I've been Somewhere in Time...

I'm honestly not sure where the past two weeks have gone. Wait. Oh yeah. One of them was spent criss-crossing back and forth across the country a number of times for work. That always sort of puts me into a time warp. It's somewhat disorienting to "come back to earth" and try to catch up on all that has happened with my peeps while I was suspended mid-air for a week. Think Somewhere in Time*...when Richard pulls the 1979 penny out of his pocket and is suddenly sucked back through the vortex to the present day. That's kind of what it's like when I get home from work every month.

But I'm almost adjusted now, and have enjoyed a number of fun activities this week. I was able to attend the annual PTA "Picnic Lunch with Your Student" at Bunch and Gator's school, and visited them during their class Valentines parties. And then I was thrilled to go to lunch with some of the dearest of friends I've made here on Friday to celebrate the estimable Michelle's birthday. It was a great day.

For our grand Valentine's weekend, I made Doc and the kids chocolate covered strawberries and enjoyed spending time with them. Doc and I went out for lunner yesterday...it was supposed to be lunch, but it was after 4pm when we finally ate so it became dinner too. Then we headed up to Park City to a classmate's house for a get-together. He kept me out far too late and we had a lazy Sunday morning as a result.

I know some people abhor Valentines Day (and Mother's Day, Father's Day, and any other "made up" holidays), but I l♥ves them. I love that as a country we all, from the smallest school child to the most aged among us, pause to express love to the people we care about. It's not the only day of the year that we do that, but it's one of them, and I enjoy it. Mainly because I always have an abundance of gratitude for people in my heart...and it's nice to have a day when expressing it in some way won't squeeb people out so much. Not that I ever squeeb my people out of course. But just saying. (No squeebing, right?)

I have been reading blogs lately, but have gotten out of habit of commenting on any of them. A few of my favorite bloggers have recently gone "comment-free"...turning off the feedback loop. I've been tempted to do that myself, but have instead just stopped worrying whether anyone says anything when I write. So please don't feel like you need to chime in. I feel like comments are a gift...and the best gifts are the ones you don't expect, that the giver is excited to give, so it's a true "win-win" moment for everyone.

I know this is one of the issues that the Valentine's Day (and Mother's Day and Father's Day) haters get so energized over. That whole tricky sense of obligation is overwhelming and burdensome. They don't like feeling like they're expected to give something just because Hallmark or someone dictates it. They'd rather just do something out of the blue (and blue, as we all know, is simply FABULOUS) when the recipient least expects it. I agree that unexpected gifts (of words or deeds) are wonderful. But that doesn't, imho, negate the beauty of anything given to another on a holiday.

I always try to give thoughtful, sincere gifts to the people I love. In fact, one of my greatest frustrations is when there is something that I wish I could give to someone, but just can't afford. Not that all the gifts I give are purchased. Sometimes I come up with splendid ideas of ways to serve or kindnesses I can give that don't cost money...and those are the best ones of all. But there are times I think of something that costs money, and it's painful that I am just not in a position to give it. Like I'd love to pay off a few people's student loans. And fund the cost of adopting a baby for a certain loved one. And pay off the mortgages of all my loved ones. And set everyone I care about up with a year's supply of essentials (food/water/energy source). And there are a few people on my list who could use a new car. I'd love nothing better than to park one in front of their house and put a card with the key in the mailbox. Wouldn't that be fun! I have some loved ones with health care bills I'd love to make disappear. Man if I could just be a fairy godmother for a day, it'd be one very busy day.

So back to my blog; Please think of commenting here in the same way. I don't expect, nor am I trying to solicit, feedback from my readers. I'm trying to be authentic in my motives for writing here. It's mainly for me...and the few people who actually know me and are genuinely interested in my life. Frankly, most of my posts aren't even comment-worthy. And if you blog and I ever leave a note for you, know it's given with no sense of obligation or "tit-for-tat" aspirations. Life is just too short for that kind of guilt.

Happy week to all! ♥

PS: any questions I ask are merely rhetorical in nature. Kind of like the whole premise of Jeopardy. What is rhetorical?

*That's one of my favorite movies, by the way. I saw it with Doc when we were freshmen in college like a 21 zillion years ago. I haven't watched it since then, so maybe it's actually super cheesy and I only enjoyed it because I was watching it with the most fabulous guy on planet earth. So if you watch it and it really IS horrendous, don't blame me. You should have watched it with the person you were falling in love with cause then it'd be one for the books in your memory.

PPS: I don't see very many movies compared to the general population. And I'm a worthless critic. Unless it's crude, lewd, profane or violent. And I can't do horror. And I love happy endings. And that's probably more information than anyone cares about.

PPPS: Marie Calendar's is having their big Any Pie $6.99 sale right now. It's hard to pass up. We currently have the chocolate satin and double lemon cream pies in our fridge. They won't be there long though.

PPPPS: is it supposed to be PPS:, or is it supposed to be PSS:? I'm thinking adding the p's cause doesn't it stand for "post script". Post Post Post makes more sense than Script Script Script. I'm just too lazy to google it right now.

PPPPPPS: (I snuck an extra p or two in there just for fun) sometimes I get really honest on this blog, but I admit I'm a little bit afraid to go there right now. Real Blue will be back some day though.