Happy Valentine's Day

So, I usually don't like valentine's day, I usually expect my hubby to do something sweet, and I usually get let down. Not that he doesn't try, he usually forgets. It's okay.
Last year on Valentine's Day we found out that I was pregnant with a "boy". I was a bit disappointed, to be quite honest. I had my heart set on having a girl.....
I wasn't upset that he was a boy, I was upset that he wasn't a girl. So my valentine's day kinda was an emotional trek. By the end of the day, however, we had decided on what we were gonna call him. Ethan is Hebrew and it means strong, firm, and impetuous. Some days, like today, I wish we hadn't named him that, he is a very stubborn and strong little boy! Sometimes that's a good thing, though. Not when he's cranky....
Anyway, back to Valentine's....
Tyler and I were actually initially planning on getting married on Valentine's day. Since we got engaged on January 9th, my mom convinced us to give her more time to plan an actual wedding. So we did. We spent our Valentine's that year, in Regina, planning a wedding.
I'm not sure that Valentine's was such a great idea. It's a lot of pressure on couples to spend a "romantic" day together, which I'm not sure a lot of couples, especially married ones, with kids, have time for. My theory is be romantic whenever you want, instead of waiting for an anniversary, birthday or holiday, like Valentine's Day to be romantic. Besides, it's only a way for retail stores to make more money selling you chocolates ( not that I don't like chocolates), flowers (which die anyway, although, I like getting flowers too.....) and cards (does anyone ever keep those???). I'd rather spend my money on something more worth while.
But for lots of people, who aren't married or dating someone, Valentine's is a drag.... And I don't think that it should be that way. I know a lot of my "single" friends hang out with each other, and see a movie, or something like that. Valentine's day, I don't think, is being what it was meant to be.
The history of Valentine's day is actually a very interesting one, as no one really knows why it is.
Here's what I found....
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.
Another one is that 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.
And this one is certainly an interesting prospective of it :
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.
Wow there are a lot of different aspects.... so see, Valentine's Day isn't necessarily a romantic day....
There's your "learned something new..." for the day and a little history lesson.
In any case, whatever or however you are celebrating Valentine's Day, Have a good one!!!