"Get out of jail free" card

I was joking around with Graham yesterday that while he's in grad school, we both get lots of "Get out of jail free" cards when it comes to birthdays and holidays, particularly the romantic ones like Valentine's Day. It just seems like these holidays sneak up on us out of nowhere without warning and definitely in the absence of spare time to invest in planning something major. This year in particular has been challenging. Christmas came to an end (just as our new baby adventure was starting) and then came Graham's half birthday, close behind. Friday night was my half birthday followed immediately by Valentines Day. Oh and then our anniversary is in a month. Phew! We've let the holidays kind of slide by without a lot of hoop-la which is sort of bittersweet for me.

Alas, I am an oober-romantic through the through. I love all the red, sappy, chocolate, flowers, whipped cream, lovey-dovey-ness that comes along with February 14th. But then take a look at a snapshot of our week last week:

Sunday--we were involved in the music at both AM worship services at church, hosted a superbowl party
Monday--Graham worked a 12 hr shift, I hung out with Isla all day
Tuesday--Graham worked an 8 hr shift then came home to start paper, I had MOPS & and OB appt
Wednesday--Graham worked an 8, came home to work on paper while I watched Gideon & Isla for 10 hr
Thursday--I worked an 8 hr shift, Graham worked a 12 and then came home to write paper
Friday--I worked an 8, Graham a 12 and then came home to work on paper
Saturday--Graham got up early to finish paper then went to 8 hr class

Enough of the boring, gory details but you get the point! Not a lot of time in there for planning romance. Hence our conversation about getting out of "jail" free (please realize I use this phrase mostly in jest--I'm NOT as high maintenance as you might be led to believe!) I worry that we're going to grow so accustomed to not doing much for these holidays during the grad school years; that we'll never get back to the "old" days where I would wake up in the morning to find a dozen roses, each placed inside a glass coke bottle "vase," assembled together in a wicker basket with a sweet love letter. Or when I would get Graham up before dawn, grab our breakfast picnic of homemade, heart-shaped scones with raspberry jam and cocoa, and go watch the sunrise (which, by the way, would never rise because it is ALWAYS cloudy on February 14th). I love that sort of stuff and deep down, if I'm honest, I must admit that it's important to me. However, I say this will full knowledge of the phase we are in and know that it too will pass.

So today I'm digging deep for some spare energy (I know it's in there somewhere!) and doing my best to bring back the romance. Isla and I just returned from West 4 where we surprised Graham at work with his very favorite pie and a visit from his girls.

We're looking forward to the rest of the day too! :)