Filling the Canteen

Filling the Canteen

The summer in between high school and college I dated more than any other summer of my life. I commented to a friend how I thought it was funny that all these guys who had never taken much interest in me suddenly wanted to go out all the time, especially when the relationships couldn’t go anywhere since they were all leaving soon to serve two year missions for our church. My friend looked at me like I was stupid and said, “You know they’re just ‘filling the canteen’ don’t you? You know like when you travel across the desert and you won’t have any water so you fill your canteen as full as you can so you can survive the trip? It’s kind of like that only they’re filling up on girls.” Oh. Suddenly my lively dating life didn’t seem quite as glamorous.

Sadly, my approach to having another baby is somewhat similar in nature. I feel driven to hoard food and stock my freezer with already prepared meals as if I may never see another grocery store or have the ability to cook ever again. This tendency extends to stocking up on baby clothes and supplies which Noel patiently endures until my madness forces him to ask, “You know you don’t have to have a stockpile of clothes that will last her until she’s five, right?” Call it nesting if you like, but it somehow feels a bit . . . apocalyptic when I step back and analyze my behaviors. By far, I would say the healthiest “canteen filling” measure I’ve taken up is spending time alone with Noel. The past couple of months we’ve had a lot of family visit which has given us the perfect opportunity to get out of the house without the boy. Are you ready to hear all the romantic things we did?

  • Spent a night in Vail and went outlet shopping
  • Went on a double date to Cafe Rio and saw The Muppets with Hope and Joe 
  • Bought a kitchen island at Ikea and ate yummy burgers at Five Guys.
  • Went to the grocery store (twice)
  • Mall Date (We just roamed and talked then ate Panda Express at the food court)
  • Went to the temple and swung by Krispy Kreme on the way home
  • Toured the hospital and pre-registered (Yikes are we really getting that close?)

So maybe we aren’t the most romantic people, but it really is wonderful to go to normal places and not be constantly chasing around a toddler. A big thanks to our parents (and a few friends) who have made it possible for us to stock up on alone time before Ellen steals the show for awhile.

3 thoughts on “Filling the Canteen

  1. Ha ha. I think it’s smart to plan ahead and stock up on stuff. As for romantic dates, we are the same. We have been swapping baby-sitting with a couple families in our ward (but they are each having/had their second child this month, so that swapping has come to an end for awhile). We do romantic things like shop at DI, go to the grocery store, and once we went out to eat (we had a gift card to use up 🙂 But it’s nice just to get in the car without having to buckle car seats!

  2. Your story sounds a little familiar 🙂 As we’ve reviewed our expenses the last few months, Nathaniel was a bit unsure about our large grocery and non-food grocery bills were. I kept explaining to him that I was stocking up (toothpaste, toilet paper, cocoa, noodles, etc., etc., etc.) and that the next few months *should* be significantly lower. I sure hope so! I’m glad I did it though. We also went grocery shopping, to the temple, to Panda Express, and pre-registered at the hospital, but sometimes Anika tagged along. Maybe we should get Krispy Kreme donuts.

  3. I really should work on stockpiling freezer meals instead of just cereal 😉 Yay for shopping date nights. It’s so much easier without little extra grabby hands.

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