A Simple Valentine's Day

Last week my wife and I celebrated Valentine's Day, probably one of America's most controversial holidays just behind Columbus Day.  It seems to make single people feel like they can't celebrate with everyone else and sometimes makes attached people feel like they must put on some big show to prove their feelings.  Shouldn't we show our loved ones what they mean to us all year long? Do we really need a day to remind us to appreciate our loved ones? Maybe not, but are birthdays REALLY necessary? Do we need a day dedicated to talking like a pirate? We might not need them, but all these holidays give us an excuse to celebrate. Some times life gets busy, and it's nice to have yearly reminders to slow down or be silly or make an effort to be romantic.

Balloons I picked up at the dollar store.

Copyright Jeff Howick 2011

My wife and I didn't celebrate Valentine's Day on February 14 this year.  Like most holidays we treat Valentine's more like a season than just one day.  I don't like how anti-climatic most holidays are, all that planning and build-up and then they only last for a few hours?  That's why I love Christmas and Halloween, because you get to decorate and celebrate for weeks at a time.  This year we had a nice simple date the day before and the day after Valentine's Day.

The day before, we took advantage of IHOP's all-you-can-eat shrimp promotion.  We found a nice comfortable booth to play card games and get stuffed on a constant supply of shrimp.  There's nothing like traveling through time to stop Lincoln's assassination all while eating unlimited shrimp next to the one you love.  It was like a little preview of heaven and it took me back to the golden days of high school and college when I'd spend hours and hours playing games and snacking at cafes or coffee shops with my friends.

Chrononauts: a time traveling card game

Copyright Jeff Howick 2011

Copyright Jeff Howick 2011

The day after Valentine's my wife took me to the mall, where she got me exactly what I wanted: A GIANT COOKIE!  I love cookies at LEAST as much as cookie monster, and giant cookies fill me with pure bliss. There's also a giant cookie incident in my past that has deeply affected me, maybe I'll blog about it someday.  Anyway, a giant cookie is always a great gift in my mind and my wife came through big time this year.  I feel so lucky to have someone in my life who understands me so well, so I guess Valentine's Day did it's job for me this year and helped give me another small reminder of how fortunate I am.