masterwordsmith-unplugged

For Valentine's Day, my boy wanted to eat at Paddington's House of Pancakes at Queensbay Mall because Anne and her sons treated me for lunch there last Thursday and he missed out :-).. My dear husband lovingly complied ...

I had the Salmon Crepes...the pancake was so smooth and the wasabi sauce incredibly pungent, spicy and creamy whilst the sour cream was quite fresh with just the right tangy taste.
My husband had the double beef burger....
My younger boy had his usual sausage cum hash brown and pepperoni...
After dinner, my boy wanted to go for the Fish Spa there so off we went...er this is something which I had been avoiding ever since the Fish Spa craze hit Penang but tonight, there was no escape...But guess what? Yours truly DID NOT try it because I am ultra ticklish...so here is my boy ...note the expression...
Initially, he yelped, squealed, giggled, squirmed and laughed so loudly that I was quite embarrassed :-). The other guys sitting beside him soon ran off as they too broke out into gleeful laughter. I was quite HORRIFIED when I saw the 'horde' of savage fishes descending on my boy's legs!!! Some of the fishes were really huge. Amazingly, they do not have teeth and use their suction lips to eat the dead skin of my boy's legs. After some time, he sort of got used to it.

He actually coaxed me to put my little finger into the water. Er....cowardly as I am, I thought it would be, should be, ought to be safe enough. The minute I put my finger into the water, a few fishes attacked my finger and I gave an ear-piercing scream and this time, everyone looked at me!! The probably thought to themselves hmmm like mother like son.

I never thought I would experience micro kisses such as these on Valentine's day!!! Anyway, just to give you an idea of what he went through, here's a close up pic...
When his time was up, he cleaned up and when I touched his skin, it was like WOW!!!!! Smoooooooooth as vanilla ice-cream...If only my facial skin can be like that BUT the thought of scores of fishes giving me micro kisses on my face is enough to make me happy with what I have.

Throughout the whole journey home, my boy kept saying, "Mom, I can still feel the fishes nibbling at my toes and legs..." I just hope he will not have nightmares about it...As for me, I am so glad I only put ONE finger into the water. My boy is asking me to let him try the fish spa in KL where apparently, one can be half immersed in water and allow the fishes to have a free for all...

So that's my Valentine's Day, dear reader....simple and yet unforgettable. How was yours? I am sure each of you had a wonderful time with your loved ones...Take care and God bless you and your family!

Dear readers,

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!! I hope you enjoyed the different posts I put up specially for this day...May you and your loved ones celebrate love today and EVEYDAY of your lives. Here's another one for your reading pleasure...Enjoy..

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When love pours on you
like a refreshing summer shower,
Rejoice!
Open your arms and embrace it!
Let it invade your senses.
Soak your memory to remember it,
if you ever feel a drought in your heart.

If the pain of the cracks
in your heart tear you up,
Relax!
It's temporary.
All you need
to let love flow again
is the courage to take a chance.



There's a story about a well in the middle of nowhere.

When travelers reach it, they are usually very thirsty. When they pull the cord inside the well, the bucket carries a note and a bottle of water. The note is as follows:

"Use all the water in this bottle to prime the well. Don't drink any of it, because you will need all of it to get the water flowing. Pour it down the well and pump!

If you drink the water from this bottle, your thirst may be quenched for a while, but you will be thirsty again, and this well will be useless for you and everyone else who comes this way.

But if you use the water to prime the well, you will have an abundance of water, for now and to carry on your voyage.

Remember to leave a full bottle of water and this note for the next traveler."

What would you do? Would you take a chance?

Think of giving love like priming the well.

Take a chance, give your full measure. You can't expect love if you don't give it.

Love someone. Start with yourself.

You are "unique in all the world". Nobody else is exactly like you, not even your twin, if you have one. That should be enough for you to realize how valuable you are.

Consider the story of "The Little Prince"
(by Antoine de Saint Exupéry).

The Little Prince lived on his planet where he had just one rose, who told him that she was unique in all the universe.

When the Little Prince came to earth and passed by a rose garden, he was shocked.

