Show and Tell

My Valentine’s Day started off as most days in my life, hectic and uninteresting. I woke up at 7.00 a.m., jumped out of bed and dashed to the bathroom. After getting dressed, I began preparing the kids for school: fed them breakfast, got them dressed and packed their lunchbox. At 8.15. we were set to go.

When I opened the front door, this is what I saw.

I had totally forgotten about my landlord's message: Construction work starts Monday. The driveway's a mess now, with sands all over the front porch and we can't even park the car at the front yard. Not anybody's fault but I was annoyed nonetheless.

After dropping the kids off at school, I walked to my office hurriedly. I reached the lobby, avoided looking at the elevator and quickly took the stairs to the fifth floor. Although I've been doing this for weeks now, it hasn't turned into a habit yet. Every now and then I still have the urge to take the lift.

I got to my office a minute later and quickly opened the door to let myself in. I was now in my comfort zone. It's all peace and quiet and the Force was definitely with me. Ahhhh..I could finally write that story for Yoda. That's what I did for the next couple of hours. I wrote and wrote like there was no tomorrow.

Tick Tock Tick Tock. Five hours later, my time was up. All writing ceased because it was time to pick up the Vava and Alden from school. Just when I was starting to get all fired up, time ran out on me. I went to get the kids, shoved them in the car and drove home. After feeding them, I called my sister to wish her Happy Valentine's Day. I had ordered some cupcakes for her, intending it to be from someone anonymous (konon) but the moment she saw Carol delivering it, she knew it was from me. So my prank didn't work. But anyway, she loved the cupcakes.

I came up with the design :)

Don't you just love the boobs?

At 3.00 pm while I was still chatting with sis, I got a surprise visit from my cousin and her family. I was mortified to see them cos the house was a total mess. I mean in a pig-sty kind of way. Food crumbs on the floor, toys everywhere, dirty laundry on the couch and oh, Alden was running around naked. In panic, I just dumped everything in the bedroom. Phew!

Soonafter they arrived, hubby got home from work. I was so happy to see him cos he's a better host than me. My cousin suggested that we all have dinner together and since hubby hasn't told me his plans for the evening, I thought why not. So we went to the New Century restaurant at Church Corner, Riccarton. The food was great but I didn't enjoy myself. Alden was cranky the whole night and I was busy getting him to behave. Plus, my cousin brought along this loud, annoying friend who talked about "good parenting" whenever Alden threw tantrums at the table. He made it sound like we were doing it all wrong. Hubby doesn't understand Hakka so he was oblivious to the mean-spirited comments. I kept my cool cos I respect old people, even obnoxious, overbearing ones.

After the unpleasant dinner, we bade them goodbye and headed home. I was soooooo exhausted. What a boring Valentine, I reflected. I thought about how hubby and I used to celebrate Valentine's Day back when we were in KK. We'd dump Alden at my parents' house and have a date night together. Just the two of us. How I missed those times.

That night, I went to bed sulking. When hubby said he had a surprise for me, I wasn't interested. Now a surprise? I didn't feel like doing any cocurricular actvity whatsoever, ahem, if you know what I mean. So I closed my eyes and play dead. Hubby kept quiet and kissed me goodnight.

The next morning, I woke up at 7.00 to the sound of Alden crying. I went to the kitchen to get him a bottle of milk but found this instead.

Aww...he did have a surprise for me!! My heart flip flopped in glee as I reached for the bouquet on the table. Now I remember why I'm crazy about him! I love you dear. Smooch smooch.

Okay, you can stop gagging now. I got a bit carried away there.

Anyway, the connotation behind my long-winded post is that most women want to be loved and to be shown love on Valentine's Day. Sometimes, telling ain't enough, you gotta show it.