Adventures in Lapinskas Land: Would you like some cheese whith that whine?

It's almost 9 o'clock, and I'm in an AWESOME mood. *Since you can't hear my tone, that's sarcasm*

Yesterday was Valentine's Day. I'm sure that you know that unless you live under a rock, or with Jimmy Hoffa. I have heard and read all about the wonderful stories of flowers, dates, love notes, etc floating out there on the blogosphere. I saw the question posed - do you tell your significant other not to get you something, but still hope that you are surprised?

I had to laugh. I tell my significant other EXACTLY what I want. I point it out. I say "I want this. Here's a coupon." I do everything except buy it for him.

I'm sure the excitement is built up. What did she get? I bet it was GREAT! It's chocolate! No, Jewelery! No, a Tiara! What is it, Tara? We're dying to know! (In my head, I have fans, and this is what they sound like. Yes, my internal fan club gets me through exercising and child rearing, to name a few things).

I got a card.

Yep.

Is that what you asked for?

Nope.

Did you want to cry by the end of the day? Yes. Just because of the card? Nope - read on for a recap of the day, and you may see why the frustration is building internally and is trying to release via salty drops of fluid running down my face.

You see, my significant other and I see these little trifling holidays a bit differently. I want to feel special. I look forward to being surprised. I want to be the center of his attention (and maybe publicly as well. Do I have a fame complex? Please see above mention about internal fan club). I want to feel as if the day is special because I'm in it with him, or that the day is special because I'm special. (I just noticed that I overuse "special." Maybe I am special, but in the short bus kind of way.) But, my significant other doesn't get this way about holidays, or birthdays, or anniversaries. He's ok just letting them go by with a quick mention - "Happy Valentine's Day" and a hug/kiss. "Happy Anniversary." "Happy Birthday."

For the most part, I'm ok with this as well. Except for the milestone anniversaries or birthdays, or any Valentines' day. For some reason, I just want more on this day. I want to be important. I want to feel like the day is slightly different than any other.

Just getting a card wouldn't have been that bad. But, there have been a consistent turn of overwhelming/frustrating events that could have been wiped clean with some pretty flowers.

I've been dealing with Olivia and lying and scamming and 8 year old craziness. So, I had to call her school and tell them not to give her hot lunch because she scams them into getting a hot lunch and they bill me. Wasting money on her lunch, twice (cold and hot lunch) is not my favorite thing. Calling the school to talk to the teacher and lunch lady to tell them my kids a liar, is really NOT my favorite thing. (I'm starting to understand why some species eat their young.)

Then, we had dance class. Tony worked late (he does pretty much every day), and didn't meet us up at dance class, which is unusual. So, I was on kid duty and Mia was ON STAGE, or at least pretending to be for everyone in the lobby of the dance class, twirling and telling about her pretty dress. She even posed like one of the pictures of the dancers on the wall. What a little ham.

I forgot, the morning started off well too, when the brats I had made the night before (so that all I would need is a reheat on dance night) were left out all night. "Do you think they're still good?" asked Tony. Um, no. So, dinner was a wash. We had 10 minutes to eat, and no one ate the turkey sausages I made.

Tony tried to be helpful and went to get me cold medicine on the way home. But, they didn't have the kind I normally got, and the kind he brought home keeps me awake, so no cold medicine for me. Did I mention I've been fighting the cold that Mia so graciously shared with me by coughing in my face for a week straight?

Then I got into a fight with my mom on the way home from dance class and went to bed alone.

Why, oh why am I still whining about this? Because I need to write this out to feel better. And, Tony decided to go out tonight with the guys. He's still not home. And, normally, I go grocery shopping on Wednesday afternoons to pick up enough stuff to get us to the weekend. But, Sleeping Mia took a 4 hour nap today, and I didn't get to go. So, tomorrow, as my week gets better, I will get to pick the girls up from school, then head to the grocery store, and probably some super healthy mickey-d's for dinner. Yes! *Again with the sarcasm*

At the end of the day, I know I'm whining. I have a great husband (usually - apparently, he has his faults). My mom is going to yell at me about this post because I am so lucky to have the husband I have (we all know you like him better than me, mom). I am very blessed, but sometimes a girl would rather write a whiny blog and laugh about herself than to keep holding it in and making it worse than it needs to be.

As a reward for reading my whiny diatribe on my crappy few days which really could be so much worse, here are some fun pictures from the weekend.