Disclaimer: If you have a dairy intolerance best to avoid this post; the cheese is sure to give you indigestion.

Jason and I have been married for over a decade and in that entire period we’ve never become blasé about each other or weary of being together. We are as wrapped up in each other as two people can be and still just as ecstatic about our life as a couple.

What’s the secret to our marital success? Jason is awesome but that’s no secret and while my fantastic man definitely makes our relationship much easier, our happiness is the result of many factors, one of which is surprises.

I love surprising my husband: bringing treats to his work randomly, making him secret batches of cupcakes, assembling singers for a sudden birthday serenade, or plastering his office with superhero paraphernalia. Those little unexpected gestures remind him that he’s still the center of my universe plus they serve as a benevolent outlet for my mischievous tendencies. Earlier this month, with it being the Halloween season and all, I decided to web his car while he was at work and leave him some cocooned goodies. Perhaps this scheme was a little reminiscent of a junior high prank but his young mind seemed to appreciate it. He drove around the rest of the day with his webs intact and now, weeks later, he still refuses to let me remove the last remnants of his surprise. If only cobwebs were always that thrilling, I’d never have to dust again.

So if you haven’t done anything nice out of the blue for your husband or wife recently what gives? When you were dating your spouse you made that extra effort to ensure that your special someone felt special, right? If now that they are your partner in everything, and supposedly the person who matters more to you than anyone else in this world, you don’t still make that additional effort then shame on you. I will never stop spoiling Jason because he will never cease to be the best part of my life. And, fortunately, my surprise tactics seem to be great marital bliss boosters; you may want to try some similar techniques yourself. Either way, may the river of cheese flow as freely for you and yours.

No holiday is greeted with as much animosity as Valentine’s Day. Sure, there are those that resent the “commercialization” of Christmas or having to eat Aunt Sally’s grey mashed potatoes on Thanksgiving but Valentine’s Day gets the worst beating of all.

First, you have the ladies that reject this holiday on the grounds that it’s a bitter reminder of their current lack of a meaningful relationship. Then you’ve got the husbands that grumble about having to buy flowers for their wives. And don’t forget the women that protest the occasion because of the improper amount of pampering they receive from their significant other. Geez! Doesn’t anyone enjoy Cupid’s day? Oh yeah, I do!

I love spoiling Jason in general so it makes sense that I would enjoy a day that gives me an excuse to do so with excessive gusto.

This year I took several rounds of surprise treats to Jason’s work, including caramel apples and my favorite cookies from a local bakery, just to get the fuss started. Additionally, since it was my turn to plan our activities, I organized a group dinner at Meditrina, an enchanting tapas bar, with 5 other couples a few days before the big day. I would be lying if I said that arranging this outing was hassle-free. Too many people with differing opinions and way too much griping were involved so I don’t think I’ll be planning anything like that again with such a large group. Despite the pointless hang-ups, I did appreciate the company for the most part and my tummy definitely appreciated the tasty cuisine. So I guess the evening was mainly a success.

Speaking of food, that wasn’t the end of the festive gourmet grub for us. Jason and I also had a romantic fondue dinner at home on Valentine’s Day made by yours truly. Cave aged Swiss cheese and velvety Irish cream spiked chocolate were the perfect ingredients for a charming evening, especially when paired with the company of a man I absolutely adore. I would happily do a repeat of that night anytime!

Our Valentine’s Day celebrations were again a delight and, as always, a little over the top. Like I said, I love to spoil Jason and, as far as I’m concerned, he deserves more pampering than I could ever bestow.

