two players. However, I have learned certain advice is true. For example, you do need to know when to fold. I learned this lesson from my 33 year old son. “Mom, he said, It’s okay to fold. You don’t have to play every hand.” My mate inadvertently tutors me as well. If you have watched Maverick starring, Jodie Foster and Mel Gibson, then that’s the vibe we seem to create when we play poker. Just so you know what I am up against, my mate’s nickname at work is Maverick.

As I said previously, Round Two generally is won my mate which brings us to

Round three:

Hexes and Spells!

KENSINGTON

Thus, in our typical date night tournaments, we declare once and for all who is the Tournament Champion by putting away the change, and getting out the tokens. Just as a side note, it’s especially interesting to take our blood pressures at this point. KENSINGTON is an interesting game and requires great focus which is a great way to feel connected. And, is that not what date night should be all about: connections?

I referred to Round three as Hexes and Spells because You must concentrate, You must strategize, and You must be willing to go the distance.

All great ways to make your stay at home date night a success!