Date Night with a Farmer

      Getting special time with the man she loves is not an easy thing to come by for a farmers wife. I feel like lately the only time I see my husband has been while he is getting  few short hours of sleep at night. Being in the middle of calving 150 cows, all the extra work that comes with the thawing of spring, having a very busy full time day job as a farm business management instructor, and volunteer extraordinaire it doesn't leave much time for a date night. Yesterday being the Feast of St Patrick's Day I was yearning for some time with the wonderful man I married and give him a brake from the rush of his life.
      When thing of a night "out" with my farmer I knew that this might be too much to ask for at this particular time of year. What if a cow started to calve and staying our late was not what he needed when he has already had so many night short on sleep. Another obstacle to going "out" was getting someone to watch the kids on a school night. I could see that going "out" on a date was not going to work so I started to think about a date night "in" with my farmer.
      To make the night special I ordered some Chinese food from a local restaurant. I had it ready to pick up after a church meeting we went to as a family. Since Paul had to come separate from the kids and I due to him being busy with something before hand I had him take the kids home while I picked up the food and some wine. When I got home we put the kids to bed and while Paul was waiting for the little ones to fall asleep I set up our dinner date in our bedroom. I set up a folding table with a table cloth, a place setting using our nice plates, wine glasses, and lit as many candles as I could find around the house and placed them around the bedroom.
     When all was ready I got Paul out of the kids bedroom and took him to our Date Night In. We closed the bedroom door and enjoyed a wonderful Chinese meal and an even better conversation. I got to hear about all the activities and thoughts that have been filling his days, some of the frustrations about the busyness of life, and what we want our future to look like. An the best part of our Date Night In was that when it was time to call it a night we didn't have to go to get to bed.
      I do have to admit that I enjoy getting dressed up and feeling special going "out" with my husband but what I enjoy the most is just spending time with the man I love. Being a farmers wife there are many sacrifices and adjustments that have to be made to the way I might like to do things but being creative with what is available can be a lot of fun. Being a farmers wife is a great life and in the end I wouldn't have it any other way.