Valentine Prezzies

Bad Dad and I spent Valentine's day apart. But look what he got me.

Actually, I bought myself the orchids while shopping at Trader Joe's on Sunday and he suggested that they would make an appropriate gift.

I spent the entire day running errands and cooking in preparation for a stint as a single mom. He spent the time clearing up the DVR and his Netflix queue, and spending time alone with his daughter.

Iris told me that they bought the Ferrero Rocher on their walk, but she was upset that he bought the chocolates that I liked instead of the ones she liked. To add insult to injury, he admonished her NOT to eat any before presenting them to me on the morning of Feb 14.

So far, she's eaten four to my one at 73 empty calories a pop. I try to tell her to enjoy a bite at a time, to get the most bang for the calorie. Does that reasoning work on your children?

* An orchid collector told me that you can often score bargains on unusual varieties of orchids at Trader Joe's during major flower-giving holidays. TJ's retail price for the unusual varieties are the same as for the standard ones they sell year-round. But they are delivered to TJ's only when the grower mis-estimates holiday demand and must ship the rarer ones to fulfill the orders. Orchid collectors are known to troll (several!) TJ's first thing in the morning right before peak demand holidays. I found these on Feb 12. There were more unusual varieties there, but I practiced restraint.