>And I guess it's my European heritage, but I never quite understood the american way of celebrating Valentine's day and mother's day. IMHPO, if those holidays define the quality of your relationship, you have a major problem to begin with. What's wrong with taking home some flowers on a day other than Valentine's Day, or taking him/her out for a nice candel light dinner without needing a special occasion? But I guess that's just me...

HEY!!! That makes two of us! I always buy gifts and things to people whenever I find something someone might like.

Many years ago I spent a whole day looking for a suitable present for my mother so I had the nerve of telling her that I'm never going to buy her a present just because it's a "special day" again. That's how I got out of birthdays, valentines, mothers days, you name it.

People close to me know I love them very much and it's actually more pleasant for them to get things from my by surprise.

Alex (the insensitive one) ;-)