As a final note, in true obstinate fashion, I feel the need to once more complain about the rampant negativity directed towards Valentine’s Day. I know many of you think that all this romantic goo may be fine for those of us that are happily hooked up but that the holiday’s a waste for the single. To you I say, not so. Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love so why does that just have to mean romantic love? Love takes many forms: the bond between brothers, the adulation of a child, the concern of a friend. I think nearly all of us are surrounded by plenty of people that matter in our lives. Why not take the opportunity afforded by this holiday to remind them that they are important to us? A card for a friend telling them what a difference their friendship has made, an unexpected bouquet of flowers for a mother or grandmother, some quality time spent decorating cookies with a child: there are lots of ways to get caught up in the spirit of this holiday that don’t involve giving a 5 ft teddy bear to your girlfriend. I always enjoyed Valentine’s Day even before I had someone to bring me flowers or make dinner for. Celebrating love and expressing gratitude to those that are essential to us shouldn’t induce whining. It doesn’t hurt to have a significant other on Valentine’s Day but we all have people that matter significantly in our lives and isn’t that worth some rejoicing?

As tradition dictates, Jason and I spent New Year’s Eve in the company of many a friend. Being invited to more New Year’s parties than we can reasonably attend has somehow become the norm for us. Is it our sparkling personalities perhaps? Or maybe our limitless charm? Could it be our unfailing humility? Who knows. The possible reasons for why we are so in demand are numerous but the result is the same regardless of the cause: a night packed with multiple events and whole lot of socializing.

As in times past, this year we spread ourselves between three parties. (We’ve decided that three gatherings are pretty much the limit to our spreading, possibly because we have shear-thickening rheological properties.) We caught up with Jason’s old Pizza Hut coworkers at Bob’s get-together, were humorously penalized for playing cards too slowly at the Rowley’s, and ate ice cream with Cam and Fran and company. We rang in 2012 right with a hefty dose of our chums, so much so that my voice was little more than a squeak by the end of the evening.

Along with celebratory parties, most people observe the New Year by coming up with a list of resolutions. I am generally opposed to these annual pledges because they typically don’t stick and, as many of you know, I never commit to anything that I don’t fully intend to follow through on. However, this year I decided to make a resolution list of one: eat more whole grains.

You see, a couple months back I underwent a series of wellness evaluations and blood tests as part of a workplace program designed to increase employee health awareness and motivate positive lifestyle changes. Not surprisingly, I am a pretty solidly healthy person. My heart is in great shape, my cholesterol and triglyceride levels are perfect, and I can do more pushups than all but one of my female coworkers. (I didn’t see that whole arm supremacy thing coming; given the flabby state of my upper limbs I bet you didn’t see it coming either.) But, although my “metabolic age” is 19 and that makes me feel all tough and fuzzy inside, my test results showed one issue: my blood sugar is higher than optimal and in the “pre-diabetic” range.

My glucose has always been a little screwy. My family has a rampant predisposition, which I too share, for experiencing hypoglycemia. I’ve learned to manage this problem better through the years by eating small meals frequently to avoid the shakes, headaches, grouchiness, and cold sweats that can hit me like a plaque. I don’t know whether this annoying condition has anything to do with my recent blood sugar reading or not but I’m not willing to risk inaction in the chance that it doesn’t.

I certainly don’t fit the profile of a syndrome X sufferer. I’m not overweight, I exercise regularly, and I eat fairly healthy. So, based on the odds, diabetes shouldn’t be something I have to contend with. However, once again, it’s not a risk I’m willing to take. Unlike the majority of Americans out there, I’m not going to wait until I have a diagnosed ailment to do something about it. Hence, I resolved to eat more whole grains this year.

Besides just being more nutritious, whole grains can be a great help to those trying to keep their blood sugar under wraps. Complex carbohydrates don’t mess with your glucose levels nearly as much as their simple sugar counterparts and they contain fiber, which has an anti-diabetic effect.

Why not totally reinvent all my eating habits and start living solely on spirulina and wheat grass? Dietary changes need to be such that you can follow them indefinitely. They need to be permanent lifestyle alterations. Anything too restrictive generally doesn’t last. I can eat more whole grains. I can substitute processed grains for their wholegrain equivalents whenever possible. That is an attainable and sustainable goal. So that is a good place to start.

Thus, I have revealed my New Year’s resolution to the world and now there is no going back. You, the fine people of the World-Wide Web, are my witnesses that this goal is a go. I get my blood sugar tested again in six months and we shall see just how much of an impact my modified eating habits have on my health.

To the parties and preventative measures of 2012!