Love and Other Necessities

Here we are, the evening of Valentine’s Day, and I’m hanging out Leroy before settling myself down at the kitchen table for a couple hours to deal with my marking. Before you start sending indignant emails directed at The Electrician, let’s remember that he stole me away for a romantic weekend in the Rockies at the beginning of February. This year, the Valentine from my love looked like this:

Heck yeah. We also went for pasta last night before our ballroom dance class, and counted that as our official Valentine’s dinner. Like I told The Electrician, I much prefer to eat out the night before the big one, when the restaurant is nearly empty and nothing is sold out from the menu. I like to be able to enjoy a conversation rather than holler at my love over all the din of “romance” and the smell of first date armpits and ring hidden in the jacket pocket cold sweats.

Tonight, I worked late, picked the pooch up from daycare, then made a quick and healthy meal for myself. Let’s hear it for left over pork tenderloin, people. Next, I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things I missed on yesterday’s grocery run and the last piece of a baby gift for a colleague. Shopping at Wal-Mart on occasions like Valentine’s Day and Halloween is highly recommended. There was nobody around, I barely waited in line, and the whole shebang took thirty-five minutes.

The lesson of today’s post: shop when other people are doing more exciting things. Do exciting things the day before all the other people. Either ways, skip the crowds.