Unromantic

I'm not what you would call a "romantic" person, despite being in a relationship. I don't expect flowers, I dont really celebrate Valentine's Day. As a couple, we don't really do "date night." We DEFINITELY don't do Valentine's day.

We each have different reasons we're not traditionally romantic. Mine's easy: I come from a very German family. We didn't express emotions growing up. There weren't hugs. My parents didn't say "I love you." We expressed love through more practical endeavors, like the fact that I never wanted for anything. Now, there were exceptions. My Dad was better about being demonstrative in his way than my mother - he came to things I did, even in college. I had a concert? Dad was there. I was in a play? Dad was there. It wasn't always this way, but after he missed a very key event in my life, thinking it didn't matter, I told him about it. And for everything else, he's always been there. It's very sweet, really. But we still don't say, "I love you."

So to recap: Momma Insomniac shows love by buying things (that you may or may not need, but she's a worrier). Papa Insomniac shows love by being physically present (or calling).

Now, Boyfriend is romantic. He's just everyday romantic, and I mean that in the most complimentary way possible. When we first started dating he weirded me out, frankly, because he always wanted to be hugging or kissing me. ALWAYS. He was always saying things like, "I like you. A lot." And I was thinking, Uh, yeah. I know that because we haven't broken up, duh.

It was a big change. But my big blond Irishman doesn't do flowers or candy. Know why? Because he prefers to do little things. All the time. Like dark chocolate when I'm having a bad day. Taking the first shower because I do not like mornings. Packing my lunch in the mornings (did I mention I don't do well with mornings?).

So, we're not celebrating Valentine's Day, but I'm fine with it. Instead, I'm taking him suit shopping (he has an interview for a REALLY awesome job in about a week and a half). We may eat lunch out. And then we'll come home and cook dinner together. We'll do some law reading, and we'll go to bed.

maybe it's unromantic. Or, maybe we both know we love each other, so the flowers and candy are unnecessary. We'd rather just be us.