I know: bad runs happen. At least it was a gorgeous day to be outside in a short sleeve shirt enjoying the sunshine on a noon run.

Hey, me too! It was 66 degrees, and I ran in shorts and tee shirt. The first couple of miles felt great, and I probably ran too fast. Then my tired legs and the heat caught up with me, and I took several walk breaks on the way back. Total 6.6 miles, average about 11:00 pace. I had to tell myself to stop whining about the heat, as I've been whining about the cold and wind for months. And snow is predicted for tonight and tomorrow. Congrats to Batman! (no drungs for 10 years? ) And congrats to Uno the beagle! I adopted a stray beagle once, and named him Have-a-seat (that's a story for another time!) He was really sweet, but he was a wanderer (I guess that's why he was a stray), so even though I put a tag on him with my name and phone number, he wandered further and further and finally didn't come back.

I'm on nights but so glad I had time to log in and see Steve's great news. Well done Steve, keep on keeping on. I knew we had to have something in common. Roy

SteveP – well done! {{{{Roch}}}} Fbgrrl – I quit smoking 12 years ago, and still sometimes when I walk by someone smoking, it smells good to me. But then I think about how I would smell afterward, my clothes, my breath, and I don’t want to try it. I just finished sticking 30 tattoos into 30 valentines (which DD stuck shut with sticker hearts), and stuffing 30 goodie bags with Valentine candy for DD's kindergarten class. DS, age 11, told me that this year he is too old for Valentines, and will just take a bag of candy to school to share. (Whew!...) I also secretly stuffed a bag with goodies for DS, and DH made up a bag for DD. Oh, and I got DH a card. I'll think of something special to give him...

Congratulations Steve! As the sister of an alcoholic ( and drug addict) brother and granddaughter of an alcoholic grandfather, I thank you as well for the inspiration and hope. Go Holly on the Valentine's Day preparations!! My 11 year-old son stopped with cards for everyone as well and will be taking kisses (the chocolate ones) to school tomorrow. I sent Mr. CNYrunner and the kiddo some cards on Monday only to discover that the mail wasn't delivered today---rural route---snow and ice kept the mail delivery away today since all the snow wasn't cleared away. I am hoping they arrive tomorrow and the mailbox is accessible. Mr. CNYrunner sent me a fed-ex envelope here at the hotel with "do not open until 2/14" emblazoned on it. I'll never tell if I did open it or not! He proposed 17 years ago tomorrow. Jlynne, I am with you...imagine the surprise on Breger's face or Enke or Peter in NC et al when we show up for a run tomorrow in warmer weather. G'nite CNY

As most of you know, I do a number of mailings for various concerns that I am involved with. Holly's experience of the night before Valentines Day with her kids only served to encourage me to post my email that I sent out last night. It is slightly edited for this group, but I thought it would give you some good memories and thoughts. Enjoy the day. _________ Valentines Day. As a grade school student I remember both the fear AND excitement that this day would offer. The teacher required that everyone bring enough of those tiny Valentines cards to school for EVERYONE in the class. Remember those little cards that had short word greetings like: “Be Mine” “You’re my favorite” “Be my Valentine” and other such renditions of this same thought? In those days the fact that you were a boy giving another boy a card that said ”Be my Valentine” meant absolutely nothing. THAT was not the problem. If given a choice, there were certain classmates that I most certainly would not be sending cards to that had little hearts on them. This was a problem. At the same time, this tradition did allow subliminal messages of love to be sent out to the two or three girls that I had a “crush” on that particular week. The key was always to figure out which card to give to which class mate. The packages of Valentines that you would buy always had JUST enough cards to handle the size of the class that you were in. This meant that every card had to be used and what was important was to save the ones with the “hottest” messages for those special friends. These usually were the cards with the words “I love you” found somewhere on them. When everyone opened their cards, you always checked to see what others had sent to you and also how the special Valentine you had given was being received in each case. This could be determined by the giggles, reddening of the face or subtle glances that resulted. You would give out 30 cards that all carried messages to the individuals saying you cared for them. The fact of the matter was you only meant it in the case of 2 or 3 particular people. For the rest of them, it was simply the thing that you were expected to do. Unfortunately some of THESE classmates would hope you had given them a card with a message that was really meant. The sad part was they didn't realize the difference. This always became a problem over the next few days. The day would end with mixed thoughts and emotions over the whole process.