Happy Hearts Day

Romance, much like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.

I consider myself a fairly simple woman in the grand scheme of things. I don't ask for diamonds or expensive world trips or new cars or even new shoes. Romance to me is showing that you care. That you took some time to think about what I might like, and did it or bought it. Yes, that means that 'service projects' go just as far as something new and shiny off my Amazon gift list. It could be something as simple as a hand-made card or a note telling me why you fell in love with me. It could be a hard-to-find item which I had on my list that took you some planning and forethought. Mopping floors, cleaning the toilets when I'm so pregnant that it hurts to bend down that far and putting the kids to bed are daily romances to me, that my sweetie does over and over again without even thinking about them. So when it comes to a gift giving occasion he seems a little lost sometimes, not knowing what I 'expect'. Big gifts are great, don't get me wrong. I've gotten monitors, printers, fun cooking gadgets, bread makers and massages and those are extremely appreciated. Sure, I'd even love to have a Mother's ring or necklace in the future at some point. But romance to me is in the everyday things.

Romance is when he bathes the child that has just puked everywhere because he knows I'm highly sensitive to smells. It's when he folds the load of laundry that's been sitting on the couch for a couple of days because I've been too busy or tired to get to it. It's when he takes my vehicle in for it's routine checkup so I don't have to haul the children and entertain them while we're sitting forever. It's when he stops by the grocery store the day after I do my "big shopping" because I forgot some major item...like milk. It's when he updates my computer for critical updates (BTW, Microsoft just released like 20 critical ones - you should check it out if you haven't!) because he knows it's tedious to me and I would put it off until I got a trojan and lost every single one of my precious pictures. That is real romance to me. It's not the Hollywood hold-on-to-the-end-of-the-ship-until-it-sinks ending...it's so much more.

So on this Valentine's Day, I'm sending out lots of happy thoughts to you. I hope you have a great day with your sweetie.

And to *my* sweetie, who did the simple act of unloading the dishwasher for me before he went to bed at 2am after a hard days work and then a long night of studying, I'd marry you all over again in a heart beat. Because *THAT* is true romance to me.