Long Night's Rejuvenation

It appears that I decided to take a holiday break from blogging! (And I do mean a holiday break, as it was both Christmas and New Year's for me, and particularly the week in between the two.) The unplanned break was not a bad thing, though. In fact, it's been rather nice.

Our relationship enrichment class just wrapped up a unit on "After the Honeymoon is Over." About a month ago, we had a homework assignment to focus on our friendships with our partners. I created little worksheets that we each tried to fill out for our spouses. Paul and I went out to dinner to discuss ours. One of the questions was about current hobbies, both what we enjoy doing and what we wish we had more time to do. (The idea was that by touching base periodically we can keep up with our partner's changing interests and possibly even take an interest in some of the same things.)

Perhaps it sounds silly to some of you mature adults out there, but one thing Paul mentioned missing was playing video games. We really enjoyed this pastime in college and beyond. Actually, for me, the fun lasted right up until I got pregnant with Ellie. Paul continued playing even a bit beyond that.

We enjoy our Wii Fit, and playing occasional group/party games like Wii Fit Balance Games, Wii Sports, Wii Play, and Wii Tetris (hilarious on the balance board). But neither of us has gotten into a good, long, adventure-style game on the Nintendo or computer for years. So we've been playing Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for a couple of weeks, and it's been great fun! One of us watches, offering advice or reading from an online game guide, as the other plays.

We haven't been blogging or spending time online. We haven't been watching TV. We haven't been exercising or dieting. After the girls go to bed we get something yummy to eat and sit down to play games until I fall asleep! I can't even describe how relaxing and fun this has been. I can't explain why we're having such a good time together. (Although one of us tends to get a little crabby when she's playing a tricky part. And one of us tends to be a little irritable as the reader/helper from time to time because he doesn't have any control.) We're staying up late, so it's not like we're actually catching up on sleep. Yet, somehow, we're starting the new year feeling rested, rejuvenated, and happy. Hallelujah!