Happy Valentine's Day

Ok so it is a day of total and utter commercialism. It is a day when flowers and chocolates rocket in price, when eating out becomes a nightmare as it is so busy and overly sentimentalised.

But I love it.

And it doesn't hurt to have a special day - now does it.

Nij and I exchanged cards as usual, but I had an extra special treat alongside breakfast.

Nij had bought some lush valentine cup cakes. Apart from the fact they were gorgeously yummy, it was just such a thoughtful gesture.

So they are my photo of the day.

There was only one thing to do after injesting that many calories - a nice long walk along the beach. It was much milder today and the sun was really restorative. All in all a lovely morning.

Follow it up with a bit of Loose Women over lunch and an afternoon scrapping and you have a pretty good Valentine's Day actually.

I finally managed the doodling art journal page. I had been putting it off as I wanted to keep it digital as the rest of the journal is but I also wanted to doodle by hand. I ended up doodling by hand and scanning the doodles in and then supplementing them with some of Dawn's amazing Zentangles. They are from her kit called Tinker which is amazing and on sale at her Scrapbookgraphics store.

It was even themed for today LOL.

 

Today I am thankful for

• a very thoughtful husband and little treats

 

This LOL cat made me giggle like mad. Just my sort of humour.

and my one minute devotional today is superb. I am loving this calendar and this is a great thought for today.

Some years ago, my daughter looked up with sad brown eyes. “I’m missing the Valentine’s party at school,” she pouted. “Chicken pox is no fun!”

I happened to be writing a note with a red magic marker, and on impulse, I picked up Mandy’s speckled hand and drew a heart around one of her pock marks. She smiled. I drew another heart. She giggled. For the rest of the day she admired her hearts. That night, after we had drawn pictures of snowmen with chicken pox and made up stories about animals with chicken pox, Mandy squeezed my neck tightly. “This was the best day ever,” she whispered. I kissed a smooth patch of skin on her hand—between two hearts.

Today, remembering that incident, I’m reminded of a wise friend who said problems are opportunities for growth and change. When I think how much I disliked the traveling job my husband had when we first married, I see I became much more independent and self-sufficient as a result. When our basement had to be gutted because of a flood, we liked the remodeled version much better.

It’s not that I want problems. But when they come, it seems I have two choices. I can be miserable and rail against them, or I can, in a sense, draw a heart around them and turn them into opportunities for growth and learning.

Who knows? I might even end up having one of my best days ever!

Comments

[Barb in AK]

Happy Valentine's Day to Karen and Nigel :-)

[Lizzie]

Your Minute Musing is very good... I agree with you wholeheartedly; I have got very stressed over the various problems and issues that have cropped up over the years - especially with my mum. Since I started trying to just accept them and make the best of the situation, I have been far less stressed by the sudden interruptions to my life. It's a good plan and it works!

I like your doodle page - though I'm not sure which bits are yours and which are borrowed from Dawn; still it is really quite fab!

Glad you had a lovely day yesterday - the cakes look rather yummy and the walk sounds great. I would like a walk by the seashore sometimes too...