Thursday, February 14, 2008

What day now?

Valentine's day. Blar. I went shopping yesterday evening and the poor schmucks running around the store looking for cards, candy and flowers were truly, truly pathetic. They all had that deer-in-the-headlights look. And the crap that gets sold? Teddy bears and little cutesy-wootsy things... I think I saw one poor bastard walking around with a large red and pink dragon holding a lacy heart... who WANTS this crap? I mean yeah, I used to get into it and do the cards and flowers thing and get all pissed off if whoever my One True Love that year didn't get me the perfect gift that he had no clue whatsoever that I wanted...gah.

Part of my thing with Valentine's day is that I'm married to one of "those" guys, you know, the one that says "I don't need any Hallmark holiday to tell MY woman how much I love her." For the first few years we were married, he "got away with it" because, well, he *doesn't* need that crap. He's a great guy, sweet and kind and fun to be around, and he is always finding ways to let me know I am loved. Cuz that's what grownups who are married, you know, *do*. The fact that many couples seem to forget that simple fact continues to astound me, but that's another post entirely.

The other part is that over the years I have just grown a lot more practical. I don't want any more crap I don't need that is only going to clutter up my house. There's only so much jewelry I can wear, and greeting cards just get read and tossed frankly. (Now electronics...that's love right there...HD and Wii and RE4...oh my!)

Even kids - seriously, I have two, and there's really only so many stuffed fluffy whatevers they can keep in one house. I try to "do" Valentine's day for them, because it's expected and part of their socialization at school, and they're too young for me to be getting all cranky about it. I dressed in red today, and got them a treat for their "Valentine" -- a chocolate flower. We're spending a happy evening together as a family playing "Guitar Hero 3." Youngest Son seems to be really taken with the Slipknot song...must take after his mother. Hee. Good times. And we don't need a special day to do it.