"And he was overcome with sadness. His flower had told him that she was the only one of her kind in all the universe. And here were five thousand of them, all alike, in one single garden!"

But then, The Little Prince met the Fox, who told him the secret of life:

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."

So The Little Prince returned to look again at the roses.

"You are not at all like my rose," he said. "As yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one. You are like my fox when I first knew him. He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made a friend, and now he is unique in all the world."

"You are beautiful, but you are empty," he went on. "One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you -- the rose that belongs to me.

But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of your other roses: because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars (except the two or three we saved to become butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is MY rose."


Like the rose, you and I are "unique in all the world". But we let all the other things get in the way of seeing what is really important in life.

The job, the meetings, the deals, the social status and opinions, the feeling that we are worth what appears on the outside...all of these things are what make us forget how "unique" we are, and how unique our loved ones are. We're so caught up in the rat race that we become rats. We take people and things for granted until sometimes it's too late.

When's the last time you stopped to smell the roses?

When's the last time you told someone you love how important they are to you?

It's HOW we live and love that makes us "unique in all the world".

As the sayings go, "Nobody says 'I wish I had spent more time at the office' on their death bed, and 'a security truck full of money following your hearse won't get you into heaven'."

Find your heaven here, now. Love. Be loved. It's all that really matters.

Put love first, and everything else will fall into place.

God bless you and Happy Valentine's Day!!!

It was just a harmless prank, that's all it was.

And it wasn't as if Old Lady Hayes didn't deserve it. The way she used to scream at us for "borrowing" a few of her precious raspberries each summer, like we were stealing gold out of Fort Knox... well, she had it coming.

At least, that's the way we saw it as George finished tying the string to the red, heart-shaped box. We giggled as Ron added the final touch: two plastic red roses, glued to the lid. "I wonder what will surprise her most," I asked as George practiced jerking the box out of reach by yanking on the string. "Seeing a box of candy on her step, or watching it fly away when she tries to pick it up?"

We laughed as we watched George make Albert chase the box around the garage. For a chubby 10-year-old, Albert did a good imitation of Mrs. Hayes's hunched hobble and her seemingly permanent scowl. And we howled when he picked up a broom and pretended to ride it through the midwinter air while shouting, "I'm Old Lady Hayes, the driedest-up old prune in the West!"

Ron was first to notice my dad in the doorway. Within seconds, Ron's anxiety was shared by all but Albert, who continued to swoop around the garage until he came face-to-belt-buckle with our silent observer. For a moment the only movement in the room came from the little puffs of steam escaping our mouths. Dad broke the stillness by walking slowly to the empty candy box lying on the floor. He picked it up and dangled it by the string, watching it swing back and forth. Then he looked into the eyes of the frightened boys. And, as was his custom, he looked into their hearts as well.

"It doesn't seem so long ago that I was pulling Valentine's Day pranks," he said as he laid the box on a workbench. "One year my cousins and I decided to pull one on our Grandma Walker even though we loved her -- she was the sweetest grandma a boy could have. We were just feeling devilish and decided to have some fun at her expense.

"Early in the evening we snuck up to her doorstep with a can of red paint. Grandma was hard of hearing, so we didn't have to worry about being very quiet. Which was a good thing, because every time we thought about how funny it was going to be to see Grandma try to pick up a valentine that was just painted on her doorstep, we couldn't keep from laughing.

"It didn't take long, and it wasn't very artistic. But for an old woman with bad eyes, it would do. We kicked the door and hid behind bushes. When Grandma finally appeared she stood in the doorway, her gray hair pulled back tightly into her usual bun, wiping her hands on her usual apron. She must have heard the commotion in the bushes because she looked in our direction and spoke loudly enough for us to hear: 'Who could be knocking at my door?' Then she looked down. Even from 15 feet away we could see the joy in her eyes when she spotted a splash of red at her feet.

"'A valentine for Grandma!' she exclaimed. 'And I thought I'd be forgotten again this year!'

"She tried to retrieve her prize. This was the moment we had been waiting for, but somehow it wasn't as much fun as we expected. Grandma groped at the fresh paint for a moment. Slowly, she figured out our prank. She tried to smile. Then, with as much dignity as she could muster, she turned and walked back into her house, absently wiping red paint on her clean, white apron."

