Mixed Bag Of Rant

The History of Valentine’s Day
Every February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine.But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday? The history of Valentine’s Day — and its patron saint — is shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance…

To Find out more… http://www.historychannel.com/exhibits/valentine/?page=history

Okay. My rant. As a kid, I used to love Valentine’s Day. Decorating an empty box of kleenex to get valentine’s and treats from all the other kids. Everyone felt special. Everyone felt loved. When you get older… that’s when the holiday gets dumb. Watching those who are all spoony (ha! Spoony is the Google Word of the Day!!!) get flowers, gifts, jewelry… UGH! Nothing worse than being single on Valentine’s Day. Then came Valentine’s Day in college. Goodness gracious. All about hitting the clubs and, well, hitting on anything male with 3 legs that will offer any sort of affection and usually settling for grinding on the dance floor with some sweaty, drunk pig. Then you meet the one and Valentine’s Day once again becomes this special, meaningful day- enormous flowers gigantic enough to take up your whole cubicle, fancy dinners, romantic gifts such as robes and slippers… Ahhhhh. I miss those days already!! Don’t get me wrong, I love being married, but let’s see what changed: we celebrated a day early so we wouldn’t have to deal with crowds, we went out to a much less expensive restaurant and used a gift certificate (the bill was a whopping $12), after that we went to Target where I purchased a new iron and ironing board pad, and then, retreated back to our palace to our separate locations to watch such exciting television as Skating with Celebrities, The Bachelor, and 24. We’ve only been married 4 months!!! I certainly hope it gets better with age or it is going to be a LONG 50 years of disappointing Valentine’s Days. Now today on the day, I am of course the one who didn’t get my flowers (that were supposed to be a surprise but my husband kept IM’ing me asking me if I got anything yet), and of course it is 40 minutes until I leave and I haven’t gotten crap. I’m not sure what’s making me feel worse- the fact that the surprise is ruined, that I have to watch every other married, engaged, spoken for woman in the office get their flowers, or knowing that I’m going home to watch American Idol and eat fajitas. I think it probably more to the fact that I have PMS!!! Stupid holiday.

I guess, rather than make such a big deal out of what is really a dumb day, I kinda wish my husband would randomly surprise me with flowers on an ordinary day. Not my birthday, not when we have a fight, not on Valentine’s Day, but just because. Now, I say that now, but of course I’ll be pissed if I don’t get something on Valentine’s Day! I’m such a hypocrite.

Perhaps this dumb day is a smart day- a day that teaches us to remember those we love whether it be your mom, your dad, your significant other or whomever. A day to recall childhood wonderment. A day to celebrate our family and friends who love us.

$80: A dozen red roses
$50: Dinner out on the town
$10: Valentine’s Day Cards
Saying “I Love You”: Priceless