This week started off weird because everything was thrown off by one day because I got stuck in the snow up in Maryland. I woke up at 2 AM Arizona time and began my journey from the far north east to the far southwest. It was a two hour drive to DC, a two hour wait for the plane, a three hour flight to Chicago, a hour wait for the plane, a four hour flight to Phoenix, a 15 minute bus ride to the parking lot, and finally a twenty minute drive from the Phoenix airport to my house. That’s 12 hours of traveling.

On the flight home I read some funny opinions about Valentine’s day in the airline magazine. It’s the kind of thing you like to read because somebody else says what we’ve all been thinking: Valentine’s day sucks. For a guy, it’s a nightmare because you don’t know how much to give. Too much? Not enough? It really is a girl’s holiday because it’s so frilly. It’s never about what the girl gets the guy because then the holiday would be marketed as being tough in cool. It’s just a bunch of artificial expectation that in the never pleases anyone.

To avoid any of that drama, Candyce and I decided ahead of time to plan the day together so neither of us would have to sneak around and conspire to outdo one another in gift giving. This was going well until half way through yesterday when Adam started buying everything he could see at the mall during our lunch break. I stood in two stores just long enough to feel inadequate and spend $60 to buy may way out of my sh!tty boyfriend status.

Candyce and I will usually make dinner together if we want to have a nice evening. But my kitchen is trashed because we’ve been having a lot of parties. Plus, cooking involves shopping, preparing, and serving, which can wear you out and steal away three hours. So I swung by our two favorite restaurants and picked up a bottle of wine and two boxes to go: an appetizer and our entrees. We were by the fire in the backyard by 7:00 PM. Not bad!

Candyce told me a funny story this afternoon after talking to her mom. Apparently her youngest siblings were deeply concerned that I was stuck in the snow this weekend and that I might not make it home in time for Valentines. They are nice kids and all, but they are too young to care whether or not their sister and I have a fun date. Candyce’s mom couldn’t understand why they kept asking how my flight was coming. This morning on the way to school, one of Candyce’s brothers asked their mom, “So, how was Candyce’s date last night? …that’s it? No announcements?” Apparently they thought I was going to propose to her last night. It’s pretty heartwarming when you imagine three kids–nine, eleven, and thirteen–all worked up over the suspense. I’m sorry to disappoint!