Ready for Valentine's?

There were no crowds at the gym this January. I even got up an hour early so that I could be sure to park and find a machine to work out on. Considering that I already basically live on Eastern time, that was pretty early. I smugly did my workout, just sure that by the time I left, crowds of people in their new Christmas sweats would be swarming all around me, desperate for exercise.

I was wrong.

Which was good, because I could stop getting up at 3:30, but also bad, because where were the exercisers? As annoying as a crowded gym is, it is gratifying to see people--at least for three weeks of the year--seeing the need for exercise.

Well, to my surprise, it hit this week. Yesterday and today, I had to park so far away from the gym that I didn't really need the gym quite so much by the time I arrived at it on foot.

Really? That many people thought, "I'd better get a good workout in before my hot Valentines' date!"? Like, two workouts is going to solve your problem? Amusing.

I knew that Valentine's Day was not going to be a big deal for us because my husband has to work and we don't have any money.

We made homemade valentines with the children. Our baby decided to decorate all of his with stamps. He confided to me that he had used a stamp saying, "Kiss!" on Daddy's valentine. "He'll have to kiss me when I give him his valentine!" he exulted. Daddy overheard and snickered silently to himself. Later, the baby told me, showing me the back of the heart, "Daddy will have to kiss me AND hug me! Look!" I updated Paul so he wouldn't blow his cue.

The finished valentines went into a basket on the counter. I didn't give it much more thought.

Which was bad. Huge faux pas time, honest.

Last night, I was working fiercely on writing something that seemed urgent at the time when my husband came home. I shared with him what I was doing and, good sport that he is, he listened and advised. I remember he brought up Valentine's Day twice. Once, to say he thought he would slide the kids' valentines under their bedroom doors. "Good idea," I responded. Twice, to ask about the valentines I had made. "Sure, put mine with them, too."

It wasn't until I got to the gym this morning that I realized that I basically told my husband--without meaning to--to go find his own valentine out of the stack while I was too busy to look at him.

Following that grim realization, I found my valentine from him in my gym bag when I went to shower.

Yes, he can be very cute.

So I reversed my position on purchasing a cookie to decorate from the employee's association at work, and bought one for Paul in order to make up for my lack of romantic thought last night. He can find it when he gets home. Kissing and hugging will be optional.