valentine’s day

Ash Wednesday

Yesterday was Mardi Gras, also known in other states who know no French as Fat Tuesday. It is the day before Lent begins, the period of 40 days of meditation and fasting before the celebration of the coming of Christ, Easter. All the sugar and fat stores are meant to be used up on Mardi Gras, thus the name. This includes the idea that we will not be eating sugary or fatty things during Lent, even if they don’t come from one’s own making. The first day of Lent, as well as each Friday during it, is a day that specifically includes fasting and having no meat. That day is called Ash Wednesday. It is called so for that ashes are distributed to all, via a cross on the forehead, to remind us that we have come from dust and shall, one day, return to dust – we are the creations of God and will return to him after this life for eternal life. Ash Wednesday…

Ash Wednesday was today.

Today was also the feast of Saint Valentine, also known commercially as Valentine’s Day. It is a day filled with treats and commercialism and indulgence and, even, waste. It does not line up with the morals of Ash Wednesday… which was also today.

So, today was a bizarre Valentine’s Day and Ash Wednesday combination – one I haven’t known to happen previously in my life. Definitely interesting to have the solemn day land on and, therefore, trump the celebratory day.

But also interesting that, as someone noted today, “Lent” is right in the middle of “Valentine”, you could say at the heart of it… 😛

Interesting thought to have us reconsider how we want to do Valentine’s Day in the future, too.

Thank you, God, for your love and your creativity and your forgiveness and generosity. We love you. Keep us well, that we pursue and fulfill your will for us in our lives. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2024

Be my Valentine

Today was a lovely, lovely day. We sorted it the apartment stuff – the first major step of it, anyway. Then I got my cream cheese king cake. We had a girls’ hangout that included an hour-long walk with the dog and baby and heart-shaped balloon on the stroller in gorgeous weather (and looking like we were a same-sex interracial couple with a mixed-race baby and a black dog [we seriously had all the main bases covered, aside from male, what with our being white, Asian, Mexican, and black females]). Then we chilled on the sofa for a girly movie and loads of chit-chat about anything and everything. I had hazelnut gelato that felt like eating hazelnut cheesecake, which was amazing. My other friend (the actual mother of the baby) spontaneously baked me chocolate chip cookies from scratch, then gave me some Prosecco in a fancy glass. We bathed the baby together, then hung out some more, just having an overall lovely, lovely time.

Tomorrow, I’ll get the few bites of Valentine’s Day candy from my mom, and give her the gelato and king cake remains, and then I’ll be done with the sugars and breads for quite a while again. (And boy will I be glad for it!)

Now, however, I must pass out – I am exhausted.

Post-a-day 2022

Germs

Tonight, my concerns about bathroom germs were solidified.

In talking with a very experienced and well-read and well-informed nurse, I learned of clear studies that established absurd levels of germage 1) being forced upward (into the air and the flusher’s face) from toilets when they are flushed, and 2) being blasted onto one’s hands and around the bathroom via high-powered air dryers (mostly because a rather high percentage of people do not wash their hands properly or thoroughly [naturally, Japan comes to mind, with the typical quick rinse of water onto the fingertips being as much as most women ever seemed to do]).

Crazy, it is.

And very unsurprising… as I mentioned, I had suspected as much.

It just reaffirms my desire to have toilets more like in Japan, where you wash your hands over the back of the toilet – dual flow toilets – as the faucet pours water into a basin that drains into the tank that holds the water in preparation for the next flush.

That way, you don’t get your dirty hands on the same surfaces where you brush your teeth.

Just saying…

These things I dream… haha 😛

P.S. I have been awake the past 19 and a half hours… Happy Valentine’s Day, y’all!

Post-a-day 2020

Today is Valentine’s Day. And what did I do? Did I make personalized valentines, either digital or hard copy? Did I bring candies or sweets or something homemade for anyone? Did I do much of anything at all to celebrate the day? No. I 100% didn’t care about its being Valentine’s Day, and then worried about the fact that I somehow didn’t care. It’s just not me*.

And what did I actually do? I asked if someone would be able to replace me in two months, should I decide I needed to go ahead and leave my job at the end of the school year (four months earlier than the end of my contract).

And, you know what? I was terrified asking, I mentioned that in the asking, as well as my reasoning, and then, afterward, I suddenly feel a sense of liberation. A tightness has disappeared from my disposition. I don’t know what the response will be, but I asked. So now, I will have the choice to make for myself, being fully informed of options, as opposed to just rolling with the current terms of things, which I so utterly dislike. (I mostly just dislike the person I am being and am currently on a path to become.)

Anyway, here’s to new beginnings and speaking up and everything that we struggle with doing, but that is necessary for us to live with intention, power, and integrity. 🙂

*I, I know.

Post-a-day 2017

Update: She said no. No one can come replace me in April. So, now I know. Now I just have to look and see what I want to do with what’s in front of me! I think a lot of unreasonable requests are about to happen, so that I can find a way to make this all work. 🙂