...which also happens to be the birthday of my long-deceased father-in-law, Dhimitri Kuçi, who changed both his first and last names when he became a naturalized citizen of the United States, so don’t bother trying to find him in Facebook or any other social networking or genealogical collection. Pop would have been 117 today.
I also had a friend named Ernie (well, Ernest) who was born on Valentine’s Day, so his parents gave him the name Valentine as his middle name. Ernie is gone now too.
But to those of you who remain and are reading this (for you students of mathematics, one group is a subset of the other), I want to wish you a very happy Day After Valentine’s Day Day.
Five or six years ago I gave Mrs. RWP a Dachshund puppy for Valentine’s Day. We named the puppy Rudolph Valentino and called him Rudy for short. Rudy and I had huge disagreements over which one of us was going to be the alpha male in the house. After about three months, Mrs. RWP said, “One of you has to go and I’ve had you longer” and chose me to stay. So Rudy went away to live with three other doggies of his breed, where they may still be fighting over which one is the alpha male.
Last night, Mrs. RWP and I stayed home and ate leftover meat loaf because we didn’t relish fighting the crowds at the restaurants, but we did go out the night before (sorry, I neglected to wish all of you a happy Day Before Valentine’s Day Day, my bad) to a Mexican restaurant called Viva Mexico! The exclamation point is part of the name of the restaurant, not my own excitement at having been there, so I suppose I should have written “Viva Mexico!.” but I’m not sure.
I also bought Mrs. RWP a card and a pink hydrangea plant which will turn blue when we plant it later in the Georgia red clay underneath our bedroom window. I hasten to add that I am talking about the Georgia red clay outside our bedroom window. There is no Georgia red clay, or very little, inside our bedroom window. Also, we plan to plant only the hydrangea plant, not the plant and the card.
If you don’t mind my asking and you don’t mind sharing, how did you spend your Valentine’s Day evening? [Editor's note. And remember, this is a family-friendly, G-rated blog. --RWP]
If you do mind either one of those, just ignore my nosiness and try to have a very happy Day After Valentine’s Day Day.
Happy belated Valentines Day to you as well.
ReplyDeleteWe spent it quietly at home . lol
At our age what else is there to do but wish other people a loving day.
Parents, children, grand parents.
Every day should be Valentines day as every day should be Christmas.
I keep my tree up all winter and just change the themes on it and it keeps goodness in the house.
We ignore Valentine's Day.
ReplyDeleteEver since hubs gave me some money to go and buy flowers for myself on Valentine's Day and I nearly exploded. It was either the first or the second year after we'd met. We met in 1987. You do the maths. As long as we don't 'do' Valentine's Day, everything is pretty much okay ;-)
Here in Oz we are only beginning to "do" Valentine's Day. I'm afraid we tend to follow most things you Americans do - brainwashed by TV (and movies)! A very commercialized day I think but Tony enjoys making some silly JibJab ecard with the two of us doing some silly dance and as long as he enjoys the process that's Ok.
ReplyDeleteWe thought it was a good excuse to go out for a lovely Thai dinner with another couple of friends- sort of sharing the love !!!
Cheers
The thing I hate about Valentine's Day is that all the commercialization surrounding it has sucked the spontaneity out of the day. Every woman with a husband or fiance or boyfriend seems to EXPECT at least flowers, candy, dinner, a movie, and (if the radio and television commercials are to be believed) diamond jewelry, and God help the man who doesn't go along with all the hoop-la and fol-de-rol. That all the romance, real or faux, is not to be deviated from in any manner for any reason kind of ruins it for me. I also pretty much feel the same way about huge weddings that leave the groom out of the picture completely, but I fear I have said too much already! (***dons protective armor to withstand the onslaught by irate members of the fair sex***)
ReplyDeleteRobert the Romantic! (Or Robert the Guilty???)
ReplyDeleteWe exchanged soppy cards and ate a piece of heart-shaped blue brie on cracker along with other cheeses, salami, crackers, breads, wines and beers, and then shared laughs, great conversation and a delicious meal with an ex-pat American couple in their wonderful home high in the hills above the small Northland village of Matakana, overlooking rural countryside, native bush and the beautiful islands of the Hauraki Gulf.
ReplyDeleteI'm afriad I forgot and that fear was a very real emotion as Mrs P presented me with a card in the morning. (Aren't they meant to be anonymous?)
ReplyDeleteAs for what we did that evening, Mrs P made a chicken stir fry which was meant to be for the family, but the kids were elsewhere so we dined à deux.
Then we watched some tv and that was it. Absolutely nothing to pollute young minds.
Incidentally, your new word verification is a pain!
“One of you has to go and I’ve had you longer”
ReplyDeleteI guess you can be glad that she valued continuity over freshness and cuteness.
I am grateful for all of your contributions. The common thread in all of them is that in spite of the hype and pressure from society and the advertising crowd, we all seem to have acted pretty much like normal people on The Day That Is Not To Be Taken Lightly.
ReplyDeleteP.S. to Snowbrush, I also have other attributes that contributed to my being retained.