Tuesday Tales: Our Valentine's Celebrations

 

                Last week I had fun looking back over all our Valentine’s celebrations through the years. As I’ve said before on the blog, for all our traditions, Valentine’s Day seems to be the one holiday for which we have no consistent tradition. Our tradition, perhaps, is not having a tradition! We always celebrate the day, but we don’t always do it ON the day, nor do we always do the same thing.

                This year, we celebrated (for the most part) a day early. After work on Friday, we hopped in the car and headed to one of our new favorite places: Do Good Restaurant in Osgood, Ohio. I just learned about this restaurant for the first time last fall, when I went on our church’s staff retreat. I took Ryan for our engagementversary in October, and we really liked it…so we went back for Valentine’s Day!

                Ryan had a dentist appointment earlier in the day (what a way to celebrate!) and his mouth was really sore, still, so he stuck to the soft food options. He said they were so tasty, though!

                He had cheesy potato soup, and for his main course, he chose grilled meat loaf with Korean BBQ sauce – and mashed potatoes on the side. He said he didn’t remember ever ordering meat loaf at a restaurant, and he wondered if this made him old. I told him he’s not old. Just sore from the dentist.

                I ordered a Tuscan chicken wrap, which was delicious. I chose the kettle chips, which I donated to Ryan for later consumption. And I only ate half the wrap so I could enjoy pie!

                They are known for great pie, so he chose peanut butter, and I picked blackberry.

                When our bill came, they also brought me a long-stemmed rose. All ladies dining in that evening were given a rose! It was so sweet.

                I was going to wait to open our gifts on Valentine’s Day, but Ryan was too excited to wait. He wanted to give me mine! So we had our gift exchange when we arrived home.

                Last year on Valentine’s Day, he gave me a lightweight throw blanket I had on my wish list. Well, it turns out in the summer, we both like that blanket because it’s not too heavy, so I gave him his own version of it this year. I also gave him phone screen cleaners and the Toilet Timer that he saw online and found funny.

                I’d lamented lately that I miss the heated towels I used to apply to my sore neck/shoulders. They had them at the rehab hospital, and I’d often wander down there to use them. When the hospital closed, I lost my heated towels! So he gave me an electric neck/shoulder wrap. It’s amazing!!!

                On Valentine’s Day itself, we spent the morning volunteering at the church’s Boutique, and then we spent some time with Mom and Dad.

                We had our small group that night, and it was a great way to end a celebratory weekend!