Valentine's No-Nos

As the official day of love is fast approaching, here are:

Ten Things I Don't Want for Valentine's Day

Bath Products: While I love soaking in a hot tub, most of the products made for that purpose either irritate my skin or smell weird to me. Also, I have a thousand bath bombs from holidays and birthdays past that will likely last me until the end of time.

Candy: Hello, diabetic here (everyone forgets except me.) Sugarfree is fine, but I keep a healthy stock of that at all times to keep me from the temptation of the sugary stuff. Also, the older I get, the less I want sweet things. Salty chips, on the other hand, are my kryptonite.

Flowers: Too expensive. I just sent my mom roses for Valentine's Day and they wanted an arm and part of a leg.

Fuzzy Socks: While I love them, I currently own most of the fuzzy socks in the world. Seriously, like three drawers full.

Gift Cards: I'm really not shopping much anymore. I still haven't used all the ones I got during the holidays.

Nonfiction Books: Alas, I have enough stacked and waiting for me to keep me reading until 2025.

Perfume: Allergic to all of it in my old age, I'm afraid. Plus spending the day of love itching a rash is not my idea of fun.

PJs: I don't wear them (gasp!) If I'm cold, I sleep in an old t-shirt and even older leggings.

Romance Books: How to say this diplomatically . . . I'm too straight and soft-hearted to find reverse harem or motorcycle gang orgies or bully (really, we love bullies now?) stories romantic, how about that? Seriously, unless they're written by Mary Balogh, whose backlist I already own and who won't have a new book out until November, no thanks.

Smart Phone: I still hate them. The kids keep threatening to get me one. I keep threatening to accidentally on purpose drop it in the washing machine. Stalemate.

My guy and I are going out to dinner as our mutual gift to each other, which has become our habit for nearly all the holidays now. What don't you want for Valentine's Day? Let me know in comments.

Holiday Prep

For Thanksgiving this year we've invited some guests from Oliver's mom's side of the family, so I have to start prepping now to get the house in shape for the big day. The first major thing is having the carpets cleaned, which we've scheduled for next week. This weekend I'll be cleaning out four rooms to get them ready for that. I started with my front dining room, which I use as my sewing room. It was kind of a mess already, so it felt good to get everything cleared out. We'll be having ten people at dinner plus two babies, so this will give me a chance to figure out how to arrange two tables in this space. I think this will be my last time hosting a big Thanksgiving gathering. Mike has started his family with a lovely girl who has a huge, close-knit family of her own, while Katherine will likely be off at grad school out of state for the next several years. I'm also not getting any younger. My guy and I will always celebrate Thanksgiving, but ...

T-minus Day

This was our little Thanksgiving dinner last year, when it was just the three of us. Time keeps whittling down my favorite holiday; this year it will be just me and my guy, and we likely won't even have a turkey.* That will be a first in 35 years. I feel about Thanksgiving the way other people do about Christmas, and while it's a lot of work it's my favorite holiday. Of all the Thanksgivings I've had in the past sixty years, only three were truly terrible: one when I was a kid that I don't talk about (#1 most miserable); the time I roasted two turkeys together and hosted fifteen people whom I cooked for and served with zero help (the largest and #2 most miserable); and the one I spent in basic training (the #3 most miserable.) I have no pictures of any of those, thank heavens. In addition to doing all the cooking I'm the one who takes all the pictures, washes all the dishes and puts away all the leftovers. I suppose no one else cares because to them it...

Fell Off the Wagon

I did cut up that plastic dollar tote to make into something stronger, but got caught up with work and set it aside. Then last night some hand-dyed silk and pretty threads called my name, and, well . . . Felt SO good to do some handwork, except my neck began hurting about an hour into it. I tried changing the way I sit and work, but it's pretty obvious that the doc is right.

nightsmusic said…

We don't exchange gifts for Valentine's day. We generally don't for Christmas either and the older I get, the less I 'want' anything because I can pretty much afford anything I'd want or need. The girls don't get us anything and they usually go out to dinner with their husbands. Occasionally, hubs and I do that too. That suits me just fine :)

February 4, 2020 at 10:02 AM

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