Sharks

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You know that game called “Two Truths and a Lie”? I win that game every time and I’ll tell you why. I have a dad who has done just about everything a man can do for an occupation. For instance, whenever it is my turn, I like to pull out the old standards…

1. My dad is an aerobics instructor

2. My dad is a hot dog vendor

3. My dad is a military drill seargant

I’ll let you guess which one is not the truth, but lucky for me, this week’s Cheap Date Challenge was even cheaper because my dad is a nationally acclaimed pocket billiards player and as you know, our challenge was to do the following:

Cheap Date Night Challenge #4: “Sharks”

“Meet at a pool hall and pretend you are rivals from different parts of town. Hustle each other through several rounds of pool. The winner gets to decide what the next activity will be.”

I do hereby swear that the following information is verifiably true. Dad is currently touring the country as “The Drill Instructor.” His current stop is right here in Charlotte at Rack ‘Em Pub & Billiards. Dressed in full army fatigues– hat, boots, whistle, the whole nine yards– he spends night after night in pool halls teaching people how to play pool while showing them one heck of a good time. This is entertainment at its finest… I can promise you that. If you think I’m joking, click here. Wouldn’t you know that my dad called the owner of the local pool hall before we even got there and landed us free pool time and a free round of drinks. What a guy! It really does pay to know people.

In addition to stumbling across the best burgers in Charlotte at Rack ’em, we also discovered a few things about each other, which is really what dating is all about, right? Song after song played on the juke box to which Clark would share tales of his bar playing days as a teenager and how he cut his teeth as a guitarist. Metallica, Guns and Roses, ZZ Top– I didn’t recognize any of them– not a single tune! Why? While he was getting into under 21 clubs because he was “with the band”, I was raised among religious folk who frowned on listening to secular music, and therefore I completely missed an entire era of musical history. It’s embarrassing. So, I’ve had to learn fast being married to Clark. He found some loose change and left me with my burger while he loaded the juke box with some tunes that would better acquaint me with his musical past. Well, it would be only fair for me to choose a few myself, so I took a turn at the juke box to play a few songs that would remind him of me. Well, I didn’t realize that there was a line forming behind me as the only selection I had made thus far was “Brown Eyed Girl”. Next thing I know this woman behind me chimed in with, “Why don’t you pick ‘Crazy B****’? That’s a good one.” I quickly complied, because she looked a little bit…. well….. scary. Only after I walked away did it occur to me that she was probably trying to hurry me along in her own bar maid sort of way because the people behind me were getting impatient. So when Crazy B**** came on the juke box, Clark said, “This is the song you chose to remind me of you?” Yes dear.

I read an article that said psychologists believe that once a couple has children, they need to maintain at least 5 hours a week of exclusive “couple time”. If that’s the case, we’ve got some major catching up to do. Our weekly date night has done wonders for us as a couple already. We are rediscovering each other and we look forward to our “couple time” each week. We probably had more fun on Saturday night than at any date so far. I lost every round and therefore shamed my family name, but it was definitely memorable. Not only did winner get to choose the next date night, but they also got to have their picture taken with the Drill Instructor.

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