judecorp | Valentine's Day

This has been a pretty anticlimactic Valentine's Day. And while I'd like to be all gruff about it and say, "blah blah Hallmark holiday blah blah," there are definitely parts of me that like having a day set aside to remember smoochies - mostly because I like to remember my smoochie.

The tone of the day was kind of set by my foiled "Heart" plans (because, come on, Heart? What a great pun!), but I woke up determined to make a special day out of it. I woke up earlier than I needed to (thank you, sunshine) and got some quality snuggling time in but was definitely trying to, erm, wake Jen up (if you know what I mean) and was most unable to do so. Then I got a call from Coworker G's husband, who wanted to enlist my help in a Valentine's Day surprise for his wife - which I did, of course. I got up after that to take a shower, I left Jen's card on the counter so she would have something at least.

A number of my coworkers received flowers from their smoochies, and it was so cute to see the excitement on their faces. Most of them are in newish relationships and they had all of these elaborate Valentine's plans - one even was having her boyfriend fly into time for 12 hours! Me, I got a couple of cute little Valentine's from the kids in my playgroup, and a heart-shaped lollipop. (Sometimes it's good to be the teacher.)

It was a little tough fielding all of those questions at work about what our Valentine's Day plans were, because we don't have any. I mean, seriously, my plan for the night (how I answered everyone) was: work 10 hours, get off at 7, buy flowers for Jen, get home and arrange them (I like buying loose flowers and making my own arrangements), finish the laundry, and watch television with the cats. I never really knew what to say when their faces fell and they did the whole "awwwwh" thing, because really, I don't need anyone to feel bad for me because we're not in the beginnings of our relationship when everything is so intense.

I actually had a really great IM conversation with Lara once about how for us, that new-relationship intensity never really leaves us. Lara said that for her, lots of guys get kind of scared or whatever by her intensity after a while. I think I end up just kind of annoying Jen with my wanting things to be as intense and wild as they were in the beginning. If I had my way, we'd have both taken the day off and just spent the whole day being in love with each other. God knows we don't get nearly enough time to do that.

Eww, this sounds a lot more melancholy than I actually feel. Yeah, I'd like a little more romance and some of that first-dating WOW, but eh... I've still got my smoochie and we've still got our forever.

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Ours was quite low-key. We made dinner together and ate it in our pajamas. I got flowers (NOT long-stemmed roses) and I gave him chocolate and a sappy card (which you knew). It's the love that matters, and you got that. And I got it, too, which I should remember.

Dinner made together in pajamas would have been divine. My Valentine's Day dinner was a bowl of Raisin Bran, and I ate it with Ralph.

Love is good, yes, but when it comes to the evening, it could have been a heck of a lot better. I'm glad y'all had a good night.

Gloria and I ordered pizza and watched House together as we (in typical Derek/Gloria fashion) already exchanged our gifts earlier this week.

House was good last night, wasn't it? I love that show.

I definitely know what you mean about Valentine's Day in a long-term/no longer brand-new relationship. Olex and I decided on wedding bands which was love-ly. We met after work at LUSH and bought face soap, shampoo, etc. Then we came home and ordered a pizza and watched American Idol. Not necessarily the most romantic day ever, but it was nice and comfortable and it was just what I needed after a long-ass day at work.
We had a blast picking out Valentine's Day cards for his little sisters, so we did participate in the holiday in some form.
Like you, I don't want to sound sad at all. In fact, I would have been stressed out today and cranky from lack of sleep if we had tried to force ourselves into an active evening.

See, not to sound like a spoiled brat, but I would have liked more of an evening. Like, it would have been great if we'd been together. That would have been a good start.

Ralph was my date, and I ate cereal for dinner. I finished the laundry and went to bed early.

I actually /miss/ that "new relationship" thing. It doesn't really stress me out, it's something I strive for. When Jen and I first got together, we swore we would be those people who still act like we're just beginning dating long after we're married. I hope we can get back to that.

eh, leo and i exchanged cards and promises for end-of-the-day massages. we put the kids to bed and agreed to just go to bed, instead (it was a llllloooooooonnnnggggg day filled with preschool valentine drama.)

and by "bed" i mean "sleep," not "romance"

So there's really nothing to look forward to, is there? ;)

well, unless waking up to your period counts, no. :)

to be completely honest, though, I'm lazy, so the lowered-expectations approach to romance generally works for me.

Me too, usually... but sometimes you just want something big, you know? I DESERVE IT! :)

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<was definitely trying to, erm, wake Jen up (if you know what I mean) and was most unable to do so.> i HATE that! man, as if it is something UNpleasant that you are asking (whomever) to wake up for:). sorry it was anticlimactic. i think even after the new relationship excitment has passed, there is still plenty of room for romance and effort to make your partner feel special. for example, my v-day was very low key with no first-dating WOW, but i felt special all day from some silly little things. maybe it's not just the newness stuff you are missing? maybe you need some plain old specialness? i am not trying to presume, just thought i'd add my $.02.

No, I think there's some truth in this. (Sorry for the late reply, this comment got totally lost in my e-mail.) I miss some of that specialness, some of that "drop everything and be in love" stuff that happens at the beginnings of relationships. I'm a pretty intense person and I don't tend to lose that intensity over time, so when other people do, I guess it hits me pretty hard.

More more more! I want more!

Valentine's Day

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Valentine's Day

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