Dad paused, and for the first time I noticed that his eyes were moist. He took a deep breath. "Grandma died later that year," he said. "I never had another chance to give her a real valentine."

He took the box from the bench and handed it to me. Then he turned and left the garage.

Later that night a red, heart-shaped box with two plastic roses on it was placed on Mrs. Hayes's front doorstep by six giggling boys. We hid behind snow-covered bushes to see how she would react to receiving a full pound of candy and nuts.

With no strings attached.

Besides the members of my family, there is ONE other character in my life whom I love to bits.

When I wake up in the morning, I think of him. I wonder what he wants to eat for breakfast and if he has done his rise and shine routine and whether he is working out to keep himself fit and trim.

He knows when I approach him. I guess he can pick up my scent from afar and the lilt in my voice when I call out his name quickens his heartbeat as he rushes to the door to greet me. And when I look at his eyes, I see nothing but love and adoration there. Who can resist falling in love with him who has so much love and devotion to give to me?

This morning, I was hit by the stark realization that Mishy is growing old as his feet are not as nimble as they used to be. His movements are stiffer and there will soon come a time when his heart will beat no more and I will weep so bitterly because I know that somehow, it will be very difficult for me to carry on living without him. That is one of the reasons why my husband does not want me to have any dogs and has declared that Mishy will be the last pet that I can have :(.

He came into this world on the first Saturday of June, 2007 when we were in KL. We had left my older boy behind as he had lectures and had to give music lessons. Although we were well aware that his mother had almost reached full term, we never expected Mei Mei to deliver her puppies when we were away. So, we had to give instructions via our mobile phones and then rushed home to Penang to save my babies!!!

While at Carrefour in Wangsa Maju, my older boy called me on the handphone and with a panicky voice declared that Mei Mei had delivered two puppies. From previous experiences, he knew that the daddy Kiki had to be separated for otherwise, he would devour the poor babies.

From the time he was a puppy, he was naughtier than his brother Mushy(pic above), whom my hubby believes to be quite retarded.

Since we had about 7 hamsters at that time namely his parents Mei Mei and Kiki(pic above) his grandma Mimi, and a month later his siblings Sushi and Sashimi from the second litter, we gave him away to Michelle who bought him a luxurious hamster double-storey cage with a built-in roller coaster thingy and high-tech cartwheel. And so we thought he would enjoy his more affluent lifestyle. Sadly, that was not to be the case for he fretted and did not eat and moped around in a languid fashion till Michelle decided to return him to us.
Since his return to our home, Mishy has etched a permanent place in our hearts. Of all the hamsters I have reared, Mishy and his granny Mimi are the smartest. Mimi is the only hamster who licked me to show her love and when she was alive, could run with me and when she reached the end of the room, would promptly make a U-turn and run back to the cage and wait for me. Mishy knows when I go near his cage and would beg me for sunflower seeds and other goodies such as broccoli stems.

Truly, there are so many things that I have learnt from all my pets - their unabashed devotion and love for me and the way they express their love through their eyes. I do not know how much longer Mishy can live. His brother Mushy had a short life while Sushi and Sashimi had very short life spans too as Mei Mei gave birth to them a month after she delivered Mishy and Mushy. After that, we separated Mei Mei and Kiki (who was always trying to you-know-what his dear wife) after her third litter died...for we feared that she might conceive again. Sadly, Kiki died from a broken heart from that separation and Mei Mei never recovered as well. *sigh*

Sometimes, it is so difficult to understand animals, let alone adults or children! But whatever the case, I know they have filled my life with so much love and it would never be the same without them. I know I spoil Mishy to bits because I handfeed him and as a result, he has become very picky with food. My hubby says he is glad I only spoil hamsters and not the boys haha!

So, in closing, on Valentine's Day today, let it be a day not only for showing love to our spouses or family members, but let us remember our beloved pets as well.

