happy valentine's day!!!!!!!!!

Alright, alright. I'll admit it. I'm actually not a big Valentine's girl. I think I used to be. My dad would buy a flower and a card for each of us girls, and I always thought that was lovely. But once I got to junior high, and Valentine's extended beyond my immediate family, the "holiday" brought much more trauma than affection. What if I'm the only person in the whole school not carting around some token of affection? Or worse, what if someone does hand me a bunch of droopy chocolate roses? Do I give that boy five lockers down something? I mean, he's kind of cute, but I don't actually know his name. And what do I do with the plastic earrings that the other boy in my English class gave me? I'm pretty sure his mom just picked them up for him ("hope you like this . . . it's just a little something my mom picked up.") -- does that mean I'm not obligated to wear them?

Can you see why I would be scarred? Even in the late 80's I didn't wear plastic earrings. But there they were, neon pink plastic earrings and a boy with a big smile on his face.

[Speaking of, someone told me recently the 80's are coming back. She was kidding, right? Oh please tell me she was kidding.]

So I don't really count this as a holiday I'm required to pay attention to. The good news is that my husband doesn't count it a holiday either. The bad news is that my kids do.

They don't mind so much that I don't decorate (let's face it, I don't do much decorating for anything), but the cards. Ohhh the cards, for each school mate year after year. How those cards have haunted me. This being a non-holiday, it just sort of sneaks up on me, and the best we can do late on Valentine's Eve is run to the grocery store and stock up on princess pop-up cards and a bag of hearts.

But this year, praise be, the girls started preparations a week early, resulting in actual handmade cards. And I must say, I kind of like Valentine's Day this way.

I mean, who wouldn't want a chunk of a watercolor painting with chocolate glued on it? Even I can go for a holiday exchange like that.