I just finished my second committee meeting ever. Frankly, I think it went worse than the first, despite 6 months of progress. But so it goes and that's not what I'm here to write about.

As you may or may not have noticed, yesterday was the annual commemeration of Eros' tireless work. Now, although that cherubic little archer seems to only shoot blanks this time of year, there is one person on whom I can always count for a valentine. Yup, my mom. Usually she likes to pick out silly trinkets to send me- blue sparkly cell phone covers, a heart-shaped stamp with my name, pink and red nail polish, etc. However, she seems to have gotten a bit lazy lately and that's actually worked in my favor. Last year she sent me a gift certificate to Sephora. This year she skipped all pretense and mailed me a check. What's interesting is that I know several other people who have received velentine checks from Mom recently, and all of them, including mine, were made out for $40. Evidently the International Mom Consortium got together this month and decided 40 bucks was the appropriate gift amount for their 20-something kids. Thanks IMC! When I called mine to thank her, she told me, "I want you to use it to get a pedicure or something nice, don't just put it towards groceries." Well, I did have a relaxing weekend planned....

On to the obligate food discussion. Like the question of the magic of bacon, this one relates back to conversations that I've been having with friends and coworkers lately. Can you think of any comfort foods that are not somewhat to extremely unhealthy? We've been having a hard time of it. Probably because cheese, starches, and meaty animal fats make us feel full and sleepy and on a subconsious level we're aware that we can go at least a few straight days without starving to death. I do love salads, but they just don't make me feel the way I do after chowing down on some mac and cheese or mashed potatoes and gravy. Heidi suggested tomato soup, but then realized that you really need a grilled cheese to make it worthwhile. Bacon, egg, and cheese bagels are pretty good too.

Suffice to say, my computer is a lot happier now that I no longer have three 50+MB powerpoint files open plus photoshop, excel, and iTunes running simultaneously. This thing turns 4 in August, then it might be time to get a MacBook.