Valentine's on a budget

In all the 20 + years of my relationship with my partner, this is our first with me not having a second job.  While neither one of us breaks the bank planning celebrations for each other, this year's Valentine's Day was a special challenge (apparently, we weren't the only ones who were facing the same challenge).

My partner was due yesterday to have his remaining teeth pulled in preparation for a full set of dentures and so we had our "official" Valentine's Day celebration on Thursday 2/12/09.  He offered to take me to lunch "anywhere (I) wanted to go, even for fish" of which my partner is not particularly fond.

So, I picked a local chain restaurant for lunch and enjoyed a veggie burger with fries while he polished off a turkey sandwich.

After lunch, I stopped off at the Trader Joes and grabbed a small box of my favorite dessert, chocolate-covered frozen bananas.  I also picked up two small bouquets of flowers which had just a couple of red roses in them.

I think between the two of us we spent $50 on Valentine's gifts for each other.  I loved the gift of someone else doing the cooking and, after all of these years, he still cries and smiles when he sees the flowers I bought for him in one of our cheap glass vases.

Keeping it simple worked for us this year.