So, here's to you, New York, New York!

Do you know what drives me crazy? How people from New York figure that everyone knows everything about New York. In books, plays, movies, TV shows, it is just assumed that all of the rest of us understand the implications behind a kid from Harlem versus a kid from the Upper West side. Or we understand what it means to live in Queens versus "The Village" without any sort of explanation. I just read a book that takes place in New York, and seriously, by the end of it, I thought that I'd need a book about New York City just to understand it. It's the same with Law and Order, King of Queens, Friends, 30 Rock, not to mention all the tons of movies based in NYC.

I understand that New York is a huge city with a long history of tradition. People have lived for generations in the different burroughs giving it a colorful culture. But, for those of us that are not part of it, stick a little explanation in there once in awhile.

Do natives of other large cities do this? I have never read a book about Seattle or Miami or Dallas and had to try and figure out the neighborhoods or the cultural implications behind where someone lives. If I wrote a book about Salt Lake and talked about the Avenues or South Salt Lake or Magna, Utahns would understand what was going on without any kind of explanation, but New Yorkers wouldn't. ("Why is the girl from Davis County worried about finding a modest prom dress? Why does everyone at Brighton High School drive a jeep? What's the difference between Gateway and Valley Fair Mall?") It's confusing, isn't it? How does that feel, New Yorkers?

The Awesomest Snow Fort Ever!

We were pretty jealous when we saw the Fluhrers outside building a snow fort. We decided we needed one of our own. So, now we're ready if there is any sort of snowball attack from across the street.

Izabella came over to check out our "hut." The boys had to explain to her that it is a "fort." I guess girls don't use their snow buildings for war.

Roses are red...

Why do we celebrate St. Valentine's Day? Well, I did a little research, and I will tell you:

February 15 was a Pagan Holiday called Lupercalia celebrating fertility. As Christianity came into power in Europe, these holidays were re-named for early Christian martyrs. I guess, they just looked for one who had some sort of connection and named it for him. Although there were many different saints who were named "Valentine," the one traditionally assosciated with Valentines day is St. Valentine of Rome. He was a priest during the reign of Claudius II in about 270 A.D. According to legend, the emperor outlawed marriage. He thought that the soldiers would fight better if they didn't have to worry about families back home. So, Valentine secretly performed marriages, defying Claudius. When the emperor found out, he had Valentine imprisoned. Valentine learned that Asterius, his jailer had a blind daughter. She was healed by the priest and he wrote a letter to her before he was killed, signed "from your Valentine." St. Valentine was executed on February 14.

St. Valentine became the overseer of the formerly pagan feast day, which now was re-named in his honor. Young Roman men would traditionally write a letter of affection on the feast day to women they wished to court and the letters became called "Valentines."

It was not until the 14th century that this Christian feast day became a day assosciated with love. According to UCLA medieval scholar Henry Ansgar Kelly, author of Chaucer and the Cult of Saint Valentine, Chaucer was the first to link St. Valentines Day with romance. He wrote a poem to honor the engagement of Richard II and Anne of Bohemia. In the middle ages, it was believed that birds mated on Feb. 14th. Chaucer linked all of these things, love, birds, poetry and Valentine's Day with his poem, "The Parliment of Fowls":
"For this was on St. Valentine's Day, When every fowl cometh there to choose his mate."

It became common during the 1900's in England to make Valentines cards out of lace and paper. One of the first Valentines Cards was sent from Charles, Duke of Orleans in 1415 A.D. to his wife, while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London.

So, there you have it, the history (I'm going to use that term loosely) of Valentines Day.

I got a letter in the mail from Andrew's preschool today. His teacher Miss Lesli, is the greatest. Pretty sweet, huh?

In our house, on Valentines Morning, the kids find a surprise left by the Love Bug. She must be some sort of arachnid, because she leaves a trail of string all over the house for them to follow. Frank and I don't usually go out, we have a fancy dinner at home with the kids on the nice china and some heart-shaped cake. I am going to try and make a red velvet this year. We'll see...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Busted

At least once a day, Frank and I have this conversation:
"Why is dog hair all over the couch?"
"I don't know how it gets there. Daisy isn't even allowed on the couch. It must just get stuck on our clothes and transfer when we are sitting."
"Are you sure? It seems like there is a lot of hair to have just brushed off."
"I'm sure. She never gets up on the couch."
So, I walked in on this sight today. A-HA! Caught in the act! Seriously, can I get mad at either of them?
I guess I'll just have to vacuum more.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Ok, I don't know how true this is--Dave? But I thought it was interesting:

"Groundhog Day owes its true origin to the Ancient Greeks who believed that an animal's shadow was its soul-blackened by the past year's sins. While the animal hibernates, its soul is cleansed by nature and if it wakes up before winter is over, it will see the dirty shadow and be horrified and then return to its den for more purification."

So, if you want to learn more about groundhogs (including the sound they make) check out this website.

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/anhttp:/animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/groundhog.htmlimals/mammals/groundhog.html