Happy Valentine's Day!

A few musings on Valentine's Day...

Valentine's is a strange holiday. Part of me agrees with Ian, who says it is a made up holiday for greeting cards and flower shops. It is silly, to think of "celebrating" love with one day of the year. And of course, I'm thankful for Ian every day, not just today, and I tell him I love him every day, not just today. Naturally, I'm shocked at the restaurants who take their regular menu, double the entrees, throw in a dessert, call it a Dinner for Lovers and jack up the price. Clearly, we're not going out tonight, not going to join in that hub bub. In fact, we're not even doing gifts. NOT EVEN CARDS.

But on the other hand, I LOVE celebrating. I LOVE holidays of any kind. I LOVE any excuse to go out and have a fun time and live it up. So why can't I celebrate Valentine's Day? If it were up to me, our house would have red hearts hanging from pink ribbon in every doorway in every room. Since my husband rarely offers an opinion about how I decorate, when he does, I have to respect that. So, the only thing slightly Valentine-ish in our house is the red streamers hung in our dining room, remnants of our recent couples game night. The other thing rolling around in my mind is that I want others (like co-workers and friends) to know how romantic Ian is and when we don't celebrate V-Day, he looks like a party pooper. Which he's really not. Then I feel silly for needing other people to think we're so in love. We are so in love and we don't need Valentine's Day to show/prove that.

But then again, why not embrace a holiday? I will admit that I am wearing a red sparkly sweater today, and red high heals (perhaps my favorite pair of shoes ever - they have a ribbon around the edge and a bow on the top. Excessive? Yes. Perfect for me? YES!). And my mom is coming to take me out for lunch and we're going to get dessert. So in my own small way, I am celebrating Valentine's Day.

But tonight, we will put in a frozen pizza and babysit our nephew so Ian's sister and her husband can have their own celebration. And no one will mention it's Valentine's Day. And that will be okay.