I Stand Corrected

You know everything I just wrote about flowers at Valentine's Day?  I take it all back.

Genius Golfer got these for me:

I hate being wrong, but can you really be wrong when this is the outcome that shows differently?

It's Valentine's Day...Whoop-itee-doo!

We just don't make a big fuss about Valentine's Day.  Usually it means I don't have to cook dinner--and I'll take that any night of the week.  But we don't do gifts and cards and flowers any more.

Well, we never really did do flowers.  And that is completely my fault.

Once upon a time, Genius Golfer DID bring me beautiful flowers once, but at the time we weren't making much money and the cost of the flowers startled me. I knew that we needed to watch every nickel so flowers weren't in the budget.  I made the mistake of saying that out loud to him.

No flowers from him again.

Hey, he is doing exactly what I asked him to do--save the money he wold have spent on flowers and use it for more important things.  I can't get made at him for doing what I asked, right?

Sadly, since our finances have improved, the "Law of the Flowers" has not been amended.  Maybe at my funeral he will buy some flowers, but event hat is a big question mark.

Luckily I have been sent flwoers by other people.  His work sent me a gorgeous bouquet after a big--and very time consuming project--took him away from home for a couple weeks.  That was nice.

I've been given flowers at the end of my term as PTA president at the elementary school.  They were lovely.

The kids weaseled some Costco flowers home once for something...my birthday maybe.  And I think GG was with them.  Maybe the permafrost about flowers is thawing.  But maybe not.  I don't expect them, ever.  So it they DO show up, it is always a pleasant surprise.

The really sad part is that this might be a generational ruling.  The Girl has made comments before about how silly flowers are to give or get...and how expensive they are...and what a waste of money.  I may have created that monster...and she will pay for those sentiments long after I've learned my lesson.

In any case, Happy Valentine's Day!  Maybe your day will NOT be flower-free!

Valentine's Report

I don't generally enjoy Valentine's Day, but it is better than Mother's Day.  However, this year, was about as perfect as I'd want it to be.  Genius Golfer got me the DVD of season 3 of Downton Abbey--the PBS show I am currently hooked on and then we went to lunch and an afternoon movie.  We saw Jack Reacher--not my favorite flick, but not too bad.  Pretty violent, I will say--but Tom Cruise aging is better than Bruce Willis or Sylvester Stallone.  Can you tell it was GG's choice for the movie?

But the best part was a little note I found at my spot at the kitchen table.  It was from The Boy.  Here is what it looked like:

For those of you without any interpreters handy, I'll translate--but leave his spelling fro you to witness yourself:

Dear Mom,
Thanks for all the stuff you do for me.  Even though sometimes you want not want to. Thanks for cooking, clean, love & support you give me, (Don't worrie I will get a scholarship for kicking even though you don't always believe me you still give me support, even though you may not think are). I know that football may not be you favorite think that you want me doing, but don't worrie I'll be safe.  So in all I love you mom even when I'm mad I still love you & always will.

He signed the back of the note for me. "Love Your Son".

Not bad for a Valentine's Day surprise?  Am I right?

Happy Valentine's Day

Just a thought...or two...

A Valentine's Surprise

Monday I got up, like any other day.  I got ready, like any other day.  I got a move on, like any other day.  Then I came downstairs and there was a HUGE cardboard package in my kitchen, leaning against the counter.

On it was a little computer printed Valentine's card from Genius Golfer that said "Now here's a Valentine's gift you can look at every day."  Not like any other day.

I ripped that ginormous cardboard box apart and found this:

It is the final piece to my front room makeover we started back in July.  This art print is called "Mediterranean Gold" and I just fell in love with it when I started thinking of giving the front room a grown up look.  I love the water and boats, the stacked homes, the rainbow of colors.  They are rich and lush and makes me think of a vacation near Italy, or somewhere equally warm.

Genius Golfer really out did himself this time.  He must have had to plan this surprise a month or so ago to get it here by Valentine's Day.  Then he had it delivered to his work, then he tricked me into using his car Sunday evening for an Eagle Court of Honor I went to--so he could run up to work in the Durango and bring this back.  Then he was up before me to set up the package in the kitchen for Valentine's morning.  That is a lot of planning.  Well done, I say.

Now the front room looks like this:

I love it!!

A Valentine's Surprise

Sunday night I came home from a visit to a Young Women's activity to find a delightful surprise. I found this hanky, note and a cute wedge shaped box with treats. The best part? It was allegedly from Mr. Edward Ferrars.

You know Edward. No, not that vampire, Edward. This one is the subdued gentleman, Edward Ferrars, from Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. It is one of my favorite novels. And Hugh Grant played the character opposite Emma Thompson in the 1995 film version. I can't complain about that either.

This was a wonderfully creative surprise left on my porch by a dear friend. The trouble is, I haven't identified that dear friend yet. I am lucky to have several friends who are as devoted Jane Austen fans as I am. So far no one is 'fessing up. If I can't nail down this giver of such a delightful gift soon, I will be forced to just accept the anonymity of it and enjoy the idea of a clever, Jane Austen-loving friend out there who cares enough for me to do something like this on Valentine's Day.

That sounds pretty good to me.

A Valentine Gone Bad

I've dug deep into my own embarrassment cellar today to pull out a Valentine's Day disaster. My freshman year of high school I wrote a love letter to someone who was a senior. Oh, how I crushed on him. Luckily, I had a moment of awareness and thought again before sending this little ditty to him. If I had, I'd have never lived it down.

To celebrate the holiday of love, or as Dear Friend Chris calls it, National Single Awareness Day, I thought I would expose myself for the floundering, hopelessly romantic teen that I was. This is, in reality, to make any of you feel better about whatever situation may have been your worst Valentine's Day by comparing it to my mortifying writings. It could have been worse. You could have written and sent this to someone. So, here goes:

For a mere moment, let me confess my undying love which my heart has for you. Allow me to reveal the desire I have within me for your arms to bind me in your grasp forever, never to let me go from your side. For, you see, the pain has gathered deep within me that you know not of my truest feelings for so long. Now I shall never keep my love for you captive in my soul again. It would be gratifying to my heart that you should know of my love and appreciation, and possibly someday return it to me. Won't you please devote yourself to me on this celebrated day of love, if only for a day? For you shall always be considered mine, if only in my eyes.
With the deepest affection,

It is any wonder I grew up to love Jane Austen's writing?

Tiny Addiction

It is February, and that means it is the time of year when these silly conversation hearts are available in my friendly, local grocery store. By the pound. How appropriate.

I love these dumb candies. Especially the orange colored ones. I don't usually bother reading them. I just eat them. I have a jar sitting next to the computer, as I speak, and I am imagining the sugary goodness that each bite hold for me.

Too bad I can't just buy the orange ones. Sadly I have to eat all the other colors first and then save the orange treasure for the last. Weird? Probably. But it fits the craving I have once a year for this heart-shaped, sugar-pad candy confection.

The only plus is the positive affirmation I do get if I stop to read the face of the hearts: "Cool Dude", "Fax Me", "Oh, You!", "Take Five", "Star Eyes". I'm hooked.

Me and Elizabeth Are Tight! NOT.

The most famous Valentine's Day poem is certainly Miss Elizabeth Barrett Browning's:

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints,--I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life!--and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.


--Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Sonnets from the Portuguese, Sonnet XLIII

I'd like to leave my own today, in honor of Valentine's Day and with a special shout out to Genius Golfer! Here goes:

Honey, you know I love you, right?
We've shared many years, a couple of fights.
I like to hear you home after you've been gone
Even if it hasn't been for very long.
You given me two kids; they are the best.
But you know what I mean when they're a "test"!
We've been together through much more,
I am sure you must at times thought me a bore.
Our commitment to each other runs true and deep,
Of that, I have never lost any sleep.
Where you are headed, I want to go
Whether golf course, Costco or just a show.
I love you more since we've been a team
Over again, I'd want you to pick me, pick me!

Now, you can see why I was never a poet. But I love my husband and my family. What better Valentines could I choose!?

I hope everyone has a lovely day where they are feeling appreciated, valued and loved! Really that is what each of us is looking to feel at the end of the day. Happy Valentine's Day, friends.