Holiday Mash-up

So what holiday are you celebrating this weekend? Don't tell me Valentine's Day. Why would you celebrate that silly holiday when 2010 has provided you with a cornucopia of other holidays this Feb 14-16?

You've got President's Day which is probably giving you Monday off from work. Thank you Presidents Washington and Lincoln. We salute you.

And let's not forget the Chinese New Years. This one is all about good fortune, not resolutions. All the traditions--from the colors you wear to the food you eat--are stacking the good fortune deck for next year, and aren't we all in need of some good fortune. It's the year of Tiger so if you were born in 1962, 1974, 1986, or 1998 this is your year; you're going to make things happen this year. For all you non-tigers out there check out your horoscope for 2010 at http://hubpages.com/hub/Chinese-Horoscope-2010-the-Year-of-the-Tiger.

Then there's Marti Gras otherwise known as get-drunk-off-your-butt-act-really-stupid-and hope-you-won't-remember-any-of-this-tomorrow day. I usually prefer to enjoy this holiday as a spectator. :) However, this year my ward had a Marti Gras party last night (sans alcohol) and I got all dressed up, was part of a float, collected strings of beads (for benign things), ate gumbo, made a king's cake, and listened to Dixie-land music. I'm glad I wasn't a spectator this year. (Disclaimer: Marti Gras doesn't technically occur until Tuesday, aka Fat Tuesday.)

Doesn't this all blow Valentine's Day out of the water with it's paper hearts and chalky candies. But wait I'm not done yet. For all you sports fans out there, this weekend is extra special. You've got the Winter Olympics and.....wait for it.......the Daytona 500. See pretty cool stuff right? What? You're still stuck on celebrating Valentine's Day? Really? What about Arizona Statehood Day? That's today too. I don't really know what you would do to celebrate that one. I guess drive over the state line and yell, "Happy Statehood, Arizona!" or maybe sit on your couch and think maybe someday I should visit the Grand Canyon. Regardless, we're talking a zero effort holiday.

And yet with all this, you'll still wish at least one person a Happy Valentine's Day today. I can see you are going to be hard to sway on this. Perhaps we could just compromise. You can celebrate all of these together. You could wish everyone a Merry Val-inese Presi Gras Day and Happy Arizona Statehood. And then gather your close friends and family together to watch some car racing or speed skating. It seems like a fine idea to me. :)