Love Day

I am a fan of any excuse to give presents. I like birthdays, X-mas, accomplishments, International Waffle Day, and even Valentine's Day; anything to celebrate the people in my life. Some people are easier to buy/make presents for than others, but no matter who the person is, I love an excuse to give. Even as an angsty teenager, I liked Valentine's Day. Don't get me wrong, I complained about not "having" someone; I bitched about the commercialization of every aspect of our lives (which is valid, but CHOCOLATE!). All the while, I secretly loved it. I loved giving my friends flowers and receiving some in return. Hell, I even liked passing out silly notes and being forced to give them to everyone in class. I spent a lot of time thinking of the right way to tell someone I didn't hang out with often that I appreciated him/her.

It's Valentine's Day tomorrow, so I'm going to take a little time out of my day to say how much I love and appreciate my family. As I type this, R is doing the dishes and the kid is dancing with a stuffed animal to the music playing in the background. I love these two people more than I thought possible. I'm an introvert and can easily imagine spending my life contentedly alone. But I would give up almost all of my alone time to go on adventures with them. Okay, not all of it, but a good portion of it, which is still saying something.

Today we grabbed smoothies and wraps and ate supper by lake Baldwin. The clouds were incredible. The kid was silly. The man-friend was handsome. We had a great time roaming around the park, looking at birds, going down by the water and finding secret spots.

After this last picture, we started heading back when the rain started. I followed the kid and R as they ran and laughed and (one of them) shrieked. It was a marvelous way to end the day. Right now, I feel filled all the way to the tippy-top with love.