NOTE: This entry was part of a blog I wrote called “Jesse 2.0” from 2010-2011. 

So yet another Holiday is passing tonight… but this time it’s a big one: Valentine’s Day. My first since my divorce. (Obligatory “heart” photo below, the best I could do. This is an altered version of a cloud photo I took in December).

It’s the most unavoidable holiday as a single person. While I thought I could avoid memories during the days leading up to the holiday, that proved impossible. People started talking about it two weeks ago, at work and on television.

Then today, two unfortunate things happened. As soon as I entered the front door of my work today, I saw the receptionist with a vase of roses at her desk. My mind flashed back to 1998, the first Valentine’s Day I had with my ex-wife. We hadn’t even been dating a month but I was falling in love so I bought her a very similar bouquet. She was out sick on V-Day, so I had to put the flowers at my desk.

After that reminder, I ended up having to drive to the courthouse today to get another copy of my divorce documents for Wells Fargo (who, after 200 pages of paperwork and 7 months, have still been unable to wrench my ex-wife’s name from the mortgage or decrease my monthly payment). While standing at the desk, an A Capella group walks in and starts serenading an older lady – a Valentine’s Day gift from her husband, while half the workers in the Prothonotary office are crying and clapping. Are you kidding me??

My allergies were suffering a little at work for the rest of the day due to all the flowers in the building, so by the time it was quittin’ time I wasn’t feeling great and really wanted to grab some comfort food on the way home. But I ate really bad last week and started gaining weight again, so I reminded myself that was what got me overweight in the first place, so I persevered.

The holiday is arguably partially responsible for me starting to get into the Online Dating scene this week, something I will be blogging about soon. For now, trust me, it’s a jungle out there.