Notes on Valentine's Day

This weekend, I mostly finished the picture wall upgrade. I say "mostly" because I think I'm going to adjust the spacing of a few of the pictures. I stare at the wall, and imagine one a little higher, another a little lower... perhaps that one a little more level. I could go on for decades like this.

And then, when I was (mostly) all finished, I found the picture I had spent hours searching for. I love the picture of Alex, above, and can't find the negatives anywhere. I'm thrilled to have found it, and quickly swapped it out for another picture on the wall.

Now I'm even closer to being "done".

But you may want to ask me in a few decades.

Yesterday, I left work early, feeling achy and sick. I battled a fever all night and spent most of the day in bed. I did wander out of the bedroom, with a vague desire for fresh bread, around mid-day. I decided to make my Mom's potato roll recipe. There's nothing like soft, white bread on a not-so-strong stomach. (or is it just me?) There's also nothing quite like the ritual of mixing and kneading bread when you are coming back to the land of the living.

On a whim, I shaped some of the dough into a heart for the boys. It was my small nod to Valentine's Day... they spent the day, after all, in giddy anticipation of Valentine's Day parties and exchanging little cards with their friends. At least they could recieve some Valentine's Day love from their mother.

This one's delight in the end result---and that end result disappearing in about 14 seconds---showed me that I was on to something.

And after all this... the sickness and the bread and the slight guilt over ignoring Valentine's Day, Jameson handed me a card.

"I LOVE YOU SOM"

A message to Mama that he doesn't appreciate her being sick? A recognition that he wants more Valentine's treats? A frustration with bedtime?? This--this--is one of the cards that I will not part from. Ever.

Words cannot express the intrigue and delight and amusement.

(especially when I found out that he was trying to write "I LOVE YOU SO MUCH")