Happy Valentine??

So I just got back from town. The one time I hate shopping is when I have to think of gifts for other people. Generally I pretty much love shopping, and I haven't had a good spree in quite some time, but today was a bloody nightmare and I blame it all on that bloody Saint Valentine fellow. I know Jay really well and I am confident that I can buy him things that he will love, but we are still in the stage where we are always buying things for each other, so most of the good ideas I have for gifts for him have already been used up on random gifts I pick up when I am in town. The hard part about today was getting things which say, I love you with all my heart. Generic DVD's or clothes just won't cut it.

The thing with me is, when it comes to shopping I never know when to stop. I never feel like I have got quite enough. Christmas is a nightmare because I end up spending hundreds of pounds more than is needed, buying extra gifts that aren't needed, so that I don't feel like I am being a cheapskate. I blame it on my younger brother. I remember one time when he was younger, saying to me 'is that all?' when I gave him his birthday presents and ever sinse then I go into overdrive whenever I have to buy people things. I will need to send my credit card to a health spa before long.

Anyways, so I walked around town thinking I will just get him a book or something. I know it sounds rubbish, but its the only thing he said he wanted. A specific hardback edition of the LOTR trilogy. It was £35 (£35 for a fucking book!) don't get me wrong, I dont mind spending the money, but the books are shit and so I felt like it was money wasted.

I wandered around the shops feeling lost. The worst part was probably trying to pick a card. Do you think I could find a nice, classy looking card? Could I hell. They were all trashy, chavvy or just plain wierd. One, for example, had a dog with boxing gloves on the front. Whats that all about? Lots of them, and I have no idea why, had rosettes stuck on the front. The type like they award dogs with at Crufts. Who thinks up these things? I mean seriously! What was I supposed to do with that? 'Here's your card. And congratulations on coming first in this year's best boyfriend awards'. Yuck! And why can't you just by a card with 'boyfriend' on the front, thats also nice to look at. The only ones that were remotely buyable had things like 'to my partner' on the front. Who the hell says that? Thats one of the most impersonable things you can have printed on the front of a card.

The only bit of the card selection process I enjoyed was looking at the older men hovering in their trenchcoats trying not to look too shifty whilst trying to find something that won't get them a slap off the missus. You could see the nerves all over their faces. These men looked like they were being sent to war, it was hysterical. Anyways, I found a half decent card (It's not the best, but the best they had) and headed to the till. The old lady behind the counter was looking at me funnily before finally saying 'you do know this card is meant for another man, don't you?', like I had gone in, closed my eyes and reached for any old card and hoped for the best. She quickly rushed through the sale when I asked her if she thought it was gay enough. Clintons ain't what it used to be I tell you.

I digress. Anyway, against my better judgement, I got the book, but as soon as I paid for it, I got that feeling again. Even though he said it is all he wanted, it just didnt seem enough. I ended up buying him another two books. Then I went and got him two computer games. Then a cd. Then Some chocolates. Some gorgeous underwear. Then some DVD's (see my issue here?). The thing is, the money doesnt figure into it. I dont mind spending the money. Its more the amount of actual gifts. I didn't want him to have that 'is that all' feeling, so I just kept going. I got him a mug with this little ditty on about being a brilliant boyfriend. Then I picked him up a few funny things, like a sex bell (for him to ring when he wants sex, obviously)....

Ooh I just had major Deja vu

Sorry, back on track. So I decided if I didnt get out of the shopping centre my bank would be sending men to bundle me off to shopaholics anonymous. On my way out though I passed a jewellers and I figured I should have a browse. I only went in to have a snoop but I ended up coming out with an engraved silver bracelet (Grrrr). Its lovely though. I had his name put on the plate part, then on the underside had the date we started going out. I think he will really like that.

By this point I was nearly free. The exit was in sight and I knew that I could be in the car park within three minutes. I swear, if I had had a scissors I would have cut my card to shreds. So just as I was about to get out of there, I passed the phone shop. I looked down at my bags and thought 'just one more thing' and ended up buying him an iPhone. Cupid Has a lot to answer for!

The thing is, I got home, looked at everything I baught and it hit me. He would have been happy with just a card. He would never say 'is this it?' and would be happy with anything I got him. I feel a bit silly now. I hate feeling like I havent done enough, but he will probably look at everything I got and wonder why I spoiled him so much when in reality, I really didnt need to do that. To top it all off, I forgot to get the wrapping paper. Bloody Valentines day!!

Ry

Surprises, Speed Dating and Silent Discos

Well hello there gentle readers. How goes it?

