Happy Valentines Day (a little early)

This weekend brings the "holiday" traditionally celebrated with fancy dinners and gifts of jewelry, chocolates, roses, perfume, candles and all that crap. Except for the chocolate. That's not crap.

I've never understood Valentine's Day. If it's all about celebrating love, why only have it one day a year? I mean, if you really love someone, shouldn't you let them know how you feel a little more often? You can't make a big fuss and then ignore them for the next 364 days. Or maybe you can. But don't expect that relationship to last.

The Farmer and I don't have any big plans for celebrating Valentine's Day. I'll actually be HOME for once on a weekend. How great is that! Maybe I'll bake him cookies or something. I'll hug him and hug my dogs and tell them all I love them but heck, I do that on a regular basis anyway. Awww . . .

A friend of mine recently lost his dog. She was a CT MACH dog but beyond that, she was his absolute soulmate. I e-mailed him my condolences and said, unfortunately, I knew how he felt since I'd lost Connor last fall. He wrote back and one of his comments was, "How could we be so lucky as to have these two dogs for all those years, and yet it wasn't long enough."

So celebrate Valentine's Day this year by remembering how lucky you are to have the ones you love. Life is too short to take anything for granted. Celebrate the wonderful twists of fate that brought all your loved ones - furry or not - into your life . . . even if they drive you crazy sometimes. Or most of the time. Or chew your socks. And fidget on their stays. And leave the milk jug on the counter. And can't remember to put the phone back on the charger. And track in all sorts of hideous stuff. Hey, you probably make them crazy, too.

Today, I am thankful Feb. 14 means February is halfway over and we are that much closer to spring.