Mom's Night OUT!

Tonight I was invited by some friends to do a girls' night out! This is pretty exciting for us, since we are all moms who almost never get time away from our kids. And there's something special about just hanging out with the girls, enjoying glasses of wine and appetizers and desserts we don't usually let ourselves indulge in, that brings out the fun-loving inner teenager that many of us have been suppressing for a while now. I'm looking forward to it! Unfortunately I can't share in the wine because I am pregnant, but it should still be a pretty fun time. I felt a little guilty leaving my husband alone on Valentine's weekend, but A) we don't usually do much for Valentine's Day; B) we are going to cook a nice dinner together tomorrow night, and C) I realized I have not done a single activity with my friends since he came home from deployment. That was 7 months ago! While he was deployed, I was on my own with 2 kids, and yet between the coupons for free Saturday Night childcare on base, and some helpful baby sitters, I managed to go out and do something fun without kids about once a month. Nothing wild, I am not a party girl and have never been into the clubbing scene. But just dinner or ice cream with friends is exciting to me! Now since he has been back, we have been trying to do date nights together once a month, but anytime I heard my girl friends wanted to do something on a weekend, I would think, "Well, I can't do that. Weekends are our only time with Daddy!" So I have gotten out of touch with the very people who were most supportive and helpful to me during the deployment! I think family and couple time is a wonderful thing, and will always be a priority in our marriage. But we shouldn't have to neglect other friendships too. Now that we are getting ready for the next deployment this summer, I think it is a important thing for me to get back in touch with my friends, and help our friendships to grow even before the deployment starts. What about you? How do you balance time for your family and your friends? And what is your go-to hang out spot? Ours is either Starbucks or Olive Garden. :-)