Sahm I Am - By Meredith Efken Page 0,60
good church in Tulsa, but out here, it’s slim pickins, that’s for sure.
My Valentine’s Day started out with a sick child—Madeline has a fever of 101 degrees and a sore throat. But I can’t get her in to the doctor until tomorrow. Poor little thing had to stay home from school today. Her class was having a design-your-own-valentines-box contest, and she is so disappointed to be missing out. She had her box all ready to go, too. Darren helped her with it. It’s a big, pink combine with sparkling heart stickers all over it. You hook it up to a Shop-Vac and it sucks the valentines through the front header, up and out the auger, and into a bin decorated like a big red truck with heart-shaped windows. It’s so cute, and she won’t even be able to bring it now. I’m going to call her teacher later today and see if Madeline can demonstrate it whenever she’s feeling better.
But Darren did cook us heart-shaped pancakes this morning, with strawberries and Cool Whip on them. Bless his heart, pancakes are about the only meal he can make. :)
But they were yummy! And his mom is going to come over this evening and stay with Madeline while Darren and I go out.
We have a weird tradition for Valentine’s Day. We load up the truck, drive out to the middle of the biggest pasture and go camping. We have a big tent, a space heater and even a little “potty shack”—so we’re real cozy despite the chilly weather. This is where Darren proposed to me, on Valentine’s Day four years ago, so it’s very special to both of us.
And I’m praying hard that the romance happens like it usually does each year. The last few months have been really tough, and we need desperately to have time to reconnect. I have to find a way to convince him I still love him and am attracted to him, whether he can father a child or not. This, I’m learning, is not an easy thing to accomplish.
Off to spend the day caring for sick daughter and enhancing my feminine wiles…what a bizarre combination!
Brenna
* * *
From:
The Millards
To:
“Green Eggs and Ham”
Subject:
Re: Valentine’s Day Plans
* * *
I can identify with Brenna’s “sick child” problem. Tyler’s illness has definitely put a crimp in my plans with Shane! I don’t really feel comfortable leaving Tyler with a babysitter at this point, so we’re staying home this evening. But my dear Shane talked it over with me a couple weeks ago, and we decided we didn’t need to go out someplace fancy to have a romantic evening together. (Although Z’s weekend sounds awesome!)
So, he took the day off, and is downstairs in the family room right now, transforming it into a romantic Arabian Nights retreat. I don’t know what all he’s doing, but my sister-in-law loaned him the tulle she used in their wedding, and he’s been mooching houseplants and indoor trees off our friends and neighbors the entire week. I’ve also seen an air mattress, giant floor pillows, and a few Oriental rugs headed down there, as well as some satin sheets in a ton of bright colors. (I don’t know where everything came from, exactly.) He dug out all our white Christmas lights on Saturday, so I can only guess what he’s doing with those.
We have a friend who loves to cook, and she’s fixing us a Persian meal. All we have to do is pick it up!
I have a couple of surprises myself…starting with an Arabian-princess costume I rented, complete with headpiece and veil. And I can’t forget the special chocolate dessert…
I’ll give you updates tomorrow.
Jocelyn
* * *
From:
Dulcie Huckleberry
To:
“Green Eggs and Ham”
Subject:
I’m Wearing Black
* * *
It’s 11:30 p.m. February 14. Only a half hour left of this year’s “day of love.” I’m staying up until midnight, just to confirm my suspicions. I think my husband forgot Valentine’s Day. There’s been no phone call, no e-mails, no cards, no special FTD deliveries. Nada. I kept hoping maybe he’d up and surprise me this evening with something, but…nope. And reading all of your e-mails today, I guess I’m the only one who should have worn black.
I’m not really angry or anything. After all, he’s only got six weeks left in KC, and he’s putting in terribly long hours trying to finish up the project. And after that, he’s promised to only accept local jobs—which is good since the next out-of-state contract is in Alaska. So I need