Thinking about Vee hee Day hay.

I associate every holiday with Charlie Brown and Snoopy. The Great Pumpkin... the Christmas Story.... Happiness is finding a pencil.

You know, Scott was Charlie Brown in "You're a Good Many Charlie Brown" as a kid.

On to my announcement.

I've had unusually good luck with V-day. Consider:

Last year, V-day 2009, Scott and I had a romantic V-day complete with Slumdog Millionaire and Cinegrill... with my parents. :) He he he...

V-day 2008 An old boyfriend and I broke up about a week before. My roommate Janelle had also broken up with her boyfriend a week before. We had one of those classic girl V-day evenings with all our friends... PF Changs and the episode of Friends where Rachel, Pheobe, and Monica have a boyfriend bonfire for their V-day celebration and end up spending the night with the cute firefighters (The one with the Candy Hearts).

I was thrilled when Lindsey, one of my greatest friends, came home to my apartment that night after getting engaged! I knew from her boyfriend that it was coming, and I tried to prepare for her with my camera, fondue, and martinellis in fancy glasses. She came in the door looking engaged and gorgeous, and I was there in my sweats and my black spider fleece with pancake batter caked onto the front (I think it still is, two years later)... a excellent visual contrast of our current relationship statuses.

V-Day 2007 This is a favorite. I was a little overwhelmed this semester in school guy-wise. I had come into my apartment complex and ward mid-year after a semester in London, and I was going out a few times a week. With the additional expense of six months in London, I bet if I check out the finances from that semester back, I probably broke even for the year because I didn't pay for a single meal that semester back. I was having a lot of fun getting to know people, and dating is a fun way to do that, but I wasn't interested in getting serious with anyone or finding "the one." I was just dating to date. There were a couple guys who kept persisting, even though I had told them that I wasn't going to be getting serious with anyone, which means I wasn't going to be kissing anyone, which means if they wanted to keep taking me out, I'd say yes, but I'd also be going out with other guys as well. I wanted to be upfront about that so they knew.

There was a guy named Phil who I would have dinner with every Tuesday night. It wasn't supposed to be a standard date or anything. We just had a class together on Tuesday nights, and he had about a thousand Costa Vida free meal coupons. I don't know how he had that many. So every Tuesday after class he, his buddy Johnny, and I would go to Costa Vida. Once we invited our professor and he met us there and gave us each a dollar towards our meal (which was free, so we each made a buck that night.)

So V-day fell on a Tuesday during this fine 2007 year, so in class, the week before V-day, I suggested we call our dinner off so everyone could tend to their V-day plans. None of us actually had V-day plans, so we all figured we'd have dinner together anyways. That Tuesday I showed up for class and Johnny wasn't there. Hmm... What about dinner? Oh, he's meeting us after class, says Phil. Good. I didn't want to be suckered into a V-day date with a guy I liked hanging out with, but had no interest in dating. After class we walked to Phil's apt like we always do, and his roommate Johnny's not there. He's meeting us at the restaurant. Okay (doubtful). We start driving and go straight past Costa Vida. Oh, Johnny suggested we go somewhere different since its a holiday. Okay (I see right through you, kid). We end up at some restaurant, nicer than a Costa Vida, surrounded by V-day-loving-couples on all corners. Oh, and Phil had reservations. How thorough. "For two?" the hostess confirms. Phil looks at me awkwardly, unable to pin this on Johnny anymore.

Awkward date. Awkward night. Awkward couple getting engaged at the table next to us. Awkward dinner. Tiny portions. Weird sauces. Drives me home. Nice guy. Thanks, but no thanks, Phil. I just think it would have been a more successful attempt had he just asked me out instead of tricked me into a date. That was also the end of our Costa Vida nights. In fact, I kind of put a hold on Costa Vida altogether. A year later it gave my cousin Kyle, my roommate Janelle, and me terrible food poisoning. It took a lot to let pork barbacoa back into my life.

As soon as a got home that night. There were roses waiting at the door. "To Lindsey" and some sort of V-day note that was vague, including no personal references that would indicate that it was intended for me. And we didn't know if it was intended for me, because my roommate's name was Lindsey too! We laughed about it all night. The next day I got a phone call from a very nice fellow asking if I got the flowers he left for me. He showed up later that night to bring me some cookies he baked me. He showed up just as I was hanging out with a boy who had stopped by to confirm our date for that weekend. This wasn't a V-day where I was somebody-less... there were just a few too many somebodies in the mix. For the record, most of these boys ended up being my very good friends down at school and laughed with me about it all later.

V-day 2006. A great one. Really. It was a great one. I got to spend the night with a very good friend eating Wisconsin mac-n-cheese, snowshoeing and eating chocolate fondue from a camping stove. It was just a few days before he left for his mission, and it was a perfect way to spend some time saying a real "goodbye for now." Still one of my closest friends today.

But as I went home that night, sad that I'd be sending him off so soon, I found this delightful little email note reminding me that my prospects were good, and that someone new would sweep me off my feet shortly.

Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2006 21:33:43 -0700
From: ----------------
To: binz86@hotmail.com
Subject: From Hans (You Know, Trevor's Friend)

Dear Lindsey,
I think you are a very lovely girl. The purpose of Saturday's date was to make you feel so, but I forgot to say it. My bad. I repent me that I did not do it.
Happy St. Valentine's Day,
Hans
P.S. Looking you up was a bit of a trick, so I hope this works..."

Oh, Hans Shmutz. Seriously one of most enjoyable dates of my life. And while setting me up with him on that triple date (with my good friends and hall-mates Laura and Rachel) was designed to make me the butt of some joke, I had one of the MOST ENJOYABLE dates of my life. It wasn't a joke at all. That's another story for another day.

While we didn't ever have a follow up date... I always think of him when I see the card game "BANG!" or hear the word "Stinker!" (or more specifically the phrase, "You little stinker!"). And good news, our association remains: he just found me on Facebook last week. :)

Oh my V-Day success!
I'm actually serious though. I've had serious V-day success. I've never understood the self-induced sadness that single people partake of on V-day. Sure, eat chocolate. But not because you're alone. Eat it cause you want to! I'm happy that, while I've never had that earth-shattering Rod Stewart singing "Isn't it Romatic," pearls, La Caille (I'm so unfamiliar with this restaurant I don't know how it's spelled. Is it La Calle? The street?) kind of evening on V-day, I've always been blessed to spend the day with people I love. My family and best friends from some of the greatest years of my life. I'm a lucky girl!

This V-day 2010 will be no different. It's wonderful to know that for the rest our my life, I will be spending V-day with the one person I love most in the world! What could be a better V-day gift than that? I'm so grateful for Scott. It's so nice to married to the love of my life because I never think anymore about what I'm planning on doing, just how grateful I am for who I'm doing it with. I love doing everything with Scott! And I don't plan on ever getting sick of him, either. Although I may need to by him some ear-plugs for our 2nd anniversary next year. I look forward to years and years of V-days, even with kids and casual nights. Nothing big and fancy.

We fought the urge to take advantage of Presidents Day to go climbing or some other adventure, and we're spending our V-day weekend here at home... studying! We'll have an awesome V-day together at home and then Sunday dinner with my parents, sister, brother-in-law, nephews, and niece. Happy Valentines Day!

Oh... and I'm celebrating this year with Pygme Marmosets for all! What could be better. Check out my last post if you've missed this announcement.