February 2nd, 2010 | by PJ Mellor |
Hearts and Flowers. . .and Chocolate, oh, my!
Happy February! Of course, the month of February means two things to me: Valentine’s Day and the release of my book. Hey, you didn’t think I was going to just talk about Valentine’s Day and not do a shameless plug for BETWEEN THE SHEETS, my fractured fairy tales book, did you? Okay, fine, obligatory plug is now over.
What I really want to talk about, anyway, is Valentine’s Day. And presents. The good, the bad and the downright ugly.
Because I’m the blogger, I get to start. 
My best Valentine memory is when my parents gave me a puppy. I’ll never forget it—I came home from elementary school for lunch and the puppy was sitting in the front window with a valentine tied around her neck. It was a great day.
My worst Valentine’s Day? I’d have to say it was the one when I found out my lying, cheating, scum-bag (now-ex) husband had not only been cheating but had contracted a social disease. Oh, yeah, that one was definitely the pits. Copious amounts of chocolate were ingested, just not in a good way.
Over the years, there have been ups and downs for Valentine’s Day. Most notably was the first one my current husband and I shared when we were so poor, yet somehow he managed to surprise me with a tiny pair of diamond studs. To this day, I still have no idea how he pulled that off. He’s definitely a keeper! My parents, ever the practical people, once gave me a toilet plunger for Valentine’s Day. I assume it was their not-so-subtle way of telling me to stop calling Dad when I had a plumbing problem. Two or three years ago, my husband gave me a laptop. It wasn’t that I wasn’t thrilled—I’d been wanting one for quite a while—or grateful. It’s just that. . .well, I think it was the tax deductible part. Oh, yeah, baby, nothing says love like tax deductible office supplies! 
My friend, Candy, on her first Valentine’s Day with her husband, received a call from him asking if the flowers he’d sent had been delivered to her at work. Thrilled, she anxiously waited all day for a delivery that never came. When she saw him at home and told him the delivery hadn’t arrived, he started laughing hysterically—he’d never sent her any flowers and proceeded to tell her how stupid Valentine’s Day was and not to expect anything from him. Ever. To this day, she absolutely hates Valentine’s Day. BTW, he’s now her ex-husband.
So, what about you? Any best of worst Valentine’s Day stories? Leave a comment and you have a chance to win a book.
Thanks for stopping by!
I know what you mean about tax-deductible office supplies, but the guy earned a lot of “credit” with those diamond earrings! I say he’s a keeper.
One of my interesting Valentine’s experiences was that, when I was divorced and casually dating, I had a guy friend in the same situation. We got together fairly regularly for lunch or dinner, just as friends. Well, for whatever reason – busy schedules and all – it seemed that for 2 or 3 years we ended up going out on Valentine’s. We joked about how funny it was, being “just friends” in a restaurant full of lovers.
Well, y’all can guess the ending of this story. At some point, we became more than friends. LOL. We’ve been together for years now and . . . you could probably see this one coming, too. Now we never go out on Valentine’s Day! But we do buy each other chocolate hearts, so that counts for something.
Congrats on your new release, PJ. I look forward to reading it.
by Susan Lyons · February 2nd, 2010 at 4:46 pmI think you win on the “bad Valentine’s Day” gift–a social disease? YUCK!
My husband is NOT a gift giver. At all…however, he did propose to me on Valentine’s Day, 38 years ago, though I honestly don’t think he even knew it was Valentine’s Day, so I’ve never quite been sure whether or not to give him credit for that one. He does, however, do things to show me he loves me every day of the week, whether it’s chopping wood to keep the fire going and the house warm, or cleaning and vacuuming so I can have time to work. I think I’ll take the day-to-day stuff over a flashy gift any day…though gotta admit, the black pearl earrings he gave me for my birthday last month weren’t bad! 
by Kate Douglas · February 2nd, 2010 at 5:05 pmSusan, I just saw your post and it made me smile. Don’t you think the best relationships are the ones with the guys we see as friends, first? So glad you’ve found your best friend!!!
by Kate Douglas · February 2nd, 2010 at 5:06 pmThanks for commenting, Susan and Kate! And yes, I agree, it’s the absolute best to be in love with your best friend! In fact, I’ve written several books about that, now that I think about it.
by PJ Mellor · February 2nd, 2010 at 5:30 pmI fell madly in lust, then love with my husband and he quickly morphed into my best friend.
I’m looking forward to checking out your black pearl earrings, Kate!
I really enjoyed this post although I have no good best of the worst stories.
by Amanda · February 2nd, 2010 at 5:41 pmThanks, Amanda! I replied to this comment, but for some reason it didn’t post–with my technically challenged self, it will probably pop up twice now!
by PJ Mellor · February 2nd, 2010 at 5:46 pmHaving no worst Valentine’s Day stories isn’t necessarily a bad thing!
Thanks for commenting!
My best Valentine’s Day was in 1966—-the birth of my first daughter.
by Estella · February 2nd, 2010 at 9:43 pmNo really bad Valentine’s Day stories to share. There have been a few times where he totally forgot about the day so there were no flowers or candy.
by Jane · February 2nd, 2010 at 11:30 pmGoodness! That’s quite a story! I haven’t had any terrible Valentine’s Day stories, although I do recall being vaguely irritated as a child that I would receive cards with my name misspelled on them (even though the teacher had passed out a class list beforehand)–guess that was just another thing that pushed me into editing
And yes, now I’m very careful to help my kids as they address their valentines!
by Fedora · February 3rd, 2010 at 3:44 amI can’t say that I have any worst Valentine’s Day stories. Partly because I tend to be distracted from dates by other things going on in life. I have often simply not noticed that it actually was Valentine’s Day until my hubby surprised me with something wonderful. Hmmm…I rather cringe to think how he would reply if asked what his worst Valentine’s Day was…it would likely have been with me.
by Little Lamb Lost · February 3rd, 2010 at 4:52 amMy worst Valentine’s ever was the first one after my husband died from cancer.
