Happy Valentine's Day!

Let's face it, Valentine's Day, anymore, boils down to a loot list - how sweet is my sweetie, well let's see what all he bought me and in what sort of elaborate fashion did we celebrate. So let me break it down into the emotion:

Jason was on his way out of the grocery store last night when he decided to double-check the date on a newspaper to make sure he didn't miss Valentine's Day. As he'd originally thought it was this Tuesday or Wednesday, it's a good thing he did. I went out to my car this morning to find a heart-shaped box of candy and a lovely card, grabbed after he'd loaded up the groceries and went back inside the store.

Jason got a card from me, a card from Veronica, and a box of candy with a balloon bouquet delivered to his new workplace. The card and candy were purchased one day on a lunch outing - my co-workers and I had just ordered at a Chinese restaurant, and I then ran down to the Hallmark store two doors down. My hot n' sour soup had just arrived when I got back. The candy was then given to my co-worker Sarah, whose husband owns and operates a flower shop; she said she could attach the box of Anthony Thomas all-dark chocolates - Jason's favorite - to a balloon bouquet. This was the first time since we've been married that I could have something delivered to his workplace; I wanted him to see how nice it feels to have that happen, as he's done it for me before. It was all paid for in cash, so no tell-tale entries on our banking statement when Jason went online to do bills. The card from Veronica involved two of her favorite things, bears and cars - I'm sure she would've chosen it herself if she were old enough - and was signed by her when Jason was out of the house.

Veronica got a new book and DVD, both of Dora the Explorer. Jason hates Dora. I find the show to be mildly tolerable at best. But Veronica loves it with a passion. She dances to the songs. She imitates Swiper the Fox - few things are cuter than her echoing his phrase "Oh, man!" - and waves bye when the show is over. Veronica loves Dora, and we love Veronica. We watched four episodes in a row this evening from that DVD, and Veronica loved it - that's all that matters. :-)

And yesterday we went to the 97.1 Reading Festival at the local Aladdin Shrine Center. Veronica was too little for any of the activities. It was crowded and it was dull. But there were people in costume there, and one of them was SpongeBob - her favorite next to Dora. She got to meet this SpongeBob, and grinned from ear to ear, saying "Bum-bob? Bum-bob Pants?" She shook his hand - I didn't even know she knew how to do that! - and grinned and said bye-bye when it was time to leave. She was so happy.

So yeah, this was kind of a loot list, but it wasn't full of mindless gifts meant to impress others. They were all filled with love and care for one another, only meant to warm the hearts of the recipients. I told Veronica "Valentine's Day is the day to make sure you tell the ones you love just how much you love them." That's what these gifts were all about. And while I'd like to be able to do these things for my loved ones every day, I'm thinking hugs, kisses, and spoken "I love yous" will have to do for the next 365 days. And that's all right by me, too.