I know what you\'re thinking...that I\'m just one of those insensitive types that is too cheap to get my wife anything for Valentine\'s Day. Quite the contrary...usually. However, ever since Carrie left her job and decided to stay home with Olivia, money hasn\'t been exactly flowing like the mighty Mississippi. I\'ve been ordered to pretty much keep it on the cheap, and I think this morning it was decided that I\'ll just make dinner tonight to give her a much needed break.

While I\'ll feel that this is a bit of a cop-out, especially when you consider all Carrie has done and has sacrificed for us. She\'s the most incredible woman I know. Left a high-payin gig as an IT Manager, (though she was sick of IT...), to come home and be a mother for our daughter. She actually tries to have dinner ready by the time I am home and succeeds in doing so most of the time. (She knows I don\'t expect that, but she does it anyway). Not only does she have food on the table but it even tastes good.

That puts me in an odd place...here I am trying to show my appreciation for her and yet we have no extra cash to say so with tangible gifts. Sure she\'s getting a card, but now she\'s gonna have to choke back whatever sort of meal that I am able to throw together after 5pm this evening. I\'m no slouch in the kitchen mind you, but its going to feel much like an episode of \"Iron Chef\" where you don\'t know what materials you\'re going to have to work with. I only hope that I can turn out something that says: \"I love you. You\'re the most incredible woman I know. Thank you for putting up with my crap. Thank you for taking care of our daughter. Thank you for being you.\"

That\'s kind of hard to say with left-over chicken, ground turkey, refried beans and maybe some pasta...

Happy Valentines Day!