LOVE (caution--mushiness ahead!)

I've never been one to wax poetic about Valentine's Day. The last one that I remember truly enjoying was back in 1994. Life was not going well for me at the time. In fact, it was during some of my darkest days. I had been laid off 2 months earlier, and my grandfather died unexpectedly in December. But a local florist was looking for people to deliver flowers on Valentine's Day. I had nothing better to do, and the unemployment people would like to see that I actually attempted some work, so I signed on. For 12 hours, I delivered roses all over town. I think there were 6 of us. Run out with as many deliveries as we could fit in our vehicles, and run back to pick up some more. I love the smell of roses anyway, and the minivan was reeking of them. To walk into an office building with one or two dozen roses, past all the women drooling in anticipation--it was a kick! To see women break into tears when you stopped at their desk (or not). To see the joy on their face when you made your fourth return trip with THEIR dozen roses. It all made for a wonderful day for me. But it was pretty much the last one for many, many years. Until this year...

As you've noticed, things have sort of changed around here. Actually, it's been noticed by some "real world" people too! I've hinted at it for a couple of months now, but today's the day to actually come out and say it. I've fallen in love. Or something pretty darned close to it. It started in late November, and has been growing ever since. My whole outlook on life has changed. Christmas? Loved it! Did the tree thing. I truly enjoyed the season. Today? Valentine's Day. Loving it! Celebrating it. Forcing it down your throats and making no apologies for it. All because of this thing called LOVE.

Who is she? Well, that's going to have to remain quiet for awhile. Some of you have been privy to her identity, and I'd appreciate it if you kept quiet too. But most of you don't know. I promise that, when the time is right, you'll know too. I will say that she's happy, I'm happy, and therefore, the whole world should be happy. It's been a long, long time since I've felt like this, and I'm more than just a little excited about it. Every cliché and quote you've ever heard about love? They're all true! This isn't something that we went looking for--it sort of dropped in our laps. But we plan to make the best of it, that's for sure!

Don't worry about the template--it'll be going back to black, but probably not until the weekend. Just a tad too much pink to keep up here... But look for more mushiness to come! To "her"--thank you for taking that first step. I know that we're going to have a great journey together. And a long one at that! And in my unabashed way, I want to wish every one of you a very Happy Valentine's Day!