This is an interesting long weekend. Valentine’s Day and Family Day. One thing leads to another, if you catch my drift. What? I’m just pointing out the obvious.
Friday night you can choose to celebrate romantic love with someone you love madly, or just kind of like (or maybe just like for the sake of a Friday night. No judgement here.) Then you get the Monday off to celebrate Family Day, created for those of you who chose passion over caution in the aforementioned celebrations. Giggle.
Either way, it’s entirely possible that some of you will mess up one of these two artificial holidays. It’s okay. It’s all going to be okay.
The Carpenter and I have had many Valentine’s Days in our time together. They started off cute, with little token gifts and romantic dinners with menus only a student could afford: Alphagetti, a French stick of bread and sparkling fruit juice. Served on TV trays with taper candles, the presentation wasn’t important. A second-hand couch and small television to watch the hockey game. We didn’t put much value on things then. We were together. That was enough. We had no idea how fortunate we were then. We had no idea what life would throw at us.
Cut to present day: we’ve upgraded our Valentine’s Day menu to baked beans and toast with ginger ale. I’m not kidding. I assure you there is nothing sexier than two middle-aged adults (let me believe I’m in the middle, okay?) enjoying the aftereffects of baked beans and a carbonated drink while they sit on opposite sides of the room to watch a streamed TV show. That’s how we Friday, folks. Valentines? Whatever.
We won’t exchange gifts for Valentine’s Day. We’re saving up for something that will spruce up our life: wood. Yep. There is a new shed coming this spring. Exciting, right?
We’ve made a vow not to put ourselves into debt for any holiday that is intended to celebrate our love when what we’d really love is outdoor storage. Now that is sexy. No, you know what is sexy? A plan. Drawings. A budget. And a guy who can build it. Keep your roses and candy, I want a shed.
Besides, if we’ve learned anything it’s that love is best expressed through deeds, more than words or gifts, the kind of things that say “I love you” quietly but genuinely: a toilet roll placed on the actual toilet roll holder. Enough coffee left in the French press for the last one to wake up, with the understanding that the last one up fills the kettle for the next round. Washing the dinner dishes (or as I refer to it: foreplay), especially the gross pans that require scrubbing. Bonus points if you bring home parchment paper from the grocery store when it was forgotten on the grocery list, so next time, the pans aren’t gross. Oh, baby, that’s hot.
Family Day changes when your kids grow up, so a reminder to those of you with young ones in tow: make the day count. Do something fun, without screens (including yours), and give them your time. You won’t believe how much they need that. You won’t believe how much you’ll miss it one day.
The Carpenter and I didn’t know how good we had it then, but we do now, and that’s everything.
Happy Valentine’s Day to my Carpenter.
