http://news.discovery.com/animals/e.....ct-110303.html

I feel sad now... =C

It's easy to get through Valentines Day if you've got someone to celebrate with, or if you're like me, you're really too busy with school/work/whatever to really notice it's Valentines Day. Seriously, I'd completely forgotten it was Valentines Day today until a friend of mine reminded me. However, not everyone is lucky enough to have someone special or as forgetful as I am and forgot it existed.

I want to wish all of them a Happy Valentines Day.

Society might tote Valentines Day as a day for lovers, even though the actual Saint Valentine was actually a collection of several martyred saints during the time of Ancient Rome, one of which (or possibly even multiple, people still aren't really sure) was buried in the Via Flaminia, which is north of Rome on February 14th. And as our good friend Mr. Wikipedia tells us:

Historian Jack Oruch has made the case that the traditions associated with "Valentine's Day", documented in Geoffrey Chaucer's Parliament of Foules and set in the fictional context of an old tradition, had no such tradition before Chaucer. He argues that the speculative explanation of sentimental customs, posing as historical fact, had their origins among 18th-century antiquaries, notably Alban Butler, the author of Butler's Lives of Saints, and have been perpetuated even by respectable modern scholars. In the French 14th-century manuscript illumination from a Vies des Saints, Saint Valentine, bishop of Terni, oversees the construction of his basilica at Terni; there is no suggestion here yet that the bishop was a patron of lovers.

So the whole concept of Valentines Day was pretty much invented by some guy in Europe for reasons no one really knows, and taking the name of several dead people, probably just because the name sounded good. Something to think about when you buy that heart-shaped box of chocolates at the corner drug store.

Where was I going with this... um... oh yeah.

Happy Valentines Day to Everyone. You don't have to have a significant other to enjoy a holiday; enjoy it in the company of your friends and family!

While obligatory, it's not without good reason, anyway. It's Christmas, after all, and spreading as much cheer (as cheesy as that is to say) is part of the holidays... and besides, who doesn't like feeling good?

I know I'm feeling good, anyway. While my gifts this year weren't all too impressive (some clothes, a new pillow, a bed pad), I like what I got and I can't complain. Mostly because I didn't ask for anything; everything I need or want I usually just get myself when I need it, but whatever.

My very special gift was a footstool. Not very interesting, but when you gotta put your foot up because it's swollen, it's nice. I don't have to be on my laptop in a recliner anymore to help the swelling in my foot go down. I can be on my desktop with my foot up and all is awesome.

Hoping all my friends have a Merry Christmas this year, because everyone can use more joy in their lives.

It's been a while since my foot was initially hit with the staph infection. After a little more than a month of treatment (or at least it feels like a little more than a month), the infection is gone and all that's left of the ailment that disabled my leg is some very minor swelling.

It's great to be back on my feet again, though being back on my feet means going back to the same repetitive daily routine of waking up, going to work, and then coming home... not that there's anything wrong with that... maybe I just need more friends in my area.

A staph infection in the left leg with swelling.

I've been in and out of the hospital over the last two days due to the above. I'm at home now and doing fine, so long as I don't move around too much (the first step when walking is always the most painful, then it's not so bad).

Got my medicine just fine and taking them regularly, as directed. Wishing and praying for a quick recovery; this is bad enough I'm having to drop out of my classes this term due to being mostly immobile.