A couples party

I needed this weekend. I was able to get some rest and relaxation which seems to have done me wonders. I was also able to get some alone time with my man, which is rare on the weekends. Sigh.

Anyway, this weekend we attended our first couples party. Our youngish bishop was house sitting with his wife at his in-laws and they invited us and some other couples to hang out.

(By the way, it was a 4 million dollar house. This house had a pool, hot tub, playroom, pool table, arcade games, slide, theatre, ball pit room, library, mother-in-law apt, and 3 sets of washers and dryers. What the....? I mostly just walked around with my jaw on the floor. Our bishop's wife didn't grow up with all that, by the way. She grew up in a normal home. Apparently her parents came into all that money later.)

I realized a couple hours before we were going to leave that I don't know the social rules of married couples. When I went to singles activities, there was an unspoken protocol. It probably wasn't everyone's, but it was mine. I didn't talk to a lot of men, and when I did it was either one I was interested in or ones who were safe. And by safe I mean, uninterested in dating. And I stuck like glue to the 1 or 2 girls who I knew. Together we would make catty comments about the activity or people in general. The main purpose was to stick to the people I knew and only risk with men I was really interested in. Which didn't happen a lot. There was always a bit of tension in me at parties.

But standing in a room full of people who are all married is a totally different dynamic. Everyone is more at ease because you came with a friend. You're not alone. And women who wouldn't have noticed or spoken to me before suddenly don't mind having a long conversation. Men are easy to talk to and much friendlier. It's a little like being in the twilight zone. Everything is the same and yet....everything is different.

The Mister has been wanting to hang out with other couples since before we got married, so he was in heaven. The other thing that was funny to me - we pretty much stuck together. A lot of the couples would split up. The men would talk to the men and women with the women. But we didn't really leave one another. Part of that is most of the people there were new to us. But I also think it's because we'd rather just be together.