Atypical Valentine's Day

In case you were under a rock or on another planet for the last six weeks and didn't have a calendar handy, yesterday was Valentine's Day.
...the day when the world stops to recognize love.
...and some expect expensive gifts.
Either way, the stores are filled to brimming with pink, red, and white, and every other commercial is for diamond jewelry. There are candy hearts and teddy bears and chocolate roses and chocolate-covered strawberries available everywhere. (I used to work in retail; I can list the V-Day merchandise in my sleep.)
The day is usually a semi-big deal for my Jacob and I. It's a guaranteed date night for us, and we don't get many opportunities for those anymore. Our first Valentine's Day together, I cooked him spaghetti at my home. Over the years, the night has taken us to a myriad of restaurants; last night --our fifth Valentine's Day-- we ate at TGI Friday's. Not the "typical" restaurant for Valentine's Day, but I'm not the "typical" girl, either. He bought me roses --like usual-- from the little flower shop by his house. (I told him that because his shopping there has become such a tradition, we'll have to get our wedding flowers from there. Ha!) Sometimes he gets me a gift, and sometimes not. (Last year, he got me a journey pendant. I love that necklace.) We usually end the evening watching a movie together.

Well, this year....all of our plans got delayed.
My uncle started serving his jail sentence yesterday; he was taken straight from court to incarceration.
My aunt was admitted to the hospital immediately after her doctor's appointment; she is still retaining water, and, despite being on diuretics for the last two weeks, has actually gained weight. (Not good for someone with a heart condition.) Before her appointment, she went to the food bank to get her and my grandma's share of commodities for the month, and they were still in the van. No one was available to get them --grandma can't see, my grandma's tenent in the rental house has unreliable transportation, mom & dad were at the store, uncle was in jail, cousins are not around-- except for me and my boyfriend. Honestly, I don't care. It was going to be a simple go-get-the-keys-and-go-get-the-van operation. Well, it took an hour and a half to locate the keys. Not only was the spare set MIA, but the hospital had no listing of my aunt being there, and she wasn't answering her cell. So, when we finally get in touch with her, we go to the hospital and try our best to remember which side of the hospital section "A" is on. We chose wrong, so had to walk all the way across the hospital and then go up to level four. The nurse was just getting around to the list of her daily medications, but the list was in her purse, in the van, on the other side of the hospital in the parking garage. So, after another trip across the hospital later, we gave the list to the nurse, asked my aunt what we could bring her, and were off. The van drove like a stone, but I made it home eventually. We carried in all the boxes and bags and put away what we could. After fighting with my grandma's stove --and getting it lit after some time-- we made sure she'd be ok for a few hours and went to dinner.
After dinner, we came back and made sure she had enough wood to keep the fire going through the night and made sure she had numbers for people in case she needed something during the night.

I felt bad.
The boy had done his part --bought me roses and taken me out for dinner-- and I hadn't showered or dressed up or anything special. But dinner was great anyway. And not expensive.
And I'm okay with that.

Homemade Dinner

Homemade Dinner, originally uploaded by speckled_beckle.

This recipe is so delicious and easy.
The one from tonight was made with chicken, but can be easily made with pork. (Nothing else needs changed!)

2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced (or 1 1/2 tsp minced garlic)
black pepper, red pepper to taste (about 1 tbsp each)
2 chicken breasts (optionally cut up into bitesize pieces)
2 tbsp rosemary
1 14oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp parsley
Spaghetti


Melt the butter in the pan with the olive oil. Once the butter/oil combination is nice and hot, add in the garlic and peppers. After the garlic has browned a bit, sprinkle the rosemary over the chicken, add the chicken to the skillet and slowly brown it. Once it's browned, add in the tomatoes and parsley. Stir to combine, cover, and reduce heat to a simmer. Put the timer on for 20 minutes, stir after 10. Start the pan of water for the spaghetti and cook the pasta to taste. (Some people prefer al dente, some don't.) When it's all done, serve it up. Meat can go on top, or on the side. Parmesan goes all over both.

See? I told you it was easy! =)

Now for the news.
I had two photos displayed on campus for the Aims Art in Action art club student show, which ran for two months, December 1 to Jan 31. The photography professor who taught my photography professor had some nice things to say about my work. (And he said them to the AAiA club's advisor. =D) It was definitely a wonderful thing for me to hear.

Also, the club wants me to take photographs of the campus to sell! It's so great to hear! =)

So, yay! =)