Valentine's Day, Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?

The following is my sweet husband’s definition of yesterday’s holiday, in his own, exact words: Last week he suggested that we celebrate Valentine’s Day on Thursday instead of Tuesday, the real day.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because everything will be half off the day after Valentine’s Day”
You can tell that he is truly a romantic, can’t you?

While I know that he is not, and never will be a gushingly romantic guy, and while I have come to the understanding that he will never, on this day in mid-February, sweep me off my feet and plan a date and arrange a babysitter and gaze into my brown eyes over a candle-lit dinner while we talk about all of the amazing, fabulous things that make me, me…I think a little part of me will never give up hope that it could possibly, maybe, just maybe, one of these years, happen.

I knew this would not be that magical year. He had a city league basketball game, and an indoor soccer league game scheduled for Valentine’s night. Really? Who schedules city league sports games on Valentine ’s Day. Oh, that’s right, a guy! I had come to grips with this. I suggested that we at least go out to lunch for V-day, which he agreed to. Though, while I was pinning down my boys at the doctor’s office for their shots that morning, he called to see if it would be ok if he invited another couple to join us on our lunch date. Apparently his friend had just invited him out to lunch. He didn’t want to have tell his friend no, so the obvious solution in his cute little mind was to just invite his friend and his wife to tag along with us.

While I really like these friends, I was a little bewildered that my sweet husband would want to include them on our Valentine’s date. So I gave that idea the old heave ho.

While we were at lunch {with our adorable third wheel} An obnoxiously rude woman sitting two tables away was profaning left and right about the horrible service. She did not look like the type of person who was accustomed to lavish service, yet she hollered and stomped her feet and threw around the F word like it was going out of style until she finished her meal, licked her plate clean, and then demanded her money back because it was so bleepin’ terrible.
It kind of ruined any atmosphere this place had going for it. Not Sweet Husband’s fault, just not exactly a great time.

After a heart pizza dinner, the kids and I cheered Daddy on in a victorious soccer game {it really is a treat to watch such a fantastic player play, and be able to claim him as our own!}, but while he was off winning the league basketball championship, and I was putting the kids to bed, and then doing dishes, and then folding laundry while I watched a couple mushy, V-Day themed TV shows all ALONE, I let those lonely, wistful, girly feelings creep in that make me wish that my man cared about stuff like dumb, romantic, made up holidays.

But alas, I will have to resign myself to be happy with a guy who cares about things like providing for his family, and taking care of my car, and doing ALL of the yard work, and shoveling our enormous driveway so I can safely leave the house amidst a snowstorm, and making time to attend all of our children’s parent teacher conferences with me, and massaging my quads after a particularly hard work out, and doing his home teaching, and showing his kids tricks on the trampoline, and dancing with me at church dances because he knows I love it, and telling his babies incredible bedtime stories, and making sure those babies have all thoroughly brushed their teeth before they get to hear those incredible bedtime stories, and offering to play Boggle with me when I’ve had an exceptionally bad day, and singing sweet country songs to me even though he’s not exactly a singer, and you know, all the really amazing, charming, thoughtful things he does every. single. day. I sure do love that man - even if he does loathe one of my very favorite holidays. And, really, he's kind of adorable, isn't he?

I do hope you had a good Valentine's Day, but I hope you have a better, every other day of the year with your significant other. Here's to real, day in, day out, snow shoveling love!