Ferocious Flirting: Making Marriage Wonderful

agua muy caliente Originally uploaded by juano_maldonado . As you are no doubt aware, yesterday was Valentine's day. Today, I am in hot water with my wife. You guessed it, its all over my Valentine's gift to her. In spite of my planning and scheming, Valentine's Day did not go off quite as planned. The story starts three days ago on Sunday. We came home from church to the sound of an alarm blaring through the house. Due to a high water table in the area, we have water alarms on the floor in case water starts to seep into the basement. One of these alarms was squealing for all its worth. The problem is that they are so high pitched, you can't readily tell where its coming from. So we start hunting around the basement trying to find the water. No water in the usual places. Finally, we see the water heater has a small leak. Its 13 years old and probably due to be replaced soon anyway. There go all my big, just-got-my-tax-refund, plans. This year my wife is

johanna's eleven Originally uploaded by johannal . I love you!

Same-Day Delivery on FTD® Roses from Wal-Mart Yup, you can still get roses delivered. Don't forget that a love letter is still a great last minute gift. Put it on some nice paper for added impact. Surprise your sweetie by inviting your sweetheart to a long lunch. It make for a fun and inexpensive way to celebrate. Most book stores sell "love coupons". They are a great way to let your sweetheart know you care. The coupons include things like "one night off from chores" or "go out to eat, your choice of restaurant". You get the idea. Of course most stores have valentines candy, flowers and cards. I found some on sale yesterday. Any other ideas? Go ahead and post them.

Last year I got my wife a chocolate fish. It says "You're a keeper" on it. She laughed and said, "This had better not be all my Valentine's". Today I found another one on sale. I just she is still a keeper. I'll report the rest of Valentine's after the day. Its going to be a doosey.

Happy Valentine's Day Yahoo! News Photo http://news.yahoo.com/photo/060213/ids_photos_wl/r4247569612.jpg Yahoo! News http://news.yahoo.com/

Originally uploaded by Curlylocks . I came across an article, Altruistic Love Related to Happier Marriages that talks about alturism, marriage and happiness. The National Opinion Research Center conducted a study into alturism and published the results. First what is alturism? The study asked questions like: "I'd rather suffer myself than let the one I love suffer," and "I'm willing to sacrifice my own wishes to let the one I love achieve his or hers." This is, are you more interested in your own well-being or that of your sweetheart? What does this have to do with marriage and romance? The atricle states: Among the more altruistic, 67 percent rated their own marriage as "very happy." Among those who were profiled as the least altruistic, only 50 percent said they were very happy in marriage. We see here a paradox. The less selfish you are, the happier you are. Normally we persue happiness through selfishness. What do I want? Wha

I have to admit that even I don't think of Home Depot for Valentine's Day. Yet, there on their front page is a big Valentine's Day banner. I had to click on it. You know what, I was a bit surprised. Did you know that you can order roses from Home Depot? Me neither. But I guess you can. They even throw in a free vase. Who knew? Of course you can get your sweetie that romantic laser level kit. Or maybe the screwdriver. They do have a heart-shaped waffle maker. That would be fun.

Ok folks, its down to the wire. I hope you have taken the time to prepare a gift for your, sweetie, be it husband or wife. My sweetheart saw an article on Valentine's Day gift giving. If said that the important thing is not the gift itself, but the apparent thought and time spent of getting the gift. Just getting a bunch of roses on your way home doesn't cut it. But here we are with just a couple of days to go. Can you still get a gift in time for the big day? Of course! It is the Internet after all. Something different might be some cookies . David's Cookies not only ships cookies, but also cookie dough. Then you can spend some time baking cookies.

I was the Toastmaster at the meeting today and the topic was Cost of Love , in honor of Valentine's Day. One of the members, who has been married for 35 years, shared this thought: The cost of love, I believe, is the effort you must make to be physically, verbally and mentally attractive to your partner. You can't just let yourself go, figuring it does matter if you look like a slob on the weekends, if you don't talk to him or her other than to nag or run him or her down, or if you don't take the time to develop common interests. The cost is not money, as in time and effort to maintain the relationship. Think about the time, money and effort single people spend in preparing for dates. It is natural to want to be as attractive as possible in order to impress a potential mate. After marriage, that seems to disappear. Take the time to impress your companion.

berry sundae Originally uploaded by peggy. . Remember when you were a kid and your parents were trying to teach you to share? Or trying to teach your own children to share? Sharing an important aspect of human relations, especially romantic ones. One of the most romantic things to share is food. One of the most romantic moments Lady and the Tramp is when they are sharing some noodles. Each is eating at one end of the noodle until they middle in the middle for a kiss. When was the last time you share a sundae? For some reason the ice cream and yummy toppings are just right for sharing. For an inexpensive and fun date, go to the ice cream parlor and order one sundae and two spoons.