Post Valentine's Day

Through the wonders of social media, I had the opportunity to see what others thought of Valentine's Day, 2011. Many loved the day due to the fact that they were in love and their significant other treated them well. Many did not have a good day most likely because they lacked the before mentioned things in their life.

Some of my friends bragged...ah, I mean, let the rest of us know...what they received on Valentine's Day. I say, good for them! I hope those diamond earrings, flowers, and chocolate not only represented the feelings each had for each other, but didn't cause them to too much of a financial hardship.

My wife and I celebrated by going to the thrift store and I bought a carpet cleaner (for her) and she bought outdoor power tools (for me). If that's not true love, I don't know what is...

Actually, we haven't been big fans of the holiday. I used to look at the day philosophically and was completely against it, of course. I thought, "Why should anyone 'pretend' to do things on Valentine's Day when they wouldn't do them on other days?" It was the hight of hypocrisy. As I got older my opinion softened and I thought maybe it was a good idea to send flowers or buy a gift--even if it was hypocritical, it was still a nice thing to do.

The years have come and gone and my wife and we find ourselves not really participating in the holiday and it's not because we feel like hypocrites or because we think it's cheesy, but mostly we don't significantly add to the economy on Valentine's Day because...well...we'd prefer to spend our money on other things like getting the driver's side window on my car fixed.

Happy belated Valentine's Day everyone!

Picture of a valentine I found blowing across the parking lot at work while on a break. I hope Chris isn't too upset that Miss Mary's valentine is missing...