Dear Valentine,

I know that you are still a little sore about how I threw you under the bus last week when I blamed my near-arrest on you. I'm somewhat sorry about that. I know it must be hard to be married to a woman like me.

Tonight at the Marriage Fireside we went to, Brother Crabtree pointed out that marriage is a lot like a puppy. Puppies have cute, sweet faces with adorable drooping eyes and furry ears and soft wet noses. Everyone falls in love with the front end of a puppy--but, as he reminded us, don't forget that puppies have back ends too. (BTW--I love it when people talk about the back ends of puppies over the pulpit. Or the back end of anything for that matter. My other favorite line from a youth talk at church today: "We're talking MURDER, People! Like stab, stab! Kill, kill!" Gotta love church. But I digress. . . . back to the puppies.)

You and I have never forgotten that puppies have back ends, which is why we don't have one. And should we ever get close to forgetting, we can think back to what your brother's puppy did to your parent's deck that one time. I can still remember little Muppet running around with her post-surgery neck cone all smeared in poop--and how sad she was when everyone screamed when she tried to jump on their laps.

And so my point is . . . . I forgot.

Oh yes, my point is, that I am grateful that I have a man who loves the whole puppy, which is, metaphorically speaking, me!

So, in honor of Valentine's Day, even though I did go all out already by giving you that Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Heart, here is a little list of the things that I am grateful that you put up with:

First, I am grateful that you love me even when I use up all of the hot water in the morning.

Second, I am grateful that you love me even though I don't park my car as close to the right side of the garage as you would like me to, even if we did just talk about it this morning.

Third, I am grateful that you love me even though I hog up the entire bathroom counter with my cosmetics.

Fourth, I am grateful that you love me when I eat garlic. Even if you won't kiss me.

Fifth, I am grateful that you love me even though my ballroom shoes are really, really stinky. (Even though you do complain loudly about it so that all of our students can hear.)

And finally, I am grateful that you love me even when I insist on watching What Not to Wear instead of sports. (You know you love Stacy and Clinton's one-liners just as much as I do).

I am really lucky to have a man like you. And to show my appreciation I will happily let you drive in front from now on and I promise not to race any more cops that I think are you.

With all my Heart,

Heather