Oh Valentine!

We had a fine Valentine's Day in our neck of the woods. On Valentine's morning, Adam was up early to go hang out with the old geezers who restore wooden boats in Beaufort. I went to hang out with the old ladies who knit/crochet prayer shawls at the Methodist church. Not much romantic, you say? When I was in my car to leave the church, a friend pulled up beside me. She had a box full of camellia blooms in her passenger seat, and she gave me one. She had one for each of the prayer shawl ladies. Love.

Valentine's evening, Adam and I went on our date. We stopped at "the mall," AKA Dollar General - haha! He got me a County Compass, the local free newspaper full of silly ads and off-the-wall stories. It's a fun read, and hey -- it's free! That was nice of him. While I read, he went inside.

He bought: a Tombstone pizza for Julia's dinner, since we were going on a date, a box of Mike-n-Ikes (her favorite), and a bag of peanut M&Ms for us to nibble on while driving to town. More Love.

We tried a new restaurant, highly recommended, called Bella Cucina. Italian, of course, for romance. The setting was lovely, a small space with just tables, quiet music, plus (unfortunately) two loud Yankees next to us. My apologies to my Yankee friends. It's just that, when your ears have accustomed themselves to the smooth, silky sound of gentile Southern for a few years, loud Yankee conversations are particularly grating, in a small space. Have I said enough now? Probably so.

I had a plate of cheese tortellini with chicken and broccoli, in alfredo sauce. Yumm. Adam had something on the chef's special menu -- something like Seafood Adriadica. A pile of good seafood with a fine butter sauce. He liked it a lot. We googe-eyed at each other and chatted as we do. Many happy Valentines together, he and I. Love.

We did some light shopping while we were in town. Adam sat happily in the car while I browsed around Michael's and got a few things -- yarn and paint supplies. Michael's coupons are so welcome. Then I strolled down to T.J. Maxx, where I needed nothing, but enjoyed perusing everything. They have so much chocolate there! They even sell this:

They clearly understand the plight of women. I spent probably one and a half hours in those two stores, just shoving a buggy around and gazing in bliss. With a patient husband who didn't come with me because he knows it makes me feel more rushed somehow, and he wanted me to enjoy myself. That's also Love.

Adam's been making venison jerky lately. He makes a batch, puts it in a bag, and tells me, "Hide this." I had four bags of jerky, hiding amid my yarn stash. Finally, we packaged almost all of it up, and sent it off to the 3 college kids.

Because we Love them.