Dear Diary 2-14-23 Valentine’s Day Edition

Happy Valentine’s Day, if yer into that.

The wife and I are way past that now. We declared it a Hallmark Holiday years ago and choose to ignore it and go about our lives. Besides, I tell myself, Valentine’s Day is for lovers -and that ship sailed almost three years ago.

That’s not to say I don’t love my wife. I do. But it’s a deeper, more familiar appreciation than a conventional, romantic notion. We’ve long-since settled into our routine and have drawn the last lines of our hard boundaries.

I have no idea if she secretly harbors some wish for a romantic gesture today, despite our agreement to just ignore it, but there isn’t’ one coming. She should know that. Pretty sure she knows that. I do, however, make gestures of appreciation regularly. I always thank her for cooking and offer my help. Sometimes I’ll buy her gifts just because, no particular reason. And of course I do my share of the chores; laundry, dishes, home maintenance, etc…

Regarding other business, I’ve spent a good deal of my time in the studio editing, adding, and slightly polishing the track I did with Sue two weeks ago. In addition to fixing the key and tuning her vocals I added a bass track to it, a bit of piano at the end, and I think I’ll add a vocal harmony to the refrains when I get home. I want to surprise her and everybody else with it when our creative group meets tomorrow (we typically do it on Tuesdays, but we delayed it for Valentine’s Day).

My daughter’s twenty-eighth birthday is coming up. She calls it her “one-third-of-life-crisis” (ha!) which has certainly brought lots of changes, especially in her “polyglut” (my nickname for her polyamorous “throuple”). She told me she deep-sixed the whole thing and will be moving in with a girlfriend who also recently ended her long-term relationship. I try not to pry and let her volunteer what she wants to share.

Anyway, we’re meeting her for dinner on Thursday at some fancy joint called Lao Pot, which is a “hot-pot” restaurant where they cook meats and veggies in a boiling broth as you eat. She’s always turning me onto new experiences. But it turns out the experience requires a reservation of seven or more, at which point I had my own crisis – especially after last year’s unexpected $500 tab at The Whitney.

A photo from Lao Pot’s website, I presume (my daughter sent it to me)

“I hope you don’t expect me to pay for dinner for seven people, do you?” Nah, she assured me. Still, I feel a twitch in my wallet. 😳

I’ll be giving her some cash for her birthday, but I also bought a beautiful bracelet kit from Boldly Chic Boutique and had it sent to her home with a nice card (thanks, Claudette!) and she really loved it.

Maybe I should have bought one for the wife, too?

Nah! 😁

My daughter’s bday gift from me, courtesy of the Boldly Chic Boutique on Etsy

Featured image by Peter Jantsch.

Advertisement