Skating My Worries Away...

It has been a pretty stressful month.  There has been a lot going on with Jason’s business culminating with the foreclosure of Jason’s office building.  Yes, the entire shopping center is now owned by the bank bringing it’s own set of challenges.  It’s been crazy.  I would say it’s like a roller coaster, but a roller coaster has some ups and downs and there have certainly not been any “ups”.  Jason and I weren't able to celebrate Valentines since we were busy planning and executing the church Valentines party.  And frankly, I just wasn’t really in the mood.  It was a VERY stressful and depressing week.  So, Jason decided to do something he NEVER does.  And when I say never, I mean he has never done this in our whole marriage.  He planned a surprise date night!  He sent the kiddos to my parents for a sleep over and surprised me with a perfect evening. 

He started with dinner and dessert at Cheesecake Factory.  We exchanged Valentines cards and I got a good laugh out of how similar the message was.  When I went looking for cards that day, I was not in the mood for a “lovey dovey” card.  I found this card in the “Problem Relationship” section and although I in no way feel like I have a “problem” in my relationship, the card said exactly what I was feeling.

“Real love, like real life is never perfect.  Somehow real problems always find us.  But the important thing to remember is that our love is always there, full of forgiveness and understanding, waiting for more happy times to share.  Real love is powerful stuff.  It doesn’t need to be prefect to survive and grow.  In fact, our love probably wouldn’t be as strong as it is if we hadn’t survived a few tough times.  We’ll get through this time too.  I love you and I trust in our love.”

Jason wrote this in his card:

“I think that Valentines Day is in February because it is the most stressful time of the year because of taxes, end of the fiscal year, holiday bills are due, etc.  So, we need to take a break from it all and remember what is most important in our lives…each other.  So tonight, I am taking you out on a fun date that will hopefully make you forget about all the stress and feel like a kid again.”

And that, he did…after dinner we started driving south on the freeway and once we past a certain point, I knew where we were going – Roller Skating!  I LOVE roller skating.  I spent every Saturday for a couple years at the roller rink taking lessons and practicing in my cute blue skating skirt.  I have amazing skates that I bought with my own money  - I think they were $400 or so – and that was 20 years ago (ouch…that makes me sound so old).  There is just something I LOVE about the disco ball, great music and skating fast that I can’t get enough of.  I have not been roller skating since Jason and I were married over 12 years ago…no one will ever go with me!  I thought we would be the only adults there and we would look pretty silly…but we weren’t and I didn’t care anyway.  The music was awesome.  The disco ball was on and as the evening progressed, the young families went home and I got to skate as fast as I wanted.  Jason had a great time on his roller blades and certainly held his own…he said he was really working to keep up.

Do you see the HUGE smile on my face?  I had one plastered on my face the whole night.  I literally skated all my worries away.
 

I love my fancy skates – so smooth!

After skating, Jason took me back to the house and surprised me with a bubble bath and massage.  Did you know that Jason is a massage therapist as well as a chiropractor?  Well, he is and he is amazing.  He brought home the massage table and I got the professional treatment. 

This was truly a night I will never forget.  I got to just take a break from my life for the evening and actually we somehow made that feeling last through the entire weekend.  What a nice break.  Thank you Jason.