Greatest Year Ever: February

This is the second of 12 posts on how to have the Greatest Year Ever. Everything listed here is from research that I have done. The sources are listed at the bottom.

Facts:

• Number of Days: 28 (leap years have 29)
• Birthstone: amethyst
• Flower: Viola (violet) and primula vulgaris (common primrose).
• Season: 3nd month of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, 3nd month of summer in the Southern Hemisphere
• Name: from the Latin term "februum" meaning purification.
  

Famous February events:

• February 2, 1943: The last German troops surrendered in Stalingrad to the Russians.
• February 3, 1913: The United States ratified the 16th amendment to the American constitution to start income tax.
• February 6, 1899: The treaty to end the Spanish-American war was passed in the United States Senate.
• February 6, 1952: George VI of Great Britain passed away and his daughter became Queen Elizabeth II.
• February 8, 1587: Mary, Queen of Scots, was executed.
• February 10, 1763: The Treaty of Paris ended the Seven Years War with the French surrendering to the British in Canada.
  
• February 11, 1942: Battle of Bukit Timah in Singapore.
• February 20, 1962: John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth.
• February 26, 1815: Napoleon escaped from Elba.
  

Housecleaning:

• Clean the entryway up from all of the winter rocks, water and mud that comes into the house. 
• Clean the salt off of the shoes to keep them in good order.
• Vaccuum the car from all of the rocks, silt and snow that gets in there. 
• Time to put the car through the car wash! It's probably coated in a thick white silt from the road.

Fruits and Vegetables in Season:

• Oranges and clementines (from warmer climates)
• Beets*
• Turnip*
• Potatoes*
• Cabbage*
• Apples*
• Sweet Potatoes*
• Squash*
• Parsnips*
• Onions*
• Mushrooms*
• Lettuce*
• Leeks*
• Garlic*
• Cucumber*
• Carrots*

* (from harvest or hot house)

February recipes:

• Stews like chicken fricot, beef stew or a pork stew
• Any roasted vegetables like roasted beets, carrots or cauliflower
• Any roasted meats: beef, pork, chicken, etc.
• Light salads using lettuce, field greens or spinach to accompany those roasts
• Vegetable soups like borscht, pasta e fagioli, chicken noodle soup, or pureed vegetable soups like squash, potato or carrot
• Any recipe that uses a slow cooker
• Chocolate truffles
• Chicken mole
• Chili

Holidays:

• Black History Month.
• February 2: Groundhog Day (United States and Canada).
• February 14: Valentine's Day.
• February 29 (if applicable): Leap Year.

Sports and activities to enjoy:

• Hockey
• Skiing
• Skating
• Tobogganing / sledding / coasting
• Snowball fights - with caution
• Making snow angels
• Making snowmen (snow women, children and animals too)
• Snowshoeing
• Snowboarding

February is a great month to:

• Sit in front of the fireplace with loved ones. 
• Try new restaurants for Valentine's Day.
• Buy chocolate, even if you don't eat it for Valentine's Day. It's all on sale this time of year so you'll get an excellent deal and you could probably freeze it. 
• Spend a weekend at a winter hotel, that is, one known for being a winter destination like Québec City or the Ice Hotel.
• Throw a Super Bowl party. This year is the 46th Super Bowl on February 5, 2012.
• Have your yearly physical. It's long enough after the Christmas holidays that your body has adjusted back to normal.
• Have an Oscars party and watch the show live. You can even create ballots before the event and put a prize on the person who wins the most predictions. Serve cocktails and appetizers and dress up like movie stars.
• Start a new exercise routine or get back into your existing one. January is a month of adjustment after the holidays so by the time February comes around you are usually itching to get started.

Things we all hate about February:

• It's still Winter. The roads are icy, it snows and the salt gets on our shoes. Plus this is usually the month that we have the coldest temperatures ever. 
• Valentine's Day - for those who are single it's like a smack in the face. 

Sources:

• Barbara's Entourages, "February Facts and Events," (c) 1998-2006 <http://www.entourages.com/barbs/february.htm> (visited 14 February 2012).
• Foodland Ontario, "Availability Guide," (c) 2010 <http://www.foodland.gov.on.ca/english/availability.html> (visited 2 January 2012).
• Wikipedia, "February," (c) 11 December 2011 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February> (visited 12 December 2011).
• Also, Wikipedia in general. I really referred to it a lot.

Greatest Year Ever: January

This is the first of 12 posts on how to have the best year ever. So, I start with January. Everything listed here is from research that I have done. The sources are listed at the bottom.

