I have survived another Valentine.

Another Feb 14 has passed. This has made my 50th valentine's.

This is the first year, in a slew of many, that I haven't ridden my bike around the lake, watching couples have their wine and cheese, lay on a blanket and watch the sunset.
Usually running through my mind is 'thank god that is not me', or 'some day that will be me'. 

Last year, it WAS me, and my wonderful boyfriend arranged for us to have dinner in a favorite spot.  We got Chili's to go, and as we were walking out of the parking lot, i tripped and dropped all the food. The containters exploded in the bag, and we ate whatever the universe decide to serve us up, laughing about it.  Behind us, was a park bench, and sat a couple with their perfect picnic basket, a large bottle of wine and a slew of cheese that he cut meticulously and fed to his, I'm assuming here, wife. 

I opened my juice box of wine, while R-man popped open his beverage as we watched the sunset, in our style.  We wondered if they were having as much as we always do together.

That's what I love about that guy.  We definitely are not the "perfect" people. We don't aspire to have all our ducks in a row, the perfect house or the perfect cars.  We are our own kind of crazy and that's perfect for us. 

This year, I am prepping for a trip, and feeling a cold coming on, so we celebrated both friday and sat night, and topped it off with a nice bike ride on saturday watching the sunlight shimmer on the water, cheeseboard and beers at Goodfriends, then watching the movie DeadPool. I love that film. Finally filmakers and a studio with a real sense of humor. It was a perfect Valentine.

Everyday, I go into my office and i turn on the big ass TV on my wall and launch a couple of pages on my laptop. I stream the ISS's cameras.   I will never be an astronaut, but this makes me feel like I've got a window out my wall, and it's the earth flying below.  

Every now and then, comm's from the space station to ground control bounce through my office. Most of the time, i have no idea what they're talking about, but i don't care, it's lovely.  To know that a little flying dot of light in the sky at night has people living in it, just brings the stars a bit closer.  



Time to prep all my stuff for the shoot this week. Travel is involved and I'm excited, and as usual, nervous.  My mind is wildly clicking off all the many tasks I need to take care of.

So,  I'll leave you with this window on earth.
 



Clear, calm skies.