And today we're celebrating...

Well, yesterday was Abraham Lincoln's Birthday. Or, as I've taken to calling it, Abe Lincoln (For Obvious Reasons) Is Rolling Over in His Grave Day. And tomorrow is Valentine's Day, a very sweet (though, for plenty of folks, understandably depressing) holiday. So what's on for today?

I love that, on any given day, there are all sorts of things being celebrated.

February 13th is Digital Learning Day. As a Duolingo aficionado, I celebrate digital learning every day. Even if it's only doing the cheesiest, easiest exercise to keep my streak going. (Over a year, now!) It's not exactly like I'm learning all that much Spanish, but after a year+ I can read a bit, understand a bit, and speak a bit. Given that I volunteer in a shelter with a signficant percentage of Hispanic guests, it comes in handy that I can ask folks whether they want a cepillo de dientes (tooth brush) or calcetines (socks), two of the items I give out. And I can ask the Puerto Rican lady who brings the turtle in most days how her tortuga is doing. 

Some of what I'm learning it pure nonsense, even if it rings true. In real life, I may well want to tell someone that I've always hated clowns, but the person I want to reveal this deep-seeded, highly personal bit of info to is most likely to be English-speaking. Nonetheless, if needs be, I can tell someone that siempre he oidado a los payasos. 

While I like Duolingo, I hope that all learning doesn't get pushed to digital. It's good for somethings, and no doubt great for some learners, but mostly I'm pro face-to-face learning with a real teacher and real classmates.

February 13th is National Tortellini Day. The first place I ever ate tortellini was decades ago at Romagnoli's Table, a very nice Italian restaurant in Quincy Market. This was nearly 50 years ago, and the tortellini had a bit of nutmeg sprinkled on the dish. Yum! I used to always have a package of tortellini in my freezer, there when I needed a quickie meal. Tortellini makes for one excellent boiled dinner, I can tell you. I need to get back into the tortellini on board habit. Sprinkle on a tiny bit of nutmeg. Please allow me to repeat myself: Yum!

February 13th is Get a New Name Day. I've never been all that fond of my name. I like some of the other "een" names - like Kathleen (one sister's name) and Eileen (the other sister's middle name). But I've always been sort of 'meh' when it comes to Maureen. As I've gotten older, I've become more okay with it. I like that it's Irish. I like that, when I'm in Ireland, people know how to pronounce it. (It's MAUR-een, not Maur-EEN.) And I kind of get a kick out of the fact that it's pretty much an old lady name. (Try finding a Maureen under the age of 50.)

Maureen was a wildly popular name in my time and place. There were so many Maureens in my high school class - Catholic girls school - that we all went by our full first-name-last-name. This was also true for the Kathleens, who outnumbered the Maureens by about two to one. 

At one point in my twenties, I tried on Maura for a while, since it sounded classier (to me, anyway) than Maureen. I was working at a temp job, happily going by Maura, when a friend called and gave it all away by asking for Maureen. 

It's too late now, but if I did go out and get me a new name, it would be Elizabeth, which is my middle name, my mother's name, and pretty much my favorite girl name.

February 13th is Galentine's Day. The notion of a day to celebrate women's friendships with each other came out of a Parks and Recreation episode 15 years ago. And it's a good one. Everyone doesn't have a sweetheart, BF (or GF), hubby (or wife), or significant other to celebrate Valentine's Day with. No chocolates. No gushy cards. No roses. No nothing. A sweet but Hallmark holiday designed to make those without a love interest feel depressed, neglected, rejected, and alone. But most of us gals have friends. Female friends. And how sweet it is to have a day to celebrate those friendships.

So I'm picking Galentine's Day as the one I'm going to celebrate.

Thus, Happy Galentine's Day to my wonderful women friends. I've sure had more of them over the years than I've had romantic relationships, and I'm delighted to celebrate our friendships. Yay to you all!

Not that I'll neglect the other celebrations. I'll do my Duolingo lessons. I'll boil up some tortellini. When I think of myself, I'll try to think of myself as "Elizabeth" rather than "Maureen." But today, I'll be mostly be celebrating my friendships with some wonderful women. Here's to you all!