Embracing Valentines Day (and my girly side)

 So, I have a distant friend who loves Valentines Day. Years ago I randomly stopped by her house one day on Feb 15ish and it looked like the heart gremlins had puked valentines all over the apartment (or Saint Valentine and his doves had come and scattered romance - you can pick which image appeals to you most :-)) I don't mean that to be derogatory - the place was amazing, covered in red, hearts, more roses than I had seen in my life, chocolates, homemade valentines, candles. It had everything!

I always wished I loved Valentines Day that much. Even though I have someone amazing to celebrate with now, I just can't get over the cheesiness of it all. Red roses, white bears, cupid? But this year I will give in to the hype and try to fall in love with Valentines Day! Every day between now and Feb 14, I will do something to celebrate love. I'll start with changing the background on my blog, and keep you posted here! We'll call it the 12 days of Valentines.

Love to all!

 

p.s. I will do my best to keep my Valentines Day cynicism out!! 

p.s.s. As a previous Valentines Day minimalist, I welcome ideas for celebrations!

Madison

We just spent a weekend in Madison, visiting some old friends. Had we only known all that Madison had to offer, we certainly would have gone to visit much sooner! Here's my top ten list for our trip to Madison.

10. Our wonderful hosts Becky and JP Montufar (who were the real highlight, but so expected they couldn't be at the top)
9. Nap time!
8. Visiting Mike's cousin and meeting the new baby
7.15 year old cheddar
6. Tug of war with Walter and Anabell
5. The Madison Roller Derby (Go Vixens!)
4. Lot's of really good food, most of which would keep even me full for half a day!
3. The International Mustard Museum
2. 40 degree temperatures
1. The taxidermy museum (credit goes to Becky for the pictures below)

This is a Wisconsin Badger. Obviously.

Most of the rodents in the museum were posed into scenes like this.

 

There were over a dozen albino squirrels. Do you think he got them one at a time over his lifetime, or did he find a community of them?

 

The most intricate of all, the bar scene. It was complete with dancers, a piano player, the storyteller fisherman just off the lake, and a squirrel passed out on the bar.

So strange, yet amazing! It may be the only one in the world!