Valentine's Day

Yesterday was Valentine's Day.

I typically have roses or a floral arrangement delivered to Spouse's office on Valentine's Day.  He loves flowers, and I love the attention he gets by receiving them at work.  But with the ER visit and eye drops 4 times a day, I kind of got distracted and didn't get them ordered.  I could have gotten my friend Paul the florist to quickly put something together and deliver it, but I was afraid I may get the left-overs, so I decided to do something different.

Since Thurs is my day off, I went to the fabulous floral dept at my local Safeway.  We ordered the flowers for our wedding from there and were very happy with them.  I bought a vase with a dozen lavendar roses with greenery and baby's breath, a variety box of Ferrero Roche chocolates, a bag of Dove dark chocolates, and a card with the perfect saying.  I set them up on the kitchen peninsula for Spouse to see when he got home. 

Spouse was a little surprised to not get the flowers at work, but was happy with the results of my change in plans.  He went to his personal trainer appointment and I made (HelloFresh) dinner.  We had a simple but nice Valentine's Day dinner at home.  Then we watched the movie "Valentine's Day" on TV.

Dirty Sunday

Yesterday Spouse & I did a little yard work.  The weather was somewhat overcast so we didn't burn up. We dead-headed the hilarious (tall, pink) roses, pulled some weeds, and did a little trimming.  It didn't take that long with the 2 of us working on it, and we didn't kill ourselves over it.  It was kind of fun to play in the dirt.

Afterward I suggested we make use of a couple of large pots we already had, so we went to the nursery department at Lowes.  (FYI - if you want to see a lot of gay male couples on a Sun afternoon, go to the nursery at Lowes.)  Since we had 2 empty pots and there were 2 of us, we each picked out flowers to go in our own pots.

We transferred our flowers into our pots once we got home and were very pleased with the results.  Here's Spouse's pot:

A nice combination of color, textures and heights

And here's my pot:

A mixture of textures and heights but all in the same color, which compliments the trim on the house.

Again, this didn't take that long to complete and clean up after.  It felt good to see the fruit of our labor.

Now if we can just remember to water these new pots so the flowers don't die!

Double birthday!

Today is a double birthday in our household.  Its Spouse's birthday and Walter's birthday!!

These flowers arrived at Spouse's office today

Everyone with whom Spouse works always comment how nice it is that he receives flowers at work on his birthday, Valentines Day, and our anniversary.  I think its important that they see that gay couples are perhaps more apt to publicly celebrate their relationships/marriages because we've had to fight for their recognition.

When Spouse got home from work I gave him a gift I knew he'd like:  12 pairs of colorful socks.

I realize this might seem like an odd gift, but he LOVES colorful socks.  I knew he'd love these.  Besides, he already bought himself an Amazon Fire tablet and an Amazon Fire Stick a few days ago so he really left me very few options.

I also got him 5 of his favorite candies:

On Sat I have more plans to celebrate his birthday!

Unfortunately for Walter, his 2nd birthday was overshadowed by Spouse's birthday.  But I did give him extra head scratches and playtime.

Birthdays

Today is Spouse's birthday and Walter's birthday!

I planned a surprise birthday dinner for Spouse yesterday at 1 of his favorite restaurants: Dos Locos.  The owners are also friends of ours and always ensure that we are well taken car of when we're there.  Spouse thought we were just meeting Steven & Thad for dinner, but when we arrived he found our friends Joe P, Bryan, and Thatcher there too.  Bryan brought mylar birthday balloons for an added special touch.

We had cocktails, chips and salsa and queso, and eventually ordered dinner.  We talked and laughed and enjoyed the time together.  Then they brought out the huge sombrero and birthday cake I'd ordered and everyone sang 'happy birthday'.  It was a very nice evening.

When we got home I gave him some early birthday gifts; 'early' since his birthday wasn't until today.  I had flowers delivered to his office today, his actual birthday.

I was hoping the rest of his birthday gifts would arrive today from Zulily.com but they didn't so he'll just have to wait for those.

Today is also Walter's birthday, but he seems completely unaware.  He's 1 year old.  He 'celebrated' by being playful and adorable as usual.

I can't imagine where he picked up this slutty pose.

Anniversary

Today is mine & Spouse's 19th anniversary!

We count the day we met as our anniversary because our lives literally began together that day.  We met on a Mon, went on dates on Wed and Fri, and then spent the weekend together.  From that point on we basically lived with each other until we both made arrangements to vacate our separate homes.  Since we were already 30+ years old, we pretty much knew what we were looking for and knew when we had found it.

So today I had roses delivered to Spouse at his office, which we both like because he gets attention from his female colleagues, and I like that they see that gay people share many of the same romantic customs and traditions as straight people.

19 years and counting!!

