L'amour

     What a week. There was a new arrival

Benjamin Barker

Congratulations to my cousin and her husband on the arrival of their first.

 

     Her sister, (yes that makes her my cousin as well ), the genius behind Tried, Tested and True Mommy, found out she is also expecting a boy. Congrats again.

 

 

     A trip to the periodontist. Love feeling like I've been smashed in the face with a bat. Top it off with heavy antibiotics that mean: A) I can't drown my sorrows and B) I feel sick all the time. Imagine how happy I was dealing with quips like, "He just wants to be special". I'm not a violent man but I really wanted to punch him in the mouth just to show him how special I was feeling.

 

     Moving on.

 

You win Old Man Winter

 

Two hours of digging

I knew there was a vehicle under there.

 

     And we're back to another Listicles with Stasha.

 

     Seeing all the things you all have in your purses reaffirmed it is NO MAN"S LAND. A sacred space much like a man's wallet. I didn't even venture a comment on most. My mother taught me better than that. (I do want to know how a coyote skin was part of Ellen and Erin's Christmas Tea Party though. Being the intrepid explorers they are I imagine a story there)

 

     I'm on my last day of meds, feeling blah, the perfect setting for our prompt this week. "Oh no you didn't", the craptacular side of Valentine's Day gifting.

 

     Valentine's Day, the day devoted to l'amour. In my house it should have two R's, armour because as every child of the 80's knows

 

 

     I'm not sure why but V'day is almost always a dust up. The feud starts with planning which restaurant, degenerates into, "Fine, we'll just stay home and do take out", resumes with deciding what to order and usually ends up with us in separate rooms fuming over chocolate and roses.

 

     For the record, I like the idea of a day devoted to Love. The reality, I"d just as soon skip the hype, save the cash and go skiing on Family Day just a couple of days later.

 

     I'm also  not great at gifting. Unless I see something that really says "Buy me for ____, they'll love it", I don't. I hate the idea of giving a gift because you're obligated to rather than because you want to or because you saw something the recipient would really enjoy. I don't see the point. I think this is the perfect segue into, Oh no you didn't.

 

1 Probably the worst gift ever, a blind date or ambush as I like to call it. When I was single this happened a couple of times. Invited over or out to dinner with friends, Oh, by the way..... You really see what your friends think of your taste when they try and set you up. Don't do it. Not on Valentine's Day, not ever.

 

Okay, maybe there are some exceptions to #1

 

 

2 Go big or stay home. Last minute dinner at a cheap restaurant because you forgot or couldn't be bothered to take the time to plan... Brrrr, it's chilly in here all of a sudden. Buy some ingredients and cook or better yet, we'll cook together. There's lots of heat in the kitchen.

 

3-9 Remove the tags. I don't need to see the price you put on love, that it was a 2 for 1 sale, that it came from Dollorama, was used, the floor model, scratched, dented or refurbished. I'm not saying you need to spend a lot of money, you don't, but V'day is maybe not the time to flaunt your frugal spending habits.  A buy one get one free tag doesn't scream you're the one I adore. And I want to feel adored.

 

10 Buy for your target audience. If I'm receiving a gift, I'd like it to be my size, a colour I like or something I'd use. This Christmas, three of my four gifts fit my other half like a glove, me like the skin on a grape. How do I know this? I mentioned they were really small, questioning whether they would even fit him. The response, "They fit me perfectly" and they do. Happy holidays darling.

 

    On that note, off to Stasha's to see other V'day flops.

 

     If you'd like to spread the joy a little further, link up with Jennifer on the big day.