Valentine's Day is near what do you want?

I want a someone to come help me with all the clean up and extra work I'll have to do because of Isabel! Then maybe I could enjoy summer and not feel like it will "take all year and never be the same". OR a nice gift certificate to my favorite nursery :)

But I'll probably get flowers, dinner or something along those lines... he means well.

Weez I am but a simple farm boy type I do not know the meaning of ;D ? Ernie

Just a wink and a smile, Ernie.

Weez ok still laughing Ernie

Thanks, Ernie, better humor than horror!

*Chuckling* and Howie wonders what's so funny on my monitor...

World peace

That's a great wish for Valentines Day, Evert... especially since it symbolizes love, and that is what it takes for world peace. Unfortunately, there is about as much chance of having world peace than there is of fitting my dainties in a dayplanner. I think we are just a species that likes to squabble, so we can't agree to disagree.

Now that I've cleaned the hot chocolate off my monitor (yes, I spewed a little), I think I can see through the tears well enough to type a response. Weezin, that picture was just too funny. Carla's right though - although I guess each of us has our own ways of keeping the romance alive.

(DH and I sneaked away to New Orleans for a few days before Christmas - our 21st wedding anniversary present to ourselves. Getting away for a few hours - or a few days - definitely helps refocus us on what's really important, and I firmly believe our children are the better for seeing their parents willing to put each other first in their lives every now and again.)

As for me, I asked DH if I could get some rose bushes for a combined birthday/Valentine's Day present, and he agreed. Fortunately Park's decided to run a bunch of their bareroot roses on sale, so I snagged 8 bushes (Austin Roses, a couple OGR's and a rugosa) for about the same $$ as a dozen long-stemmed red roses. That's MY kinda Valentine's Day present, for sure!

Now to find something DH would enjoy (probably a CD he can enjoy on his daily commute), and pick up some small boxes of chocolates for the kiddos and something for my "secret sister" at church ;o)

Right you are, Terry. It takes a little spark once in awhile to keep the fire going. I guess we all just have a different way to 'spark'. I'd probably be better off baking some fresh bread than donning a teddy, but that's just me. One way or the other my poor DH is going to get the Pillsbury doughboy!

I guess the important thing is that we are not only thinking about what we can 'get' on Valentine's Day, but also thinking of what we can give those we love. It matters little whether it's a hug, a bit of intimacy, a nice card, a box of candy... or some really good garden stuff!... we all like to give as much as we like to get, because that is getting too.

Well, as I have been reading this thread. I must say that I am blessed with LOVE from above, my family and my friends. A gift that cannot be purchased.
Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

I want a back rub...:)

Sadly, I don't ever remember my DH giving me anything for Valentines Day.

Oh wait, I just remembered.....I used to work for H&R Block. I worked with two other women and both of them had received, at work, beautiful bouquets delivered to them by the florist. A customer came in and I was the preparer to get him. As I was doing his taxes, he was commenting on the beautiful flowers that the other women had; he asked where mine was. I said my husband has never gotten me anything for VD. He looked sad (I really thought he was going to go get me some flowers). I looked up at him and could see the front door window over his shoulder. I said, "What the heck? Wait a minute." There crossing the street in front of the door, came my DH with a beautiful bouquet of roses. I said, "Oh my goodness" to the customer, asked him to excuse me for a minute, stood up and started crying as my DH walked through the door. I had to hug him in front of everybody. I was totally surprised, and mine were hand delivered by my own beloved. :) Talk about eating my words though and the timing couldn't have been more perfect! You never know :P Kathy

Awwwwww! :D That's so sweet, Kathy!

Howie knows I love to have my hair played with, brushed or blow-dried. Going to the hairdresser is a real (and rare) treat for me. For Valentine's day 2002, he gave me a little hand-bound coupon book he'd put together at work as a surprise, along with a nice new blowdryer.

Each coupon says, "This coupon entitles the bearer to one free hair drying session accompanied by loving caresses and kisses."

There's tiny fine print at the bottom of each coupon, too...

Manufacturer reserves the right to make (ahem!) advances if necessary.

*blush* I love that guy!

You know I was going to say my hair brushed, but my daughter brushes my hair for me almost every day now. It is so long and thick, it is hard to brush. But....when she's not around, Ralph will brush my hair. :)

Ralph is not a romantic...he's one of those guys that don't even remember Christmas gifts until hours before the stores close on Christmas Eve. It used to really bother me because I used to love to do up the holidays, but I have to say that he has taken that spirit away from me. But other than that, he has given far more by taking such good care of his family than any gift in the world could match, so I just overlook and really don't even wish for it. Probably why I was sooooo surprised.

