BAH CUPID!

Bah Cupid, or whatever the Valentine equivalent of Bah Humbug is. So far this morning, I am not feeling the Valentine spirit, and that royally ticks me off. I look forward to these fricking holidays, and then procastinate until they're practically over. And I have no one to blame but My Sweet Self.

In my defense, though, this time I have illness as an excuse for being unprepared for The Holiday Of Love. I had wonderful plans, oh yes I did! We were going to make Valentine's cards for the grandparents and the great-aunts, and the girls were going to send cute little Valentine notes to their favorite cousins who live on the rich side of town.

So I did wait a little late to start, but I had planned a weekend of Valentine goodness, and then the flu bug came and sneezed all over my sweet little house.

Last Thursday morning, Big Daddy came home from work almost comatose. Now, BD can be a whiner sometimes, but this guy was so pathetic that I believed him (and there was that telltale 103.7 fever). I called all over our town until I found a doctor who could see him right then, where he was promptly diagnosed with the evil flu. I brought him home, tucked him in, and called the girls' pediatrician to see if they could call in prescriptions for Tamiflu, so they wouldn't get it, too. Too late. By bedtime, Tink had a fever.

Friday was spent nursing BD and Tink, who shared their misery in our king-sized bed. Poor Tink was just miserable, and her fever got up to 104 once. Fortunately, Pooh and Scooter never really got sick.

Unfortunately, Saturday I got sick, and don't you know that was so insulting to BD. Never mind that he had told me earlier he was feeling much better. How dare I trespass on his sickness! How dare I steal his thunder! Even more unfortunately, when I get that sick, I am a worse whiner than BD ever thought about being, and so I cried and asked him to pat my head and all that ridiculous stuff until late Saturday night.

Sunday went by in a haze. BD went to church with Pooh, and I slept all day.

Monday, Tink's still sick, I think mine's now allergies rather than flu.

Tuesday, Tink can't get rid of that fever, so I can't send her to school, and she and Scooter are driving me crazy because our routine is screwed up.

Tuesday night, oh crap, I need to get Valentines for these girls to take to school tomorrow! Went to "the little Wal-Mart," otherwise known as Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market. I love that place so much usually, but last night it stank of desperation, including mine. Picked up two boxes of overpriced Dora Valentines and two crappy boxes of candy for the teachers. At 8:00, BD and I, Pooh and Tink were sitting at the table addressing their Valentines, and then off to bed for them!

So this morning, I drop off the big girls at school, and Scooter and I go to Target, where I intend to get a Valentine card for BD. I tell you, whoever is the seasonal buyer for Target sure does a good job of making sure they don't have anything left over after the holiday. There were exactly 0 romantic Valentine cards. And I just feel guilty if I get a joke card for BD on Valentine's Day. But I did manage to spend $48 at Target anyway, including some of those cute little Polly Pocket holiday sets for the girls.

From Target we went to the Dollar Store, where I found a much better selection of cards. Go figure. Even got a cute container for the pistachios I bought for BD.

So now I'm back at home, with only about 10 tasks I must accomplish today, but I am feeling more peaceful, actually, just having written all this down. Journalistic venting, I guess.

Maybe it will be a Happy Valentine's Day after all.