Thanks to Jo Lynne Valerie award-winning author, I've been invited to participate in Valentine's Day Blog Tour 2010! Please go check out her site! She's one of my favs and I *heart* her for letting me play her funny Valentine games.
A blog tour you say, what's a blog tour? I'm glad you asked. Some of you may have gotten here from my fellow tour mate, author Lorna Suzuki at web.me.com/imagobooks. Welcome, glad you made it!
For those hard core Random Thoughts fans that check my site hour by hour for the latest and greatest, here's how this works for you. Once you read my post and "oohh and ahhh" and slap your knee laughing hysterically and call to your significant other, :Honey you have got to read this." , then comment, hit follow and sign up for future posts via email, THEN, and only then you can hit the next blog on the tour. I'll link to that at the bottom as to not distract you and have you skip my post and miss out on literary greatness.
Nestle in RandomThinkers, (Gaga has her Monsters, I've named you RandomThinkers) It's time to tour the greatness of Valentine's Day, Blog Tour style............
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My fondest Valentine memories are sitting at the kitchen table with my mom and dad creating my mail box masterpiece out of a milk carton. (remember those?) Each year we painstakingly worked to outdo, "outglue" and "outcreate" last year's model. Sometimes we used foil, sometimes those paper lace doilies, and sometimes we glued on those candy hearts. Better to craft with those candy hearts, face it, they taste like Rolaids.
Carefully I would select the right Valentine, from my box of assorted sentiments, that we purchased from the Hooks drug store. The one on the courthouse square. Andrew got the best one because he was my boyfriend. Ruth got the next best because she was my BFF, and on and on until each one had been signed, sealed, and was ready to be delivered to their own milk carton masterpieces.
Never once did I wonder what my parents would be doing for Valentine's Day. Never did I consider that they might be missing out on some romantic dinner with wine and chocolate. I knew they'd be waiting for me to come barreling off the bus and to dump out my collection of love notes from my milk carton mailbox onto the kitchen table while we sorted and read through each and every note and candy heart.
Love has many stages. I want to embrace each one, even this current crazy chaos we're in now. I'm no dummy, I know my husband wishes I'd greet him at the door (Insert "man camp" fantasy here) on Feb.14th. But for now, he'll be out picking out the perfect box of Valentine's for the girl to label and send. I'll be juggling a full schedule at work and leave in time to help host the party at school for those runny nosed 2nd graders. Then I'll worry and wonder if the boy will muster the courage to go to the Middle School dance and stand against the wall awkwardly like 6th graders are supposed to do.
In past years, I've made heart shaped hamburgers covered in ketchup. I've colored potato soup a beautiful shade of pink. We've brought out every crystal dish and ate by candle light with toddlers in high chairs oohing and awing at the sight.
And somewhere in the midst of all of this, the hubby and I will rush out to grab the best Hallmark we can find. Only the gold seal is good enough for my hunk of a man. Then while the kids are likely arguing and talking over each other, we'll pass the card across the table, read the note and gaze at each other lovingly, knowing that someday this chaos will quiet and we'll have our alone time again. And maybe, sitting in a quaint candlelit restaurant over a couple of glasses of bubbly, we'll be reminiscing of the 'good ole days' of milk carton mailboxes and pink potato soup.
Hell, who am I kidding, he's still holding out for the man camp fantasy. He's a good dad and many of the moments I've loved him most are watching him with our kids.Watching him paint the girl's nails, fingers and toes when she was a curly headed toddler. Or taking the boy to the latest dude movie and a feast of Taco Bell. Or sweeping them off to some adventure because he knows I've hit my last nerve and momma's gonna lose it. Or piggy back rides up to bed and them hanging on every Suessical word of The PlacesYou'll Go.
Yes, Valentine's Day is here once again. Being a family means honoring the stages and what they bring. It's not mourning the absence of romance and champagne, but embracing the milk carton mailbox until the next stage can begin.
So bring your best love this Feb.14th, even if it's pizza from the gas station sprawled in the living room with the latest movie rental. That's likely the plan for this group of love bugs and we can hardly wait. No reservations required.
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(Note: As I finish this post wrapped in my sexiest Hello Kitty blanket, the man of my dreams comes in and says, "What are we having tonight, Casey's Pizza?" My heart melts again, like the day I married him. And off to the gas station he goes to hunt down our dinner. Ahh, that's true love.)
Remember what's next, you comment, you follow, you sign up for email posts, THEN you go onto the next on the tour......
Introducing my tour partner,
Paranormal Haven http://paranormalhaven.
Love, Peace, and Pizza to you all RandomThinkers, I "heart" you.
xoxoxoxo
