poor guys...they just can't win

I have to admit- I'm not a huge believer in Valentine's Day. I kinda agree that it's a forced holiday in which most women sit around waiting for their [insert significant other here] to pull out all the stops. You know the drill: send flowers (and by flowers we all know I mean ROSES),  make reservations, and  perhaps even a special gift after dinner (the smaller the box the better).

Of course all of these things are nice- I love getting roses just as much as the next girl, and I would much prefer a nice dinner rather than the same old grilled chicken at Chili's. But here's the problem- we are setting ourselves up for disaster. Men really can't win on Valentine's Day- they're damned if they do and they're damned if they don't. You have the classic Jeckyll and Hyde dilemma with the wife who tells you NOT to spend $100 on roses, but then sits around with her panties in a bunch because it's 4:30pm and there has yet to be a delivery to her doorstep. OR, the wife receives the overpriced dozen of roses and proceeds to complain the next week that so much money was spent on flowers that are now dead. Best of all...a sentence that goes like this, "Hunny, you didn't have to send me flowers...you could have done something different or creative...I don't care about flowers."

Lie. Lie. Lie.

We DO care about flowers. We DO care about dinner. We DO care about presents. But here's the catch- all we really want is to feel special.

Instead of waiting for my husband to fail today (I have faith!), I decided to take matters into my own hands. If Valentine's Day is about making the person you love feel special then as far as I'm concerned I am just as responsible for this as he is. I told him to clear his lunch schedule, booked a 1:15pm lunch reservation at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, and arrived at his work with an obscene display of affection.

And by obscene I don't lie- we're talking a dozen giant helium balloons, a giant stuffed monkey the size of our 4 year old, and a gift basket put together by yours truly...filled with his favorite treats (all of which were Atkins Diet friendly). I got all dolled up, ditched the jeans for my sexy black pants, and even put on some bling. After all, he is my husband and I wanted him to feel special.

I'm pretty sure I was successful, because the look on his face when I walked through his office door was priceless. He had the sweet little smile that I see every once in a while...the smile I see when he's genuinely happy.

I'm not disappointed today, simply because I made the decision to make this Valentine's Day a good one. After all, if you want something done right, you should probably just do it yourself.