~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
February 14, 2o12

Posted updated: February 14, 2013

 

★~ Today’s Quote: “Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but Really loves you, then you become Real.” Velveteen Rabbit ~ Margery Williams

★~ Valentine’s Day: 

Valentine’s Day’s roots go way back to a Catholic saint named St. Valentine. But which St. Valentine? There are three–a priest, a bishop, and little is known about the third. We do know they were all martyrs. In 469 A.D., Pope Gelasius I declared February 14 a day to honor St. Valentine, one of these three men. One legend says that a third-century Roman emperor banned soldiers from marrying, but St. Valentine took issue with this. He became an advocate for soldiers and was executed as a result of his outspokenness. Another legend says St. Valentine was executed for his beliefs in Christianity, and just before he died, he left a farewell note for a loved one and signed it “From your Valentine.”  Whatever its origin, it took off, and the U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates Valentine’s Day to be the second-most popular card-giving day of the year, second only to Christmas. The food of the day is, of-course, Valentines Day Chocolate!

★~ National Organ Donor Day:

Donate Life encourages us to heart one another in a different way on Valentine’s Day, by asking us to sign our organ donor card. In Illinois we just have to sign the back of our drivers’ license. If you don’t sign a donor card, let me tell you what will happen…“The Collectors” will call your family the moment they hear of your dimise—and request an immediate conversation with your loved ones about donating the “deceased one’s organs.” Timing is critical. Your family won’t hang up on them because they are nice, very nice, and they talk in a tone that lulls you in, and they won’t hang up or get angry because even while they are still in shock, they will realize the benefit of saving a life. So your family will agree to talk to them, try to remain patient, and try to remember when you stopped smoking and had your last health exam…but they will really, really wish you had signed your own donor card.  This Valentine’s Day, why not make life in the future, easier for those you love today, by signing your organ donor card—and if you don’t want to donate your organs, there is a place on the card to check no.

★~ Today in History:

♥~ Roswell, New Mexico’s lawmaker’s,  proposal to celebrates every second Tuesday in February as “Extraterrestrial Culture Day” won approval in the House.  The state hopes that by setting aside a day to honor these aliens, it will enhance relationships among all citizens of the cosmos, known and unknown.

♥~ 1859 – Oregon was admitted to the Union as the 33rd state. The state animal is the beaver,  state nickname: Beaver State; state bird: western meadowlark; state flower: Oregon grape.  “She flies with her own wings” (Alis volat Propriis) is Oregon’s state motto. The state capital Salem,

♥~ 1912 – Arizona became the 48th state of the Union. From its beautiful deserts come the state bird: the cactus wren; the state flower: the saguaro cactus’ flower; state capital Phoenix. From the Grand Canyon to the Painted Desert, Arizona is proof of its state motto: Ditat Deus (God enriches).

♥~ 1979 – Twenty-year-old rookie Don Maloney of the New York Rangers scored his first goal in the National Hockey League. It came on his first ever NHL shot!

♥~ 2009 – Mexico City set a new record when nearly 40,000 people locked lips in the city center for the world’s largest group kiss. “We did it! Long live Mexico,” said Mexican singer-actress Susana Zavaleta, who serenaded the crowd before the kiss with the classic Mexican ballad, Besame Mucho, or Kiss Me a Lot, also the name of the event.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1859 – George Washington Gale Ferris, American engineer and inventor. Among his many accomplishments as a civil engineer, Ferris is best remembered as the inventor of the Ferris wheel, which he developed for the World’s Columbian Exposition at Chicago, IL, in 1893. Built on the Midway Plaisance, the 250-foot-diameter Ferris wheel (with 36 coaches, each capable of carrying 40 passengers) was one of the fairs greatest attractions.

♥~ 1934 – Florence Henderson opera singer, actress: The Brady Bunch

♥~ 1960 – Meg Tilly Actress, The Big Chill, Agnes of God

♥~ 1972 –  Rob Thomas, Rock singer (Matchbox 20)

★~ Did You Know: 

♥~ The ‘X’ symbol became synonymous with the kiss in medieval times. People who couldn’t write their names signed in front of a witness with an ‘X.’ The ‘X’ was then kissed to show their sincerity.

♥~ In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who would be their Valentine. They would wear this name pinned onto their sleeves for one  week for everyone to see. This was the origin of the expression “to wear your heart on your sleeve.”

♥~ More than 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be sold for Valentine’s Day.

♥~ Over $1 billion worth of chocolate is purchased for Valentine’s Day in the U.S.

♥~ Richard Cadbury produced the first box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day in the late 1800’s.

♥~ 73% of people who buy flowers for Valentine’s Day are men, while only 27 percent are women.

♥~ 189 million stems of roses are sold in the U.S. on Valentine’s Day.

♥~ Every Valentine’s Day, the Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare’s lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet.

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My mother sent Cole and me a Valentine’s box with one of her famous coffee cakes and two chucks of fudge—with nuts, of course. She said one chunk of fudge was for me and the other chunk was for Cole, but I say the fudge is for whoever opens the box first. I am so surprised that she wants to send chocolate to her grandson, who said the list of potential cars she sent him all had stroller power instead of horse power.  I have done nothing for Valentine’s Day this year. Nada. Zip. I would send my sweet mom a beautiful Jacquie Lawson e-card, but she has said, “Please DON’T.” She is still trying to remove from her computer screen the spinning Jacquie Lawson snow globe that I sent her for Christmas.

I think I am a Valentine’s Day dropout. I have never had a bad experience and really appreciate all the Valentine’s love that comes my way, but I am just not inspired by Valentine’s Day like I am by St. Patrick’s Day. Maybe it’s the endless aisles of red hearts filled with old chocolate wrapped in miles of cellophane that fill the grocery store right after Christmas. Maybe it’s the idea of a diaper-clad, winged Cupid trying to shoot me. I don’t have a problem with Valentine’s Day being a more “commercial” holiday; aren’t they all. I love materialism, consumerism, and Hallmark…I am just not crazy about Valentine’s Day.

If you would like to share your feelings about this illustrious day leave a comment. Odd Loves Company!

Wishing you a wonderful Valentines Day!

♥