valentine's day was a huge success. literally. the boys helped me make a giant heart. to stick on the outside of the garage door and surprise the beautiful and talented alisa when she took the boys to school. at least, that was the plan. the weather threw the first monkey wrench into the soup. it threatened to rain. it just poured on the 13th with no sign of stopping for 40 days and 40 nights. 40 nychthemerons for the vocabularians in the audience. anywho, the weatherman promised it would not rain valentine's day morning. so that's good right? yeah, they also predicted a light drizzle, not a downpour. sheehs. so anywho. the beautiful and talented alisa tossed the second monkey wrench into the system. she took some anti-allergy medication the night before and needed to sleep in. so school duties fell to me. she didn't really sleep in all that long. it just felt like a long time when i had a secret to keep. and knowing that the neighbors were all enjoying this wacky expression of love for her. and she wasn't. fortunately, she wanted to go to the gym. i watched from the window as she backed out of the garage. i wondered if she was going to close it. she did. i wondered if she was going to notice. but only briefly. cause she did. and the smile that landed on her face was priceless. the heart stayed there all day. and all night. we took pictures. so it'll probably make it into next year's calendar.  ¶ 8:00 AM