not my favorite holiday...

Valentine's Day is definitely NOT my favorite holiday. Working at a flower shop on a college campus pretty much ruined all hope this holiday had of being in my top ten! I spent too many years arriving at work by 3:00am, watching girls be absolutely silly, helping boys with their ludicrous requests, being yelled at for deliveries that did not arrive in a restricted classroom at precisely 10:08am... and did you really want to know how much those roses cost that you just paid $60+ for? (NOT 60 dollars!)

If there was even a glimmer of hope that it might creep back on to the list, that was killed by my terrible experience of trying to find Valentine cards and treats LAST week! Maybe it is my own fault- "Valentine's" has been in the stores since December! But I just couldn't bring myself to buy Valentine stuff before the third week of January and then I wanted to let my kids choose their own Valentine's- so I waited. I waited too long because apparently, one week is NOT enough notice for buying holiday supplies. For a girl who lives deadline to deadline, it does NOT work for me to have stores replacing Valentine's with Easter the week BEFORE Valentine's Day!! Sheesh!

I won't go into the boring details, I'll just say that everything worked itself out (after four stores and some serious lobbying). We were ready for Valentine's Day! Or, so I thought!

I seriously procrastinated my "craft" for Emily's class party. I didn't realize how badly until this morning when I was running from Robert's, who had NO heart dies for my Sizzix machine, to Forget Me Not, who doesn't open until 10 and I was supposed to be at the school at 10:45! I frantically cut 300 paper hearts with the only heart die in the store (sorry to the three ladies waiting for me to finish!) and raced to the school, arriving 6 minutes after the party was supposed to start! Luckily, the class had not quite settled down from recess and I had minimal set-up. So, my craft worked itself out too. But what a lousy way to spend my morning!

{this is my craft, made for me with love by emily- looks better in person. the flowers are made from three hearts folded in half and glued to make a three dimensional flower. each child could take their "bouquet" home to their mom or a loved one. big hit. don't procrastinate next time!}

Despite all this, I don't hate Valentine's Day. It was a great excuse to send off lots of good mail (for some of you, remember my mantra: better late than never!).

{the stash I sent out yesterday- the lady behind me in line was NOT happy!}

It was the cause of much good mail received! Thank you Grandma Hot Tub, Grandma Texas, Pam, Amy M. and Hannah!

I loved watching my kids write their Valentine's- so cute what they say and think! (Where was my camera?!!)

I have a wonderful husband who used his online savvy and cheapskate spidey-sense to buy me flowers I wouldn't be mad at him for buying- at least, that is what we agreed on and I don't know otherwise!So, Happy Valentine's Day! I hope there is something good for each of you today and I'll see you tomorrow at Target for some Easter preparations!