Last year at Valentine's there was a group of students at my university who all had signs reading "Happy Singlehood Awareness Day!" and "Free Hugs". And they would actually give you a genuine, platonic hug if you went up to them. It was pretty cool (and slightly creepy). I think we hype the holiday too much for 'lovers' and we lose sight of the fact that it's actally the day a martyr was killed for refusing to deny Christ.

I asked Jason just a few days ago while we were at the Kitchener Market "we're not getting each other stuff for Valentine's, are we?" and he said no, and I was relieved. I guess I've just never felt like it was that important of a day to be gifted by the beloved, you know? Like, that was what high school was about. But what made this a great Valentine's for me/us was that Jason had the day off work, and we got to spend the day together. We went to a cello concert at Laurier, then ice skating at Kitchener city hall, picked up a few items from the chinese supermarket, then we made dinner together and went to small group. And had his day off been today instead of yesterday, we probably would have done the same thing. (Apart from the concert, because that's not something that can be rescheduled on a whim by two audience members.) But then for both of us, one of our main love languages is quality time, so that's likely a contributing factor to how we prefer to celebrate anything. :) It was such a fantastic day! I love any day I can spend with him.

Ah yes, so our (inadvertant) culinary adventure this week was Bang Bang Chicken from the Szechuwan region of China. We made it last night, because we wanted something new, and it was already 5 o'clock, so the recipe also had to be made up of things we already had on hand. Bang Bang Chicken fit the bill. It was very good--moist chicken breast on a bed of cucumber slices, drizzled with sauce made from spring onions & garlic & wine vinegar & soy sauce & sesame paste, and chili oil. We'd definately make it again, but it was weird to have the steaming hot chicken over cold cucumbers. It made for a lukewarm dish. But I don't think I'd like the cucumbers heated up, either. Maybe skip the cu's and serve it on a bed of pan-fried noodles next time.

Anyway, there you go. My friend Laura (from my small group) is going to Haiti next Tuesday! Please pray for her if you think of it. Haiti is quite a tumultuous place, with the elections just having occured and lots of poverty. She's going with a group of women from our church to work at a hospital/orphanage with sick babies and children--to love and hold them when they don't get any one on one time or affection otherwise (because of limited staffing). Thanks all for your prayers, etc.