Walking Dead Double Dates

A little more than a year ago, Man Friend got me to start watching AMC's The Walking Dead. At first, it was rather begrudgingly. I had zero interest in watching a stupid zombie show, but he watched ABC's Once Upon a Time with me, so I figured I'd watch his show with him. It didn't take long until I was hooked on the show. Every week left just enough suspense and a cliffhanger to bring you back to the next week to find out what happened next. I was mostly interested in the story line, and would cover my eyes during any bloody scene, but had really begun to enjoy the show.

Fast forward to the beginning of season three. Man Friend and I no longer had AMC and were looking for a place to watch it. We found out one of our friends is also a huge fan and he offered to record the show so we could come over and watch it. We decided we'd make a double date of it with him and his girlfriend and spend an evening that week watching the show together. The four of us have been getting together every week since. What started off as a get-together out of convenience has turned into one of my favorite parts of every week.

It has been so much fun having our low-key double dates every week. The Friend who offered to record the show for us is dating one of my closest friends, and I always enjoy hanging out with her. And luckily, all four of us get along well and enjoy each other's company. Knowing that we have at least one night a week that we can get out of the house and hang out with another couple, but still be able to just relax and hang out in our sweats makes the date night so great. Even though we're just watching a tv show, at least Man Friend and I are doing something more than watching Netflix by ourselves or zoning out in front of the tv forgetting to talk to each other. We all get so into the show and have our own theories that we like to discuss as it goes on (hooray for being able to pause a recorded show!) and we even record the Talking Dead after for further theorizing. Somehow, we even manage to eat while watching the show and have recently made it into a real "date" by adding dinner into the mix. Last week we ordered Chinese, and this week we'll have a pizza.

I'm so glad we started doing the double dates for season three. I didn't see much of the first season at all, and only caught about the last half of season two. From what I saw, season two was mostly about character development. Season three has way more action, plot development, and intensity. It's great watching it with other people to get their perspective and ideas for what's happening next, why a character did what they did, and what the consequences of certain actions will be. There's so much depth to every single character, and as they're all pushed to their limits, they start changing. Take Rick, who has gone from a strong leader to batshit crazy, while his son Carl is no longer seen as a whiny, nusicancy little kid and is absolutely a man in a child's body.  I love trying to figure out Michonne, who is such a bad ass. As one of the most silent characters on the show, she is one of the strongest, and carefully thinks out every single action and word. Then there's the governor, who I hate more with every single episode, but unlike Rick, his craziness is methodical. And with every episode, he grows even crazier.

I also enjoy watching the show with other people because I also learn about the comic book series. I didn't even know the show was based off a comic series, so it's equally as interesting to learn about what the differences are between the show and the comics. It's particularly fascinating to me that the Dixon brothers were never part of the comic series, and have become so crucial to the show's plot. Daryl has grown into one of the strongest and most popular characters, into a leadership role and even into a partnership with  Rick. I remember saying last week that I was never really attracted to Daryl, but the more I watch the show, the sexier he becomes.

When I first started watching The Walking Dead, I could hardly even bear the zombie killing scenes. I covered my eyes for almost every single death. But now, I have grown to love the show so much that I even enjoy watching the zombie killing. I can watch almost every single one of them, though there have been a few recently that still turned my stomach. Also, the governor's eye creeps me the fuck out. When he took his bandage off last week, I thought I was going to lose it. Sick, sick sick. Anyway, not only can I stomach the zombie killings, I even find myself cheering along with my peers for the good killings. I especially like the "in memoriam" part of the Talking Dead when they show some of the good killings. I also find it amusing how they cleverly name them with something like "hatchet to the face zombie."

Hopefully I didn't spoil anything for anyone who is behind on the show. Thank you to Man Friend for introducing me to one of my unexpectedly favorite shows, and thank you to Friend and her man friend for allowing us over every week to watch.

Cheap Date Night Ideas

I'm constantly trying to think of new date night ideas for myself and Man Friend. For one, we're both in quite the financial pinch and cannot always do the dinner and movie that we would ideally like to do. For another, frankly, I get bored doing the same thing over and over. I find that often times we get in a rut of watching tv at home. I get bored and crabby (especially in winter when cabin fever takes over) and that leads to tiffs, and lack of conversation. When you're zoning out in front of the tv, you don't communicate at all. And isn't that why you want to spend time with your significant other, to enjoy their conversation and company? I've come up with a list of fun and low-cost date night ideas, for any couples out there who ever get themselves into a rut. Some are specific to the Green Bay area, and others are more generic.

