I had asked if anyone had any retirement advice or observations to send them to me. I heard from Kathryn Kroboth. She said, "One thing you have to remember is, if you want to do something, do it. If you don't want to do it, don't. Go out and enjoy yourself with, or without, the other half. (Sometimes it's better without.)" She added a smiley face with that last part.

Sandy Borger said that it's very important to have a "Date Night." She and her husband, Gene, have "Date Night" every Friday night, without fail. She swears it's what keeps them "young and in love."Thanks Kathryn and Sandy. Good advice I'll try to follow.Speaking about the "other half," you ever notice how hard it is to surprise someone you live with? Especially now that it's 24/7?Harry and I don't always buy each other gifts for Valentine's Day but we still exchange cards and sometimes candy … mine is always chocolate-covered cherries. His … anything white chocolate. For some reason, this year I just thought I had to get him a gift. Maybe because I have a little more time on my hands right now, my mind seems to also have more time for thinking up more "fun things."Here is how my thought processing went:"Hmmm. He bought a compound bow this last fall. I think I remember him saying how easy it is to go through arrows. Arrows. Cupid. Shooting arrows of love. I think I'll buy him a couple of arrows for Valentine's Day."I even came up with a little poem to go with them."You shot Love's arrow into my heart,It was totally you right from the start.Now from you I'll never part.Be my Valentine."Okay. I didn't say I wrote a "great" poem …Have you ever noticed that when couples are together for a long time they tend to know just what the other person is thinking? Or they can anticipate each other's next moves? Or figure out you're up to something sneaky?Not having a clue what kind of arrows he would need, I thought I'd better take one he already has along with me. Since I was going to the hairdresser Friday morning because the old gray hair roots were in desperate need of a dye job, I planned on going to Dunkelberger's afterward. Ahhh, but where does he keep them?When I kissed Harry "Goodbye," he was deep into the computer looking up information on his radio control helicopter.I channeled my inner Sherlock Holmes persona and followed the clues. He keeps his hunting gear in two places. So first I checked the basement. Nada. I got in my car and drove down to the big garage. Found them! I grabbed one and off I went.After Tammy made me "young" again, I arrived at Dunkelberger's. And ladies, just for your information, not all arrows are the same. I'm sure Cupid doesn't run into this problem. I approached a young man and handed him Harry's arrow and asked if he had any like it. He showed me where they were and asked how many I wanted."How much are they?"He said, "$5."Wow, "Cool" I thought and said, "I'll take three." Hey, $15 was a nice little Valentine's Day gift.Oh, stupid me."Now you need the tips," said the young man.What? You mean you have to buy the tips separately? You know, I bet Sitting Bull didn't have to buy his arrows and tips separately from Teepee Tom back in the day."How much are they?" I asked."$39.95 for three."As I mentally picked myself up off the floor and not wanting to look like an El Cheapo, I swallowed hard and croaked meakly, "OK" and forked over a total of $59.85.Suddenly a Hershey's Cookies 'N Crème candy bar was sounding like a better idea.But then I rationalized it like this. … He's worth it.HA! Until he came home later and the conversation went something like this …"So what did you want down in the garage this morning?" he asked.Stunned, I just looked at him in surprise. "How did you know I was down there?""I saw you from the bedroom window. I got up to get a cup of coffee and was just looking out the window and saw you."Which means, the moment I left, he must have run from the computer and went "spying" on me. Or anyway, that's what it sounded like.So of course I lied, telling him I was looking for a can of paint I wanted to use to paint a cabinet."Uh huh," he said with what seemed like a knowing grin.But wait. It gets better."Did you go anywhere after the hairdresser?" he asked slyly."Nope. I came right home," I lied through my teeth."Uh huh. You sure? I drove by Dunkelberger's today," he said, grinning like the Cheshire Cat.And I'm thinking, "If I was paranoid, I'd swear the guy was stalking me!"I chose to ignore him and walked away.Valentine's Day morning, we exchanged our cards. I got my chocolate-covered cherries and Harry got his "surprise" arrows. He loved the little poem but he's lucky he got the original. I almost re-wrote it to say,"You shot Love's arrow into my heart,Now from you I'll never part.And even if you're a nosey old fart,You'll always be my Valentine."