Uncorrelated Valentines Day!

[peter_mary]

I thought it might be fun to hear how your Valentines Day is different, now that your underwear doesn't have to be Church approved and your beverage choice doesn't have to be, either! I was at the grocery store today, and they had a six-pack of Bud Light with a bouquet of carnations and a balloon sticking out of it, and I thought, "Damn! That's not been run past the Church correlation committe, now has it?"

Jeff Foxworthy, take note: "If you think that nothing says 'I love you, sweatheart' quite like a six pack of beer, you might be a redneck." :D

Me? My Valentines day could be featured in a Family Home Evening manual, complete with treats for the kids, roses for my wife, and a red velvet cake iced with pink frosting and garnished with sliced strawberries (yes, gentlemen, I baked that sucker myself...eat your hearts out, ladies!) We have never developed a taste for any of the more "interesting" beverages, and I STILL feel like an idiot :Crazy: buying something sexy for my wife to wear, so aside from heart-shaped hamburgers and red/pink cake, that's gonna be the extent of it at our house this evening.

What about yours?

Paul

[Born Free]

I thought it might be fun to hear how your Valentines Day is different, now that your underwear doesn't have to be Church approved and your beverage choice doesn't have to be, either! I was at the grocery store today, and they had a six-pack of Bud Light with a bouquet of carnations and a balloon sticking out of it, and I thought, "Damn! That's not been run past the Church correlation committe, now has it?"

Jeff Foxworthy, take note: "If you think that nothing says 'I love you, sweatheart' quite like a six pack of beer, you might be a redneck." :D

Me? My Valentines day could be featured in a Family Home Evening manual, complete with treats for the kids, roses for my wife, and a red velvet cake iced with pink frosting and garnished with sliced strawberries (yes, gentlemen, I baked that sucker myself...eat your hearts out, ladies!) We have never developed a taste for any of the more "interesting" beverages, and I STILL feel like an idiot :Crazy: buying something sexy for my wife to wear, so aside from heart-shaped hamburgers and red/pink cake, that's gonna be the extent of it at our house this evening.

What about yours?

Paul

Well, Valentine's Day turned pear-shaped here, but still involved hearts in all the wrong ways.

Midday I was advised my mother was being taken by ambulance to hospital for surgery today to insert a stint in a 95% blocked heart artery only diagnosed that morning. So, there was a lot of hectic activity around the hospital last night that displaced any VDay initiatives.

I got home to the evening news which announced that V Day demand had taken rose prices up 300%, so we might do Valentines this Friday instead, for a fraction of teh price, or with many more roses that MOnday might have allowed.

The following off the Refdesk portal might be of interest re VDay:

"One legend has it that Valentin's Day originated to commemorate the anniversary of the death of St. Valentine, a Roman clergyman who was executed on Feb. 14, about 270 A.D., for secretly marrying couples in defiance of the emperor. According to another, the holiday began as a Roman fertility festival."

Now I must admit the first account looks a bit suspect, becasue romantic marriages are generally not regarded as coming into widespread existence until about the 1600s, a fact that disturbs those religious romantics who want to rely upon the notion of Divinly annointed institution of marriage in their attack upon same-sex marriage. As is so often the case, the Church FOLLOWED the rising social movement to romantic love, by commencing to perform marriages in Churchs in 1636. Prior to that they were basically civil contracts, still having strong elements of transferring the property title (of the woman) from the father to the husband.

So much for religious romanticism, and the esteemed place of women in the historical Church!

[Free-soil]

My V-day took a very different shape than in years past. Just a recap...

Last valentine's day, I had a date with the EQP in my ward...we went to stake conference. We listened to five talks on families and the love of the temple. I wanted to vomit :Puking mainly because I wasn't into the guy and the conference stunk (this was about the time I really started questioning the church).

Today, however, I enjoyed a girls' night complete with two R rated movies and a little too much wine. I couldn't have been happier with the night. :D

[mutleydog]

I have had 3 valentines days since I left the church.....so very different!! Instead of getting the sympathy vote from being left on the preverbial mormon shelf.....I drank copious amounts of alcoholic beverages, had some beautiful gifts, but most importantly having mad-passionate sex and lots of snuggly moments over the weekend was the best!! :p Not that it differs from most weekends, but it certainly differs from the valentines days when I was in church! I felt extremely special and loved and it was great to celebrate that and show my partner that she is special and very much loved too!! :D

[dogzilla]

I might be adorable, charming and a lot of fun to be around on a message board, but I can't buy a date. So my Hallmark Holidays are exactly the same whether I'm postmo or TBM: spent solo with the rest of the world's "coupleness" being shoved down my throat.

Makes me grumpy. :(

[lsands]

Three of my single female friends and I had a lovely dinner that one of the women had prepared in her home, complete with wine, dessert, and good conversation. It made me think about how seldom we "dine"; most often we just shove food into our faces, even when we go out to eat.

There are many kinds of love, and friendship is one of the most enduring. It was one of the best V-days I've ever had. But simple, comfortable friendship does not feed the money machine! We need to be in a constant state of anxiety about our romantic appeal for that! :Puking

O/T I awoke to an unexpected snowfall of 3-4 inches, and it's coming down hard. Beautiful!

[peter_mary]

I might be adorable, charming and a lot of fun to be around on a message board, but I can't buy a date. So my Hallmark Holidays are exactly the same whether I'm postmo or TBM: spent solo with the rest of the world's "coupleness" being shoved down my throat.

Makes me grumpy. :(

Damnit, dogzilla, you needed to send this before I went to bed last night, so I could make sure you got a Valentine "cyber-hug!"

I'll make sure we remember you on the next Hallmark Holliday, which, let's see...

Checking the calendar...

Oh! Mother's Day! Perfect! :D

Hugs all around!

Paul

[dogzilla]

Thanks, Paul. You can address the card to "Animal Mom." :p

In all honesty, I spent V-Day in front of the laptop AND the DVR, working on a powerpoint presentation for work while simultaneously watching George Carlin. Had someone shoved chocolate in front of me, I would have been the perfect date! :D