I'd probably fall over if Ralph gave me a coupon book full of "sweet somethings"....:)

And I haven't been to the hairdresser in over two years. They'd starve if they waited for me...LOL

That's one thing I do miss about having my hair long - no haircuts! Now I'm trying to figure out what to do with this mop of mine.

linda got a shrub rose and 12 dozen glad bulbs how romantic but she also got a little trip to the casino and while she had crow in the form of $47 worth of losing I had prime rib for $20 was I ever full. Ernie

Oh to have your hair brushed, mmm. I got my V-day gift on the 11th. DH does not have patience. Case in point-last year I got my X-mas gifts on Dec. 6th. LOL
I wanted gift cards, expected flowers and got a diamond and ruby necklace and bracelet. Oh my, all I could do was stare, and the look on my big ol grouchy bear's face. So expectant. I really didnt expect it.
Kathy that is the sweetest thing! I dont even want to mention the reason for my last delivered roses. LOL
This year V-day was a great relaxing day with the family and fresh fried up rock fish, that thing was so big I had trouble lifting it. mm mm mm.

Draven, Where is Edgewater? My FIL used to live in Chester, Queens' Landing, MD.

I have never heard of rock fish....how much did it weigh or did you weigh it? Did you catch it?

True to word my DH didn't get me a gift, but I did the same. I had a Pampered Chef party on Valentine's Day, a hen party with some girlfriends....I needed the adult company and we had a good time. Had so much food left over that DH and a friend had to come in and finish cleaning up the food, LOL. It was a nice day.

:) Kathy

Kathy Edgewater is just outside of Annapolis, basicly just when you realize your just outside of Annapolis, thats Edgewater, lol. Chester is on the other side of the Cheasapeake bridge, not too far realy.

Rockfish(drool) is an ocean fish, my brain isnt working too well right now but I think its an ocean trout. Very good eatin'. DH went down to the wharf in D.C., wich is a big outdoor market on the water, they have just about anything you could want, he didnt ask how much it weighed,just told them to give him the biggest one they had today. I think it was about 3-3 1/2 feet long. I wish I had caught that fish,I could imagine the fight I would have trying to real that puppy in.

Don't know about the East Coast rockfish but on the West Coast Rockfish are members of the cod family and they are not very big. Ernie

Heres some pics from a fishing website around here. This is to give you an idea of how big ours was.

http://www.playtimefishing.net/May1003DD.html

Having been away I missed this thread, but now I've found it, have chuckled soooo much, particularly with Weez.
Loved the photo Carol - and the sentiments. That's what the day has always meant to me too - showing others we love how much we care...

:D

Rockfish in MD are striped bass

Wow, Draven, they are big. That's a two pan fish or one large grill :)

Yes, my FIL lived right on the bay. We went out on his cabin cruiser one day (first and last time I was ever on a boat) and about two hours out a storm kicked up. It was pretty bad and it took us 5 hours to get back. I took the 3 kids and the dog and went down in the cabin and holed up, I was scared to death. When we finally got back to land, our dog was so scared that he walked off the boat, up the dock, and on the grass on his belly. I don't think I'll ever go on a boat again. I tell you this because you probably are aware of the Chesapeake Bay storms and how rough they can be at times. :)

Jody in 1961 I was on a destroyer waiting to fuel up. We were tied to a pier a short distance from the actual fueling dock close to tresure Island and I saw several of these caught by a van load of guys who knew what they were doing. They said they were striped bass. These don't live where I fish now but wish they did because what I saw of them they are fighters.

Misty I can't begin to tell you how many times I have had the hair raised up on the back of my neck while in a storm but the truth of it is the good days far out number the bad days. You Know its rough when you leave San Deigo for Bremerton on a 400 foot ship and 24 hrs later find your self 10 mies south in the waters of Mexico. What a shame you had a bad first trip. Hope you try again. Ernie

This message was edited Feb 16, 2004 7:17 AM

Thank you Jody,my brain wasnt working too well as I said, lol, By either name they taste great, yum yum yum.

AAww Misty, Im so sorry you had a bad trip, it can be so much fun, to have the wind wipping your hair all over the place, the movement on the ocean/bay, the sunburn if you dont cover up. LOL.

No problem Draven. Until we started fishing several years ago, I didn't know them by any other name except rock fish.

Yes Ernie, they are fighters! The big ones only come up the bay in ealy spring and again in late fall. The rest of the summer there are only little babies in the bay. We used to go out on the bay every weekend to fish for them, ( or flounder or trout) until we started sport fishing on the ocean.

Hi Jody, I've thought about you often and wondered how things are going for you. Didn't you have a lot of damage to your house last year with the hurricane? I'm hoping things are all straightened out now and back to normal. :) Happy Day, Kathy