Facts:

• Number of Days: 31
• Birthstone: Garnet
• Flower: Dianthus caryophyllus
• Season: 2nd month of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, 2nd month of summer in the Southern Hemisphere
• Name: derived from Janus, name of the Roman god of the doorway

New Year's Resolution:
It is traditional to choose a New Year's Resolution. The most commonly chosen resolution is to lose weight. However, most people who make a resolution don't keep it into February. Here is the Nutrition Diva's fantastic post on New Year's Resolutions and how to keep them.


Housecleaning:

• Put away Christmas and all seasonal decorations. Reuse old egg cartons for small ornaments, add twist ties for groups of lights and such to keep it all organized for next year.
• It's a good time to vacuum and shampoo the carpets after all of the holiday mess. 
• Unpack from any trips that you made and clean the luggage and travel cases before putting them away.
• Dry-clean the lighter coats (if necessary).
• Check the summer shoes for stains, dirt, or any rips, tears and such. Take the leather shoes to the cobbler for fixing or toss the worn-out flip flops.

Fruits and Vegetables in Season:

• Oranges and clementines (from warmer climates)
• Beets*
• Turnip*
• Potatoes*
• Cabbage*
• Apples*
• Sweet Potatoes*
• Squash*
• Parsnips*
• Onions*
• Mushrooms*
• Lettuce*
• Leeks*
• Garlic*
• Cucumber*
• Carrots*

* (from harvest or hot house)

January recipes:

• Stews like chicken fricot, beef stew or a pork stew
• Any roasted vegetables like roasted beets, carrots or cauliflower
• Any roasted meats: beef, pork, chicken, etc.
• Light salads using lettuce, field greens or spinach to accompany those roasts
• Vegetable soups like borscht, pasta e fagioli, chicken noodle soup, or pureed vegetable soups like squash, potato or carrot
• Any recipe that uses a slow cooker.

Holidays:

• January 1 - New Year's Day
• Third Monday - Martin Luther King Day (US)

Sports and activities to enjoy:

• Hockey
• Skiing
• Skating
• Tobogganing / sledding / coasting
• Snowball fights - with caution
• Making snow angels
• Making snowmen (snow women, children and animals too)
• Snowshoeing
• Snowboarding

January is a great month to:

• Throw a New Year's Bash. Welcome in the New Year with a large dinner party or cocktail party and lots of friends.
• Have a re-gifting party: after the holidays are over, invite people over with the presents that they received that they cannot use or do not want and do a Chinese Auction for them. Whatever doesn't get re-gifted goes to charity. 
• Curl up with a new knitting or sewing project for yourself (that is not a gift for someone else).
• Go shopping. Everything is at clearance prices through late January to March.
• Get your Christmas cards - for next year. Everything is on clearance prices after December 27th and you can get big boxes of cards on sale for at least 50-75% off. It's also a good time to stock up on bows, ornaments, wrapping paper and other Christmas gear.
• Find a gym or gym routine that you like so that you can start a weight loss strategy in February.
• Try something new. Take up a new language class, exercise class or hobby.
• Plan a vacation to the South for February -- if you want to do that.
• Visit the elderly. After the holiday rush, it becomes very quiet and lonely so it's a great time to take one Saturday afternoon per month and visit the elderly.
• Contact friends and family. Talk about how their holidays went, how yours went and such. It's a great opportunity to have a post-holiday dinner party. You can get ahold of everyone that you didn't see over the holidays. 
• Detox. Get back on track with a healthy month of vegetables and lots of water. Do a facial, hair mask and try a scrub for your body. Clean everything, inside and out and start new.

Things we all hate about January:

• Shoveling snow.
• Scraping the car windshield off every morning before leaving
• Winter (in general). It's cold, especially if you live in nippy areas like southern Québec, Winnipeg, the Prairies or the North.
• Christmas is over and won't come again for 11 more months.
• Salt stains on our boots and pant legs.
• Driving on slippery roads.

Sources:

• Foodland Ontario, "Availability Guide," (c) 2010 <http://www.foodland.gov.on.ca/english/availability.html> (2 January 2012).
• Nutrition Diva, "4 Secrets to Keeping Your New Year's Resolution," (c) 2010 <http://nutritiondiva.quickanddirtytips.com/how-to-keep-your-resolution.aspx> (2 January 2012).
• Wikipedia, "January," (c) 7 November 2011 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/January> (visited 20 November 2011).

2012: The Greatest Year Ever

I've been doing some research on how to have the best year ever. This post and the 12 that follow will be a list of the best things to do each month of the year. Are you wondering which is the best month to get your coats dry-cleaned? Or what is in season when? I can never remember so this will be a learning lesson for myself as well. Hopefully this is useful to many people so that we can all have the best year ever.

• January
• February
• March
• April
• May
• June
• July
• August
• September
• October
• November 
• December

(I will add the links once the post is done).