Three days between posts - I'm not doing so well at blogging more often. What's worse: no posts at all, or posts about the minutiae of my day? It's hard for me to decide, because I think my minutiae are so boring, but then I love, LOVE reading other people's minutiae. I read somewhere in re: blogging, that no one cares what you had for lunch, no one cares what cute thing your kid/dog/cat did...but honestly, I do - I love those everyday glimpses into people's lives. But I hesitate to post stuff like: went to work, did business-y things, came home, ate dinner.

Anyway...

Today is Valentine's Day. I think the holiday, like Christmas, has become over-commercialized to ridiculous proportions and that the media sets everyone's expectations too high. Like at Christmas, there were so many automaker commercials that advocated giving a car to your loved one to show how much you cared - keys in a box, luxury vehicle in the drive with a bow atop. A CAR. Even if we had far, far more money than we do, and I only balanced the bank statements down to the ten-thousandth place because those lesser places mattered not to us, I'd never buy Alan a car as a gift - primarily because if it's HIS car, he ought to be able to choose what features he really wants versus those he cares nothing about, the colour, the size, etc. and people DO have personal preferences that matter, especially when it comes to their own freakin' car. As for Valentine's Day, the retailers/press/commercial outlets would have us convinced that one is either A TOTAL LOSER (or are dating/married to one), if you do not give (or receive) a carefully chosen Hallmark card, a dozen red roses, a box of chocolates and some fine jewelry, at the very least.

Notwithstanding all that, I do, honestly, like that our culture sets aside certain days for honoring certain relationships: Mothers' Day, Fathers' Day, Boss's Day, Valentine's Day, etc. - because quite aside from the uber-hyping of gifts, and the elevating of what minimum constitutes an appropriate gift, I like the designation of a certain day to express your appreciation/love. I mean, I go out to eat with my mom a lot - sometimes she picks up the check, sometimes I do; my husband buys me flowers from time to time, we buy one another little gifts dozens of times - but in the everyday rush, hustle and bustle, we-are-all-too-busy-for-our-own-good, frenetic pace of most of our lives, Hallmark holidays DO remind us to take a moment and recognize what's really important, don't they?

Tonight I am spending the evening alone, as The Husband is working a late shift. We had agreed to not exchange gifts this V-Day in lieu of the fancy dinners, incidental presents and what-not during our upcoming trip to Las Vegas. I came home to a bunch of sweet cards (one each from the dog and cat, two from the husband). I rebelled against my own edict and bought him a little something - I can't write what because he will read this when it's posted and I can't ruin his surprise.

Previously, we have done things like: buy ingredients for the other person's favorite meal and cook it for them (easier for me than Alan, 'cause I just had to broil a steak - though I bought the World's Largest Ribeye which I suspect weighed more than our puppy - while he had to construct a creamy garlic sauce with shrimp for my pasta), purchased little things like a Linux journal (him) or a video game (me), or just splurged on a nicer-than-everyday dinner out. I dunno - I am certain that everyday courtesies and the little niceties on the other 364 matter more than a big hunk o'jewelry (or a car) on February 14, but it's still nice to take that moment, make a gesture (regardless of monetary value) and make a point of telling the other person that they matter to you, isn't it?

SO: I love you all, my friends. Some of you are my friends in real life, some of you I've met IRL through our blogs, some of you I still know only through cyber-space, and some of you are a combination of the above, but you have all enriched my life and I am a happier person for knowing you.

And if you'd like to express your feelings for me, the only real requirements I have are: stick-shift and leather interior.