Valentine's Day

Hmmm...where to start?  Mondays are usually my busiest day of the week.  It is when all of the marketing people are either back from trips and are catching up, or they are preparing to leave on a trip and they are getting everything done before they go.  So, when I logged on to work yesterday to find that the person who was supposed to be my backup on Monday and handle all my emails while I had taken the day off was out sick himself, I was a little overwhelmed.  Soooo many emails.  On top of that, we are now, as an underwriting group, taking part in training sessions every Tuesday (a whole other list of frustrations- I could go on and on), so I knew part of my day was already going to be eaten up by that.  Add to that the fact that Joey has been sick and extra needy, we had company at the house, and I had set really high expectations for myself on how I wanted Valentine's Day to play out for the girls, and it was, well...a recipe for disaster.  Or at least extreme frustration.

I have to say that I have a love/hate relationship with Valentine's Day.  I am a pretty practical person.  I (myself, not judging anyone else) think it is silly to have big diamonds, spend money on flowers (they just die!), and I really don't need Jeremy to buy me something on February 14 every year to know that he loves me.  I just find the whole thing dumb.  I do appreciate that Jeremy still makes an effort and gets me a card and a gift, but really, I could live without it.  I do however love any chance I get to make a big fuss for the girls, so for that reason I love it.

Normally I try and go all out- breakfast, lunch, and dinner all Valentine's Day themed.  I had so many ideas and plans in my head but because of things with work breakfast and lunch just didn't pan out.  By 4 pm I still hadn't showered, was no where close to being caught up with work, and I was just feeling like a V-Day failure.  I know the girls don't know differently, and that it doesn't matter.  I think it was just the fact the I had an idea in my head and nothing went that way.  When Jeremy got home I took a quick 5 minute shower.  I quickly started getting everything ready for dinner, and by the time dinner was ready I was already feeling a lot better about the day.  On the menu: cheese fondue with bread, carrots, cauliflower, and apples.  For dessert we had chocolate fondue with bananas, strawberries, and marshmallows.

All in all, Valentine's Day itself ended up being fine.  Great, actually.  We got to spend time with each other and with Tristan, Ana, and Liam, so it was fun.  It didn't go as planned but I have to just accept that that's life.  Really, had it not been for all my frustrations with work yesterday it probably all would have been perfect.  Since I don't have very many working mom friends I often feel like I have no one to talk to and vent about the work-home balance.  Non-working moms just don't fully get it.  Poor Jeremy is always willing to lend an ear though, and I know that no matter how botched my plans are, he loves me unconditionally and can always help me remember what it is that really matters.