Anyway, I suspected Saturday night would be the night that most couples would be out observing Valentine’s Day but, since Carson was out, we decided we’d go out then, too. I mean, I couldn’t let Grandma have all the fun. We knew the restaurants would be crowded. Davis and I had both had long days and I just wasn’t in the mood to get dressed up and get in a crowd, so I told him I wanted to go somewhere un-Valentiney. After much deliberation about places that repel hordes of Valentine couples, we settled on bbq. I thought anywhere that serves baked beans and uses swine as their decor theme would eliminate most of those couples looking for amore- baked beans speaking for themselves and the pig being the most unromantic of all the farm animals with their unflattering connotations. Our plan was genius as there wasn’t a crowd there- except our friends, David and Valerie, who’d had the same idea about swine in wood smokers diverting the Valentine masses elsewhere. So, we double-dated in a booth with our fatty meats and beans in the ambiance of a pork motif. Love was in the air, but not in a cloth napkin, wait to be seated, multiple forks sort of way. 

Since he’d gotten off so cheaply with dinner, I wanted chocolate almond ice cream for dessert, but when we drove up to Baskin-Robbins, the line was shoulder to shoulder all the way to the door, so we just came home and ate ice cream out of our own freezer. These were the words I heard all my childhood coming to life all over again, “We have ice cream at home.” We sat there in the only two seating opportunities currently available in our family room and ate our ice cream. I told him our current set up looks awfully similar to Archie and Edith Bunker’s layout. Perhaps we’ll run with the “Those Were the Days” look with our remodel. There, in the chairs, he gave me the sweetest gift and the most precious words written in the card. “Ohhhh, Aaawwrchhiiiiie, it’s buuuutiiiiful,” I wanted to say in my best high-pitched, nasal voice. 

Then, on actual Valentine’s Day, the romance really got turned up a notch. Davis came home, in the middle of the day, not feeling well. I picked up some Gatorade for him at Dollar General and came home and made him some bland chicken and rice for supper. The only thing worse than pigs and beans for the cause of romance is stomach upset. He went to bed at 6:30 and I sat at the table and shared a bowl of Peanut Butter Captain Crunch with Ruby- an impulse item I’d spotted on the way to the checkout at the Dollar General. So, there was certainly nothing flashy about our Valentine’s Day except for his quiet thoughtfulness and our complete contentment with the not-so-extraordinary evenings.  

But, we’re leaving for a trip to North Carolina on Tuesday to celebrate our 30th anniversary, so we’re looking forward to that. I’ll be absent next week, but will be back the following week. We’re just excited to leave here and go stay somewhere that has floor covering for a few days. It reminds me of church camp around here when you had to rub your feet together before getting into the bed. 

Crikey, and on our way home from our travels, his Lordship and I are going to the Downton Abbey exhibit in Atlanta where I’ll make sure my English is shipshape and Bristol fashion for the upcoming movie brouhaha. Perhaps we’ll enjoy luncheon while there- some savories, a kidney soufflé, salmon mousse, raspberry meringue pudding. Golly gumdrops. Even though Lord Miller hasn’t watched the show, I chivvied him and I don’t think he’ll be a girl’s blouse about it. Maybe he will even come home wanting to watch the series. Stranger things happen at sea. 

Well, I do hope you’ve had a wonderful week! In a world that seems like it’s forgotten how to love, I hope that you celebrated all the places where love lives in your life- whether it’s the love of a significant other, of friends, of family, of church, or even of furry creatures. We can love because we learned from the best.