When best friend and I were in the throes of adolescence, the above greeting sounded quite cool on Valentine’s Day. Hopefully I have now progressed beyond teen-age humor but I couldn’t resist adding that line to her Valentine or saying it to my kids who expect nothing less than tasteless from me on the right occasion. Besides, the politically correct greeting would now be “Happy STD” which really loses something in the translation!
My dad’s birthday was February 14th – Happy Birthday Keck and I hope it’s Happy Hour in Heaven – so Valentine’s Day was a really big deal when I was growing up. We had the traditional family dinner with cake but in addition, my sister and I always got little gifts and my parents continued that practice as long as they were alive. Naturally I do the same with my girls and granddaughters and Burl’s kids and grandkids get in on the goodies now that I’m part of their family. Burl took me to lunch at my favorite place – Ocean Zen – where I got the organic pear and fig salad complete with candied pecans and feta cheese accompanied by a spicy tuna roll and finished with the S’Mores Fondue dessert in honor of his birthday. Yummy! He also gave me a beautiful rose which is on my desk at work and tonight we’ll exchange cards and he’ll get his gift. A nice break in the middle of what is turning out to be the crappiest winter in many years.
Forgot to mention that daughter Tammy is taking a welding class at Ozarks Technical Community College. When she came for dinner on Monday evening she brought me a goodie – a metal “A” that she welded together – her first piece! I was quite impressed and even Burl who is an uber-welder thought she had done a great job. I wore my “proud mom” face too – it reminded me of when she was in kindergarten and would bring home something she made at school. Since she’s not a mom she has no idea how heart-warming her gift was to me but I’m thrilled with my “A” and proud of her for accomplishing a new skill.
Glad you liked your big “A”, although I’m not sure what to think of you comparing it to my kindergarten work! It wasn’t really my first piece – hate to burst your bubble. Steve was the recipient of a metal “K” for his desk. However, your piece was one of my first MIG welded pieces. Now, all I have to do is master the TIG and all is well.
The reference to your kindergarten work was in relation to my feelings as a proud mom and not related to the work itself. BTW my resident welding nerd was really impressed with the photo of your house numbers. Glad you got your certificate – hope it’s suitable for framing because I really think it’s a neat accomplishment. Definitely out of the ordinary.