grillsidestories

“You better not do anything extra!  You already did way too much for Christmas and for my Birthday! Seriously, I have everything!”

These words ring through my head pretty much every year.  It’s a difficult and expensive time of the year. Kind of like how everyone mentions “first of the month” in reference to their bills, I have “first of the year”.  Between Christmas, a January birthday, and Valentines, there is a serious challenge to keep the bar raised, not only for that particular year, but in relation to previous years.  At what point do you simmer down and heed to the warning “You better not do anything extra!”?  That episode of the Cosby show where Elvin didn’t listen to Sondra and went out with two female friends is a fresh memory. (If your memory fails you, click me).  Do flowers and candy and romantic night out on the town ever grow old?  Especially if you do these things on a whim? How do you change up Valentines so it’s unexpected?  That’s a tough task especially with your 11th valentines with a person. For me trying to catch her off guard, I had to dive into the memory banks for what I’ve “heard” over the past few months.

For those that don’t know, my wife is a TV producer for Discovery Channel. She’s constantly watching shows, making notes, editing, and watching shows (did I mention that already?). Sometimes it keeps her up after me at night and most of ya’ll know I’m a night owl.  So in order to go over narrations and cuts, she usually wears headphones to hear “everything”.  Now Toya goes through some headphones.  With the constant day to day use and travel back and forth from work to home, I can see why.  Since her newest “good” pair of headphones now only work in one ear, I started my quest for a different Vday gift.

Thank goodness for these wireless heavy duty headphones.  You know you’ve found something worth giving when you think “Hmmm, I wouldn’t mind having a pair of these for myself!”  Since these are kinda pricey, now that task becomes how do I get by the “I told you not to overdo it” reaction.  Food?  A nice dinner seems to calm the senses.  As to not deal with a crazy crowd of the public at a restaurant we decided to try a new dish and cook dinner together Sunday night instead of Monday.

I grilled the porkchops (injected with agave nectar, and topped with fresh cut sugarcane, pineapple, and a mix of seasonings) and she cooked the crunchy mac n cheese from Princess Tiana’s Cookbook (crunch was from crackers baked on top, very yummy) and some mustard and turnip greens mixed.

Stuffed and pleased, on to phase two.  Nariah and I ask Mommy if its alright to give her our gifts tonight so we can show her how to use them without the hustle n’ bustle of getting ready for school and work in the morning.  Shock valued achieved?  Check.  “Didn’t I tell you….?” statement avoided? Check.  “Awww, you’re so thoughtful! This is niiiiiiiiiice” type reaction?  Check.
Looks like sometimes technology can be romantic.  Knowing what your significant other is passionate about and feeding off that definitely helps when going for that “different” route.  And yes, I did still get her flowers, a nice orchid plant for her to take to work was waiting for her in the kitchen when she woke up in the morning.  (Traditional isn’t always bad).  I also “borrowed” some of Nariah’s Disney Valentines cards for school and put them in various places so Toya will find them throughout the day at work and stuff.  Always a cool idea becuase she never knows how many she’s getting.  :o)

Hmmmmmmm, now what to do for Mother’s Day?