HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

 HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Hello and Happy Valentine's Day all! Whether you’re single or married or whatever your relationship status (four-legged fur babies count too!), I send you all lots of (virtual) affection and well wishes.

Since there can often be a shortage of good news these days, or at least the bias can be towards the negative, I’d like to share something I came across last month on our neighborhood interweb (for lack of a better word) where neighbors share comments, criticism, recommendations, and sometimes an Atta Boy! This is one of the happy posts. It seems a female Good Samaritan wrote a bunch of cheerful notes and put them in various neighbors’ mailboxes around the neighborhood. It wasn’t me, and we didn’t receive one, but it still warmed my heart all the same. 

On that same note of Good Samaritans around the neighborhood, I want to give a shout-out to my neighbor across the street, Liz, and her two daughters, Kaylin and Kinley who went around a few neighbors (incl. us) delivering little packages containing a couple Cheryl’s cookies and my favorite Lindt chocolates. I made it clear to my husband that we each get a cookie and a chocolate (and he is not to eat my cookie to save me from myself : )  Thanks Liz and your cute little helpers for the very kind gesture. It’s a pleasure being your neighbor and I hope you have a nice Valentine’s Day. 

Speaking of Valentine’s Day, my husband and I have been married for 22+ years and have never really gone in for very big gestures or booking a romantic dinner out. This year is no exception, even with the pandemic. We’re having dinner at home and to make it extra special we’re baking a fancy dessert (at least fancy in terms of the skills required to make it) of Hot Fudge Pudding Cakes in ramekins.

We’ve never attempted anything like this before, but they shouldn’t be as difficult as a soufflé or Crème Brulee (which would be a great reason to get a kitchen torch!). Even if they don’t turn out perfectly, I’ll still eat them. It’s chocolate, so that’s always good no matter what. 

We typically don’t buy presents for each other either, though my husband has sometimes bought me flowers starting with the year we were married when I got a dozen long-stemmed red roses. That definitely surprised me! He also bought me a lovely art deco silver clock one year (which I still have).

This year he bought me a bottle of Bailey’s Red Velvet liquor (by request). If you can’t drink during a pandemic, when can you drink? I also bought him a canister of Dove dark chocolate truffles (okay, so I am hoping he’ll share with me). 

After dinner we’re planning on streaming the Manhattan Short Film Festival (https://www.manhattanshort.com/).

Normally we’d go to the cinema to see this, and it’s usually held in the autumn, but it’s being offered online for the first time and for the same price ($10) as they usually charge in theatres. So we’re happy to experience it from the comfort of our living room couch. In case you’re thinking of streaming it too, you’ll probably have to settle for watching it on your computer or tablet, but if you have a smart TV and a cable, you can plug your device into your TV and watch it on a larger screen that way. Also, the festival is streamable for about a week or so, so you can watch it later either. 

Well, hope everyone has a good week and can cope with the varying amount of snow we’re supposed to get here in the Midwest. Lest you complain, at least we all have indoor plumbing and don’t have to rely on trains to deliver coal and supplies. If you want to know more about that, check out book #6 in the Little House series, The Long Winter That should put it all into perspective for you. 

Have a great (snowy) week everyone!