Yoda One For Me

Yesterday I realized that today was the day for passing out valentines at school... and I had forgotten to buy any.

I rushed to the dollar store in hopes of finding a stray box of cool valentines somewhere but, as expected, all that remained was Power Rangers and Hannah Montana. (*sigh*)

I couldn't bring those home.

Instead I stopped by the craft store and purchased a pack of cardstock so that we could create our own valentines.

First I made All-a-Boy's. He likes Legos and Star Wars so here is what I came up with:


Next was Princess. She wanted Princesses for the girls and Star Wars for the boys. We found some generic printable valentines online to fit both of these criteria and printed them off for her.

Cowgirl came last. However, she insisted upon making her own valentines without any help from the computer... or from me. She disappeared into her room for awhile and then proudly brought out her creations for me to enjoy. It was hard to pick, but here are my favorites...

Pixie stix, pixie dust... pretty clever!

I told her she was not allowed to give this one to anyone until she's at least 25. It's in the back of her pajama drawer until then.

Again... this one was banned from her classroom. Besides, until this person learns to lay off of those tanning lotions, no proposals of marriage are gonna happen.

The high-maintenance stuff comes through at an early age.

This one is obviously for a boy.

Then, seeing how we've obviously got a Star Wars obsession going on at our house, here are the cards for the Jedi in her life...

SO clever!

Again, well thought out and very appropriate.

(translation: 'Leia' on me while we kiss!)
Um... WOW.

She was trying to think of something valentine-y that went with "Leia" and this is what she came up with. She was adequately embarrassed when I explained to her how it could be misconstrued, so she changed the words to: 'Princess Leia wants to wish you a Happy Valentine's Day.'

MUCH better.

I just hope that her classmates will appreciate them as much as I did.

Dancing Queen

We had a Valentine's Day dance at our church on Saturday. As a general rule I tend to avoid dances where there are other adults present. Especially when the flier mentions "ballroom dance instruction".

I can not do any form of organized dance. I was kicked out of Modern Dance class my sophomore year of high school for a good reason. (Apparently watching 80's Madonna videos was not a good way to learn to modern dance. Whatever.)

We arrived at the dance as a teenaged couple were strutting their ballroom stuff in the gym to the cheers and applause of the crowd. After a few more numbers the lights were finally turned off.

It was time.

Allen asked if I wanted to dance to a half slow, half happy-bouncy kind of song. We took our place among the other couples and I immediately began to attempt a half sway, half bounce sort of dancing.

"You're right," Allen said. "Maybe we should just sit down."

But when the band started to play some upbeat Elvis numbers I really couldn't help myself. Allen joined me as we tore up the dance floor.

(Much to the horror of others.)

We brought the house down with a big finish which included some move we invented where Allen picked me up and swung me in a circle. I felt like we were the stars of High School Musical or something. It was awesome.

(I don't care how goofy I look in this picture because I love that Allen is captured here in the middle of a genuine laugh!)

Well, that was enough dancing for the night.

So we thought.

The band surprised us with a few more modern numbers that I just couldn't stay in my seat for. Allen was engaged in the fine art of conversation so I took the opportunity to relive my old 'church dance days' and do a little dancing with myself.

And then we went home and played RockBand.

The end.

Operation: Love and Happiness

As Valentine's Day approaches each year I am always reminded of the years that I hated Valentine's day. I would wear black clothing. I would buy myself a box of chocolates and eat every one, wondering if they would taste better if they had been a gift from someone else.

All of this changed one year when I received a simple reminder that I was loved. Every year since then I have tried to let others know that they, too, are loved - even when it may not appear so.

This year I came up with Operation: Love and Happiness.

There were 3 phases, but I'm only going to tell you about Phase 2. (Because that's all I want to tell you about, that's why. Some things are more exciting when kept secret.)

I decided to create some valentines with messages of love and happiness on the inside. On the outside, I simply put: 'To whoever finds this.'
Over the course of the last couple of days I have been leaving these little Valentines in random places all over the city. The most difficult part of this was to hide them, but in plain sight - and without being caught. Difficult, but extremely exhilarating!

There are some on the campus of our city's high school.

(I could not take any pictures because there was ALWAYS someone around! Coolister helped me come up with some good places to leave them at parent/teacher conferences.)

A few are scattered throughout the local shopping mall.
The city cemetery is decorated with several.
Our public library houses quite a number of them in various places.
Phone booths throughout our surrounding neighborhood have valentines stashed conspicuously.

I plan to visit a few local parks today and leave the remainder of unexpected surprises there.

Thumbelina asked if she could make some and leave them around her middle school today as well. (It's contagious!)

I hate to admit it, but part of the reason I am planting anonymous valentines all over our fine city is purely selfish.

It makes me feel SO giddy and warm to think that maybe - just maybe - one person who finds a valentine will really need it. Maybe one person's day will be brightened. Maybe it will bring a smile to someone's face.

I know it worked for me!


(I'm smiling.)