Valentine's Day

What kind of girl would I be if I didn't write about Valentine's Day?

This year, I got an email from a friend almost a full MONTH out in anticipation of what us girls were going to do for Valentine's Day.  A full month out!  It got me to thinking about what I'd done the past few years.  And honestly, I could barely remember.  I had to go back to my outlook calendar to figure out what I'd done in 2009.  (I was out-of-town and spent Valentine's Day as my parents' third wheel.  If I had been anywhere in the 15 and 23 age range at the time, I probably would've been mortified, but last year, I enjoyed it.  I mean, what better way to spend a day dedicated to love than with the two people who love you most in the world?)  I have no idea what I did in 2008.  (A 15 minute search through my inbox revealed that I was again out-of-town and spent Valentine's Day on a plane to visit my brother who had just had ACL surgery and was being taken care of by mom. Hmmm. Pattern?) 

Well, this year I can't hide from Valentine's Day with my family (only because they moved to a place that is prohibitively far away from me).  The thing is, I don't become extremely depressed at not having a date on Valentine's Day (because after 26 years, well no, 25 years, of not having a date on Valentine's Day, one really does get used to it).  But I still feel the need to do something on Valentine's Day.  I guess maybe if I were left alone to my own devices, at home, alone, on Valentine's Day, maybe I would get a little bummed.  

But getting gussied up, sipping cosmos, toasting girlpower and plotting the demise of immature boys with 10 other single girls sounds pretty effing miserable.  Don't get me wrong, I love my girlfriends and I love going out with just the girls.  It's just that the thought of celebrating our collective singleness when I know that as much as everyone tries to deny it, every single one of us would have chosen having a boyfriend over being single that day (and probably 5 out of 7 days of any other week)...well.  It just sounds a wee bit pathetic.

So, my plan for Valentine's Day?  Go to a random dive with my friends, both guys and girls, drink beer, play shuffleboard, and celebrate nothing but a shuffleboard victory or two.