Happy Valentine's Day

It's Valentine's Day.... and I would be remiss not to pay some sort of tribute.

First, I should mention my husband and I really don't celebrate it... Not really. At least, we don't celebrate it the way marketers for this contrived holiday expect us to with golden heart-shaped pendants, flowers, trans fat, and slutty lingerie. We don't even try to go out on this night...

After several attempts at Valentine's Day past, we're decidedly just not that "romantic".

Our first Valentine's Day, my husband, then boyfriend, didn't really get the concept. Valentine's Day was on a Friday that year. For several weeks leading up to Feb 14, he had spent many late nights and weekends working in the office. I figured that Valentine's Day would be no exception.

A few days before, a VP at my company asked if I could baby-sit his kids that night. This family paid very, very generously and I needed the money, but before accepting I asked my husband if we should make plans of our own for that night.

He said he would be working late again, but we could celebrate over the weekend. So off I went to baby sit for the family that "only had hundreds on hand" and all the cable I could have ever wanted.

After the kids went to bed, I called to check on my poor overworked husband, then boyfriend, but he couldn't hear me.... BECAUSE HE WAS AT A BAR WITH HIS FRIENDS.

No, he didn't lie to me... Not really. At around 8pm that night, he and some of his (single and desperate) friends decided they'd had enough late nights working and wanted to "just relax". So, in his infinite dating prowess and guy wisdom, my husband figured that since I was baby-sitting at the moment, he'd go out with his friends until I was done... so logical.

I pointed out that it doesn't work that way, Dumbass. Obviously if I had known he wasn't going to be working, I wouldn't have accepting the baby-sitting job on Valentine's Day and WE could have gone out. Ah, circular logical.

To make it worse, later that night he showed up at my apartment to BEG for forgiveness. He smelled of cheap tequila and had a huge salsa stain on the front of his shirt. When I opened the door, I knew this was going to be an amusing story I would be telling at dinner parties for years upon years, but at the moment I was kinda mad...

Clearly, I got over it. The next day he tried to make up for it by taking me out...Oh, and I DID end up marrying him. The best part is that it really does make for an amusing story to share at dinner parties.

That was the first and last time I tried to make a big deal about Valentine's Day. Our Valentine's since then have been very forgettable. I say that because I have no idea what we did to celebrate... Well, except for the one year when we decided to buy a HDTV as a gift to ourselves. That was very good year.

This Valentine's Day, I mailed photo cards of my son bearing the caption "Won't you be my Valentine?" to the extended family and to some friends who like to joke that our kids will get married one day. I bought two card for my husband- one from me and one from our son to his Daddy, and bought my husband some new sweatpants to replace the hiduous ones he dubbed the "emergency pants" (whew-hew). The three of us plan to have a cozy dinner at home and call it an early night.

I'm not sure what (if anything) my husband as planned for me. I love my husband dearly. He is a very thoughtful man in many ways, but he's just not very good about gifts, cards, and flowers. Fortunately for him, he has a wife that has not only accepted this, but has taken to buying her own gifts--he-he!

"Look what you got me for my birthday, Honey. Do you want to wrap? No. Okay, I guess I'll just start wearing/using it now! You're the best..."

How much easier can it get?

Hugs & Kisses

photo by Patflinschrod