Happy Valentine's Day

All week, I'd been telling Steven that I had a surprise Valentines gift planned for him on Saturday.* It drove him crazy trying to figure out what I'd planned, and I was so excited to actually have caught the holiday before it passed that I didn't even consider that Steven would have planned a surprise of his own.

I arrived home from work Friday night to this:



(He told me later that he wrapped it in "whatever was in the mail." And that utter practicality, my friends, is why I love him so.)

I nearly squished Pringles with the excitement of it all.



So what was inside?

First, a very sweet card. It has become a tradition that Steven always writes me a fabulous little message in a card for every birthday, Christmas, and other celebrations. I keep them all. I love nothing more than a little handwritten note from him. (I think his secret goal is to get me to shed a tear reading the message. The one inside this card got me misty eyed. Yep, he's good.)



Remember all my big lasagna garden plans? Well, now I have a gardening journal to plot out the perfect vegetable garden.



I am such a sucker for Moleskine.



And, just to prove he really was listening to all of my incessant chatter, he found exactly the right book for me. :)



I have been reading it voraciously. I bought some newspaper this weekend, and I moved around all of the garden stones to block off a little portion. The dirt looks good, and there are HUGE earthworms in it already. I think I'll get it all laid out next weekend, seeing as how I don't have tomorrow off (O, Cruel Injustice of the World), but its alright, because I really only have enough compost for a single layer right now.

Work in progress, right?

*You're dying to know what my Saturday surprise was, eh? I got a coupon in the mail (Val-Pak rules!) for an hour-long massage for the two of us. It was supposed to be us in the same room, but the place was overbooked, so we had to do two separate rooms. It was still quite luxurious. Afterwards, as we were driving home, Steven looked out the window thoughtfully and said, "We really should do that more often."

I second that motion.