Saturday 13 February 2016

It's That Time Again






Ah, it is almost upon us. February 14th. Valentine's Day. This has got to be THE most annoying day of the year for single folk. Frankly, it's pretty annoying for the rest of us too. Unless you've just started a new relationship and you're in the first pink flush of love, the pressure to 'do something romantic' is counter-productive.

So my husband and I are doing it differently. We are having our romantic evening tonight - a day early. That way, we can relax and roll our eyes at couples going out for over-priced meals or exchanging completely inappropriate gifts such as lingerie (which, gentlemen, we know damn well isn't really a gift for us, but for you.)

My husband has got it right this year. He hasn't bought me a present - instead, he asked me to pick a recipe out of our million-and-one recipe books, and he's going to cook it. I chose a dozen oysters to start, and roast duck to follow. And if he's lucky, his just desserts will come later.

To be honest, we both need a romantic evening. The last few weeks have been full on stressful, largely due to the issue of education. We have to select our daughter's next school, the one where she will do her GCSEs. It shouldn't be a tough choice, you can't swing a cat in Buckinghamshire without hitting a great school. But sadly, we are perennially indecisive parents.

 Our conversations of late have gone like this: This school's closer, but this school's got new science labs! Look, this school does polo as an extra-curricular activity! Polo! But this school has an Observatory! And this one's just won an award for its food! 

Which to choose?

I've even written out pro-and-con lists, but we STILL can't decide. So we have rather cruelly made her do four sets of entrance exams, thinking that would whittle the choices down. They haven't. Turns out our daughter is brainy (clearly from her mother's side) and she's won places at all of them. Darn. Back to the pros and cons list.

Of course the unspoken fear is that we can't actually afford any of these schools, and six months down the line we'll have to pull her out and stick her in a comprehensive where she'll get beaten up for saying 'barth' instead of bath. 

Anyway. Enough stress. Romantic evening beckons. Is that the pop of a champagne cork I hear?

You lot enjoy your Valentine's Day tomorrow. Mine's starting now! :)



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