Today is Valentines Day, you know the day when desperate men are in the checkout at the local grocery after having picked over the tattered remains of once lovely bouquets of flowers and shuffling through the dregs of Valentine cards in the rack proclaiming undying love to some designated female or other. 

Today, for me is a day to be at home with my love.  Do I need a day set aside for him to show me his devotion to me and to his family, certainly not.  True in the past I have fallen prey to the hype, desiring flowers, cards, chocolate, a date, anything, seemingly like a wallflower at a highschool dance.  I think, though, that I have grown up, grown past that desperation and that stilted idea of what love really is.

I see love in action each and everyday.  I witness the deep fulfillment of all the dreams that a young girl could have in the daily actions of a man who spends himself to the last ounce of his strength sometimes to serve us and to serve his God through the service of his family.

Do I need to see love written on a card?  I can see it in the eyes of my daughter when she inquires how each of us has been doing since she went back to school last week.  I can hear it in her voice when she talks with her brothers and father about day to day things and I know the struggle that she has within herself trying to be the kind of sister, daughter, woman, that they and God want of her.  I don't need her to bring me a card.

Do I need chocolates?  No chocolates here.  Not from the son who knows the hurts that his mother carries in her heart, the struggles that she goes through trying to keep him close and to be the mother to him that God expects even when the going gets tough for both of them.  Don't bother sending this mother chocolate she has her son.

Do I need a dozen roses?  Keep them to yourself.  No mother who has a son so devoted to his family that he puts off his dreams to help his parents when they are in need.  The lovely scent of his sacrifice and is perfume enough for this mother.  Keep your roses and give me my son who loves family and people more than things.

Do I need gifts of fine jewelry?  I wouldn't have it.  Not when I have a son whose voice betrays his concern when he calls and finds that things aren't going as we'd like.  A son who misses his family so much and loves them so much that he comes home to visit on leave rather than spending his time serving himself.  A son who confesses that he goes to daily mass and receives the sacraments as often as he can while he is in port because he knows it may not be possible when he is out to sea.  There is no finer jewel than a son like this.  This jewel will reside in the crown of the mother who treasures it.

Do I need to have romantic music and love songs sung to me?  Not when I have a son who confides in me and trusts me with his heart, knowing that his mother will take his heart in prayer with her.  Not when I have a son who will listen and talk and share his thoughts so that both of you may benefit and grow closer to the love of both your lives, Our Lord and Our Lady.  The music of his laugh and his voice on the phone are symphony enough for this mother.  The only music that I can imagine that is better is the choir of heavenly angels and I strive everyday so that we can hear that music together.

Do I need a date?  Not when I have a son at home whose growth in wisdom, age, and grace I get to witness everyday.  My contentment is here being his mother, teacher, nurse, cook, whatever he needs of me.  Time will pass and he will move on to another and that will be what God wants for now I drink in the time that I have.  No need to take this mother away from the treasures that surround her.

Happy Valentines day to all of you.  I hope that your contentment is as great as mine, that the treasure of your love is as endless as mine, and that you all enjoy a day like no other because it is meant to be shared not to be striven after.

Outside my window......it is cold and snowing.  It's a funny thing all the talk about global warming and yet my relatives in Virginia and the Carolinas have had more snow this winter than they ever have and we are having a long string of very cold weather.  It's not warming here that I can tell.  No reason to go out today though so in the immortal words of the Christmas song, "let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."

I am thinking.......that I really should start my school work.  I overslept this morning, puttered around before starting my day, and now I am putzing on the computer when I should be working on my paper for English.

I am thankful for.....a husband who loves me like mine does.  There are no words to describe this man except to say if anyone out there wants to know how to love, truly love, the way that God means us to, come and watch this man for a day.

I am wearing......jeans and an orange carhart tee shirt.

I am going......nowhere, I sincerely hope. 

I am currently reading......nothing.  I am waiting for the books that I ordered from Amazon to come before Lent starts.

I am hoping.......that whatever this virus that I have had since Christmas goes away soon since I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.

From the kitchen.....Doug has a big pot of pasta e fagioli simmering on the stove.  I think that and homemade bread will do for both lunch and supper.

Around the house......Matthew is studying, Melissa is reading, Doug is stirring the soup, the washer is going and all is right in my world.

One of my favorite things........looking up from my work and seeing the man that I love so much standing there.  After years and years of his being gone for 14 and 16 hour days I feel spoiled to have him nearby so much.

A few plans for the rest of the week.......work on my English paper, learn more about radicals and square roots, and good old pythagorous.  The usual round of classes and holy hours and plans must be made for the beginning of Lent.

Here is a picture thought that I am sharing with you......

Ian and Doug playing Texas Hold'em.  My non-gambling, very serious husband won!  Think I should send him over to the casino to see what he can do for us there.

Outside my window........it is sunny and there are 18 degrees floating around out there somewhere.  Currently there are no frozen ice crystals falling from the sky but the radar looks like we will be having lake effect later on this morning.  If I were an eskimo this would be an acceptable forecast but since I am not, enough with winter already!

I am thinking......of picnics, walks in the woods, the smell of freshly mown grass, digging in dirt, planting seeds, do you detect a theme here?

I am thankful for.......the fact that my voice seems to be coming back and my sore throat seems to be going away.

I am wearing......go navy sweat pants and a white tee shirt

I am going........to do laundry, to clean my house, to work on math, nowhere that means I have to bundle up and risk getting cold.

I am currently reading.......still working on Mindfulness by Ellen Langer  my next tome will be Dark Night of the Soul by John of the Cross

I am hoping......that I get a good grade in the course that I just completed on Friday.

From the schoolroom.......all is in readiness for the start of the day.  Okay, so we're a bit late today.  We had a great day yesterday and it ran a bit late for last night.

From the kitchen.......homemade zucchini bread, spaghetti and meatballs, and perhaps a salad.

Around the house.......the chaos will be brought back into order, mount washmore will be leveled, the dust will be banished, and cleanliness will reign once more.  (if you believe that I have a bridge I want to sell you) 

A few plans for the rest of the week.......I have my second graders and holy hour tomorrow, blessing of the throats on Wednesday, fifth graders on Thursday, holy hour and pick up MK on Friday, and everything else in between.

One of my favorite things........the way the house sounds right at this minute.  All I can hear is the tapping of the keyboard, the ticking of the clock and the wind blowing outside my window.  The wind and snow tell me it is cold outside, very cold, yet the warmth of the fire in the furnace and the smells of our home tell me that it is not only warm in the building but in my heart and in my mind.  At times like this I feel as if there are invisible arms wrapped around me and around my heart holding me close and rocking me gently.  This is one of my favorite things.

Here is a picture thought that I am sharing with you........

Brutus laying faithfully beside my desk while I finish the final edit on my paper.  When I was pulling out my hair and talking to myself like a manic Brutus was the one who stuck by me.  Actually everyone else did but I sounds much more romantic and dramatic to say that Brutus was the only one.  He did keep my feet warm the whole time.