Valentine's day wrap up

Somehow I missed out on my favorite yearly tradition of going to the grocery store the day after Valentine's day to get clearance chocolate - I don't know about you, but I swear it tastes better when it is marked down 50%. But to be honest, I've noticed the last few years that unless I got to the store first thing on the 15th, all the good chocolate went quickly, so I guess I'm not missing out. After all, half off Russell Stover chocolate is still Russell Stover chocolate and I'll pass on that, thanks.

For the most part, I'm a practical gift giver. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I don't have a ton of disposable, discretionary income. I like to think that it reflects my ability to give great gifts that just happen to be useful. So Smiley gets gifts like a vegetable steamer (I should note that prior to owning one, he had claimed how useful it would be, yet almost two months have gone by without it being used even once), or a computer monitor (that one went over much better).

Likewise, Smiley is also a practical gift giver. Again, maybe it is the lack of disposable income, but I like to think that he is just looking out for our best interests in a fun and frugal way. We started dating when I was in college a couple of years ago and I to this day remember the first Valentine's day gift he ever got me.

Mostly because I use it every day.

You might ask what it is.

It is a mouse.

(The computer kind, not a pet).

It's a great mouse. It is black and the shell is semi transparent so that a few blue LED lights can glow through. It has a ton of extra buttons. And except for a random period of time for a few months when it stopped working but then magically started working when the back up mouse I was using stopped working, it's been great.

And it was going to be a great surprise, right until the company called me to ask about my address. The phone conversation started out confused and moved into awkward.

"Ok, so I've got this order for you," says the guy on the phone.

I'm in my dorm room, probably playing WoW and doing homework. "I didn't order anything," I respond slowly. I'm curious.

"It's a mouse. I have this order here and it's for a mouse for you and - oh - uh," the guy trails off and I sit in silence, waiting. "This note here says it is supposed to be a gift delivery for you. Uh. Sorry. I didn't realize."

Personally, I was pretty excited to know about the gift and still considered it a surprise because I hadn't been expecting it. I assured him it was ok and provided the address details he needed so that I could receive my "mystery Valentine's day gift" a few days after Valentine's day. And as mentioned above, except for a few random months when it didn't work, the mouse has been a great addition to my gaming lifestyle. I especially notice how fast it responds during critical card passes in Freecell.