Melissa Alexander kicked the snow off her boots and punched a new address into the car’s GPS system. Under normal circumstances, she’d be warm at home on a snowy day like Wednesday.

Probably still in her pajamas.

Husband Ken said he’d normally be right there, too – not piloting their SUV down snow-clogged Auburn streets with a load of red roses, carnations, balloons and teddy bears in the back.

“It’d be a lot more fun if we didn’t have all this snow, but what are you going to do about it?” Melissa said. “It’s Valentine’s Day. It’s not like you can deliver these things tomorrow.”

Roads in Auburn and all of Maine were nasty Wednesday. Forecasters said a stubborn combination of low pressure systems combined to sift four to six inches of sugar-like snow over the area before noon. It made driving a chore and finding addresses difficult.

It was the couples’ first time delivering valentine’s flowers and gifts for Lewiston’s Roak Florists. They’re both friends of Roak owner Mike Small, and it just sounded like a fun way to spend the day.

“Of course, it was 50 degrees and sunny when I agreed to this,” she said.

Still, the couple soldiered through, with Ken – a former school bus driver – handling the driving and Melissa keeping track of the valentines, managing the GPS and running the goodies from the car to the door.

“It’s really not that bad a way to spend a day,” she said. “After all, we’re together. Twenty-one years of marriage, and I still like being with him.”

Melissa said she really just wanted to see people’s faces.

“Just to see them when they get flowers, when they realize that it’s all for them and they go ‘Oh My God!” she said.

She got that reaction about half the time Wednesday.

Jennifer Hines, taking a break from her job at the Home Depot, received a box with six red roses.

“Somebody loves you,” Alexander cooed.

“Yes, he does,” Hines said. “He brought me six more at home yesterday.”

The Alexanders began at 8 a.m., delivering 18 valentines by noon and stopping back at the florist for one more run. They planned a quiet Valentine’s meal at home later on Wednesday night.

“I made up fresh meatballs last night, so we’ll have that and spaghetti,” she said.

Roak owner Small said he expected to send out about 300 flower deliveries by the close of business Wednesday, far short of the 500 he’d hoped for. He’d sent out the last of the deliveries by noon and called that part of the Valentine’s Day business done for 2007.

“We’ll just keep the parking lot plowed and concentrate on the retail business,” Small said. The Main Street shop was doing respectably well, with people stopping by on their way home.

“So that’s the blizzard of 2007, and you can’t do anything about it now,” Small said.

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