Thursday, February 14, 2013

Welcome, Nuit! Oh, and Hallmark Has Us by the Ovaries

Because it's Valentine's Day, and no heart should be broken, I offer you this to love, in place of chocolates that will make you chubby and flowers that will wilt:








Hello, World. I am Nuit.
My name means night in French. Because I am black, and I have white that reminds my family of the moon and stars.

The kids were so broken after the death of our beloved Kovu, as was I. What better way to salve the wound than to smear kitten all over our faces. So we did just that. And now we take turns staying up with The Baby who decides that 3 a.m. is the BEST time to play chase and to parcour her way around the living room. Expect much in the way of photographic evidence of her awesomeness in the coming weeks and months (and, I hope, years).

In other news, as mentioned, 'tis Valentine's Day. I could give you the REAL story of Saint Valentine, which involves martyrdom, some clubbing and beating, and an eventual beheading, not at all romantic. Instead, I will share what my friends said when I asked them via Facebook about their MOST romantic encounters.

Chanel says ... I got to go to bed before the kids while hubby stayed up with them. I consider that more romantic than dinner and flowers.

Emily says ... Hiked three miles and up 3000 feet to the top of a mountain with an engagement ring in his underwear -- in the box -- to ask me to marry him. It may not have lasted a lifetime, but it was pretty darn good for about 18 years.

Melanie says ... Back when we were dating, my hubby got my roommate to let him in so he could write "I love you" in rose petals on my bed.

Triva says ... While we were dating, my husband lived over an hour away from me. But just about every day, he would get out of work and drive over in his huge truck (gas guzzler even when gas was cheap), just to see me and spend about two hours with me. Needless to say, we have been married for nine years and I still get butterflies when he kisses me.

Carolyn says ... Many, many years ago I was waiting tables at the Big Scoop Restaurant in White Rock. I just had the worst day at work. My boyfriend showed up near the end of my shift as I was leaving. He got down on one knee beside my car in the parking lot and proposed to me right then and there. Later I asked how come he didn't take me out for some fancy dinner and propose then. He said, "That was my original plan but then I saw what a bad day you were having and I changed my mind and did it right then to cheer you up." That's my husband of 22 years. He's never done anything the traditional way and I love him for it.

Ans said ... He cleaned the whole house after I came back from Holland but did the linoleum floor with furniture polish. Needless to say, you could ice skate on that floor for months to come!

Douglas said ... I once acquired tickets to a huge Broadway-style play and gave them to my GF for Christmas. The date was for February 14th. The seats were in the upper balcony but the show was enjoyable. On the drive home, we stopped for a bite to eat. It was Valentine's Day, so while we ate I presented her with her Valentine gift -- tickets to the same show a week later with seats in the 8th row.

Sarah said ... Had been dating a guy for a little while when he invited me to his work Christmas party. I was excited to meet all the co-workers, you know, it's kind of a milestone. I met him in Covent Garden after work and he suggested we get some food before the party because it was at a cocktail bar, not somewhere foody. He casually gestured to a little restaurant just near us and I said OK. After dinner we went looking for this cocktail bar. We were walking through the West End and we passed a theatre showing the LOTR [Lord of the Rings] musical. I had a little geek-girl swoon and mentioned how much I'd love to see it. He looked at the posters like he'd never heard of it and said, "Well, I guess we could do that tonight instead of the cocktail party." I sighed and said, "No, you have to book your tickets weeks and weeks in advance." He reached into his pocket and said, "Yeah, that's what I did," and pulled out two tickets.

Estrella said ... My husband is not a romantic kinda guy but he was with me at all times during the birth of my first two kids, telling me how proud he was of me and how he loved me all the more because I was his kids' mama and he couldn't have chosen a better mother for them, and even though I knew he was talking to me to make me feel better, I fell in love with him again and again.

*      *      *     *

Got a story of your own to share? Are you married? Single? Engaged? Divorced? Happily autonomous in a sea of madness that is Life? Got any horror stories (like mine from 1994 when my then-husband came home on Valentine's Day and sat down to a terrible attempt at chicken-fried steak and told me, while our three-month-old slept in her basket on the table, that I had to move out because he was in love with someone else)? Give it your best shot. Saint Valentine was beheaded, yo. This doesn't have to be all hearts and flowers.

My CURRENT husband (wow, that makes me sound like a regular Liz Taylor, doesn't it?) has tried VERY HARD to make up the Doom and Disgust of Hearts and Shit over these past thirteen years. This morning, I was greeted with mini York Peppermint Patties placed in the shape of a heart, the center of which beheld a mushy-love card (*blush*), and bookstore money. HE. IS. A. KEEPER. (And yes, I got me to the bookery shortly thereafter.)

I'm so glad that other dude dumped me. Genius!

We'll stop here for now, but I promise to update with all of the Awesome Books I Am Reading. (Hint: The Jane Austen Obsession continues ... oh, and middle grade books aren't just for 6th graders!)

Xs and Os, my lovelies ... 


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