Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and if you’re anything like me, you probably couldn’t care less! Don’t get me wrong, I’ll take any excuse for a decadent meal, but other than that the day doesn’t hold much appeal for me these days. I think it might be some form of celebration overload for me. In addition to Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve, we have 10 family birthdays between November and February. Then to tack on to that the CFB National Championship, Super Bowl, Mardi Gras, and Valentine’s Day? Something’s gotta give and it ain’t gonna be football. So V-Day gets pushed to the wayside, no extra energy to purchase cards or flowers or gifts. Occasionally I’ll pick up some chocolate at the store, but more likely I’ll wait and get it on sale after the fact.

I’m not a Valentine’s Scrooge though! I’m not going to harp about it being a made-up holiday or commercializing love or anything. I think it’s great when people want to go all out for Valentine’s Day! I just plain don’t have the energy anymore. But that’s not to say I didn’t used to get more into the spirit! I started thinking back to memorable Valentine’s Days in my past and actually came up with quite a long list! Maybe some of these will make you laugh or trigger a sweet memory of your own. Either way, enjoy some very random memories!

• In elementary school, decorating “mailboxes” for the other kids to drop their little paper cards into.
• Picking out boxes of Valentine’s from Hallmark and then agonizing over who in your class should get which card. (Hopefully avoiding a Lisa Simpson/Ralph Wiggum “I Choo-Choo-Choose You” situation!)
• In seventh grade, when my little wannabe skater boy boyfriend gave me a single rose and a book of Calvin and Hobbes comics. I don’t think I have the book anymore but I wish I did!
• Getting flowers during the school day and not knowing what to do with them. Carrying them around all day? Stuff them in your locker?
• High school girls making extravagant displays of affection for their group of friends to reclaim the day from just romantic love.
• Those fundraisers in school where you could pay to have a carnation delivered to someone in their fourth period class and force them to figure out what to do with flowers for the rest of the school day (see above).
• The sweetest guy friend in high school roping his mom into decorating the rooms of his close girl friends with chocolates, flowers, and stuffed animals. We were all single and he made us feel so special.
• Going out with friends in college and dancing our butts off.
• My crazy wonderful friends in New Orleans forming the Krefeld of Mariah and hosting the first Heartbreakers Mardi Gras Ball. We dressed in theme for Valentine’s Day and had a blast!
• That same year when the guy I was dating gave me the tiniest box of crappy chocolates that he had picked up at a gas station on his way home from work.
• When Leslie Knope introduced us all to the vastly superior holiday of Galentine’s Day!
• The homemade cards my friend Kaela made for me with her favorite romantic movie quotes. (I still have them after many years!)
• The time Tyler and I decided to see different movies for our date night because he wanted to see the Revenant and I wanted to see The Force Awakens for a second time. That’s true love!

No matter how you plan to celebrate or not celebrate this year, I hope you have a happy Valentine’s Day!