Food for Thought #4: Valentine Edition

Here's a nice photo of the heart doily I knit for the yarn shop last year. Very romantic, I know.

Appetizer: What is your strongest childhood memory about Valentine’s Day?

I remember in first grade the redbud trees were blooming at Valentine's Day (we were in Florida, so trees bloom early). My friend Jones Phillips, who was a "delicate" boy and I decided the falling blossoms looked like hearts, and for days played a game of "Valentine's Cupids" where we sang a song and picked up the flowers and sprinkled them on other kids. It's really a nice memory.

Soup: Who was your first crush?

Also back in first grade, my crush was the charming, freckle-faced red-head (hey just like Lee's!) Paul Woodfrin.

Salad: Did your crush return the feelings?

Oh, yes indeed. He attempted to kiss me one day and I spit on him. It's the worst trouble I ever got in at school. Our punishment was that I had to go play at his house and "be friends." Oddly, my mother also made me go play at Jones's house, too. He had a lot of GI Joes that he wanted to dress in my doll's outfits. I also remember he would NOT eat the crust of bread, and I think if I'd known the word "wimp" at the time, I would have called him that. Both were nice boys, though. Mom never drove me down the block to play with girls. Perhaps because there were 4 other girls my age on my street, but, hmm.

Entré: Other than the massacre, what does Valentine’s Day make you think of?

Not much. I've never had a bad time with the holiday, and never been overly thrilled. I like telling people you care about that you like them, so that's OK. And I like pretty cards. I prefer the candy on February 15, when it's half off, though.

Dessert: What are you going to do for your Valentine this year?

Lee and I had a nice meal last week, when the kids were out of town, and we got our new patio furniture then, with our wedding gift certificates. That was plenty of romance! Tomorrow Lee, Tuba Boy and I will go to a financial aid form workshop. That is less than romantic. I'd wanted to go to a yarn shop in south Austin, where the founders of the Ravelry online community will be visiting, but I need to do my other yarn shop work after the workshop, so that's out. Maybe the kids will make me cards or sing me a song, and we can have a nice meal.

Being Positive

I had a bit of a down period yesterday after looking at job ads and thinking I couldn't do any of them. But I went ahead and applied for a couple of things, thinking it's about time. I even re-did my monster.com profile, since it was sending stuff to my dead email address.

And lo and behold, this morning I got a call from a real, not fake, genuine recruiter person! And I meet with her on Tuesday! There might be jobs for me after all! Still would prefer ALE. But, something needs to feed the family in the meantime.

I had a nice Valentine's Day, though it was weird to have one go by without receiving even one card. Not even my dad or sister! Of course, I didn't send them any. Just the guys at the house, and well, they are all guys. I got a beautiful, large bouquet of flowers from Lee, and Jeff gave me some Godiva chocolate drink. I had one for afternoon snack. MMM.

Anyway, I had been feeling all icky about the job thing, so Jeff decided we should all go to dinner. We went to Kim Phung in his car and no one died. I had a delicious meal of Vietnamese egg noodles with tons of veggies, beef, chicken and shrimp. Everyone else got good stuff, and the service was slow, so we got to enjoy listening to the kids for a LONG time. I really enjoy hearing what they have to talk about. It's fun to debate stuff, talk about school, and hear tales of weird kids they know. Great kids.

We went to Barnes and Noble afterwards to get Older Boy The Heart of Darkness, and I got Lee and I a couple more "question" books to read together. It's fun.

One concern I had was that the ExH emailed me that the boys had NEVER mentioned Lee or the dogs to him. Both said to me, when I asked, "Oh, it just never came up." Both said exactly that. Huh. So I said, please feel free to talk about things. Neither boy said they were upset, irritated or concerned about things here. They said everyone seems happy. Whew. It really is ALWAYS something.