Happy V-Day to Me

Well, my Valentine's Day started out rather interestingly. I was sleeping soundly when my dogs began to make a ruckus (that's such a FUN word), so I grudgingly decided to get up, since I had oodles of work to do. As I opened the bedroom door (which opens into the front entryway - so charming), I heard what sounded like someone turning the lock or the doorknob. Now, at 8 in the morning I am generally the only one here besides my pet entourage, so I was a bit alarmed. Well, as alarmed as one can be when one still only has one eye open. I shuffled to the other side of the house to look out the office window (not a long trip, I assure you), and didn't see anyone on the porch. I noticed a vehicle in the driveway, next to my car, but from the angle of the window you can only see part of the vehicle parked on that side of the driveway. In my state of half-eyed sleepiness, it looked to me like a minivan. Don't ask me why, but it did. So I stood there for a few seconds wondering WHO would be visiting me at 8 in the FREAKING MORNING in a MINIVAN, and where were they anyway? Then the vehicle began backing out and I realized it was Jay in his truck. So, again, in my state of not-fully-alert, fuzzy-brained and fuzzy-eyed. . . ness, I wondered, why is he just now leaving, I thought he left a long time ago to take Andy to school. I shrugged off this mystery and shuffled into the kitchen, where, LO AND BEHOLD, a BEAUTIFUL vase of LOVELY VALENTINE FLOWERS was sitting next to my coffee pot. Does my man know me or what? That's my first stop after the potty, and really, who'd want to find flowers sitting on the potty? Not too romantic.

So of course this causes me to remember that the card I'd bought for said man THREE WEEKS AGO, along with the candy I bought for him on Tuesday, were still in the closet, because I had forgotten to set them out for his enjoyment when he got up in the morning. I called to thank him profusely for the sweet gesture, and to confess that I DID in fact have a reciprocal Valentine for him, but I had . . . ahem . . . FORGOTTEN to put it out. I signed the card, put it with the candy next to his sink in the bathroom, since that is the first place he goes when he gets home from work . . . BUT, when I returned home from church, he was unloading groceries and then made some cheese dip and several other things, and after about an hour, I finally said "Did you ever even GO in the bathroom?" To which he replied, "Well, no, I didn't need to go . . . " Guess I should have clarified why I was asking. So I sent him in there to "discover" his suprise LATE Valentine. We are nothing if not clever and romantic in our gestures, are we not?

Valentine's Day is a wild card with this man anyway - some years I get flowers, some years I get flowers and a card, some years I get an actual gift and a card, some years I JUST get a card, and then there are those years where I get zipadeedoodah because he "didn't get a chance to go to the store." Now I'm sorry, but most women would rather hear "I forgot" than "I didn't get a chance to go to the store." But in his defense, that hasn't happened in a long time. And it sure keeps me on my toes - I never know what's coming so I have NO expectations, which means on years like this one, I am so sweetly surprised by the gesture that it means a whole lot to me. He's definitely on the good list right now, since he also gave me a wonderful surprise Christmas gift and another one just a week later for our 20th anniversary. Yep, he's a suitor . . . he's bona fide.