My Valentine Makes Our Kitchen Hot!

Valentine's Day hype and hoopla aside, I still get mushy about this day and the relationship with my man, my hunky Valentine.

Each day of the year I find at least one way to show my partner how much I love him. Not only sharing words, but through deeds which demonstrate my love for the man who is my best half, best friend, and who means the world to me. From the day we met almost 19 years ago until this very moment, I love him deeply.

What am I doing on Valentine's Day for my man?

Well, considering that Valentine's Day falls on a weekday, we actually began the celebration, so-to-speak, yesterday. Before dawn, I felt my partner awaken, so I snuggled closely. I rested my head on his broad, strong shoulder. Using a remote, I opened the curtains that cover our floor-to-ceiling windows. Together we looked out the bedroom window and watched the sun turn the grey bark of the trees to bright gold.

We watched the large flock of cardinals who live year-round in our forest dot the tree branches much like Christmas ornaments, while sharing the colorful bird viewing with dots of yellow, green, and blue finches, and bright orange and black Baltimore Orioles.

My partner's squirrels -- his joyful forest companions -- were being particularly "squirrelly" yesterday. They would run up-the-tree then down-the-tree then up-the-tree so fast, it was exhausting just to watch them! We laughed at watching the squirrels play "catch-me-if-you-can" and when I said that, my partner got playful. 'nuf said.

I got up, put on my side-laced leather jeans with a comfy flannel shirt, along with my comfy full quill ostrich (foot) Chippewa harness boots. (Photo here taken later in the day, but illustrates the outfit.) I prepared a great breakfast of homemade waffles, fresh fruit, and a little bit of pancetta (which is unfortunately very high in sodium, so I have to limit it for my partner). Freshly squeezed carrot juice (yeah, another diet modification that my partner requires) completed the meal. (I had orange juice; I can't fathom the taste of carrot juice.)

Later that morning, the doorbell rang. Standing on the front porch was a cute little guy with a big bouquet of flowers for me. I was non-plussed. I turned to my partner, and he was standing behind me, beaming at my delight with his gift. What a lucky man I am to be in love and to be loved by my best friend.

I had gotten my partner something completely different for Valentine's Day. Many years ago, I had worked for several months in Columbia (South America) and while I was there, I purchased a very fine quality emerald. (Columbia is known for its emerald mining.) I found the jewel a few weeks ago when I was rummaging through my safe deposit box. I had forgotten about it. Anyway, I had the emerald set into a beautiful gold tie clasp. I gave this gift to my partner. He loved it!

By noon, I was doing my rounds of taking my five lovely ladies grocery shopping, which I do every Sunday. Yeah, there I am, in a leather jacket and jeans, escorting septua- and octogenerians throughout a grocery store, then carrying their bags of goodies for them inside their respective homes. Leather in public? No.big.deal.

When I arrived home, I returned to enjoying my partner's company. On cold winter days especially, my partner and I love to create food. This time, we made pasta -- homemade ravioli. It takes hours to do, and is an enjoyable activity in our large and spacious kitchen.

My partner enjoys helping me in the kitchen, but is such a distraction! Man, I almost ran my fingers through the pasta roller with him being all studly like that! He still has medical problems, but as you can see from this photo, he remains a hot man who heats up my kitchen without the stove even having to be on! Woof!

So what will I do tomorrow on "actual" Valentine's Day? Really, not much. I have already given my partner his card and present. He has to go to work, and so do I. I will drive him to the Metro station, and hopefully he will be wearing his nice tie clasp with the suit he usually wears to work. I will go to work, work all day, then pick up my partner when he returns. Prepare a nice dinner (perhaps we will have steak)... and cuddle up with the man I love.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Life is short: show those you love how you love them.