Love Is In The Air

Okay….not really for me, since I’m very single, but I wanted to wish you all an absolutely fantastic and happy Valentine’s day tomorrow!

In honor of this important occasion, I wanted to pass on a link that my good friend, Shawna, passed on to me recently.  Sixteen free romance novel e-books from eHarlequin for all of my fellow smut-lovers  out there.  I admit it.  I am not a snob where my books are concerned.  As long as a book catches my attention, keeps me enthralled, makes me care about the characters, and makes me laugh and/or cry (the best books do both), then it’s all worthwhile to me.  I’m not ashamed.  I downloaded them all.

Also, Lissa over at Tales of a (Recovering) Disordered Eater wrote a fabulous post that serves as a terrific reminder for everyone (both single and committed) this Valentine’s Day.  While you’re remembering to shower your loved ones with love, don’t forget about yourself.  I love that she includes my favorite quote EVER:  “To thine own self be true.”  Make sure not to miss this blog post.

Well, my mom is home safe and sound.  I got three hours of sleep before I had to get to the airport (tossed and turned) and then was able to get about two more hours when we got back before I had to go into work.  I have to say that the trip really did good things for my mom.  I believe that they just relaxed the entire time, because she looks SO much better.  So much more peaceful than when she left.  Her work has been stressing her out, so she really needed it.

She brought me lots of fun little souvenirs like a diploma from one of the oldest schoolhouses in the country.  I had visited there when I was in 1st grade and have always wanted to go back.  I’ll have to scan some pictures for you guys.  She brought a really pretty one home of the sunset from their hotel room.  She also brought back these yummy HUGE strawberries to share!  (Pics taken with my cell phone, so I apologize for the quality!)

Check out the size of these monsters!

I used to never be able to stand to eat strawberries without sugar on them, so haven’t had them in a while, but these monsters are the juiciest, sweetest strawberries I have EVER had.  Absolutely delicious.  And she brought a whole flat of them home, so we have more!

And yes, that IS an Amy’s Pot Pie box in the background.  Not exactly low in sodium (oops) but all organic and oh so yummy.  It’s one of the Shepherd’s Pie ones (3 points!)

In totally unrelated, and yet still unbelievably good news for me, I learned something interesting today.  Remember that evil Wicked Witch of the Midwest at my dentist’s office that was so mean to me and made me cry?  Well, I’ve been killing her with kindness every time that I’ve been in since and haven’t had any more problems with her, so just let it go.  I swear I didn’t say a word!!

I called today to reschedule my appointment for my crowns and asked for her (she told me to) and the woman who answered the phone said “_________’s no longer with our office.”  Cue happy dance.  Oh that’s so horrible of me, but darn it.  The woman was mean to me.  Did I mention there was crying involved?  I honestly do wish her the best in whatever she pursues and hope that she finds something that is better suited to her personality and will make her happy.  I do wonder what happened, though, and am no longer dreading my next dental appointment.

So, for now, I will sit here, try and catch up on my e-mail, look forward to going hiking in the morning, imagine all of you having fun with your loved ones tomorrow (or treating yourselves extra nice as I will be), and munch on these juicy, lovely strawberries that I wish each one of you could taste.    Evil, aren’t I?