1997

2015

Sunday funday

We started our Sun by going to breakfast with Steven and Joe P at the Crystal restaurant.  The food is good, the service is fast, and everyone goes there so you always run into people you know.  Its probably my favorite thing about Sundays when I don't work.

On the way home we stopped at both Home Depot and Lowe's to check out their gardening centers.  Neither Spouse nor I really want to spend much time tending to plantings, but we do like an attractive yard, so we try to buy a few new things every year that bloom multiple times in multiple seasons.  Several years ago we bought several rose plants that bloom over and over again from late May to late October.  They only require occasional dead-heading and watering in the heat of the summer.

So yesterday we picked up 4 variegated hostas, the kind with the dark green centers and white rims, along with a few more lavender plants (Spouse loves them for some reason) and went home to plant and water them.  We notice some of the roses had bugs so we dusted the roses to get rid of the bugs.  We also bagged some yard clippings in those heavy paper bags so the City will pick them up next week.  Hopefully next week the guy will come to put down some fresh mulch in the beds for us.

As we were finishing up our yard work I got a text from my cousin Inez, saying she and her husband Steve were in town for a little while with another couple.  They had spent the weekend in Cape May NJ and had just gotten off the ferry, so we washed up and walked into town to meet up with them.  We strolled around window shopping, and eventually stopped for an ice cream cone.  It was a short and unexpected but welcomed surprise!

Later that evening we met up with Vic & Mike for dinner before they headed back to VA.  We used to live in the same neighborhood where they live now, and they also have a place here at the beach.  We tried a new restaurant and really enjoyed our meals.

It was a very nice day with a little bit of productivity and a lot of fun.

Valentines Day flowers

Since my Spouse loves flowers and I love making my Spouse happy, I will occasionally send him cut flowers to his office.  (I send them to his office so his colleagues see that gay people send/receive flowers just like straight people do.)  He knows by now to expect them on his birthday, Valentines Day, and our anniversary.  Sometimes I'll send them on some other random day, just to catch him by surprise.  So since Fri was Valentines Day, this is what showed up at his office:

What??  No red roses on Valentines Day?? you may be asking?  That's correct.  Red roses tend to be very pricey on Valentines Day, and cost aside, Spouse feels that red roses on Valentines Day is too typical and expected.  Which is fine by me because he brings the flowers home for us both to enjoy and I prefer a mixed bouquet over a dozen of the same thing.

And for the record, this bouquet contains pale pink and mauve miniature roses so technically he did get roses on Valentines Day.

That night we had a lovely dinner at JD's Cafe.  I had lobster and shrimp Thai curry and Spouse had fried scallops.  Our friend Donald is the maitre' d and had a complimentary dessert sent to our table, which was very nice of him.  After more than 17 years together we no longer give each other Valentines Day gifts.  Enjoying dessert and decaf coffee together on Valentines day was gift enough.

Valentines Day

Today is Valentines Day, the day dedicated to lovers.

Apparently lots of single people dread Valentines Day because it is a reminder that they are NOT in a relationship.  But I'm hearing/reading more and more about married/partnered/coupled people who also boycott Valentines Day.  Some say its just an excuse for retailers to sell lots of cards, candy, flowers, and stuffed teddy bears.  Others say they don't need a "day" to be reminded to say 'I love you' and be sweet to their loved ones.

Well I say "Get over it, you Scrooges!"

What is so wrong with having 1 day out of the year when you're expected to be romantic and sweet and give your loved one gifts?  Maybe you're romantic and sweet everyday - that's great - then you should be an expert on Valentines Day.  Buy your sweetheart a mushy card and stop being ridiculous already!

I just don't understand why people somehow feel they are being 'taken advantage of' by retailers on Valentines Day.  If money is the real concern, you can always get a card, small box of candy, and a helium balloon at the Dollar Store for $1 a piece!  You don't have to order flowers from an expensive florist.  Lots of grocery stores have floral departments that offer affordable cut flowers.

So to all those reluctant lovers out there I say "just do it"!!

This year I did not send flowers from a florist to Spouse's office as I usually do.  I learned a few days ago that he would be out of his office most the day.  I learned this when I tried to plan to meet him for lunch today, my regular day off.  But as it turned out, Spouse finished his special work activity early and called me at 12:15 to see if I still wanted to meet for lunch.  So we had a lovely little Valentines Day lunch together.  

When Spouse got home from work he was greeted by a beautiful bouquet of purple, pink, burgundy, red, and white blossoms I'd picked out at the floral department at the grocery store, a cute card in a red envelope, and a heart-shaped box of Lindt truffles.  My Spouse is definitely NOT one to turn his nose up at 'silly' Valentines Day spoiling.  I think he looks forward to it.

We decided not to go out to dinner tonight, since we had our Valentines Day lunch.  We'll eat dinner at home and relax while watching TV, a quiet night together, with Marvin.

