Double Date

Last week, Marcus's sister, Wendi, was in town, and she gave us the wonderful gift of babysitting so we could go on a double date with some good friends. It was so nice to go out and eat a leisurely dinner with great company and no feeling of being rushed to get back home. We even went over to our friends' place after dinner to continue hanging out since we knew that Wendi didn't have to wait up for us (since she was staying with us). I don't think that we've had such a fun evening or felt so free and relaxed since before we became parents.

Anyway, after that night, I realized for the first time how stifled our social lives have been by the medical track. Up until this past 12 months (i.e., the previous five years of our marriage), Marcus has had a tight and erratic schedule that made social plans and even date nights very difficult, if not impossible to plan. From the incessant tests and round-the-clock studying of medical school to constantly changing rotations, externships and then the internship year of residency (the toughest year of all), Marc's profession left little time and energy for anything else. He rarely knew when he would be off work until about 30 minutes before he got home (and it could end up being 7:00 or midnight), and some rotations he had to spend every fourth night at the hospital. He usually only got one day off out of seven, and of course most of that day was eaten up by yard work and other necessities, not to mention more studying. I wasn't fully aware of the toll all of this took while we were in the midst of it, but as I revel in all of the friendships and family fun and church involvement and everything we have been so enjoying this year, I marvel at how different things are for us now.

I know this may seem a bit of a slanted picture. It's not that I don't remember having any fun during medical school. I had fun on my own with friends, and then in mommy groups after Caleb was born, but family fun and dates with Marcus were definitely not a common occurance. I guess it is like anything else...you can't appreciate something as fully until you've gone a while without it. And can I ever appreciate it now!