Valentine's Day Gifts

Kenny and I are not the "into" Valentine's Day thing. For most of our lives, both of us celebrated this holiday alone, so I guess you could say we were more of the anti-Valentine's Day kind of people. But now that we're engaged, everyone has been asking me at school, "What are you two doing for Valentine's Day? Are you getting him a "special" gift?" They can't believe it when I respond, "We'll be cleaning house since my parents and niece and nephew will be visiting this weekend. I'll probably be doing some homework. We'll be trying to get everything done before 9:00 so we can watch our favorite show Ace of Cakes." Then they look at me like I'm an idiot. One even went so far as to say, "Oh, I guess getting engaged killed the romance."

No, getting engaged didn't kill the romance. Kenny and I kind of laugh about our tendancy to buy each other practical gifts for any occasion, or at least gifts that the other one really likes or wants. For instance, our main gift to each other at Christmas was an exercise bike. I did get him the final season of Hogan's Heroes. he got me a cover for my Kitchen Aid mixer and a salad spinner (this gift is a blast to use. I try to fix food that lets me use the salad spinner frequently.) So for Valentine's Day, there will be no silk boxer shorts or lingerie or stuffed animals. I may get flowers because he knows I love flowers but won't buy fresh flowers for myself because it's a frivilous expense. We might get each other a package of our favorite candy because it's a treat, but no diamonds, no frou-frou gifts. Kenny received his gift on Sunday because he was sick, I figured he could use a pick-me-up, and we were talking about what a drag it is to always drag out the vacuum cleaner to vacum up small messes in our kitchen. So here's his Valentine's Day gift:

I got him a Dustbuster. Instead of being bummed out, he couldn't wait to charge it up and try it out. When I told the people I eat lunch with what I got him on Monday, they all looked at me like I was crazy. One said, "But that's not romantic!" No it may not be romantic, but it is something he wanted and we both appreciate it. So on Valentine's Day, do what makes you spouse or partner happy. He's had way more fun playing with the dustbuster than he would with a stupid pair of boxers with bright red lips on them!