Major silence from me lately. Lots and lots to fill you all in on. I shall start from the beginning. Because I am boring like that. So Friday. I started work at 4am and finished at 2pm. Jay was home when I got back. Said he had taken a half day. He was fussing around sorting stuff out in the bedroom so I got my head down on the sofa for a couple of hours. He woke me up at about 6 and told me to jump in the shower. He was acting all weird and when I got out into the hallway there was two suitcases ready.

He told me to rush to get ready, so I did, though I hate surprises and kept nagging at him to tell me what was going on. Anyways, about 45 minutes later and a taxi pulls up to take us to the airport. We get there and he finally tells me that he has booked us a weekend away in Edinburgh. He knows how much I love that city. Basically, he wanted to take me for Valentines weekend, but he couldn't get the time off of work, so he arranged it for 2 weeks earlier, which I thought was lovely. Also means I will have to up my game in the gift stakes now.

So the flight didnt take long. Less than an hour. We got there and we were booked into this amazingly gorgeous hotel. Jay has never been before, but I lived there for a year when I was about 10, so I got even more excited at the thought of taking him around and showing him everything. It was quite late when we got there so we had some wine in the hotel and went to bed.

The following morning we got up and went down to the Grass Market to have a look around. I showed him the sights, Hollyrood, The Royal Mile, Edinbugh Castle, The Vaults etc and in the evening he took me out to a really nice restaurant for a meal. It was amazing. On sunday we did a bit more wandering and ate out again, but mainly spent the day chilling before coming home on Monday. It was such a brilliant weekend and a lovely surprise.

On tuesday my friend dragged me to a silent disco. It was awful. I felt like a prized nob standing there with my headphones in. I suppose the plus side to it was that I only had to listen to the music I like, but at any time when I took the headphones off, this eerie feeling came over me. Watching 200 people dancing in silence is a lot creepier than you would imagine. The beer was cheap though, so I got myself nice and merry listening to my iPod. I dont think I would do it again, but my friend loves all this kind of stuff. She is taking me speed dating in two weeks, so I have to pretend to be a single straight man for the night. Free champers though, so it didnt take long to talk me into it.

Jay thinks its hysterical. I keep telling him I am going to meet and settle down with a nice lady. It's doubtful, even if I was single and it was full of gay men though, that anything would come out of these things. Do people actually go there in the hope of meeting someone? Or is it just meant to be a bit of fun? I can't imagine a worse scenario for meeting people. 3 minutes to sell yourself to a 'prospective buyer' in the hopes that 3 minutes worth of conversation will lead to an actual date? Its stupid. Or am I stupid? Do these things work? Have any of you tried them? It tales me three minutes to check they have nice shoes, nice teeth and dont bite their nails (these are musts). I suppose its just a bit of fun anyways. Its not like I am looking for an actual date. And certainly not with one of them women creatures.

Wednesday and Thursday were both night shifts. After such a long week, they really took it out of me. I am trying to get myself onto some more humane shifts. It would mean that I dont have to have silly sleep patterns and would get some more time with Jay. I hate getting up and leaving him in the middle of the night. Or crawling into bed as he is leaving for work. Even if he is home when I finish a shift, the first thing I usually want to do is grab some sleep so by the time I wake up, he is heading to bed. Its not so bad so far because we are still getting to see each other a lot, but my hours will be increasing soon, and when I am tired, im a moody little shit, so I think if I can't get more flexible hours, then I will maybe request a transfer to another station. Its my own fault I guess, I requested the later shifts when I was single and now they dont suit me anymore. Lets hope I can get something sorted though.

Ive left a few things over at my old place so I have to pay a visit there over the next few days. I am really pissed off with them at the moment so I have been putting it off. I was sorting through some stuff the other day, and noticed that they have taken loads of my cd's and dvd's. To cover it though, they put the bloody cases back. You have to admire their strategy, but it has really pissed me off. Jay thinks I may have just put them in the wrong cases or something, but I am so anal about these things, I never would have. I still have my key so I am tempted to just go and have a snoop when I know that nobody is there, but I will leave that until after I have asked them. If they deny it, then I will do the snooping. Grrr, they make me so mad.

Nice and relaxed night for us tonight. Jay is doing some overtime, but then I am making a meal and we are sitting down to watch Erin Brockovich. He has never seen it. Crazy man. I am in the mood for it too, so that all we have planned. Bowling and then a meal in town tomorrow, then back in work for me at 8pm tomorrow night. No rest for the devilishly handsome I guess.

Have a good weekend guys.

Ry