Valentine's Day.....

"Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get." - Forrest Gump

Today is Valentine's Day - a day of romance, champagne, and chocolates. An excuse to ditch the healthy food and scarf down a few treats, all in the name of love. This was all find and dandy until I found out that St. Valentine was actually a martyr put to death by the Romans. Where's the love in that?

So today, while trying to keep in the Valentine's Day spirit, I got up, dressed in my best red running outfit I could find (oh l'amour) and hit the treadmill to try to at least get a few calories into my storage vault for the onslaught of chocolate and champagne that is sure to be on the menu tonight. Mission accomplished and I won't feel too terribly guilty later.

My husband and I don't make a big deal out of Valentine's Day - I attribute this to being old and married. During the 'courting stage' however, he was all about making the day special. One year for Valentine's day he framed a picture of us with a big, over-sized heart around it. Now the only thing big and over-sized is his butt on our couch. There's a lesson to be learned here, but I won't ruin the moment for anyone else who is still in that delusional giddy phase and making their own Valentine's Day cards. Seriously, who has that kind of time on their hands?

I suppose I shouldn't pick on my husband too badly. He did remember Valentine's Day this year and brought home a present for me. Tiger Woods Golf for the Wii. I sat there, looking back and forth from the game in my hand to his smiling face (you could really see how proud he was that he had gotten me something), while he gushed that this was something we could do together. Nothing says togetherness like a video game. While I thought that this was going to lead to the Valentine's Day Massacre, I soon came to the conclusion, this was a rather clever move on his part and one that won't slip through the cracks in my ever-diminishing brain cells. Next year I'll buy myself something disguised as a present for him ("Oh honey, what do you mean? You don't like that pink palm pilot????). I'm now kicking myself in my over-sized butt for not thinking of this gimmick before he did.

So life is kind of like a box of chocolates -- the trick is picking out your own pieces. In any event, let the games begin. My golf club and champagne glass are ready and I will invision myself at the AT&T Pro-Am at Pebble Beach, basking in the warm Monterey sunshine, while giving my husband a Valentine's Day lesson in Wii golf. Fore. Tomorrow it's back to reality, running and staying on track.