Tonight was a girls night out with my sister and one of my sister-in-laws. It was set up earlier in the week, with me acting as go-between, but we still hadn’t decided on a concrete course of action even after meeting up in town.
“Where do you want to go?”
“I don’t know. What sounds like fun?”
“I don’t know. What do you think?”
In our defense, we’re from a small town (population fewer than 10,000). That means there isn’t a whole lot in the way of entertainment. A theater with two screens. This week one offering was The Smurfs (not something we particularly wanted to see). And Planet of the Apes. Which may well be a great movie, but still not on the list of ways we wanted to spend our time on tonight.
And that presented a problem…the list was pretty much empty after ruling the movies out.
We’d already decided dinner wouldn’t be a good idea because of my gluten issue, so we wound up at a pub. Basically your average, garden variety bar, but it was cute. I ordered a Sprite, and they each got a snack and a mixed drink. And after about an hour, with no refills, we were invited to leave. Politely, but it was very clear that they were tired of us taking up table space.
So it was back to my sister-in-law’s house, where we chatted until eleven, then called it a night.
I’m not so old that I can’t remember enjoying the whole party/have a good time scene. But somewhere along the line, it seems to have lost much of its appeal. I actually enjoyed myself more after we got away from the loud music.
What I want to know is this…
Why? Why does a cozy chat sound like the better choice now? Is it because you continue to grow up, or because you forget, as time passes, how to have fun? Does the energy it takes to live your life suck the energy right out of you, or is it simply that as you grow, your needs change?