Tomorrow...

Tomorrow is going to be a great day. Not only is it Friday, but it is payday! Go Friday!

I guess today is 2nd place because it leads to tomorrow...

I need coffee..

Have a great day
Anne

Happy Valentine's Day!

I just want to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day. (Late, I know.) Single people think of the day as torture, but just keep in mind that this isn't a Hallmark holiday. Here is the History of Valentine's Day according to http://www.history.com/ :

Every February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday? The history of Valentine's Day — and its patron saint — is shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.

One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men — his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.

According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl — who may have been his jailor's daughter — who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.

While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial — which probably occurred around 270 A.D — others claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to 'christianize' celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival. In ancient Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and was considered a time for purification. Houses were ritually cleansed by sweeping them out and then sprinkling salt and a type of wheat called spelt throughout their interiors. Lupercalia, which began at the ides of February, February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at the sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would then sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification.

The boys then sliced the goat's hide into strips, dipped them in the sacrificial blood and took to the streets, gently slapping both women and fields of crops with the goathide strips. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed being touched with the hides because it was believed the strips would make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would then each choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage. Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D. The Roman 'lottery' system for romantic pairing was deemed un-Christian and outlawed. Later, during the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of February — Valentine's Day — should be a day for romance. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting, which was written in 1415, is part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England. Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.

In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. By the end of the century, printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine's Day greetings. Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began to sell the first mass-produced valentines in America.

According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated one billion valentine cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.)

Approximately 85 percent of all valentines are purchased by women. In addition to the United States, Valentine's Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia.

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages (written Valentine's didn't begin to appear until after 1400), and the oldest known Valentine card is on display at the British Museum. The first commercial Valentine's Day greeting cards produced in the U.S. were created in the 1840s by Esther A. Howland. Howland, known as the Mother of the Valentine, made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap".

Just some fun facts,

Talk to you later,
Anne

Hrmph.. I thought I would get back in the swing of things and start writing a bit more. I figured that people would be able to get to know me more by reading about me because one probably wouldn’t hear most of this stuff coming out of my mouth in a conversation.

This past holiday Adam and I were busy beyond belief. I swear if we weren’t coming, we were going and if I wasn’t at work, I was so dead tired that I wanted to cry, which made the holidays and my emotional rollercoaster make the Mantis at Cedar Point look like a pansy-coaster.
Ok, I must admit, it could have been worse. I could have grown a mole on my chin with some hair, painted my face green and rode a broom to work, luckily, it didn’t get that far.
Bless Adam’s heart though. I bet he could’ve just wanted to choke me ten times over, but no, he didn’t. That is what love is though. Taking the good with the bad, don’t get me wrong, he gets in moods sometimes you would think it was him who was getting that blessed gift from Mother Nature. But, when all said and done, it was a pretty good holiday. Adam’s birthday was earlier in the month (December 10th) and he is now living it up, his last year in his twenties.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t be at Adam’s Birthday dinner so I rigged up a few surprises for him during the day. In the morning, I had one of his co-workers put up a banner in his office. Lunchtime, I snagged some balloons, gift certificates, sweets and a sweatshirt from Adam’s favorite coffeehouse, Espresso Milano. After lunch, I gave him a card with one of the gift certificates and a Godiva chocolate bar. I suppose I was trying to make up for being a crappy fiancé and not baking him his cake on time. (The Chocolate had raspberry filling) Later in the day, I had the admin at our work deliver balloons to him and finally at dinner, I dropped off the present that I had for him in the evening to the dinner spot before I went to work. I hope it meant something to him, it seemed to.

Christmas, though, is a worse story. The poor thing’s (Adam) present didn’t arrive on time. It finally showed up mid-January. I ordered him a lens from Ritz Camera and unfortunately it was back ordered. On the flip side though, Adam gave me a nice gift certificate to Express, my favorite fashion headquarters. As an added bonus, he also got me the one and only Shootsac created by the awesome Jessica Claire!!! I literally cried when I opened it. It was the perfect pattern and everything. Ugg.. It fits my lenses perfectly when I shoot, hugging them ever so gently so they are comfortably at my side. I must say, Adam is getting better and better at his gifts because they are so heartfelt. I couldn’t ask for a better man.

New Years, we were pretty lame. We went to see the movie Marley & Me. I had read the book and it reminded me so much of one of our dogs, Logan, that I just had to see it… against Adam’s will of course. (He isn’t fond of sad movies.) Naturally, I cried, seeing the puppy and watching it grow up. You will have to see the movie because I don’t want to ruin it for you, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. I totally recommend it to everyone.