Romance for Poor People

LBJ and LadyBird courted over 90 love letters
and we can read them online here.
I know what I will be doing all afternoon:
reading real romance for free.
The love letters are
living proof
that you can have romance
at the price of a few stamps.

LG and I have an honorary membership in
America's newest poor class.

The middle class is taking some serious hits.

Add in four kids to the mix,

and it was time for a frugal

Valentine's Day.

LG and I started a new Valentine's tradition.

We each got $10 to spend on each other

at our favorite local Dollar Tree.

I made up a package called "Dreams come true" for LG.

I used some of his favorite things

and added in some dream hearts explaining.

- He loves lemon juice in his water. 

   (I wish I could make all your lemons into lemonade)

- A toy stuff basketball 

  (I wish I was always your soft place to land)

- Toy airplanes

   (I wish I could take you on a getaway)

- His favorite gel pens 

  (I wish I could do all your work for you)

- Sugar-free candy for the diabetic 

  (I wish you could eat as much sugar as you wanted)

- A McDonald's giftcard for the man 

  who loves breakfast 

  and is married to a lazy breakfast chef.

  (I wish I could hire you a breakfast fairy)

LG wasn't quite as cutesy, of course,

but it was still so fun to see what he picked out.

He knows me well.

And isn't that what Valentine's is about?

thinking of each other

and showing that you know one another

better than anyone else.

I feel loved

just knowing

that LG knows me.

I'm a huge believer that gifts don't have to cost a lot of money.

My dad talked at my Grandma Dorothy's funeral
about how she would always pick up little things
here and there and the five and dime to show
that she loved you.
One of his favorite gifts:
a portable toothpick holder.
That is one of the things he remembered
most at her funeral.

I love Valentine's Day. It may be my favorite.
I also love the love language of gift-giving.
I look forward to all of our future
Dollar Tree romances.

And for the record,
last night we got a tray of
chicken nuggets from
Chik-fil-a
wrote off all the evening
activities
and sat home as a family
and watched
Pirates of the Caribbean.
It was pure bliss.