The Trouble With Valentine's Day

I have a Page-a-Day Knitting Calendar on my desk at work, & on Thursday it featured this lovely pattern:

I can't imagine making much less wearing something like this. But, it neatly sums up everything that's annoying me about Valentine's Day this year--basically the whole thing is a tacky, scratchy wool wedgie constantly riding up my behind. I'm doing my best to tune it out & not fiddle with it, but I can't wait for it to be GONE.

I've never been that into V-Day as a holiday anyways, but for some reason this year it is outright pissing me off. What is different this year, you ask? Well, my mother is in the middle of a horrendous Jerry Springer-esque divorce from her husband of 20 years. My husband reacts to each of these holidays/birthdays/anniversaries as if they were female conspiracies invented to make him suffer. On top of that, I'm trying to stick to a diet this year, & it is not helping that EVERYWHERE I go is awash in cheap, plentiful candy. At Walmart this week it looked like a pink streamer and balloon BOMB had gone off. Grrrr.

Here's the problem I have with Valentine's Day--if all these flowery feelings are so important, then why pick just one day a year to express them? Something about putting on all this romantic sentimentality & then forgetting it the next day seems so superficial. Secondly, if you really want to express your feelings to someone, is an pink animatronic stuffed gorilla or bouquet of overpriced roses the most loving way to do that? Either way it doesn't add up. It's easy to buy something, but what about the smaller, more meaningful gestures that go into every day? I've told Alan I just want to ignore the whole flippin' thing this year, and now I think I'm getting a much bigger gift because he thinks I'm testing him as part of the female conspiracy. Oh, the irony of it all. The good news is, by next weekend it will be OVER. Hope you're enjoying it more than I am! Email me if you want the rest of the pattern for that thong. ;)