The early Valentine's dinner

I'm not one of those girls to whom Valentine's Day is a huge deal and expect to be showered with flowers and gifts on the day, who get upset when that doesn't happen.

That said, neither am I one of those who absolutely abhor the commerciality of it all, and refuse to be part of any of the celebrations. Hurhur. 

I am very much a believer that being appreciative and romancing your partner on any given day is much more important than making grand gestures during those designated "big" occasions in a year. By that same breath, I don't believe in completely ignoring the day, especially if I'm in a relationship. There's nothing wrong with putting some extra effort into spending time together from time to time. 

Funnily enough, AB, being the expert expectations manager he is, had managed to condition me to expect nothing from him this year. He had to be away for our first Valentine's last year, and when I teased him about having abandoned me for the past Christmas, New Year's and then Valentine's, he had shown me a black face and gotten upset that I placed more emphasis on that than his everyday considerations. Zzzz. 

So since we had spent the last Christmas and New Year already, AND he was going to be away on a work trip on V-day this year, I naturally expected nothing from the dude. Imagine my surprise when he proposed going for a dinner on Sunday evening the week before, and even specified that it was to be our early celebration. 

Hurhurhur. Of course I wouldn't say no to a chance to dress up and go out for a nice dinner. 

So we did. Scrubbed up and took a bit more care in dressing for the occasion, then went for a pretty yummy dinner over a bottle of delicious Merlot. 

There were no flowers or gifts, but I did appreciate the thought behind it. On my part I had accepted that it's a "no deal" (not even small deal) for him, and on his part, he showed acknowledgement that I just wanted some form of appreciation and exhibition of affection. I found it endearing that we both made attempts to compromise and meet halfway.

That's the real reason this warranted a post on the occasion - a reminder of how much I am at peace and happy in this current relationship. In many instances we are chalk and cheese, but fundamentally, we share that same mutual respect and consideration, and see each other both as an individual we admire, and a partner in this together. 

It doesn't take work, although it takes effort, but when you have your heart in it, it's not very hard, nor painful at all. 

We may be different in our interests, but we do share a healthy love of good food. Heh.