v-day

Another Valentine's Day is upon me, and I am tortured.

One side of me knows that this really is a "Hallmark Holiday" that has been commercialized and bastardized. It is no more important than another day of the month, except that somehow a large portion of our society has agreed to celebrate it. Why should I show my appreciation for my wife on this particular day?

On the other hand, I now know that in our daily routine of living, it's very easy to take each other for granted. Erin really does make our family work. She is the engine, the core. I merely put fuel into the fire.

So what is a husband to do? I usually create a homemade card, or buy a blank one, and put some heartfelt sentiments into it. I have not fallen into the trap that one must spend a ton of money on some rushed dinner in a crowded, overbooked restaurant and on cut, overpriced flowers that are dying slowly in a vase.

I do this every year now, and yet I always wonder if it's enough. Valentine's is a bitch.

new digs

To create a new future, sometimes we have to let go of our past. As part and parcel of developing our family, we have moved into a new home. The new place is a mere mile down the road from the old house, but is huge leap for us.

The old house served its purpose for sure, but we had simply outgrown it and it was becoming a maintenance nightmare. The pool was unusable for all of 2008 - it sat green and murky and all sorts of wildlife was starting to make their home there. We even had an egret that would come and dine there on a regular basis. So out with the old, and into the new.

The new place is nice - on paper it's only a few hundred square feet larger, but it feels much more spacious. Kai loves it. The very first day he figured out how to get up and down the stairs much more quickly than actual walking. When he wants to up quickly, he crawls. Coming down, he goes feet first, on his belly and kind of does a worm flop. It is amazing cute, but it doesn't look comfortable. I'm not planning on trying it.

The next step is a newer car. We replaced Erin's old car awhile back with a roomy, reliable Toyota Camry. My old Acura needs to go next. Whatever the next car may be, it will certainly not be a minivan. I don't even want to go there yet.

Selling wine in this market environment has been interesting, to say the least. My volume has been great, although my dollar volume has not increased in accordance with my cases sold. People are definitely trading down in their wine purchases or trading out entirely for beer and spirits. The time and effort I'm spending now are definitely an investment in the future - I've developed some great business relationships that should serve me well when the market rebounds. Meanwhile, we're making it happen over here in our new home.

So we're loving the new digs. I'll get some pictures up soon.