The Valentine's Day Post

If you're using Nine Month Odyssey as a calendar, stop. And stop panicking, it is not currently Valentine's Day. It is one week until Valentine's Day. Though it's still seven days away, I'm up a creek: I got nothing.

Technically newlyweds, my wife and I have spent a fair amount of Valentine's Days together. For our first few, we went the traditional route: prix fixe menus at restaurants advertised in the local paper. When that wore out, tried a few alternatives: nights out at bars, nights in with pizza. We eventually settled into staying home with each other and a bottle of wine (or something harder).

Given that this is our last Valentine's Day together alone, and our first as expectant parents, I feel that we should do something to mark the occasion (as does my wife who has hinted as much). If we mirrored last year, we'd have to lose the alcohol and Valentine's Day slips dangerously close to "Ordering Pizza on a Wednesday."

So when your nights are cut short by biology and you've traded your sloshy nights for teetotaling, what's left? Not to mention, on top of the biological limitations, we're a few short weeks away from assuming significant mortgage debt.

I know I'd be happy to share a couch, cuddle up, and watch new episodes of "Lost." But, if I've learned one thing about marriage, it ain't about me, it's about us. I know there are great ideas out there, I've just got to find them. And when I do, I'm happy to sell them to anyone for the right price.