• Make a meal together
• Have a movie, pizza, wine night in. Bonus: picking a movie together that neither of you have seen before.
• Go for a long walk. Even better, if you have a nature trail to go on
• Have a game night
• Volunteer together. Note: Man Friend and I volunteered together and it was one of the best times we spent together. Not only did we do something to give back to the community, but Man Friend wanted to do something new with me that I really enjoyed.
• Spend a day at the Wildlife Sanctuary. 
• Go to an Amusement Park. Bay Beach, for Green Bay-ers
• Go to a zoo. NEW zoo for Green Bay, or if you're looking for a bit of a road trip, make your way up to the DeYoung family zoo in Michigan.
• Walk through the Garden of Lights around Christmas in Green Bay



Our Christmas cookies from this year

• Decorate Christmas cookies 
• Carve pumpkins for Halloween
• Color Easter eggs
• See re-enactments at Heritage Hill in Green Bay
• Go to a museum. Green Bay's Neville has a lot of temporary exhibits, so you can choose something you're interested in.
• Lay outside and star-gaze. Leave the cell phones inside!
• Have a picnic lunch or dinner at a park
• Go sledding
• Go to a movie in the park showing.
• Looking for some intimacy? Take a hot bath with candles lit. Massages after never hurt.
• Watch a Packers practice in Green Bay in the weeks leading up to pre-season
• Find a free or low-admission concert. Small festivals are good for this. Fourth of July Downtown, Bay Fest, county fairs or Celebrate DePere are good options in Green Bay. 
• Go out for ice cream. Bonus: walking or biking there.

Sucky and Super Saturday

In the last few weeks:

Sucky:

• I lost a family member and a friend within two weeks. It's been incredibly emotional and it sucked. A lot.
• I had to move out of my house into a temporary residence just to move again in another few weeks. Read more about it here.
• I hate everything about winter, and it's been a rough one already this year. I even had to miss work one day because it would not have been safe for me to make the commute.
• I had the flu wicked bad and missed almost a full week of work. Three weeks later, Man Friend is now out of commission with the same thing.
• Girls Night Out is not having convening this session. The program as a whole is being evaluated and I will be so bummed if they end it.

Super:

• Even though my friend's funeral was one of the toughest things I've had to do in a long time, it brought together many people. I got to see his family, and some of my friends I hadn't seen in quite some time.
• This blog reached and passed 2,000 views. Patience and effort is paying off!
• I just got signed up to fund-raise for the Strong Kids Campaign with the Y again. Stay tuned for deets!
• Man Friend and I finally got some stress-free alone time and our first date out to dinner by ourselves in months. It was so needed and I had such a good time.

WPS Garden of Lights

On Saturday, Man Friend and I went to the WPS Garden of Lights at the Botanical Gardens. It was my first time going, though I had been wanting to go for years. It was one of those things where I said I wanted to go, but plans were never made, and by the time I finally had a free weekend, the holidays had passed. This year, I was determined to go, and set aside a Saturday night to go. I'm so glad we did; I enjoyed it so much that I've already decided that we're going next year too.

We picked the perfect time to go. It was chilly out, and enough so as a gentle reminder that it is the holidays, but luckily for my anti-cold ways, was not frigid. I was afraid I had under-dressed (though Man Friend thought I had too many layers on), but as soon as we started walking instead of standing in place, it was more bearable.

We got there, and to our surprise, there were significantly more people there than we had expected. We ended up parking about a block or so away and walking so we could avoid the crowds in the parking lot. As we drove past the parking lot, I saw the line stretched out pretty long. Man Friend would say this is where I became worried and stressed. I say I'm just realistic. I was upset that the line was so long and wondered if we'd even be able to get in. If we did, would we have to rush through all the displays to be out by the time they closed? Luckily for us, Man Friend was right (I hate that). The line moved surprisingly quick and we were out to start the walking tour within about 20 minutes. Once inside the building, I found it was because they had so many different people taking money for the tickets that the line was able to move smoothly and effectively.

While we were waiting in line, we started noticing how many babies were there. I'm not talking toddlers, or even babies in the walking or crawling stages. I was actually appalled at how many parents were carrying infants. None of these parents (that I saw at least) were there with an older child as well. It was just the parents and the baby. First of all, even though it wasn't frigid, it was definitely too cold to have a tiny little baby outside. Second of all, by the time we got into the tour, it was close to 7:45-8. Let your poor child go to bed. Finally, a child so young will get nothing out of the tour. If you want to go so badly with your spouse, pawn your child off on a babysitter, or wait until your child is old enough to appreciate the lights and displays. End rant.

The tour was shorter than I expected it to be, and I was actually hoping it would have been a little longer because I was enjoying it so much. As we were nearing the end, I was a little disappointed we couldn't see more, but remembered that typically this time of year, it's way more freezing out. Had it been any colder, I would have started growing miserable and cranky and wanted to leave. So, all things considered, it was actually a decent length.

One of my favorite things to do around Christmas time is drive around looking at lights and decorations. I think that's why I enjoyed this so much. The light displays were so beautiful, and there were so many different kinds of displays to enjoy. The brightness and variety of colors was just amazing. One of my favorite displays was a spider. I actually cannot stand the little bastards, but spiders remind me of Halloween, which is my favorite holiday. There was also a display of a flower bed, which was probably the best one. It was one of the bigger displays and had the most colors. Of the displays without much color, my favorite was of "icicles" hanging down. It was so simple, but so elegant.

The tour was a great place for a date, whether you've been together for a long time or have just gotten together. It keeps you talking the whole time, and isn't the typical dinner and/or movie that can get a little repetitive. I'm anxious to see what's in store next year.