This year, rather than waiting until the last minute why not get started now?  One thing that is really easy to do ahead of time is to order some Christmas cards.  I love the idea of using cards with a personal photo on them, rather than just your standard card that will probably get thrown away after the Christmas season is over. Anyway, let’s get through summer first, then move on to the Holidays.

There’s always things like coffee and food I can buy them too.  Maybe some movies or video games too.

How about you?  What do you buy for those hard to buy for people?

I recommend that you get started now looking for the best prices that you can find.  It’s a lot easier to shop around when you have a lot of time- so hurry up and get started!

So in order to keep ahead of the game- you should get started on your Christmas Green shopping now.  I create a list on a spreadsheet with all of our family members names.  Then I put down the amount of money we plan to spend on each person.  I leave several spaces open on my spreadsheet to fill in what I buy and another column for how much I have spent.  I also set it up to automatically calculate the total I have spent on each person as well as the grand total that I have spent on all family members as well as other purchases such as Christmas cards, wrapping paper and decorations.  It really helps to keep things in perspective about how much I really spend for Christmas.

My first step will be creating a new spreadsheet for this year.  Then I’ll start filling in ideas and let the shopping begin!  The sooner I get started the better- and I’m sure it’s the same for you too.

Of course there are many other gift occasions that I have a hard time with- especially when it comes to my in-laws.  I never know what to buy for them.  They have everything they could possibly need.  Although some decorative homeware is always an idea.

There are lots of ideas at Discount Choices so if you need some help with your gift giving- check them out!

So do you know anything about the history of Valentine’s Day?  I didn’t.  Last night I was watching Jay Leno and he spoke briefly about the history of Valentine’s Day.  Of course he had to put a funny spin on it, so I got curious and wanted to look up what the history of Valentine’s Day really is.  Here is what Wikipedia has to say about the history:

Numerous early Christian martyrs were named Valentine. Until 1969, the Catholic Church formally recognized eleven Valentine’s Days. The Valentines honored on February 14 are Valentine of Rome (Valentinus presb. m. Romae) and Valentine of Terni (Valentinus ep. Interamnensis m. Romae). Valentine of Rome was a priest in Rome who suffered martyrdom about AD 269 and was buried on the Via Flaminia. His relics are at the Church of Saint Praxed in Rome and at Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland.

Valentine of Terni became bishop of Interamna (modern Terni) about AD 197 and is said to have been killed during the persecution of Emperor Aurelian. He is also buried on the Via Flaminia, but in a different location than Valentine of Rome. His relics are at the Basilica of Saint Valentine in Terni (Basilica di San Valentino).

The Catholic Encyclopedia also speaks of a third saint named Valentine who was mentioned in early martyrologies under date of February 14. He was martyred in Africa with a number of companions, but nothing more is known about him.

No romantic elements are present in the original early medieval biographies of either of these martyrs. By the time a Saint Valentine became linked to romance in the fourteenth century, distinctions between Valentine of Rome and Valentine of Terni were utterly lost.

In the 1969 revision of the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints, the feastday of Saint Valentine on February 14 was removed from the General Roman Calendar and relegated to particular (local or even national) calendars for the following reason: “Though the memorial of Saint Valentine is ancient, it is left to particular calendars, since, apart from his name, nothing is known of Saint Valentine except that he was buried on the Via Flaminia on February 14.” The feast day is still celebrated in Balzan (Malta) where relics of the saint are claimed to be found, and also throughout the world by Traditionalist Catholics who follow the older, pre-Vatican II calendar.

The Early Medieval acta of either Saint Valentine were excerpted by Bede and briefly expounded in Legenda Aurea. According to that version, St Valentine was persecuted as a Christian and interrogated by Roman Emperor Claudius II in person. Claudius was impressed by Valentine and had a discussion with him, attempting to get him to convert to Roman paganism in order to save his life. Valentine refused and tried to convert Claudius to Christianity instead. Because of this, he was executed. Before his execution, he is reported to have performed a miracle by healing the blind daughter of his jailer.

Legenda Aurea still providing no connections whatsoever with sentimental love, appropriate lore has been embroidered in modern times to portray Valentine as a priest who refused an unattested law attributed to Roman Emperor Claudius II, allegedly ordering that young men remain single. The Emperor supposedly did this to grow his army, believing that married men did not make for good soldiers. The priest Valentine, however, secretly performed marriage ceremonies for young men. When Claudius found out about this, he had Valentine arrested and thrown in jail. In an embellishment to The Golden Legend, on the evening before Valentine was to be executed, he wrote the first “valentine” himself, addressed to a young girl variously identified as his beloved, as the jailer’s daughter whom he had befriended and healed, or both. It was a note that read “From your Valentine.”

Very interesting!  And now we know.

When doing your Christmas cards this year, take one card and send it to this address. If we all pass this on and everyone sends one card, think of how many cards these wonderful, special people who have sacrificed so much, would get! This is a small way to say “Thank You” to them.

A Recovering American Soldier
c/o Walter Reed Army Medical Center
6900 Georgia Avenue,NW
Washington , D.C. 20307-5001

You’re welcome!