Date Night - Hot Tubbin'

When Bill and Shirley, (our neighbours across the street from us) go away on vacation, they usually ask the Queen and myself to look after things while they’re gone. You know the kinds of things you do when housesitting -  turning lights off and on, taking in the mail, watering the plants, etc. In the winter it also means shovelling the sidewalks if it snows and mowing the grass in the summer. We don’t mind helping out our neighbours because they are good about keeping an eye on things for us too if we happen to be away.

For their 10th wedding anniversary, Bill built a little gazebo in the corner of their yard and put in a hot tub for him and Shirley to use. Bill says he learned from me that it never hurts to keep a little romance in the marriage, so this was his way of giving him and Shirley a private place to relax in the evenings. They’ve used it for a quite number of years, but usually now only in the spring and fall.  (They shut it down in the summer because it’s too hot to use and in the winter because it’s too expensive to heat.) For the few months that they do operate it, Bill and Shirley still use it a lot and because it’s tucked away in the corner of their yard, there’s lots of privacy. I’ve had my eye on that hot tub for a while now and this spring break I got my chance.

The weather has been pretty mild this year and since the snow is already all gone, Bill decided it was time to get the hot tub back in business. He cleaned it up after being empty all winter and got it filled up and ready for use. Then Shirley announced that since the weather was so good this year, she wanted them to take the kids and visit her sister and her family. Everyone was out of school for spring break and she decided it would be a good time to do some things outside with all the kids.

When Bill asked me if I’d watch their place before they left, I asked him if, since he’s spent all that time getting the hot tub up and going, would he mind if I used it one night with my Queen while they were gone. He said that he would be happy to leave it on for me. Did I mention what a great neighbour Bill is?

Well, you know what I was doing for Date Night this month! First, I did a little shopping before I came home from work, and when I went over to Bill and Shirley’s to feed their cat that night, I also used their kitchen to make up a little tray of cheese and cut up some fruit. Then I left it and a bottle of my Queen’s favourite wine in a cooler bag with some ice beside the hot tub with a couple of our big bath towels, some wine glasses and a cork screw. The gazebo has little shelves for candles, so I borrowed some little jam jars from Mom and put tea candles in them so they glowed nicely all around the hot tub. At the last minute, I decided to bring the cd player over and put in a nice instrumental to play quietly in the background to complete the effect.

I’m telling you, after getting everything set up and ready, I could hardly wait to go and get my Queen! I told her to slip into her bathing suit and then I whisked us across the street in the dark in our robes and slippers through the side gate into Bill and Shirley’s back yard.

There was something really magical about having the place to ourselves. That evening, it felt just like we were staying at some expensive resort. We spent a couple of hours just relaxing in our own private oasis with our glasses of wine and nibbling at the cheese and fruit. The music was soft, the wine was cold, the candles glowed, and my Queen still looks terrific in a bathing suit! Va-va-VOOM!