Valentine's Day

As per our usual arrangement, we can never actually get out on Valentines day due to it falling on a weekday so often, but we always make time to get out on the closest weekend.  I always want to take Ang someplace nice for dinner that is new and fun, but also that I can count on to be reasonably romantic and nice.  Going with the recommendations of a few friends, I took her to Ventano this year.  It is an Italian place not to far from home, and it lived up to expectations.  The service and food was very good, and though it was busy, it was quiet enough that we could talk.  We also got put in a booth facing the city, so we had a nice view as the restaurant sits up on a hill on the southern end of the valley.

Jesse's Valentines Gifts to Dad

Also for Valentines, we exchange little treats and cards as a family.  Jesse really got into the spirit of the day this year.  He began by putting a torn up little box on my desk with a few treats in it.  Little by little, over the course of a few days, he kept bringing more and more treats, until the box was overflowing.  Then, he brought his pair of slippers.  Next came stuffed animals, and pictures he'd drawn, notes he'd written, and little crafts he'd made in school.  By the morning of Valentines, I had a teetering pile of virtually everything Jesse owned on my nightstand.  It was funny, but it was also very touching, as he was bringing me things that either meant a lot to him, or that he wanted.  Yet, he was sharing, and bringing me his best.  Here's a picture of what the final load of gifts looked like.