Valentine's Day 2013

I'm not feeling very writerly this morning, having just eaten a huge breakfast and nursing a bit of a hangover and a cold, but I did want to share some of the lovely happenings from S and my Valentine's evening, as well as give a brief update on "what comes next" with ttc.

So after forgetting on Wednesday that Valentine's was the next day (I said to S, "Well, I guess I'll see  you Friday then?" and he said, "Well, I guess I need to take out an ad for a Valentine's Day date then."  haha), I redeemed myself by staying up late making a lovely accordian card and luscious cutout heart brownie treats for him.  I also gave him a book on dreams, since sharing dreams has been a bit of a deal with us - he doesn't have much familiarity with dream interpretation, and I love sharing dreams but not when the person takes them literally!  This can "literally" be a nightmare!  So the book was recognizing his desire for me to keep sharing dreams with him and giving us a bridge to do such communicating more successfully.

Anyway, my gifts went over very well (he ate a brownie before we left for dinner) and, for his part, he gave me a lovely thin but largish, light lavender crystal pendant on a silver chain, flowers, and chocolates.  I love the necklace and immediately put it on for dinner. 

And ahhh, dinner.  We all know how much I enjoy going out to a good dinner, which hasn't been happening much due to S leaving his corporate gig and working to establish himself in freelance.  But, wow, last night's dinner was over. the. top.  We had several courses with subtle and complex flavors and sauces, including lobster soup, the most lovely little raviolis, duck with delicious potato cake accompaniment, lobster (oddly my least favorite - the claw part was good but the rest was kind of tough), THREE desserts... well, here is the menu I found, which does it better justice:

Stuzzichino: Kushi oyster with American sturgeon caviar and Prosecco gelatina

♥

Vellutata of Maine lobster with vanilla crema
~or~
Carpaccio of Piedmontese beef filet with Perigord truffles

♥

Carnaroli risotto with Perigord truffle butter
~or~
Tortelloni of Castelmagno cheese and house-made ricotta with candied
walnuts and honey

♥

Pan-roasted Liberty Farms duck breast with potato-duck leg hash
~or~
Butter-poached Maine lobster with celeriac purée, green apples, and young
celery rémoulade

♥

Sorbetto pre-dessert

♥

Dessert: to be announced

♥♥♥

The other two desserts were a light lemon cheese cake type thing and rich chocolate brownie with berry sauce.  We shared everything and they were in quite small portions, so we weren't stuffed at the end.  So so good.  The restaurant had a corkage fee, so S brought up a yummy bottle from the market nearby; add in some dessert wine, and I was more than a bit tipsy at the end.  We then ambled about the local neighborhood, stopping periodically for affectionate exchanges, and visited a couple bookstores.  The perfect activity to match our mood.

Backtracking a bit, dinner was not solely about stuffing our faces with yumminess!  We had several meaningful conversations, lubricated a bit by the wine, including talking about our levels of openness to personal/relationship growth in both the emotional/spiritual and physical realms.  I think both of us want to feel like we're learning and growing, but what that looks like to each of us varies a bit.  But I think we are both open to the other's ideas.  I also shared that I feel most close and affectionate towards him when we are being "real" with each other, in terms of revealing our deeper thoughts and feelings.  Even when those things are "difficult," I feel closer to him through talking about them.  He requested I push him a bit to share more deeply at times, to which I agreed.

The night ended with a lovely, yet odd, pairing of sex and last week's episode of Down.ton Abb.ey (not simultaneously!).  haha  A night to remember!

* Update on ttc:  Finally talked in person to my doctor, and she indicated my type of fibroid was not as likely a problem as other types, but it might possibly grow with a pregnancy (it's already quite large) and cause some pain.  The polyps might not cause problems, but then again they might, and considering I've been trying and failing for some time now, I like the idea of doing some corrective action.  Which unfortunately means another month delay in a medicated IUI, though we still can try without the medication.  I so wish she could have taken those out when we did the hysteroscopy!  I think she was nervous about the fibroid location and also the one polyp with the thicker base.  She told me on the phone that we will remove the polyps in the operating room, though it is still the same type procedure.  Regarding the fibroid, I'm still not sure.  I'm scheduled for a consult with an expert in a week or two to get more input, but as of now I'm thinking I will likely not remove it and lose another three months of ttc.