It was business as usual Thursday morning as I woke up, crawled out of bed and made my way to the kitchen to flip the coffee switch to on, being careful with each step I took not to step on my dog, Lizzie, and the burly gang of six (her puppies).

I proceeded to get ready for work, thinking about what I wanted to wear that day, what I was going to eat for breakfast, what assignments I had scheduled for the day, etc. It was just another day.

Oh wait, "I have to bring something to work because we're having finger foods today," I thought, as I was taking a shower. "Why are we having finger foods this time?" I wondered, trying to figure out what excuse us T-Gers who love to eat came up with this time.

Ding, ding, ding and uh oh...It was Valentine's Day!

I guess I had removed the thought of the Hallmark holiday far away from the part of my brain that works -- occasionally -- because I really just hated the thought of being alone on Valentine's Day. My husband, as usual, was working out of town.

If it weren't for having to bring food to work my state of mind would have remained in denial. But as I drove to the donut store to buy my contribution for the finger food party, I couldn't help but be a little sad.

I felt a little better when I arrived at work and saw Janice's breakfast casserole and fresh, hot coffee. Lately, I seem to "forget" to eat breakfast and end up settling on some form of junk food, most recently girl scout cookies, so the breakfast casserole was an awesome treat.

Janice, who is probably far busier than I am, thought to make breakfast casserole...and I bought donuts for our little party. Nice, Sadie.

Since Valentine's Day had clearly arrived, I thought I'd send my husband an e-mail wishing him a Happy V Day. I knew he wasn't going to get me anything so I hadn't even bothered to send him a card. We were past that point in our relationship and I had made the mistake of letting my expectations get the best of me in the past.

"I have a delivery for Sadie Fowler," said the cheerful florist as she walked through the door with two dozen red roses in hand along with chocolate.

Jack surprised me with two dozen roses and I sent him an e-mail. Nice, Sadie.

Nevertheless, the breakfast casserole coupled with the chocolate had me thinking maybe it wouldn't be such a bad day after all.

So we at the office grazed like happy horses in a green pasture all day and I was so full that I eagerly accepted my colleague Doug's invitation to go out on assignment with him that afternoon. I needed to move around a bit.

Doug's daughter is attending beauty college and they were presenting a special Valentine's Day program to the patients at the nursing home. While my reason for going was to meet Doug's daughter whom I had heard so much about, I ended up getting so much more than I expected during my short visit to the nursing home.

The Buchanan Beauty College students put on a show for these patients that would make even a heart of steel melt. They sang, danced, and passed out cupcakes and punch.

They made the patients smile.

On top of all that, and perhaps the best part of the whole day, I witnessed Doug's appreciation as he watched his daughter make Valentine's Day special for a bunch of folks who needed their spirits lifted.

He was proud of his daughter; I was proud to be there.

I may not have been with my sweet heart last Thursday, but love was definitely in the air.

Sadie Fowler is a T-G staff writer focusing on lifestyles and human interest feature stories. If you have a story to share, contact her at sfowler@t-g.com or 684-1200 ext. 214.