Bah Humbug..

Nope.. I don't have my holidays mixed up, just not a big fan of Vday anymore. It was cool when you were a kid, but I'm come to realize how commercialized it is, as are most holiday's now. Hallmark is making a killing!

I remember in grade school decorating shoe boxes that would house the valentine's from all the kids in class. Yknow.. when you could buy the box of 30 'cards' of Bugs Bunny, Strawberry Shortcake, or Hello Kitty that barely had enough room on the back to write To: From: on it. I remember getting teased in the 4th grade for writing To: Love: on the back of my cards for all the boys. Nothing was said about the inclusion on the back of the cards for the girls. I can only imagine the shit I'd get if I were back in the 4th grade now.

I remember the carnations you could send in middle school. For $1 or something, you could send a flower with a note attached to it to a friend, bf, or gfriend. I was a little jealous of those walking around the halls with near bouquets of flowers. I was happy to have my 2 or 3 singles from friends that were thoughtful enough to think of me.

In highschool, you'd walk by the front office and scan the list of names up in the window announcing something for you to pick up. The counter was full of flowers and the space above with heart shaped balloons. I didn't bother checking the board. My father made our lunches everyday and on Vday would include a small box of the conversation hearts.

I did have one good Vday in the past that I can remember. Two years ago, ex-K and I went up to Berkeley Springs, West Virginia. We stayed at a cheap place and had brunch at Coolfont Resort before wandering around the antique shops and hitting the spa at Berkeley Springs State Park. We exchanged small gifts and my stupid homemade 'flip book of coupons' was trumped by a ring even with the 'no jewelry' policy we had agreed on. Not THAT kind of ring.. it was to replace a similar ring that I had lost/thrown away that was given to me by ex-A. When we split, I moved it to the middle finger on the opposite hand, as I did with the ring from A after that split. It wasn't working on that finger, so I had to move it back.. and now I feel naked if I'm ever without it.

I've purged myself of a lot of items from those 2.5 yrs, but I've still held on to a few things. I'm sure I still have some of those old valentine's cards and notes from grade school and middle school. My parents shipped us candy last month, but it didn't last more than a week.

I'm cool not having to dodge would-be card buyers in CVS looking for 'the one'. I'll continue with my Tuesday routine of work, class, and the gym. And I might pick up some flowers from one of the sellers outside the metro.

A couple single stems will suffice.