The Day of Love

It's Valentine's Day.

I'm stuffy and runny and coughing and sneezing.

I'm really sad about Whitney Houston and can hardly wrap my head around her death enough to actually believe it. Today I saw a clip of her singing "Guide Me Thou Great Jehovah" which she sang when she was 11. I cried. She's gone, isn't she?

I really want to eat the chocolate covered strawberries that I got for The Hubby. I'm resisting.

It's cold.

But I'm still grateful for all the love in my life. :)

Love-ly . . . ?

This could easily be the least romantic Valentine's Day of my life. Well, aside from the ones I spent totally depressed and alone. I have to read a novel for class tomorrow and it's taking 900 years to figure out the mess students have made of sending their papers electronically (soooo annoying!) and I've been a grading fool all weekend. Nobody, except for me, was excited about the heart-shaped banana pancakes I got up early to make before church. Plus, the restaurant where we had dinner was inexplicably out of peach cobbler (is this the south or what?).

Here's what saved it: 1) the strawberry shortcake I was forced to order was totally fabulous; 2) The Baby Boy actually announced that he had to use the potty before he wet himself; 3) The Babydoll insisted on having Hubby take her to the store to get a "heart (shaped) box of chocolate" for me. Remember that she hates chocolate? But she knows that I adore it. I promise to recall this moment in a decade or so when I want to strangle her for being a defiant, annoying teenager.

All in all, what do I have to complain about? It's a lovely day!

Preparing for Valentine's Day

You know how people say, "Everyday should be Valentine's Day"? My husband had planned a grand gesture for Friday. He wanted to surprise me with a flower delivery at my office. It was a beautifully thoughtful idea, especially since getting flowers at work was one of the items on my list of Things I Want to Experience that I started when I turned 30 (you know, last year). He was also planning to bring a Valentine's Day treat to our daughter at school. Isn't that sweet? Of course, I guess it sucks to be a boy in this family because there are no such grand plans for either of them. Anyway, it's a non-issue since I no longer have an office or work or anyplace to be on Friday . . . I think. His plans illustrate why Valentine's Day isn't everyday.

What would it be like if every day you awoke to find some enormous demonstration of affection? I can imagine warm bubble baths and elaborate dinners at elegant restaurants. I could have Godiva Chocolates for breakfast! Spend hours at the spa with the weekly gift cards that show up in my name! Of course, I'd need those towels they give you because none of us would have clean clothes; when would the laundry get done? And how would I administer time outs from the bathtub? Most days, I'd rather have dear husband loading the dishwasher than out buying something pretty for me. It's the "life" that fills our days that make those grand gestures so, well, grand.

Who has time or energy to think about, plan, and execute romance on a daily basis? If we're talking about more than once a year, that's one thing. But the "Valentine's is every day" people are fooling themselves. Those dozen roses have to be watered, after all. I already have plenty to do.