Weekend Update

(Now that you're envisioning Jane Curtin and Dan Ackroyd....)

Andrew and I wanted to go away overnight for VDay, but since we didn't have the free hotel stay deal we thought we did, we couldn't justify the expense, so we took the budget way out:  We sent the girls to spend the night with a couple of cool single women we know from church.

Though my girls are old enough not to need a babysitter if we go out for a few hours, I typically have someone come hang out with them on VDay and "do it up" for them 1) because they enjoy it and look forward to it, 2) because it's a chance to encourage a single friend rather than have her sit at home wishing she had a date, and 3) because I enjoy doing it.  Between pinching pennies and the fact that they weren't going to be here at the house, I couldn't do as much as I have in the past (no fancy tablecloth, flowers on the table, Valentine-themed decorations, no handknits in the gals' favorite colors), but I did what I could, sending along a nice dinner (shrimp scampi and pasta, roasted asparagus, lemonade, red velvet pound cake with cherry topping), a couple of games they could play (Apples to Apples and Pass the Pigs), snacks for the evening (M&M's, chips leftover from T2's sleepover, microwave popcorn), breakfast makings (bacon, strawberries, a bag of the dry ingredients for pancakes), plus two thank you cards with small iTunes gift cards inside.

As it turns out, the girls got to spend a lot of time "running with the big dogs".  Friday night, Janet took them to birthday party for someone else we know:

There may have been karaoke....

Saturday morning, they headed over to our friends' Angela, Jen, and Marie's place, where a bunch of the single guys from church make a really nice brunch for a bunch of the single women.

The girls helped cook the bacon and "helped" with Yvonne's puppy.

The guys even included the Things when they handed out roses to the women.  How cool is THAT?!  One of the guys said that having the girls there "made it extra special".   Melt my heart!  I am ridiculously grateful that they got to be part of this event.  I love that they got to see how guys with class treat women, and I pray that this helps them set their expectations high so they don't settle for jerks who take them for granted.

What did WE do to celebrate VDay?  We were so low-key this year that we didn't even get each other cards, LOL!  Since we had one free item coming to us at Red Robin (Thank you, Red Royalty program!), we went to Red Robin, grabbed the last open table in the bar (no waiting!) and both had dinner for a total of under $15, then hit Starbucks to use the last of my gift card on lattes.  After dinner, we played Scrabble (I won!), then were asleep before 11:00.  And it was just what we needed....

Lest I forget, Andrew also gave me a pair of leather travel jewelry cases in Valentine colors.  One, I will use for its intended purpose.  The other will be repurposed as a notions/tool case: