Monday, February 16, 2009

Why Valentine's Day Didn't Suck This Year

Let me count the ways...

Saturday arrived, the third anniversary of the fire which had claimed the house. TFMD and I took the kids to see Coraline at the AMC Southcenter. And here's the irony: I have traditionally gone to Southcenter over theaters downtown because of the easy and plentiful parking. But since the rennovation of the mall, it's like being stuck in a traffic jam downtown. So if I venture to Southcenter for a movie theater experience in the future, it'll be at the Parkway Plaza, which has better sets and easier parking.

After the movie, we had an early dinner at Applebee's, then headed home where Rae and I promptly passed out for a couple hours before walking to Westwood for a few necessities. It was a slow-moving Saturday evening, with Must Love Dogs and the first act of Down With Love before we simply had to retire for the night.

Sunday was a leisurely, with both TFMD and me tackling various organizational projects: she, her files, and me, the DVD Wall. I hate organizing DVDs, because I don't like to alphabetize, yet I can't always find a neat category for a specific title. But I got it more or less sorted in the end.

Sunday evening, both kids went off to their respective overnights and TFMD took me out for a (post) Valentine's Day evening. We took a cab to the Triple Door, where we had an amazing dinner and saw Lisa Hannigan and her band, who had completely blown us away when she opened for Jason Mraz. This time, she was the headliner, with her guitarist, Gavin Glass, opening with a short set of his own. It was a busy night for Gavin.



Picked up a copy of Gavin's CD, had it signed (as he was hanging out back by the soundboard) and took a cab home. And of course, what would two adults-in-love do with an empty house and an early evening? We did what anyone would do: we opened some port and played music for about three hours. My fingers are killing me today, but it was totally worth it, because we got another original song out of the jam session. Her words, my music. The collaboration that brought us together in the first place. Seeing a good live band can truly be inspirational sometimes.

After all the Thai food and alcohol last night, I awoke a bit precarious this morning. But I took my supplements and nursed a glass of soda water, and now I'm feeling up to taking TFMD out to breakfast at Easy Street. If and when she feels up to getting out of bed.

It's been a good weekend. And it has created a new concept for me: Valentine's Day doesn't have to be traumatic or ignored outright; it can actually be fun.

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