Bittersweet Valentine

The first memory that comes careening into my mind like a transport truck on an icy hill was when just a week before Valentine's Day I unceremoniously dumped my boyfriend. Not one of my more shining moments. Why, why did I dump him? No idea, I think I may have eaten too many scallops that day and was suffering from some sort of seafood dementia. Boy did I ever pay for that blunder! As luck would have it I bumped into my ex before the big day and did my best to undo all I had done. I thought I had it all figured out and that I wouldn’t be spending Valentine's Day alone.

But it was just not meant to be. February 14th arrived with a vengeance, we had one of our biggest snowstorms complete with high winds and ice pellets. I had a hard time believing that I had just been thwarted by the weather. (Curse you Maritime weather for wreaking havoc in my love life!) There was no way I would be able to spend a happy valentines evening with my guy — ARGHHHHHHH! Fortunately we were able to get together after the big day and now we are happily married (the smartest move I have ever made, no more scallops for me).

The next memory that leaps into my mind is from last year. My newlywed husband and I decided to “get away from it all” and spent a night in a hotel for Valentine's Day. We had a hotel gift certificate, we were ready to enjoy ourselves. Again, this was not to be. Our first indicator that this was not going to be the dreamiest Valentine's Day ever was that the hotel was a mere 5 minutes away from our home. Then there was the pool, which was extremely warm, it was like swimming in a perpetual “pee spot.” And finally in our room we completed our fun filled evening by watching house renos and Star Trek reruns. Yet another Valentine's Day blunder.

This brings us to this year, to today even. Have I learned anything from my previous experiences? Have I been successful in my attempt to make Valentine's Day special rather then a screw up? And the answer is nope. I still haven’t figured out how it is that other people are able to pull off this holiday with flare and romance. I seem to have more flop and frustration. As far as my husband and I coming up with some romantic plans for the day goes, it just didn’t happen. Our conversations about what to do consisted of:
"Valentine's Day is coming soon."
"Yup."
"We should do something."
"Yeah, we could go out for supper or something."
"Yeah. . ."
(Cough)
"So, yeah. how was work?"

See the dilemma? We never got past the idea of doing something and taking it to the next level of actually booking something. Then there was the gift issue. What was I going to get my hubby? I thought of the ever impressive special Valentine boxers which are always a hit, and I wanted to get him a Homestar Runner shirt, and some home baked cookies. Special undies — check. (So far so good). Homestar Runner shirt, I looked and looked but nothing. Apparently the one place that does have stock was cleaned out by some blonde lady who bought their last three shirts for her husband (Blonde lady, if you’re out there I’m so coming to your husband’s closet and taking those shirts hostage).

Now for the cookies. My friend Nancy and I were going to bake the cookies but we needed a place that was husband-free. We called up our friend Celeste and borrowed her facilities. Celeste was more than happy to lend her kitchen to us while we baked. The end result was fabulous! We had an amazing triple batch of scrumptious chocolate chip cookies! I was pleased. At least my hubby would have home made cookies. Valentine's Day was looking like it might just be a keeper this year.

I spoke too soon. I came home with my goodies and stashed them in the laundry room. My ever helpful husband offered to do the grocery shopping so I could stay home. Perfect! Now I could gift wrap everything and have it all ready for Monday. I was so impressed, I may not have had the awesome Homestar Runner shirt but I had everything else, nothing could possibly ruin Valentine's Day. Or so I thought. I helped my husband put away the groceries and in amongst the baby spinach and salad dressing was a box of store bought chocolate chip cookies! He was so pleased! He had wanted to try dunking cookies in chocolate milk and now here was his opportunity. He was beaming with pride.

I thought I would pull every last hair out of my head. I went and sat in the bathroom mulling over what possible course of action I had available to me. I decided on being the ever popular Grumpy McSulky, i.e. "I can’t believe that you just bought cookies after I baked all afternoon to make Valentine's Day special” attitude. This of course only left my husband in utter confusion and wonderment as to what he may have possibly done to offend me this time. In order to save our sanity and my head of hair we decided to just exchange gifts right then and there, I scampered back to the laundry room and plopped the red hearted bag on my husband’s lap. As soon as he saw the cookies he knew the error of his ways and apologized profusely for bringing the store brand chocolate chip abominations into our home. He was very happy to have the home baked cookies and marvelled at the ingenuity of going to a friend’s place to bake them. Perhaps all was not lost.

Now it's Valentine's Day, the sun is shining and there isn’t even a hint of snow in the air, we don’t have any hotel gift certificates and we do have reservations for a fine dining establishment. Happy Valentine’s Day to one and all!