Here's one of my favorite videos. Warning - I have watched it hundreds of times but each time I watch it, I still cry ....and miss my beloved pets and loved ones soooooooo much...and it has truly taught me to EMBRACE THE MOMENT and to REMEMBER LOVE!!!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!! CELEBRATE LOVE....PLEASE CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK..

http://doyourememberlove.com/narratedmovie.html

Red roses were her favorites, her name was also Rose.
And every year her husband sent them, tied with pretty bows.
The year he died, the roses were delivered to her door.
The card said, "Be my Valentine," like all the years before.

Each year he sent her roses, and the note would always say,
"I love you even more this year, than last year on this day."
"My love for you will always grow, with every passing year."
She knew this was the last time that the roses would appear.

She thought, he ordered roses in advance before this day.
Her loving husband did not know, that he would pass away.
He always liked to do things early, way before the time.
Then, if he got too busy, everything would work out fine.

She trimmed the stems, and placed them in a very special vase.
Then, sat the vase beside the portrait of his smiling face.
She would sit for hours, in her husband's favorite chair.
While staring at his picture, and the roses sitting there.

A year went by, and it was hard to live without her mate.
With loneliness and solitude, that had become her fate.
Then, the very hour, as on Valentines before,
The doorbell rang, and there were roses, sitting by her door.

She brought the roses in, and then just looked at them in shock.
Then, went to get the telephone, to call the florist shop.
The owner answered, and she asked him, if he would explain,
Why would someone do this to her, causing her such pain?

"I know your husband passed away, more than a year ago,"
The owner said, "I knew you'd call, and you would want to know."
"The flowers you received today, were paid for in advance."
"Your husband always planned ahead, he left nothing to chance."

"There is a standing order, that I have on file down here,
And he has paid, well in advance, you'll get them every year.
There also is another thing, that I think you should know,
He wrote a special little card...he did this years ago."

"Then, should ever, I find out that he's no longer here,
That's the card...that should be sent, to you the following year."
She thanked him and hung up the phone, her tears now flowing hard.
Her fingers shaking, as she slowly reached to get the card.

Inside the card, she saw that he had written her a note.
Then, as she stared in total silence, this is what he wrote...
"Hello my love, I know it's been a year since I've been gone,
I hope it hasn't been too hard for you to overcome."

"I know it must be lonely, and the pain is very real.
For if it was the other way, I know how I would feel.
The love we shared made everything so beautiful in life.
I loved you more than words can say, you were the perfect wife."

"You were my friend and lover, you fulfilled my every need.
I know it's only been a year, but please try not to grieve.
I want you to be happy, even when you shed your tears.
That is why the roses will be sent to you for years."

"When you get these roses, think of all the happiness,
That we had together, and how both of us were blessed.
I have always loved you and I know I always will.
But, my love, you must go on, you have some living still."

"Please...try to find happiness, while living out your days.
I know it is not easy, but I hope you find some ways.
The roses will come every year, and they will only stop,
When your door's not answered, when the florist stops to knock."

"He will come five times that day, in case you have gone out.
But after his last visit, he will know without a doubt,
To take the roses to the place, where I've instructed him,
And place the roses where we are, together once again."

by: Poppy, Poppy's Poetry Page

For Lovers Everywhere

John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn't, the girl with the rose.

1) Funny Valentine Quotes

'I require three things in a man. He must be handsome, ruthless and stupid.'
Dorothy Parker.

'Women are cursed, and men are the proof.'
Rosanne Barr.

'Women with pasts interest men... they hope history will repeat itself.'
Mae West.

'Get married early in the morning. That way, if it doesn't work out, you haven't wasted a whole day.'
Mickey Rooney.

'I married the first man I ever kissed. When I tell my children that, they just about throw up.'
Barbara Bush.

'My boyfriend and I broke up. He wanted to get married and I didn't want him to.'
Rita Rudner.

'The poor wish to be rich, the rich wish to be happy, the single wish to be married, and the married wish to be dead.'
Ann Landers.

'Instead of getting married again, I'm going to find a woman I don't like and give her a house.'
Groucho Marx.

Happiness is an imaginary condition, formerly attributed by the living to the dead, now usually attributed by adults to children, and by children to adults.
Thomas Szasz

2) Romantic Valentine Love Quotes

If you are in love and wish to make up your own Valentine's Day quotes either use these or else modify them for your own true love.

