The True Meaning Of The Day

Happy Half-Priced Chocolate Day, everyone!!!  I was rather surprised to see how many people were not familiar with this holiday.  Shocked, really.  How could so many of you be unaware of this most sacred of days?  You must have been really busy and missed the announcement...

It is one of my favorite days, even more so than November the 1st.  On that day you only get half priced kid candy, which is good but so totally not the same.  I get very excited about February 15th and all it symbolizes.  The ancient texts are a little hard to read, but they go something like this:

For lo it is written that, come the rising of the sun the day after that weird little naked baby creature crawls back from whence he came, purveyors of foodstuffs will gather up their red and pink boxes.  Yea verily, they shall collect and deposit them haphazardly upon shelves in the back under hastily hand-scribbled signs.  And thus, they who are wise and burdened with loose change shall know of this sign and flock unto it.   For it is 50% off and it is good.

Yup.  It's a great holiday.  It is steeped in all sorts of tradition and ceremony and stuff.  But, make no mistake, it is the single gal's day.  Don't get me wrong.  Anyone is welcome to acknowledge the holiday and help themselves to a big ol' heart-shaped box of bargain chocolate.  Heck, I've gone to my share of Hanuka parties and even celebrated Kwanza a time or two.  You don't have to be a member to enjoy and appreciate, after all.  

But it is our day.  

Don't get mad.  I didn't make the rules.  The fact of the matter is that we, the single folk, are a little tired right now.  We've just staggered through the Couples Holiday Trifecta.  We've managed to make it past Christmas, New Year's Eve and Valentines Day and we have smiled throughout.  Even those of us who are single by choice have pretty much hit the wall with all the "Now you just bring your sad self over to our house for (insert holiday here) because we cannot bear the thought of you being all alone."  We've explained three thousand times that we have plans and that they do not involve dressing up the cat.  We have successfully managed to dodge any number of well-intentioned holiday fix-ups, none of which were as subtle as the perpetrators think they were.  And while I may be on vacation, some of my sisters will be going to work on Monday.  There, they will be forced hear endless stories of Valentine's Days gone horribly wrong or, worse, those that were incredibly successful and which come with the flashing of diamonds or (God help us) "saucy" details.

We need the chocolate.  We are not greedy.  We don't want it all.  We invite everyone to celebrate Half-Priced Chocolate Day.  As long as you remember why it came to be and who gets to pick over the clearance table first.

Of course, I failed in my chocolate mission today.  I was over-eager and got to the store before they'd set up the display.  Rather than risk purchasing candy that had yet to be marked as "discounted" in the computers, I opted to wait a bit.  That is perfectly acceptable on Half-Priced Chocolate Day.  In fact, it can be better.  The holiday is actually several days long, sometimes even a week in duration.  And, with each passing day, the prices may get lower.  Half-Priced Chocolate Day is a very accommodating kind of celebration.  Which is good because, as I may have mentioned, the single girls are tired these days.

And, for the record, I also had a wedding at the beginning of The Trifecta.  I get double points for that.  Triple points for being a bridesmaid and being bodily forced onto the floor for the bouquet toss by my cousin who, as a fellow single person, is going to lose points for that since he should be on my side.  

So...while I wait for the merchants to get their collective acts together, I shall knit.  I still haven't mustered up the energy to wind any more yarn for "the dischcloth" (with sleeves) so the new sock got some game time today.  The Big, Fluffy Kitty, concerned that I might be suffering from low blood sugar, stayed close by to oversee my work.

She looks like she is asleep but that is just a ruse.  She's very much on the job.

I know because she told me that I could have knit more had I spent less time thinking about chocolate.

Tomorrow we shall head out again and see how the clearance tables are looking.  I anticipate good hunting and lots of things drizzled in caramel.  

I do love the holidays...

SA