Day 302: Candle-lit Dessert

For my 302nd act of love, I set up a dessert for us in our living room.

You left that night for a meeting, so I had time to put the kids to bed and set things up. I put candles on the table, on the chairs, on the entertainment center, and on the table/stand thingy beside the couch. Then, I took the petals from a dozen roses and arranged them on the center of our table. Finally, I prepared two bowls of ice cream, each with chocolate sauce on top and a piece of a dark chocolate bar on the side:

It got quite warm very quickly and you were concerned about burning our house down, so we blew out most of the candles before we ate.

This dessert was a very good time and I felt a great connection to you. So often in the evenings, we’re with each other, but not paying much attention to each other. I like when we can go a little deeper and make things a little more meaningful. This orients my heart away from myself, which gives me great resolve to do well at work and in every other aspect of my life because I know I’m doing these things for us–for you–not just me.*

If there’s one thing that 365 hasn’t helped, it’s our diet! So often, I resort to getting/preparing you food or dessert for my act of love. It’s partly because you enjoy it when I do these things for you and partly because I enjoy it. Anyway, in the end, this hasn’t had a real effect on our health since we’ve been conservative in our indulgence.

*Of course, the primary orientation of my heart should be toward my God. Such an orientation should motivate me to excellence in all that I do.

Advertisement

Day 229: Cheese Platter

On Monday, my office mate told me that for Mother’s Day, he bought his wife (among other things) a special sort of cheese. That got me thinking: maybe for an act of love, I can buy make you a whole platter of special cheeses. That’s exactly what I did. (I sure one-upped him, didn’t I?)

My sister helped with the platter. Monday was the day she arrived at our house from her 1.5-year stay in Thailand. Daow, her friend from Thailand who is staying with us while my sister is here, also helped. Your platter was really an international effort.

On the way to buy the cheese, I learned that Thai people don’t eat cheese much. Neither did my sister during her stay abroad. This platter, then, served at least three purposes: to show you my love, to give Daow a chance to try new cheeses, and to break my sister’s situation-imposed cheese fast.

For the platter, we bought brie, baby swiss, chevre with herbs, mozzarella balls marinated in oil and herbs, dark chocolate, prosciutto, and whole-grain crackers. Here’s the finished product:

We’ve been eating the leftover cheese all week.

PS: You found a note in my backpack about “The Bachelor,” one I jotted down for something that I posted on this blog. Before putting the note back, you wrote this on it: “I didn’t know you were so into the bachelor. :)” Haha, very funny.

Day 97: TJ’s Chocolate

On our way home from our friends’ house last night, I stopped by Trader Joe’s one minute before they closed. I bought a dark chocolate candy bar, then hid it in my back pocket. When I came out empty handed, you didn’t even ask me what was going on.

At home, I stuck it under your kindle, then waited “patiently” for you to find it. About five minutes later, I gave up on surprising you and told our oldest daughter to tell you to pick up your kindle. You did and found your chocolate. I asked you if you were curious about why I came out of Trader Joe’s empty handed. You said that you knew something was going on, and that you just needed to wait and see.

Day 30: Date Night

Having a newborn around makes it nearly impossible to go out on a date. So, yesterday I took you on a date without us leaving the house. In preparation, I watched the kids while you got ready just like you would for a real date. Then, I picked flowers for you–yes, I resorted to picking flowers; see day 2. You laughed at them because they paled in comparison to the roses I brought you last week. I suppose you’re beginning to expect great things from me. After we put the girls to bed, we sat down for our date, which involved watching Jane Eyre (2011), eating dark chocolate and popcorn, and drinking sparkling pink lemonade. Oh, it also involved our newborn who wanted to coo more than watch the film (how uncultured!). At the end of the night, I got a kiss. Though our date wasn’t earth shattering, I think it made you feel special.

Day 12

Last night, I took our girls to Trader Joe’s to buy you a chocolate ganache cake and a dark chocolate candy bar. You love these items from TJ’s and it brightened your day when you received them. I should admit that I also love those items and didn’t mind buying them. We both enjoyed eating them together while watching something on TV.