Valentines Day Rant
It's February 14th, Valentines Day, again, there is no stopping this holiday so I might as well accept it. Except...that it irritates the hell out of me. It just proves to me, yet again, how easily we can all be manipulated by the machine. And what are they really telling us? Ignore your lover all year and make up for it on this one particular day? I'm sorry, call me a cynic but I find Valentines Day a bit lame. "Here you go sweetie, here's a dozen roses, some cheap chocolates and a piece of paper I paid $5.95 for. That proves I love you, now hush up for the rest of the year?" Please!!! Give me chocolates on some random Tuesday, just because you were thinking of me. Send me flowers on May 8th (when they are 1/2 the price they are on February 14th), just to make me smile. Cook me dinner once in a while, then clean up and let me go read my book, now that says, "I love You!"
After all that, I have to say, I have a great husband who "get's" me. For Valentines Day, I got...BOOTS and a Reese's Cup! Sweetie Pie, You Rock!
My kind of town, Chicago
So this is what Chicago looked like the last time I was there in the winter, it was Christmas 2005. They got a ridiculous amount of snow and the whole city was paralyzed for days, I vowed never to go back in the winter. But, here I go. The draw of 4 days in the city with NO kids is even stronger than the scare of 2 feet of snow. I mean really, what are the chances? I better check the weather report, be right back...CRAP! it's calling for snow. Still, Chicago with just me and my hubby, it's worth it. Hubby will be working two of the four days so I am on my own. The Art Institute and shopping in Buck town are calling my name plus lunch with a dear old high school friend that I have not seen in years. And, of course, drinks and dancing at the Green Mill.
On top of all this, we get to spend a couple of days in Wisconsin with my in-laws. Our timing couldn't be better, the Packers are playing the Bears in some playoff game so my husband is thrilled to be able to share this with his family. It will be ugly if the Packers don't win but we must have faith. A football fan I am not, being from Detroit, hockey is my sport. "Let's go, Red Wings".
A full vacation report to follow...
Resolutions
According to the "experts" many of us have given up on our resolutions already, and 80% will have given up by the end of this month. I have figured out a way to beat the odds...I didn't start my resolutions until today. This means that I have a 10 day jump on the rest of you. The truth is, I've had a house guest for the past three weeks so I'm getting a rather slow start to 2011. It figures, I'm late for everything. What does this say about the rest of the year? One of my resolutions was to stop procrastinating, but if I can't even start the year on time there is not much hope for that one sticking. Like most Americans I have the usual items to eat better and hit the gym more often. It's day one and I had a healthy breakfast and I'm off to the gym in 45 minutes, doing good there.
But I also want to do something to expand my horizons a bit, something fun and just for me. I'm thinking maybe a photography class or pottery or maybe even painting. I've done some really basic photography classes in the past and really enjoyed it and I took a couple of pottery classes years ago and still have a couple of pitchers that I use but painting is something I have never done but have always been interested in learning. My goal is to figure it out and get signed up for something this week. I'll keep you posted as to what I settle on.
Cheers to a fantastic 2011!