Making It Up As I Go Along #306

MONDAY...
— Some job applications start the night at work. After supper it’s just the regular AFIS thing. Not a bad day. Sort of snowy/ice pellety by the time I go home... and the neck isn’t feeling super either. But overall, not a bad day.

TUESDAY...
— Feeling under the weather. I was feeling it Sunday... better yesterday... and worse today. So I take the day off work and hope the rest will help out. Some naps, e-mails, a little TV play out the day with lots of soup and cranberry juice.

WEDNESDAY...
— Still not feeling super. But I go to work anyway and, by supper, I feel an improvement. Groceries after work.

THURSDAY...
— Work is alright. The cold is pretty well gone by the end of the night. But I still need to be careful for it not to pick up again.
— Supper at the mall with Claudette, Sue and Nicole... some good Thai food for me.

FRIDAY...
— A movie in the morning and work in the evening. I’m alone in AFIS from 7:30 until the end of the night... kind of nice actually.
— Home for an e-mail or two and just taking it easy.

SATURDAY...
— Hockey Day in Canada. So I watch hockey. I even get a mini goalie stick at McDonald’s.
— Several e-mails as well today... and some internet scrabble.

Love in the Month of Feb
Family Day. It’s the new February holiday in Canada. Well... I assume it’s a Canadian holiday. I know that I don’t get it. So February 18, some of us celebrate family.

As far as holidays go, this one seems about as made up and geeky as any could be. I mean really... what will be the tradition of this holiday? The Family Day feats... what will it be? Turkey? Roast?... no... to go with a tacky holiday, I see a suburban meal the whole family can enjoy.

So the clan will gather on this holiday and sit down to a fine spread of tacos.

Desert on Family Day? Where pumpkin pie dominates Thanksgiving and fruit cake takes... well... takes the cake at Christmas. There can only be one logical end to the Family Day meal. It’s chocolate fondu time!

Will there be Family Day songs written? Oh probably. Celine Dion will have something written up by some overly sappy song writer... and she’ll blast out the slow ballad with sorrow in her eyes and a smile upon her face.

The Family Day cards? Oh you better believe it. Hallmark will take over this holiday with ravenous abandon. And we’ll see the tackiest bunch of drivel that has ever been printed on glossy cardboard! Family Day wishes from children to parents... to grandparents too... and to each other. Sister loves brother and brother loves sister. Cousins, who haven’t seen each other since the 1980s will be mailing cards of cousinly fuzzy warmth.

The cards will be all about sentiments in the tone of “may God bless the ground you walk on!” and “It amazes me that I have an angel in my family!” Flowers will plaster the fronts of cards... with little puppy dogs and babies dressed up as carrots, turnips and other sorts of vegetables... only leaving their faces as a reminder not to cut them up, toss them in the pot, and have a Family Day soup.

Why has Family Day come into existence anyway? February 14th is a well known day of love. It’s right there in the middle of the month. Why not grant a day off work for this day instead of inventing another day just a bit further down the calender? The conspiracy theorists will speak of the Hallmark need of more cards and stuffed bears to sell. Double the products and watch the economy grow... all for the love of family.

I wonder will there be Family Day themed movies? Many films have been made with Thanksgiving, Valentines and Christmas in mind. St. Patrick’s Day and Easter have also been represented. What would a Family Day film be like? If only John Candy was still alive. Work would be plentiful for him. Al Waxman too. Poor ol’ King of Kensington. He’d be sitting at the Family Day table, stuffing a taco into his mouth, and gleaming with pride at the Family Day card his four year old granddaughter has just passed him.

Family Day is a holiday made for Tiny Tim. Not the singer... the little lame boy in the Scrooge movies. Oh how I hate that kid. In fact, it’s this child that Celine will reference in that sap filled song of luv. For when it’s such fuzzy cheesiness, love can only be spelt L-U-V. And now I’ll have to make sure I get my proper royalties as I’ve come up with the title of that Family Day classic Celine will drone on over. To quote Tim himself...

“God Bless Us, Everyone.”

Happy Family Day, I don’t care if I am eight days early. The Family Day spirit has hit me early. Another Family Day miracle!