The moment you have in your heart this extraordinary thing called love and feel the depth, the delight, the ecstasy of it, you will discover that for you the world is transformed.
J. Krishnamurti

All you need is love.
John Lennon

One makes mistakes; that is life. But it is never a mistake to have loved.
Romain Rolland

Love is an exploding cigar we willingly smoke.
Lynda Barry

Love is an ocean of emotions entirely surrounded by expenses.
Thomas Robert Dewar

A heart that loves is always young.
Greek Proverb

But I have seen thee
And thou art enough.
G. Moore

Your words are my food, your breath my wine. You are everything to me.
Sarah Bernhardt

Friendship is one mind in two bodies.
Mencius

If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.
Winnie the Pooh

3) Ten Valentine Quotes

1. There is only one happiness in life: to love and be loved.
   George Sand
2. Meeting you was fate, becoming your friend was choice, falling in love with you was beyond my control
3. Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.
   Aristotle
4. The heart has its reasons that reason does not know.
   Pascal
5. The risk it takes to remain tight inside the bud is more painful than the risk it takes to blossom.
   Anais Nin
6. You never lose by loving. You always lose by holding back.
   Barbara DeAngelis
7. Love, like a river, will cut a new path Whenever it meets an obstacle.
   Crystal Middlemas
8. Greater Love has no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends.
   Jesus
9. The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.
   Eden Ahbez
10. It's not that I can't live without you...it's just that I don't even want to try.

4) Extra Valentine Quotes and One-liners

It's better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all.'
Alfred, Lord Tennyson

True love begins when nothing is looked for in return.
Antoine De Saint-Exupery

Love, you know, seeks to make happy rather than to be happy.
Ralph Connor

True friendship is like sound health; the value of it is seldom known until it be lost.
Charles Caleb Colton

We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere.
Tim McGraw

Hold a true friend with both your hands.
Nigerian Proverb

My father always used to say that when you die, if you've got five real friends, then you've had a great life.
Lee Iacocca

A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.
Anon

Everyone hears what you say. Friends listen to what you say. Best friends listen to what you don't say.
Anon

If you walk in front of me, I may not follow.
If you walk behind me, I may not lead.
If you walk beside me, I will be your friend. Albert Camus

5) More Good Advice - Valentine Quotations

• When you fish for love, bait with your heart, not your brain.
  Mark Twain
• Because when we love, we always strive to become better than we are.
  Paulo Coelho in The Alchemist
• A man loses his sense of direction after four drinks; A woman loses hers after four. kisses.
  H.L. Mencken
• Don't wait for the one you can live with, wait for the one you can't live without.
• Love is like a river, always changing, but always finding you again somewhere down the road.
  Kelly Elaine
• One word frees us of all the weight and pain of life: that word is love.
  Sophocles

6) Another Tranche of Lovely Valentine's Day Quotes

• I recently read that love is entirely a matter of chemistry. That must be why my wife treats me like toxic waste. David Bissonnette
• I've been in love with the same woman for forty-one years. If my wife finds out, she'll kill me. Henry Youngman
• It's better to have loved and lost than to do forty pounds of laundry a week. Laurence J. Peter
• If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular? Anonymous
• If love is the answer, could you rephrase the question? Lily Tomlin
• Love is the delightful interval between meeting a beautiful girl and discovering that she looks like a haddock. John Barrymore
• A kiss can be a comma, a question mark or an exclamation point. That's basic spelling that every woman ought to know. Mistinguette
• Absence: that common cure of love. Miguel De Cervantes

1) Love and Marriage

• A man said his credit card was stolen but he decided not to report it because the thief was spending less than his wife did.
• Love is blind but marriage is an eye-opener.
• The most effective way to remember your wife's birthday is to forget it once.
• When a man opens the door of his car for his wife, you can be sure of one thing: either the car is new or the wife.
• Before marriage, a man will lie awake all night thinking about something you say. After marriage, he will fall asleep before you finish.
• A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.
  A successful woman is one who can find such a man
• A little boy asked his father, 'Daddy, how much does it cost to get married?' And the father replied, 'I don't know, son, I'm still paying for it.'
• A couple was having a discussion about family finances. Finally the husband exploded, 'If it weren't for my money, the house wouldn't be here!' The wife replied, 'My dear, if it weren't for your money, I wouldn't be here.'

