Friday, February 13, 2009

Happy V.D.!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! Also, my heartiest condolences if you are attempting to make a dinner reservation or purchase reasonably priced roses at this late date.

After 18 years of marriage, the Silent Swede and I don't make a big deal out of Valentine's Day for the following reasons:
  • It falls between our wedding anniversary and our son's birthday, so the birthday festivities tend to take over and we usually combine anniversary and Valentine's Day for convenience.
  • We've been married 18 years.
This is not to say that the Swede and I don't love each other, but after you've been together for a while, Valentine's Day is just another day. Sure, it's a fun excuse to receive chocolates and sexual favors, but you can do that the other 364 days of the year. Also, when your boyfriend buys you overpriced flowers, it means he loves you. When your husband, someone with whom you share bank accounts, buys you overpriced flowers, it's time for a chat about fiscal responsibility.

Our most memorable Valentine's Day would have to be from several years ago, when we were stuck inside a Denny's booth across the street from Disneyland. With every other chain restaurant on the street packed to the gills, Denny's seemed to be the least of all evils. While we were trying not to stare at the, um, diverse assortment of humanity around us (think of characters from a David Lynch movie, but with kids), our very sweet but tired waitress informed us that the kitchen was running behind for the evening and apologized in advance. I think our dinner took about two hours, which is two hours too long to be inside any Denny's.

In the middle of it all, while our hungry and cranky kids tried to tear apart the booth, the Swede and I looked deep into each other's eyes and said together, "Happy Valentine's Day." Then we laughed maniacally and went back to restraining our little heathens.

***

On a (even) lighter note, Cake Wrecks, one of my favorite sites, offers a wonderful selection of wrecked Valentine's Day cake photos, including the one shown above. I highly recommend that you take a look-see.

Photo via Cake Wrecks

2 comments:

Mokihana said...

Great post! Our Valentine's Day was kinda like that today, too. Him busy with farm stuffs, me busy with various runnings around and coffee with a friend.

But a hug in front of the fireplace/woodstove, was really about all I needed.

But he did send for a lovely Hawaiian orchid for me, and I got him a new camera case.

We've been married a long time and it keeps getting better. That's the best present of all!

Kikue Mugen said...

I love the way you call hubby, "the swede". Nice pet name, that is.

Since there are two women in hubby's life (daughter and I) he does his best to be St. Valentine to the 'wahines'. Daughter and I each got a piece of jewelry and floaty heart balloons attached to their cases. Of course I complained about my balloon looking more childish than my daughter's, but when I think about it, it certainly matches our personalities.