Love, Amusingly...

At Casa WestEnders, we've never taken Valentine’s Day terribly seriously. I mean, there are no romantic dinner dates, or pink champagne toasts, or…general mushiness. Nah—for us, it’s pretty much like any other day…but with a super-handy built-in excuse to eat copious amounts of CHOCOLATE! (Riiiight—as if we needed one…but whatever…)

Therefore, I felt a little alarmed-slash-intrigued when I was performing my routine online perusal of our recent account activity, and spotted an unknown charge on the credit card. (I confess that I check up on an almost daily basis, since A) our previous card got hacked 4 times before I finally gave up on it and B) let’s be real: that’s just how compulsive a Family Financial Manager I am. So on a side note--even though there was no telltale receipt presented to me to enter into the program I use to track all of our household expenses--good luck getting away with a “secret gift” around here, in the age of digital banking! But I digress…)

ANYWAY…it was for a local bakery called Sugarland, on Franklin Street…so I figured I’d at least wait until after the 14^th to see if it was actually Husband doing the purchasing…rather than some sneaky sweets-bandit who’d swiped our information…to feed his or her cookie addiction. Meanwhile, I did my own Target raid, to obtain treats for the boys, as small tokens of my undying affection. (Because nothing proclaims “I love you dearly” like fresh breath, yeah? What can I say—Altoids and black licorice are their faves, for some reason…)

Then I stood in front of the card rack for, oh, approximately 20 minutes, reading and rejecting (and sometimes groaning or gagging at) one offering after another, until I at last hit upon what I believe may be the most perfect sentiments EVER for all three of my guys. (Seriously, I should just stop here, and never patronize Hallmark again, because I suspect it’s not gonna get any better than this…) C’mon—the dishwasher? That’s an instant classic, I tell ya. And in the “Great Minds Think Alike” category (or, you know, “People Who Are Related to Each Other Have Similar Ideas”, which definitely doesn’t have the same ring, so just we’ll stick with the first one…) apparently Riley and I went the same direction this year, and decided to bring Spanish to the Dia de Amor (not to mention its punny cousin, “Spanglish”).

Husband, on the other hand, lamented that he’d gone to 2 stores (that obviously were NOT the illustrious Tar-zhay)

and been equally dissatisfied by the unsuitability and/or gooey sentimentality of this year’s selection…so he gave up on the packaged drivel and wrote his own message on a sheet of paper snagged from his office printer…plus bought flowers (Which earns valuable Spouse Points for his demonstrated effort, and persistence!) Oh, and the...confection mystery...was cleared up when he brought home a box of specially-ordered gluten-free cupcakes from the aforementioned shop (red velvet with cream cheese icing and YUM, in case you’re wondering). So, heart-day WIN for Husband, all around.

As for the rest of the 14^th, it’s just the yoozh…school, work, soccer practice, blah blah blah. But as we all go about completing our regular tasks, at least there will be plenty of opportunities for...let's call them "cocoa-fueled mental health breaks"! Mmmmmm….