The Yin and the Yang

There’s the yin and the yang,

the light and the dark,

and then there’s the homebody and the adventurer.

Guess which one Mad Dog is?

While he certainly has his quiet moments, Mad Dog is a man of action. He loves to plan sporting event trips that happen to involve huge crowds. To celebrate my 43rd birthday, we travelled to Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg to watch a two game Cubs series against the Tampa Bay Rays. The first game we took a hotel shuttle, the second game, we did not. This is where our story turns dark.

We had in mind that we would walk towards the field while taking in the sights of St. Petersburg. We wanted an authentic experience and hoped to find a restaurant or bar unique to the area. Instead, it was just HOT. And, there was no plan and very little direction and no end in sight. I really needed a plan. We walked farther and farther and my cheery disposition wilted in the Floridian sun. The restaurants we passed did not look inviting and I didn’t feel hopeful we’d find something good. I was just so HOT. I was sweating and sweating and sweating.

Mad Dog knew he had pushed his homebody girl too far. We finally found an air-conditioned art gallery (hallelujah!) and attempted to regroup there. Mad Dog asked where there might be a good place to dine. A sales lady gave us a promising sounding option. Mad Dog made sure that it was a reasonable distance because he knew I was done walking in the heat (understatement!). As the woman glanced in my direction she stated, “You do look hot.”

As we made our way those final few steamy blocks, I aired my frustration.

“When the lady said I looked hot, I’m pretty sure she wasn’t talking about how tight my butt was!”

“I don’t know, I think she was hitting on you,” said Mad Dog.

And just like that, I cracked a smile. However, it took me three ice waters and air conditioning for equilibrium to be fully restored.