Like most men, I am not really a fan of Valentine’s Day. I know that this probably comes as a shock, but I think it is just a tacky, contrived concept.

Not surprisingly, we didn’t do too much for the holiday.

I took my two kids to swim lessons while my wife went jogging.

When we came home we all watched “Blue’s Clues” together. My favorite episode is when Steve goes to college, and Joe takes over playing the game. I just think it is funny. It is even funnier that Steve started an indie rock career.

After the kids toddled off to bed, we ordered take-out from a local Mexican place and opened a bottle of wine. What wine, you ask? We drank the 2005 Ravenswood Vintner’s Blend Shiraz (SE Australia).

The wine was okay, but nothing special. An excellent everyday wine at a very reasonable price.

We spent the next four hours sitting on the couch talking. We discussed politics, the kids, decorating, landscaping, music, wine, … the list goes on and on.

We haven’t spent that much time just talking in several months. It was wonderful. It is truly amazing how your kids can steal all your time, drain all your energy. Obviously I love them. But we used to just sit on the couch with a bottle of wine all the time. And I miss it. We need to make a better habit of it.

Maybe Valentine’s Day isn’t so bad after all.