2a) Valentine Present - For Him

You'll never guess what I've bought you for Valentine's Day

2b) Valentine Present For Her

Valentine Love Handbag - courtesy of River Island.com

2c) Say I love you - with Post-it notes

Claire Northcott decided to declare her love for boyfriend Gordon Husband by writing it on 500 Post-it notes. She then stuck them all over his pick-up truck. Ms Northcott, 33, said, 'I spent over an hour-and-a-half writing the notes with felt-tip.'

Mr Husband was understandably surprised when he spotted his vehicle outside the flat the couple share in Paignton, Devon, UK. 'He said it was the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for him,' observed Claire.

3) Valentine Passion Extinguished - Love Failure

An Austrian 'Romeo' burnt the house down after making a giant heart out of blazing candles.

Hannes Pisek, 20, from Hoenigsberg in the province of Styria, used 220 candles to make a huge heart on the floor of his flat. He then lit them and went to pick up his girlfriend from work - but the plan backfired when the flat caught fire.

Pisek was left out in the cold as firemen battled to bring the blaze under control. He has now lost his home and his girlfriend - she left him afterwards and has moved back with her parents.

4) A Prayer... ......for women..................................

Dear Lord, I pray for Wisdom to understand my man;
Love to forgive him; and Patience for his moods;
Because Lord, if I pray for Strength, I'll beat him to death.

5) Valentine's Day in the Zebra World

6) Valentine's Day Love Story - Swans

The swan that fell in love with a pedal boat is back courting its plastic lover after spending the winter in a local zoo

Swans choose a partner for life but the rare Black Australian swan nicknamed Petra made the mistake of falling for a pedal boat designed to look like a swan; and when Petra's pedal boat lover refused to fly south for the winter Petra also remained, a move that could have killed her as the cold weather arrived.

In the end though local zoo chiefs took pity on the swan and gave her and her boat boyfriend a place to spend the winter, and this week the pair were once again on the lake together. According to biologists in Muenster, north-western Germany, Petra has been circling its plastic lover, staring endlessly at it and making crooning noises, all the typical signs of a swan in love.

The boat in the meantime is still being hired out to families who want to picnic on the Aasee lake - where the star-crossed lovers have become a tourist attraction. Zoo director, Joerg Adler said, 'This arrangement could go on forever, the swan obviously believes it has found a partner for life.'

Do check out this story in my other blog:

The Old Man and The Dog: An Inspirational Story of Love by Catherine Moore

1) World's Oldest Valentine Card

The Royal Mail has revealed images of what is thought to be the world's most expensive Valentine's day card. Dating back to 1790, the intricately designed Valentine filled with heartfelt messaging would fetch up to £4,000 if auctioned today. It is currently housed at the British Postal Museum and Archive - and they have no plans of selling the card. The card is a handmade puzzle which unfolds to reveal poetic messages - a far cry from the short notes written in today's Valentine's cards.

On the outside of the card, the inscription reads:
"My dear the Heart which you behold,
Will break when you the same unfold,
Even so my heart with lovesick pain,
Sure wounded is and breaks in twain."

Patrick O'Neill, from Royal Mail, commented, "This year Royal Mail will be delivering over 12 million Valentine's cards but probably none as romantic as the verse written inside here. Although the Valentine card is a valuable piece - we would never dream of selling it as can you really put a price on true love?"

2) The Perfect St Valentine's Day Card

Aidan, a young man, was looking for a greeting card just before February 14th. He searching unhurriedly for just the right card and he found one that impressed him greatly. It read, 'To my one true love, the most beautiful woman in all the world.'

'This is truly heartfelt,' Aidan commented to the shopkeeper. 'It is the message that any woman would love to receive. ... I'll take five.'

Incidentally, salesmen say that Valentine's Day cards are second only to Christmas cards, moreover 1 billion cards are bought every year, 80% by women.