Girl Friday: 5 Valentine's Day Love Notes

I've been going to a chiropractor the past month after a pretty bad car accident on New Year's Eve (more on that in the next post). He gives me "homework" after each adjustment; do this exercise when you wake up, document your pain level at this time of the day, et cetera. Today, being Valentine's Day, apparently warranted a special homework assignment. I was given the task of writing 5 Valentine notes before the end of the day, so here we go.

1. To my nephew, Julian: I love you. It sucks that we're no longer a 15-minute drive apart, but I think about you approximately 50 times a day. Now that I'm working 5-6 nights a week and always on the weekends, it's tough to make time to drive up to North Branch to see you. But know that you'll always be my little buddy.

2. To my Vita.mn readers: You're the best. Thanks for putting up with some pretty mediocre columns since my accident. January was a truly horrible month for me personally, and the damage done to my neck and spine is no small part of that. Again, I'll go into more detail in my next Girl Friday post, but I will say here that the injuries have really affected my ability to write. It's not just physically painful, but it's often just plain difficult due to the type of nerve damage I have.

3. To my Ford Fiesta: I never thought I could love a car the way that I love you. That goes for my first Fiesta that was totaled in my accident, as well as Fiesta 2.0 that I bought last month. You're little, so you can fit in any parking space, which is awesome for someone who sucks at parallel parking. You get like 25 miles to the gallon in the city, so I don't have to spend too much time doing one of my most-hated activities: pumping gas. And your premium sound system rocks my face off.

4. To Prairie Ale House: Unlike the others, I don't just love you for your cheese curds. I love you for having a vegetarian soup option every day (soups courtesy of Chef Seth Bixby Daugherty as of late), I love you for making the best black bean burger I've ever tasted, I love you for stocking real English cider and I love you because I get to see AJ, Chad, Brad and Joe whenever I stop in.

5. To my Shuga: Because, to paraphrase myself, it would be dumb to not acknowledge you today. You might not even see this post, but that's okay. I gave you an earful on the street in front of my house yesterday, and I meant every word. I love being around you and it makes me feel good to do things for you. Things I won't mention here because my mom reads this.