everybody gets an email after valentine's day

wow. what a day. was at the shop by 9.45 and then the temps started rolling in. god, i love vday. i love the exhausted feeling you get from working so hard. i've acomplished something, look at my poor hands. and i spent much more time doing paperwork than playing with roses. we have 2000 of them in the store right now, with more on their way. and 1/2 of those are in boxes, neatly wrapped in tissue paper, in little rows with water tubes on the bottom, all plucked and looking their best for their arrival in their new homes. jen from the costume shop finally met g. g and her 2 friends- they were this gang. it reminds me of resha's inpenetrable forces. but they were friendly, talking to carlos (the ultimate party person- so amazingly charming- esp. in a forign language!) in spanish and joking with charles. i watch people move through their lives like that and it makes me jelous- never alone. i mean, i know they get lonely even always being in a group, but they just naturally are always surrounded. it makes me realize how independent i am, and it makes me glad for the experiences i have, all the character i've built by being a solo flyer, bus still i long for that companionship. they were making bows and jen was in the front, making boxes, so they didn't really interact with each other. and i wouldn't want to jen to feel left out so perhaps that's ok. they left right away when i was done, so i didn't ride the bus back to hyde park with them. i guess they thought ch and i needed bonding time over closing, but really ch wanted to get rid of me so he could start necking with jack. but jen invited me up to her place! it's pretty sick, how i stood there wondering what to do, thinking how much i wanted to come home and crash in front of the computer. but then i realised how sad that was and how lonely i'd feel, so i went out with jen. we hadn't talked since september, and she hasn't been reading here, so there was alot to catch her up on. she took me out for mexican on broadway. it's so funny to me that she lives in the heart of boystown, just blocks away from all those bars and hotspots! i imagine everyone has to travel to go out, but some people do actually live there. we went back to her apartment and i wondered how long i had to hang out before it was ok to go home. i wanted to watch a movie, but didn't feel like there was enough time. we ended up watching clue, which was awful. but i was so antsy. it was about an hour too long. but i was home by ten, and now i'm typing to you, and then i'm going to sign off so i can finish ch's socks! we always talk about a good holiday being one without tears, and ch's catch phrase for the current knitting craze is "knitting is the new crying" so i'm going to give them to him, finally, and make a crying joke. it's fun seeing how intimately we work together when all the temps are around. jen noticed how close our relationship is, also the strained one between jim and i, and it made me want to grill her about all the rest of the relationships and vibes going around the flowershop. but i restrained myself. it would be good to be able to observe like that.