February 14, 2021 MY FUNNY VALENTINE

Valentine's Day. It can be A LOT of pressure--especially for NEWBIES. Expectations can be TOO HIGH. Too much time watching THE HALLMARK CHANNEL. And many times--WOMEN ARE JUST DELUSIONAL. Thought I'd spend a little time this morning reading about the absolute WORST VALENTINE GIFTS EVER. Gentlemen--never EVER give your significant other a gift card, coffee mug, e-card, used flowers, jumper cables, hygiene products, socks, re-gifted items, heart-shaped pot holders, kitchen or household products, edible underwear, giant teddy bears, or hair removal systems.  AND NEVER EVER BREAK UP WITH THEM ON VALENTINE'S DAY EITHER. That seems like a NO BRAINER--BUT I actually know people who HAVE LIVED THROUGH THAT  KIND OF HELL. Let's face facts--Valentine's Day is really for WOMEN. MEN DON'T GIVE A CRAP. It's time for you to MAN UP-- a nice, thoughtful card --bouquet of flowers--and dinner. That's all you have to do to make it a great day. If Nora Seed had a valentine, she probably would have chosen a different path in Matt Haig's new book The Midnight Library. As the story unfolds, Nora Seed is a sad sap full of regret. She had such potential--Olympic swimmer, singer in band, intelligent--and she blew it. Nora is a lost soul. She's just lost her job, she's terribly lonely and to top it off, her cat has been killed by a car. Nora has hit rock bottom and decides to end her life, but a funny thing happens --she ends up in The Midnight Library. The Midnight Library is "in between" life and death. It's filled with books each telling a version of Nora's life if she had made different choices. Nora is given the opportunity to use these books as portals--to sample the lives she could have led to help her decide if she really wants to end it all or try one more time. This is an interesting idea but it was a little too simple for me. I did enjoy the premise and the lessons the book affords and encourage you to give the book a try. It's only 300 pages or a 3 mile run that I enjoyed for the most part.