Ten-Finger Exercises

Sheepish Valentine

Some people are better at this Valentine thing than others. My husband is definitely better than most, in fact better than any I know. He may think of those gift-y holidays, like birthdays and anniversaries and Valentine's Day, at the last minute, but that's usually at least twelve hours before I do. Sure, I've seen the hearts in the all the stores, and a few outdoor decorations even; it's not like I didn't know it was coming. It just comes at me for so long, there's no immediacy to it. On the rare occasions when I think to buy Valentines in advance, I've usually misplaced them by the big day. Or just forgotten to mail them.

Today I'm wishing I'd sent off Valentines to my grandchildren. They would have gotten a thrill out of it, and I didn't even think of it. Maybe I should buy some stock in Hallmark so I'd feel more strongly about keeping them in business. Other than the Valentines I forgot to send the kids, I probably wouldn't have bought any. Maybe one for my husband, but for the most part I'm just not a card buyer. I do love the ones he's given me in the past, when he's marked out some of the words and put in his own, and made funny comments and doodles on the pages. Personalizing. Once he drew a bee on a flower, sneezing!

This morning he also gave me a stuffed bull holding a heart, a funny birthday card he'd made into a valentine, some sugarfree pepermint patties, and had beautiful flowers delivered to me at the office. Am I making you ladies all jealous, and you guys sheepish too?

So what did I have for him? Well...er...uh.... I did stop at the new and used bookstore this afternoon, and got him a whole armload of books while I brought back another armload. And I stopped at the liquor store for a new bottle of Pendleton. Nothing romantic though.
Do they make romantic presents for men? Other than boxer shorts with hearts on them, that is. And new cars. They're always good. I did think about getting him a tie with hearts, but who would wear it the day after Valentine's Day?

What's the best Valentine's Day present you ever received?

(Quick! I'd better get some heart emoticons before they're sold out!)
(Whew! I got there in time!)

Love somebody today!