Valentines Day with Clementine

I thought that this year, V-day was going to be a quiet day with just Lily and me.  Sad. Pathetic. I know.   Martin was in Mexico climbing some mountains there, so I figured this year was shot. He wasn't scheduled to come home until Thursday so I knew I was flying solo during the most romantic day of the year.

Instead, it turned out being pretty fabulous.  First, around 11:00 am, I got a text from my bestie, "Wanna go to lunch?"  It was Tonia (Creator of Clementine, the blog and Clementine, the cutest baby girl!). Upon receiving Tonia's text, of course, I wrote back in my most desperate voice, "Yes. Where? When? I NEED to see you!" From that moment, I knew this day could only get better.  So, my Valentine was Tonia by proxy since Martin was out of town. Being the friend that she is, she knew that and knew I was alone.  Like good/best friends go, she seized the opportunity to have lunch with me; or rather, I seized her.  I don't think I had opened my mouth yet that day; so I was more than ready for a good conversation.

Tonia + Nate = True Love

Next to my three sisters, Tonia is one of my dearest friends.  I will always love Tonia because she was in the trenches with me for years.  We were both single for way too long, BUT boy did we make the most of being single ladies. We dated men. Then we'd break up with boys. We'd cry and we'd coach each other to move on until another lucky fellow came onto the scene—does saying "fellow" make me sound 72? Because I pretty much am.  More than that, Tonia was my Friday night date if I knew nothing was on the itinerary. We went to all sorts of movies, watched lots of medical shows on TV because we liked to scream at the TV.  Then we loved to banter off the medical terms in the midst of a conversation with strangers. We traveled together, went to lunch together and went shopping together. We were kind of inseparable during that particular era in our lives.

We'll always have Paris.  
What is with my shirt? I am so confused.

Tonia worked in marketing with me and her office was on the same floor and across two halls from mine.  On a good day, I could hear her laughing and would run over to see what all the commotion was about. Sometimes, after a particularly grueling day of deadlines, we'd go home, put on our sweats and just sit and eat chips and salsa.  Tonia was always my go-to, and still is.  I am lucky to have this lady in my life.  Everyone is in love with her and she has tons of friends that clamor to her, because everyone wants Tonia in their life.  Tonia's blog is way more popular than mine, and her writing is some of the most creative in the blog world. Plus, she has probably the best deadpan humor ever known and is working on eliminating expletives from her vocabulary. (wink.)   (Tonia also wrote a little ode to me back in the day before I was married, which you can read, here. It just proves that we are, in fact, friends.  I think you get the picture).

Now that you are better acquainted with Tonia, you can see why she is the next best thing to a husband on Valentines day.

Tonia and I went out to lunch at a really, super cool, hip, strip mall where Tonia introduced me to the best Indian food restaurant that only she would find.  Strip mall? Anyway, the food was good.  We did the buffet but never went back for seconds because we were too involved in our conversation to get back up—although now I am regretting it because I am craving some more Tikka Masala and naan.  Over lunch we talked about our latest workouts.  Tonia is working with a personal trainer and her arms were so tired, she could barely bring fork to mouth.  Of course, I talked about my latest workout DVD's that I purchased during a late night TV marathon because my husband wasn't home. (Currently I am doing the Tracy Anderson DVD. Ladies, it's super hard.  Just warning ya.)  We also talked about my latest DIY project which I stole from the internet.  I am great at duplicating something but hardly worthy of saying I am creative.  I feel that imitation really is the highest form of flattery.  If I succeed at this one, I'll show it off on my blog and, of course, take all the credit.

Tonia + Clementine = Mama Bear Love  

I love my lunches with Tonia because when we get to talking, I start lining up in my head all the topics that I want to discuss with her.  Sometimes I can't get my mental checklist of subjects discussed because we just talk way too much.   At times we are just laughing.  Other moments our subjects are serious, which are always beneficial when "talking it out" with Tonia.  Of course, now we are too mature to talk about subjects like The Bachelor and how mean Courtney is to Ben (I saw one episode and quickly surmised that she is not a nice girl. Then stopped watching it).  We don't talk about the boys we are dating anymore, because we are both married.  Hooray!  We don't talk about what is happening at work, because now we are both stay-at-home moms.  Nope, we talk about more important things like: the show, Teen Mom, working out, Whitney Houston, Bobbie Kristina, chia seeds and other silly or serious subjects. If we aren't talking, we are texting funny little notes or commentary to each other throughout the day.  We can't get enough of each other.

During lunch I felt like I was missing something because Tonia had Clementine with her who is just about the cutest, most smiley, cuddly, 6-month-old, ever!  That's when I realized, "I'm a mom who now has a child that is in school!" My afternoons are free from wiping noses, fixing lunch, playing with toys and reading books.  Well, at least until 2 pm.  Then that all starts up, but until then, I'm a free woman.  I have to say, a 3-hour break is good for any mom, and I like it!

While Tonia and I were gabbing away, I got a mysterious phone call from a number I didn't know.  I decided to do my usual, "Who is this calling me?  I'll let it go to voice mail and then decide later to call back."  Instead, I just answered it.  Good thing, it was Martin!  He called to tell me that he was on a plane headed for home two days earlier than expected.  Apparently all the expeditions got snowed out on one of the climbs.  The group stayed on the mountain for a few days to wait out the storm, then after 2 long days, they decided to pack it in and leave.  I was sad for him but more for me (because that means he'll go back again to complete it. Boo!) However, I was elated that my man was coming home for Valentines day!  

It was too soon to say my goodbyes to Tonia and race home to catch the bus dropping off Lily.  I made it 5 minutes before Lily arrived. Whew!  Then it was off to Whole Foods to get some special food for a Valentine dinner since I knew Martin would be tired and want to take a long shower.  I knew that going out to dinner would be out of the question.  So, I did what any loving wife who is crazy about her husband would do, I bought the Whole Foods pizza, got some fancy bubbly lemonade and the makings for a salad.  I was going BIG TIME here.  For Martin, I knew he'd love it just the same.  He's very accommodating.

I was at the airport promptly at 7:00 pm and whisked him away from that smelly old airport and headed for home.  We had a wonderful time catching up with one another and talking about his trip.  It was so nice to have my actual Valentine home on Valentines day.  It really couldn't have gotten any better.  First, Tonia and then my sweetheart, Martin.

So, Valentines this year didn't include one chocolate but it was decadent in it's own way.  And, once again, I like it that way!

***********

Thursday night wrap up, Martin came home with flowers and we went and saw, "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" which is a NPR radio production.  I love Mo Rocca. He is one of the guests on the show PLUS he is also a commentator on another one of my favorite shows,  Sunday Morning.  I really am 72, aren't I?

Check out my pretty flowers.

*All photos of Tonia were stolen from her blog or FB account.  I can do that you know. Because I know that she'd do it right back.