I love walking in Harlem in the morning. The neighborhood is just coming alive. Children are cranky about being dragged to school (literally in some cases..LOL). People are speed walking to catch their train or their bus. Can't be late for that j-o-b. The older gentlemen from my building are holding court out front with their morning papers. During my walk this morning there was something that disturbed me. Can someone please explain to me the need for a liquor store to be open at 9 in the morning?? During my walk this morning I saw 2 liquor stores open. Not only were they open at that hour but one of them had a line of customers. Now, I understand why Dunkin Donuts is open early in the morning. Coffee, donuts, muffins and bagels - all breakfast staples. So they need to be open when people typically eat breakfast. But I'm struggling to find a valid reason why the liquor store was open next door to the Dunkin Donuts? Are people dunking their donuts in Kettel One instead of coffee? Is life that hard that you need a fresh bottle of Ripple to get your day started? Which goes better with scrambled eggs - Absolut or Jack Daniels?

So I was recently told that as usual February 14th is going to suck. This wouldn't be so bad or out of the ordinary if I weren't in a relationship. Wait let me back up. It wouldn't be so bad if I weren't in such a good relationship. Those who know me know that last year this time I was in a crappy relationship so the lack of a declaration of love and devotion wasn't surprising. What bothers me more than the fact that the man in my life has to go on a business trip from the 13th through the 15th is that I am actually bothered by not celebrating a day I have NEVER celebrated. Yes, I have NEVER celebrated Valentine's Day. EVER. Well I've never celebrated the day with a man. Getting drunk with my girlfriends and hiring a stripper for the occasion may count as a memorable Valentine's celebration but I don't think Hallmark makes a card for that. I can count on one hand how many cards/gifts I received from those who claimed to have loved me in the past. No romantic dinners, no floral bouquets, and thankfully, no boxes of chocolate. Maybe my disappointment lies in my deep down, never revealed notion that I somehow expected him to redeem all the past losers I've dated and make up for the mistakes of all of them. Not only is that unfair to him, I know how irrational that sounds. While the rational side of me says " I know he cares for me. I don't need some Hallmark fabricated day to know how he feels for me.", the irrational side of me is stomping her feet like a 2 year old having a temper tantrum in the aisles of Toys R Us, screaming. "IT'S NOT FAIR! I WANT THE BEST DAMN VALENTINE'S DAY, AND I WANT IT NOWWWWWWWWW!" With maturity comes the realization that I am going to have to slap the crap out of my irrational side just to shut her up. I am trying to be mature about this. Thankfully, I have enough sense to have not said anything to him about it. I was very ladylike when he told me: "For real??? Damn, that sucks. Oh well, we can celebrate it another day, I guess". In reality I wanted to give in to my 2 year old temper tantrums, but I realize a) nothing will change about the situation and 2) I will definitely look like a crazy woman. He doesn't deserve that. So on Valentine's Day, I will cherish the love we have (ummm is that from a song????), and celebrate all of life's blessings. I promise to stay away from romantic restaurants, flower shops, and chocolate. Unless anyone actually wants to see my rendition of a 2 year old's temper tantrum. If so, meet me in the Barbie aisle at Toys R Us.