Valentine's Day

First off, I guess I'm not doing too well on the New Year's Resolution of updating my blog once a week. I'm sorry, I'm going to try to do better.

Secondly, it's Valentine's Day today. What am I doing (besides typing on this blog, anyway)? I'm sitting at home, all alone, and I just finished watching Somewhere in Time, which lucky for me is starting back up again for an "encore" presentation. I'll probably watch the beginning (since I started watching part way through and I always seem to miss the beginning) and change to watching some other romance/romantic comedy movie like Sleepless in Seattle, Sweet Home Alabama, or whatever else the TV stations have decided to play.

Little side note/fact, my middle name "Elyse" actually came from this movie (or so my mom says) from the main character, Elise McKenna in Somewhere in Time played by Jane Seymour, of course with a slight spelling alteration.

Here's the thing, even though I am all alone on Valentine's Day, a holiday in which everyone from Hallmark to Target says you're supposed to be with someone you love, I do not feel upset or sad, not in the slightest. I, remarkably enough, don't even feel sorry for myself. Granted, I would want to be out with my friends, but I'd want to be doing that even if it weren't Valentine's. But after a pretty busy, fun-filled 2 days last weekend, it's kind of nice to just sit, relax, and have the house to myself.

Funny thing, I haven't really felt bombarded by the Valentine's Day extravagance. Usually, it's because the mushy, gushy, lovey dovey crap is everywhere you go that people start to get depressed that they don't have a person to share a box of chocolates with. I haven't really had time to go to the stores in which this stuff is, so I haven't really felt too suffocated by the Valentine's Day memorabillia.

But, it's not like I've sat watching sappy love movies with a bucket of ice cream all day. This morning I volunteered by helping tutor kids for the TAKS test in a downtown Dallas school. It was crazy early, but it was so worth it. I met the coolest, funniest kids, some of which I really can't pronounce or spell their names. But, I had fun. I helped with the 4th grade writing. For the first group we wrote a story using the words homeless person, magazine, and rainy day. It wasn't an exciting story, but I loved at the end how the kids said that the homeless person, Max, went home to his box and read his magazine in the rain.

The second group wrote a story using the words party, Abraham Lincoln, and DVD. That story was hilarious; Abe Lincoln had a history party in which he invited all the presidents, including John F. Kennedy, to play presidential games like jeopardy and "scramble" and watch a DVD of Abe's life, including his teenage years. Then, at the end of the party, all the other presidents gave Abe a present, a new suit and hat. Oh... it was great.

All in all, a good Valentine's day is spent with people you love, but who says it has to be someone you've known for a long time? I met some great people that volunteered with me, and those kids were awesome. Well, hope everyone else had a great Valentine's day whatever you ended up doing. Oh... got to go, I think I just saw that A Walk to Remember is on....