A Single 39er’s Funny Little Valentine

As a single 39er, I am often alone on Holidays (especially the past year) and today—Valentine’s Day 💖—is no exception. When this happens, I tap into my inner child for joy and happiness, which helps keep me young in body, mind, spirit, and soul.

Many incurable romantics never lose their delight over the simple things on Valentine’s Day … flowers, chocolates, a sweet note, and an adorable plush animal … meet Cocoa …

Bought myself a Valentine’s Day gift yesterday. I licked my lips thinking of a small chocolate box to buy—I believe in treating myself on holidays when I’m alone—or maybe, especially because I’m alone.

 So I trolled the “seasonal” aisle at the grocery store (obviously not looking for gourmet chocolates), and there were a couple of shelves with Russell Stover^® plush pups holding a box of chocolates with a rose in the mouth. I doubt they were selling well. Unfortunately, the stem of the rose looked more like fangs on either side of the pups’ mouths. Ah well. Cute try!

Taking a step down the aisle, sentimentality took hold. I don’t know about guys, but many women will always have a soft heart for stuffed animals and all things childlike.

I weighed the price of $8 for a small box of cheap chocolates against the $8 sale price on the pups holding a little smaller size box of RS tasty sweets. Goodness knows, I don’t need the extra chocolates (which of course, never stops me), so my inner child took a closer look at the better value array of, soft, furry “Cocoa the Love Pup.”

While one might think they all look the same, I found early in my stuffed toy buying and gift-receiving life that not all adorable stuffed animals are created equal. There are always slight-to-significant manufacturing anomalies that can make or break the “cute” of a plush.

I rummaged through the shelf of tawny little guys in front of me and my attention was drawn to a shy one in front that seemed a tad “off.” Hmmm.

Pushing past him I pulled out a couple from the side and back, looking for one that better suited me. They all looked pretty much the same, with shiny red heart box, rose-fangs, and “Russel Stover” stitched on the bottom of the left paw.

Going back to the pup in front, I noticed his nose is crooked and his rose stem looked more like fangs than all the others in his “litter.” And then I saw that “Russell Stover” was sewn upside down on his paw. Out of curiosity (a writer’s bane) I pawed through two more bins of plush pups, but only the “runt’s” paw exposed an upturned brand name.

Poor baby. Definitely the less desirable of all his siblings. That was the final test … my heartstrings tugged and his destiny became my “rescue pup” for Valentine’s Day!

Finished with my shopping and returned home with “rescue” Cocoa in my care (Cocoa is the company name for him—I would have named him Buster), he sat contentedly watching me from the sofa as I settled back at my desk. Perusing the store receipt, as usual, to check my expenditures, my eyes spotted Cocoa’s line item.

That’s when I realized that the $8 I thought I’d spent on Cocoa had discounted to $4! Since their original selling price was $12, it confirmed my suspicion that these poor little plush pups were a good idea at the drawing board, yet somehow lost their tail-wagging factor in manufacturing. But still …

Happy Valentine’s Day to me for a great buy and a satisfied feeling that my rescued Cocoa would have languished with his siblings until a donation cycle (or, gasp! recycling). The point is, you might be alone, but if you treat yourself, your reward could be a fun surprise. 

At every age, Love comes in many forms … pick one and enjoy your Valentine's Day! 

 

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 Please read on for your "regularly scheduled" 39AHC February post below ... 👇😍

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