Hey, hey, it's Valentine's Day!

Oh, my goodness. I love Valentine's Day. Any day that is dedicated to hearts, love, pinks and reds, glitter!, etc., has a soft spot in my heart. (Not to mention chocolate!) Now, is that great, or what?
 

Conversation hearts, rocking out on the blog.

V-Day (as I call it) is kind of an odd holiday. From what I've seen, it's sort of a combination of a Roman fertility festival (Io Lupercalia!--coming from lupus, wolf. And we all know how important that old wolf is to the Romans--at least I know some of you do. If you don't, read up on the Romulus and Remus legend here. But beware--it's not all roses and glitter. Kind of like the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm!) And yet, it is also named for several saints by name of Valentine. All of them were martyred.

And then we go and put Cupid (Eros) in charge of the holiday, when really, he has had very little to do with the date. Poor little love god. It's not like he was a baby in a diaper back in the Roman days. And we only really remember him on this day! How sad is that? He and his Greco-counterpart (Eros--similar to arrows--I'm *sure* this was something the Greeks did intentionally. Er. Anyway.) are actually quite interesting to me. Especially with the whole Psyche myth.

So, anywho. I love this day. Really, truly.

However, my brother absolutely hates Valentine's Day. In fact, I know lots of people who do. Because they have no one to celebrate it with, maybe, or because it's so commercialized. Seriously. (What holiday isn't, these days?) But you know what? I really don't think it should matter. The day is about love, you know? And yes, we focus on the Cupidy (I totally just made that into a proper adjective!)/lovey-dovey aspects of the day...but it's not all that. I like to just be with my family. To deck the house in hearts. To wear pink and red, preferably in dress form. To eat chocolate (though that might just be everyday).

What am I doing for this special day of days? Not really anything special, to be honest. But that doesn't matter. I am bringing valentines to work to exchange them, I am wearing my reds and pinks, and I am going to just enjoy that V-Day is here once again.

With much love to all my blogging friends,

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Hello--I'm back.

Hello. Excuse me while I dust my monitor and check for cobwebs on my keyboard.

Nope, everything's clean.

Apparently, my holiday season extended from December through today. And honestly, the only reason I'm writing now is because I am not feeling well, and am tuckered out from a day of normal activity. I made some soup (perfect for when you're not well, right?), I washed my dishes, and I thought about my current WIP (which is just getting off the ground, but I am very excited about it!). Actually, I spent the wee hours of the morning thinking about it, since I was up. Curses upon congested sinuses.

I do have a few resolutions. I'm resolving to form a (flexible) schedule, in which I can balance out my life a bit more. A bit of time staved off for reading--I get so busy, sometimes, I don't have time for such a simple act. That is so not good. Since Christmas, I've read the Percy Jackson series (as per my friend Amalia's recommendation). They totally rock. Seriously. I started a few others that I haven't finished. But. progress!

Another bit of time will be for writing! I need that creativity, and I deny it because of the other things that come up--work, housekeeping, sleep. You know.

I also want to make sure I'm on a good exercise schedule, and perhaps plan my menu more during the week. That is not really of interest to you, I'm sure, so we'll just glide over that little fact.

Here is a favorite commercial of mine. I hope you enjoy it. Totally awesome, especially for Star Wars fans.


Anyway. I'll try to schedule a bit more time to update this blog, now and again, too. Sometimes, schedules are helpful.

As long as I can stick to it!

So, farewell, for now, my readers!

Happy December!

Happy December! How can it be that we're already near the end of yet another year? How can it be that we're on month 12? How? I really would like to know.

I have this theory that time speeds up the older we get. I think it's a pretty popular theory outside of this blog, too, but I digress. Anyway. It seems like it takes forever to go somewhere or do something when you're young. That's why kids need toys and books. Something to distract them when all that dreadful time comes between them and, say, Christmas. This month is *not* going to shoot by for an eight-year-old, for instance. And even longer than the month is that wait for opening presents!

The older you get, of course, as some of you or all of you already realize, the faster time goes. We have about three weeks till Christmas. In weekend-time, that's six days! Oh, my goodness. I don't even have my tree up yet! We need something so we can relax with all that stress. That is why adults need toys and books. And candy.

Of course, speed of time in adult-land turns inverse when you're sick. I discovered this last week, when I ended up getting a stomach virus. Ick. I don't recommend it.

So, Happy December! I'll see you around, but if my posts are infrequent, don't fear--it's just the Holidays.

Black Friday returns

Happy Black Friday!

As much as I love Thanksgiving, part of the excitement is Black Friday...and what better slot to put it in than my Friday Favorite Things column!

The mass hordes of people will run rampant through the malls, today. And more retailers online will have a great weekend. Hoping for better than last year!

And I will be one of them. Probably after gifts for myself again, like I was last year. I've had many of my gifts for my family since...after last Christmas. I start my shopping early!

If you're one of the hordes, good luck...otherwise, see you online next week. I'm going to rest!

Peace, good will, and bargain shopping to you all. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello, one and all.

So, Christmas has been in the air, of late. At least, here it has been. And as much as it annoys some people (read: my brother) to hear Christmas music before Thanksgiving, my parents and I have been enjoying the musical selections of the holiday season on one station of the radio. Every song, 24/7, is a Christmas song, and has been since Halloween. I heard it may be in protest of some group trying to ban Christmas music from the radio till after Thanksgiving. I don't really care--I love Christmas music. I love Christmas!

But I also love Thanksgiving, and all of its thousands of calories dishes. And I refuse to skip over it, even if I am in the Christmas spirit. Because really, I'm just in the holiday-let's-celebrate spirit. Besides, it's not the day's fault that there aren't any really catchy Thanksgiving songs out there. What would they even be? I'm Dreaming of a Chocolate Dinner Mint? How about Oh, Turkey-Bird instead of Oh, Tannenbaum? (Oh, Turkey-bird, oh, Turkey-bird--your legs and thighs are tasty. Oh, Turkey-bird, Oh, Turkey-bird--especially with gravy.) Or "Let us eat, let us eat, let us eat": Oh, the weather outside is frightful, but the pie is so delightful--so since we've got snow and sleet--let us eat, let us eat, let us eat!

OK. See? This is why we don't have Thanksgiving songs.

But rest assured, I'm having a lovely, hearty, veggie-influenced (yum!) Thanksgiving this year--and I hope you are also enjoying the day, and giving thanks--I am, for friends, family, health, happiness, blessings, luck, and all that great food.

So, to put you into the Thanksgiving spirit, let me leave you with a few parting Thanksgiving thoughts.

Forever on Thanksgiving Day, The heart will find the pathway home. ~Wilbur D. Nesbit

You heard what Linus was saying out there. Those early Pilgrims were thankful for what had happened to them, and we should be thankful, too. We should just be thankful for being together. I think that's what they mean by 'Thanksgiving,' Charlie Brown.~Marcie in the Charlie Brown Thanksgiving special

Family and friends
Give thanks and break bread.
Please pass the pumpkin pie.
~ Just Another Sarah :)


Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action. ~W.J. Cameron




Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!