Let me tell you "egg"sactly how I feel!

Y'all know what's coming up, right? Dreaded and feared by many, loved by many as well and some, I suspect, may feel very blase about the whole ordeal. All around the world 3 people who read this blog still, men's wallets have cringed, women's hearts have either swooned or sweared at me. Oh yes, my friends, it's almost VALENTINE'S DAY! Now, if you're the Scroogey type who wants to bitch and moan about how it's a Hallmark holiday paid for by the greeting card companies just to earn some extra cash, I'm going to request you shut your freakin yap and don't ruin my joy mosey on along and read whatever I wrote about last! I've basically always loved all the holidays and I tend to think that, as with most things, they are what you make of them (and no, they should NOT be the only time you express your love for your partner!). The ex was never sup-ah about it but he did usually come through with a card and a gift I'd picked out.

Well now I'm in a long-distance relationship so there is no dinner night out, no snuggling up for a rom-com and then making the neighbors jealous with our enthusiastic crying out to the heavens and then breaking a hip, banging the headboard against the wall uhhh snoring. But we do things our own way. For one, the Mist-uh is a wonderful gift giver. I'm constantly wow'ed with the things he comes up with and the ideas that make him think of me and his own particular brand of...well, just getting me. Whether it's dozens of pink roses, tulips and irises, surprise Chuck Taylors, electronic devices or my beloved wooden watch, the man has never let me down. Secondly we have long distance date nights down to a science. Last year we took a google maps street view map to every place I've ever wanted to visit. Cheesy? Maybe I guess. But I thought it was sweet that he'd kept track of several places I wanted to visit and had already taken the time to book mark them. We pulled up close to the Ryman and took a trip around the Opry. We got spooked at the Sara Winchester house AND where Lizzie Borden took her 40 whacks. After we'd visited places I wanted to see (not all of them gory, I swear!) he took me around his home town and around where he works and the places he takes his kiddo to visit. Then with some help from him because he has the patience of a saint, I showed him around where I grew up, that tiny little suburb of Albuquerque and we talked about how it had exploded in population and growth. It was a wonderful Valentine's Day.

I'm not sure what he's got in store this year. He's been very tight lipped beyond asking a couple of jewelry themed questions (including sizes, hmmm). I, on the other hand, basically being an 8 year old at heart sent his gift-gift early (a boring gift card to his coffee shop, if you live on the East Coast, you know there's only one!). But, and I couldn't keep this part a surprise either, I'm putting together 14 punny and completely cheesy Valentine's cards that I'm mangling drawing myself. In each "card" is a hand-drawn "graphic" (read: stick figure), a punny joke, a cheesy, sentimental line from me, and then a picture of me much younger or with the kids so he can build up his own collection of family photos like I have here of him and our little family. That part's no surprise, though I think he'll love the puns (thinking to himself as he can't help but grin: "that's my Buttahcup"), love the pictures and maybe even get a little mushy on his own at whatever I write. And then...oh...then for the real gift. Well I'm keeping that part pretty quiet myself. It involves poetry, a language I don't yet speak fluently and a craft project I'm rather nervous about. He knows my favorite romantic poet so it won't be a HUGE surprise, though I think he'll be pleased at how much work I put into it. His appreciation for the gift itself will mean more than anything he can buy at any store. I'll close with this little hint.

From Pablo Neruda:


"Entonces el amor sabía que se llamaba amor.
Y cuando levanté mis ojos a tu nombre,
de repente su corazón me mostró mi camino "