Before I realized it, February had swept in. And today half of the month has swept past. Each time I ask myself where time has gone, the answers are always the same – formatives, readings and now dissertation. I wish I could add fun to that, although I did manage to make a day trip to Stratford upon Avon recently, the details of which shall arrive later in a separate post. So coming back to February, the month starts and we are barraged with Rose Day, Chocolate Day, Hugs Day, Teddy Bear Day and then Valentine’s Day. I am sure there are more days afterwards to cover up for the post Valentine lull that I am currently unaware of.

This year I decided not to be critical about Valentine’s Day. I am not a cynic but yes, I do not go ‘awwww’ over everything. I reserve my ‘awww’ for something that I feel truly deserves it :).  That is not cynical right. The craze for the day beats me. A friend wanted to celebrate his birthday and he barely managed to make a reservation and it came with a deadline that we had to be out by a certain time as the table was booked further for the night. Such is the power of the day :D.

So what did I do today? I attended a very interesting lecture on Leadership, renewed my library book and prepared my notes for a dissertation meeting. Went for the meeting after lunch, which was in the fashionable High Street Kensington area (I am glad I had dressed up) and then ran off to the Kensington Palace gardens. I had told myself that I would leave in 15 minutes but I ended up staying there for an hour. It was a beautiful warm day, which is so rare here in London that any scrap of sunlight seems like a blessing. I did a lot of bird watching, people running/jogging, children feeding the swans and pigeons and generally having fun. Finally I pulled myself away from the park and trudged back to the tube station to get home. It was a lovely productive day and while I am writing this blog, plans are being made for coffee and biscuits with friends in the Hall, which will hopefully materialise. I don’t know if the day was intentionally supposed to be any different but by default it turned out to be a nice fun-filled day. And before I sign off…

Happy Valentine’s Day.