My Funny Valentine

Or... Twelve years of dating and marriage.

Thursdays are my day off. I know this is somewhat odd, but it was the only thing that would work when I started this clergy-life a couple years ago, and now I love it. All that to say, I actually had Valentines Day off this year! I was going to cook salmon and champagne risotto and panna cotta (why yes, I watch Everyday Italian with Giada, why do you ask?) but after spending 10 hours in the car in two days, I just wasn't up for it. So we decided to go out to dinner see a movie, and just hang out for the day.

After lunch and a West Wing episode, Luke surprised me with chocolates! Of course, we're sharing them, so its partly a present for himself, but it was pretty great considering we aren't always big on holiday presents. Case in point... later in the afternoon, he said "I'm so proud of myself for getting you flowers!" Um... or not.

Apparently, going out to dinner and seeing a movie is a popular choice for Valentines Day. Around 4pm or so, Luke thought we should try and get reservations for dinner. Well, no one had space for a reservation. Oops. Oh well, we figured, they must leave some openings for people who drop in - we'll just give it a try. So, we went to our movie (Definitely, Maybe - pretty cute) and headed out to dinner. First restaurant? 3 hour wait. The next couple weren't any better. At that point, we were hungry, and decided that take-out pizza and buffalo wings (for me, not for the vegetarian) on the living room floor with some more West Wing sounded just fine.

As we left restaurants #2 and #3 both packed with young couples hoping to get seated, Luke said "Wow. It must really suck to be a guy who plans to take a date out for dinner on Valentine's Day, and didn't think far enough ahead to make reservations. Thats so sad for them."

Ten minutes later, we both realized how ironic and funny that was. And we're still laughing.

I'd say Valentine's Day number 12 was an all-around success.