Wishing you a happy day full of love

I, too, have been a little ambivalent about Valentine's Day in my life. Sometimes it just feels like so much pressure and I always think about how showing your love and care should be a daily event, not just a yearly thing. Really though, we could all probably use some prodding in this department every once in a while. How often do I really, really tell and show T how much I care about him? Does he know every day how proud I am of him?-- How amazed I am that he goes off to a wonderful and meaningful job every day, using his art to support education, and using his work to support our family and to let me be home with the boy? Does he really know every day that watching him be Daddy to our little guy fills me up with more happiness than I thought possible?

When I was teaching the "hassle" of Valentine's Day in the midst of the 100th day of school "festivities," Groundhog's Day, Presidents' Day, mid-winter break, etc., sometimes made me dread it (well, especially the party-- the parties always get first graders so riled up!!). Then the joy on the kids' faces when they exchanged their little cards was always so special. Creating the perfect little surprise for someone, being on the receiving end of some good "mail," and just focusing for a day on happy things, showing others you care and you love them... What could be better than that?

My grandpa (Pops) always, always, without fail gives us gals a box of Sweethearts or some such goody. Last night I called my mom and Dad had just brought home a dozen roses; I love that and it's so like him to do something wonderful and surprising with a twist thrown in (who'd expect something like that on February 13th?). Last night the boy head-butted me in his enthusiasm to give me a "kiss" on his way to bed, and then, because of another eye tooth, the first hour and a half of "bed" was the two of us cuddling in the double-bed, snoozing away in the early evening. T worked into the early morning on the laptop, slept for a few hours at most, and then was heading out for work before the sun started to rise. I am surrounded by the most hard-working, amazing, thoughtful, and funny fellows and I am so thankful for that today and every day.

In our quest to share the love we have a Valentine for the librarian ready to go in our book bag. We also have one for the firemen who came to our house the other day for the boy, and I have to pick up some candy to go along with it. I thought I'd bake some cookies to bring but then I realized that, with the times being what they are, they might not eat them. Chocolate's always good.

In the "people I'm proud to know" category, my sister's getting started on that little blog of hers and I love taking a look in the morning. Cob houses? Who knew? It looks a little "cavey" to me but, then again, it's a house of their own. I want that. I'm not quite sure how it could have been assessed at $200,000+ but, then again, that's one of the reasons we had to keep moving south; we'd never be able to afford a house in the greater-Seattle area given our life priorities. Never. The cob house made me think back to the Brown Dress Project I discovered through Happy Thing's other website. Perhaps I could view my pathetic wardrobe, the wardrobe wherein almost nothing in it reflects who I see myself being or feeling at this point in my life, as an exercise in resourcefulness. Ha.

Oh, and back in that previous "people" category a friend just popped her first handcrafted-to-sell-on-Etsy creation up onto the site. She's so creative and I love that fabric she chose. Wow!

Are you into pincushions? I've never really thought about it much but look at these little beauties. And if you think you are (into pincushions) or might be, go to the Pincushion Challenge to look at some more. Very fun.

I love finding new blogs to enjoy like this, this, and this.

Wishing you a happy day full of love...