Happy Valentines Day!

The wedding: flowers

Since I've ordered floral arrangements for Spouse's birthday many times I'm familiar with the cost.  The least expensive, smallest arrangement with 'ordinary' flowers will start at $25. and medium size arrangements with prettier flowers are $40. and up.  Since we wanted lots of flowers for the wedding we decided to order the flowers from the floral dept of a local grocery store and make our own arrangements.  Believe it or not, we got enough flowers to make 7 arrangements for $100.

I tend to favor arrangements with a simple (2 or 3-color scheme) and monochromatic arrangements so we ordered white hydrangeas, white alstroemeria with speckles of color, ivory roses, white, green, and lavender spider mums, and purple status.  That gave us a 3-color scheme to work with.  We had plenty of clear glass vases from previous arrangements I'd sent Spouse.  Our friend Bob agreed to help me put the arrangements together while Spouse ran a couple errands.

You can click on all the photos that follow to enlarge them.

This arrangement sat on the sideboard in the dining room and is passed by everyone going into the kitchen.  We used hydrangea, lavender spider mums, purple status, and ivory roses.  (The soup tureen on the left belonged to my grandmother.)

This arrangement sat on the left side of the piano and was made of hydrangea, green spider mums, and ivory roses.

This is the 'matching' arrangement which sat on the right side of the piano.

Here are both arrangements with the envelope from the bureau of marriage in the middle, flanked by wedding cards from Anne Marie in Philly and Dawn from work.

This arrangement sat on a side table next to the sofa and is made simply of 2 hydrangea and 2 ivory roses in a 'fish bowl' shaped vase.

This arrangement sat on the left side of the mantle and was made of hydrangea, alstroemeria, white spider mums, and ivory roses.  The photo on the left is Spouse's (deceased) father holding his grandson.  The photo on the right is me at approximately 6 years old.

This 'matching' arrangement sat on the right side of the mantle.  The photo on the left is Spouse at approximately 5 years old.  The photo on the right is Jordan and Pouncer staying warm in front of a heat register.

Here are both arrangements on the mantle.

This arrangement sat on a side table between 2 upholstered chairs and contains hydrangea, lavender spider mums, alstroemeria, purple status, and ivory roses.

We ended up with 4 left over ivory roses so I cut them at various heights and placed them in a bud vase which sits on an English tea cart (my grandmother's) next to the front door.  The photo in the red frame is Spouse & me on vacation in 2003, the one in the navy frame is the famous 'lone cypress' I took while on vacation in CA in 2000, the one in the gold frame is my cousin Nez and me in 2001, and one in the dark wood frame is Jordan taken in 2011.

 

When we returned from running errands Sat morning we were surprised to find this arrangement sitting on our front porch!  The card indicated it was from my colleagues at work.  I don't know all of the flowers in it but there are white lilies, white tulips, white alstroemeria, white hydrangea, and some flowers that look like orchids.  Can you believe how perfectly the colors fit in with the flowers Spouse & I had ordered?  These were placed on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

Later as we were setting up the chairs for the ceremony came a knock at the door.  A deliveryman handed me this lovely arrangement from our friends Kim and Bob, which got the most compliments from guests.

The gorgeous scent of the flowers filled the living room where the ceremony took place and gave our home a cheerful, spring look.  We couldn't have been happier with the flowers even if we had paid hundreds of dollars for a florist to create them.

Tomorrow:  the food.

Flowers

Tomorrow Spouse & I will pick up the flowers we ordered.  Our friend Bob is coming over to help me turn them into arrangements.  Without giving away too much, here is a little peek into some of what we'll be working with:

Stay tuned!!!

Bubbles and blooms

Instead of my usual Weekend highlights post, I'm doing something different because all I did was work both days this past weekend and nobody wants to read about that.

Since I worked on Sun I took today off.  I wanted to do some research on some of the elements of our civil union ceremony and reception.

An element I'm excited about is that we're serving champagne!  Well, not actual champagne since that only comes from the Champagne region of France.  Technically everything else is sparkling wine.  So we're serving sparkling wine!  Its celebratory, its bubbly, its fun!  So I went to 2 liquor stores and talked to employees about brands of bubbles.  It was very productive!  Both guys suggested the same brand as a good-tasting, easy-to-drink, moderately priced sparkling wine so the decision is made.

Next I stopped at a local grocery store's floral department for blooms.  The young floral manager Amanda couldn't have been nicer.  We talked about overall look, color scheme, shape, combinations, etc.  Rather than ordering expensive, fussy arrangements, we decided to make our own casual arrangements using the flowers I ordered and some of the multitude of vases we already have.  Of course I'll have to enlist the help of a friend because Spouse & I are both missing the floral arranging gene.  But I know what I like and I know my friends will help us achieve it.

I'm getting excited!