He had proposed on Valentine’s(best one ever) and remembering that made for a very sad day for me. 
by Beth · February 3rd, 2010 at 6:50 amEstella, that would have been my best Valentine’s Day too! What a wonderful “present”. I always envied people who had birthdays or had children on a holiday–any holiday, other than Christmas…although that’s special too.
by PJ Mellor · February 3rd, 2010 at 12:20 pmLOL, Jane! There were many times I had no flowers, a couple of times without a card, in those early, lean years. I was just thankful I had him.
by PJ Mellor · February 3rd, 2010 at 12:22 pmFedora, I understand on the spelling thing! I always have to spell my last name and 90% of the time, the person I’m spelling it for gets it wrong!
by PJ Mellor · February 3rd, 2010 at 12:25 pmThanks for commenting!
Little Lamb Lost, I’m sure you’re not the only one who gets side-tracked. My husband has, no doubt, had some of his worst Valentine’s Days with me. But he insists even a bad day with me is better than the best with anyone else–even after all these years! Well, mostly he says living with me is never dull.
by PJ Mellor · February 3rd, 2010 at 12:28 pmOh, Beth! I’m so sorry for your loss. I would assume a day where it seems everyone has someone, it would only magnify your loss.
by PJ Mellor · February 3rd, 2010 at 12:31 pmWHile my Husband isnt the best gift giver in the world without a HUGE HUGE HUGE shove in the right direction (pictures and arrows and postits with ideas) he is a fantastic card giver! For most card worthy holidays I get 4 to 5 cards! And he even throws some mushy ones in there! I myself havent had any bad Valentines experiences but being a Server at THe Olive Garden for 3 years about 9 years ago afforded me to see LOTS of Valentines Day Mishaps, swallowed rings and turned down proposals, Girls scoffing at the ring, Guys throwing the the rings in faces….
by Aurora · February 3rd, 2010 at 5:27 pmHi, Aurora! Cards are good too–after all, it’s the thought that counts, right? And to buy so many cards, he was obviously thinking about you!
by PJ Mellor · February 3rd, 2010 at 8:26 pmI’d love to hear about all the Valentine’s mishaps you were privvy to at the Olive Garden! I bet some of them were a riot, in hindsight, anyway.
Thanks for stopping by!
Beth is our lucky book winner this month! Congratulations, Beth! Please contact me privately with your snail mail address and book preference.
by PJ Mellor · February 3rd, 2010 at 8:27 pmUm…email addie to contact you? And what books do I have to choose from?
by Beth · February 3rd, 2010 at 8:43 pmThanks for picking me.
Oops!
I emailed you, Beth. You can use that email or pj@pjmellor.com.
by PJ Mellor · February 3rd, 2010 at 9:52 pmYour friend Candy sounds like she did the right thing in divorcing her now ex-husband. That is an awful thing to go on any day, but on Valentine’s Day. That is almost unforgivable…but if he sufficiently made it up (in a big way) then I could be persuaded.
I can’t say that I have any stories like that…thankfully. A friend and her husband exchange love letters for Valentines Day telling each other, in non Hallmark terms, what they love about the other person. How they make them feel and reminisce over the past year together. I think this is so touching especially in this day and age when we are all so busy, that it is easy to take for granted the person you love and not verbally express it, especially when all communications tend to be via email, texting and Twitter
by Booklover1335 · February 4th, 2010 at 1:10 pmAw…love letters! how romantic! Your friend is one lucky girl–my husband falls into the category most do: once he said “I do” he became illiterate. Poor guy, he can barely sign his name.
He can still read, though, which is a plus. 
by PJ Mellor · February 4th, 2010 at 2:35 pmI saw one year a girl swallow her ring that was hidden in the whipped cream of her Tiramusi! They rushed out to the ER, I saw a girl slap a guy across the face when he broke up with her on Valentines day… that was fun! Whole dining room went quiet! I saw a few girls just flat out say no to proposals on valentines day… saying they wernt ready, they loved them but werent in love with them, one girl said she was sleeping with they guys brother! lol! I saw a girl propose to the guy and he was so embarassed that he ran out of the dining room…. that was interesting… she just sat there and the server didnt know what to do….lol….. I saw lots of happy proposals and baby announcements and stuff too but the bad stuff always makes for better stories
by Aurora · February 6th, 2010 at 3:56 amOne day in July my husband sent me red roses. I was so surprised because I could not think why. When asked, he told me that it would be more meaninful bcause it was not a special day or anniversary. And he hates Valentine’s Day because he thinks it just is too commercial.
by JOYE · February 9th, 2010 at 5:23 pmOMG, Aurora! I’m taking notes!! I can use this in a future book, can’t I?
by P.J. Mellor · February 9th, 2010 at 5:26 pmOh, Joye, how romantic! he’s a keeper! thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment!
by P.J. Mellor · February 9th, 2010 at 5:27 pm