What to Celebrate January 29 thru February 4, 2018
Celebration ideas for the end of January & beginning of February
Can you believe January’s coming to an end?!
But the chances to celebrate don’t end!
Close out January with meat, iceworms, bubble wrap, and croissants, among other things.
Then ring in February with more meat and iceworms. Along with birds, serpents, hedgehogs, and ice cream (for breakfast!).
Or choose your own combination of celebrations to make it a spectacular week.
Enjoy!
Celebrate All February Long
You still have a few days left in January to celebrate things like training your dog, adopting a rescued bird, or donating blood.
And as a brand new month starts, we also have brand new month-long celebrations and observations to consider. Consider these, focused on animals.
National Prevent a Litter Month: Make sure your pets are spayed and neutered. It’s the best way to tackle the pet overpopulation problem and keep pets out of shelters!
Dog Training Education Month: If you missed Train Your Dog Month in January, you have another shot! For Dog Training Education Month you and your dog work on one training activity each day. The website offers a sample training schedule, but you can set things up in a way that works for you and your pooch.
National Bird Feeding Month: An actual National holiday, read into the Congressional Record in 1994. It’s for—what else!—feeding, watching, and learning about birds. The National Bird Feeding Society sponsors the month.
Responsible Pet Owners Month: Make sure you’re being a responsible pet owner (start by recognizing you’re not really a pet “owner,” but rather a pet parent or caregiver!). Here’s a short list of tips for being a responsible pet owner (parent!).
Weekly Celebrations For Jan. 29 to Feb. 4
This week brings us a feast of meat and a festival named for a worm! Also a reminder to protect your tax id and take steps to prevent burns. Quite the eclectic mix of activities.
Meat Week (Jan. 28 – Feb. 4) Monday, Jan. 29 is Day 2 of Meat Week! And the meaty goodness continues all week. As we told you last week, only 3 cities have official celebrations this year. But you can certainly celebrate unofficially! (Just don’t claim publicly that you’re part of the week, ‘cause “Meat Week” is trademarked!). And consider becoming a captain for an official celebration in your city next year.
Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week (Jan. 29 – Feb. 2): This week, from the Federal Trade Commission, aims to help you understand tax identity theft and avoid becoming a victim.
Cordova Iceworm Festival (Jan. 27 – Feb. 3): This annual event began back in 1961 as a way to brighten up the winter. It has only grown since then, and people from all over the world now travel to Alaska to enjoy the fun, including a parade, races, food, and more. And yes, there’s a worm … a worm mascot of course. But also … iceworms are real!
Burn Awareness Week (Feb. 4 – 10): This safety oriented week begins on the Sunday of the 1st full week in February. It’s a great reminder to review your home & workplace for burn hazards. And then take steps to fix them.
Celebration Days Coming Up For Jan. 29 thru Feb. 4
Start your week by finding out if you can be curmudgeonly while popping bubble wrap. Then enjoy a croissant and change your voicemail message (probably best not done at the same time!).
Move on to inspirational art, doing the hula in the snow, and waiting for a hedgehog to see its shadow. Yes, a hedgehog!
Or get serious and help homeless children enjoy a better future. And raise awareness of heart disease in women.
Or pick your own combination of special days to celebrate this week.
Enjoy!
January 29:
Curmudgeons Day: We all know at least one curmudgeon, right? (It might even be you!). So embrace the curmudgeonliness for the day!
Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day: This year Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day falls on the same day as Curmudgeons Day. Which might make it hard to celebrate both. After all, just how curmudgeonly can you be while playing with bubble wrap?!?
Library Shelfie Day: Started by the New York Public Library in 2014. The concept is simple: Instead of a picture of yourself (selfie. Duh!) take a picture of a library shelf (shelfie!). Your own library or a public library. Doesn’t matter. Just show off your love of books!
January 30:
Croissant Day: Mmmmm … biting into a flaky, melt-in-your-mouth buttery croissant is a delicious start to any day. And practically mandatory for Croissant Day!
National Inane Answering Message Day: Stop subjecting callers to your inane outgoing voicemail (or answering machine, if you’re old-school!) message. Record a new one that doesn’t waste their time or test their patience.
National Plan for Vacation Day: The best way to actually use those vacation days you get every year? Make a plan early! And today’s the day to make that plan.
January 31:
Inspire Your Heart with Art Day: Art can touch us emotionally, and today is about letting it do just that. So visit an art gallery. Attend a play, musical performance, or dance performance. Create your own art. Or whatever else touches your heart!
Street Children’s Day: This day is for recognizing the hardships homeless children (”street children”) face and work toward giving them a future. Austrian charity Jugend Eine Welt founded the day in 2009.
February 1:
National Serpent Day: Celebrate snakes today! Or, if you prefer, dragons or sea serpents. Treat your favorite serpent to an extra treat or new habitat accessory. Or visit serpents at the zoo. Or bake serpent cookies. It’s all up to you!
Change Your Password Day: A day to change those insecure passwords to something better. Matt Buchanan over at Gizmodo created the day back in 2012. And yet we’re still using terrible passwords! The KnowBe4 blog offers links to some good information on finally taking password security seriously.
Hula in the Coola Day: Ok, so once you’ve changed all those passwords, it’s time to have some fun … by freezing your toes off, apparently! So get out of those winter clothes, put on a hula skirt (or something else beachy), and go dance the hula. Outside. In the snow. And freezing temperatures. Go! It’ll be fun! Seriously, it will! ????
February 2:
National Wear Red Day: A day to raise awareness of heart disease in women. Because it kills more women than other, more recognized “women’s diseases” like breast cancer.
Hedgehog Day: This is the original groundhog day! It began during Roman times, and the hedgehog checked on his shadow in moonlight. Since North America doesn’t have its own hedgehogs, we check the groundhog’s shadow instead. (But there’s no reason you can’t celebrate both!)
Bubblegum Day: While you’re waiting for the hedgehogs & groundhogs to decide how long winter’s gonna last, chew some bubble gum & raise some money for a good cause. As originally created, kids could pay 50 cents to chew bubble gum in school on this day. The money raised would go to a charity chosen by the school. Of course, any business or organization can do their own version of this. With higher donation amounts, even Just not too high! This is supposed to be fun.
Crepe Day: Today you must eat crepes! Not sure how to make them? Check out this video, along with links to different ways to dress up your basic crepe.
February 3:
Take Your Child to the Library: Do as the name says! If your local library has events for the day, see if any of those interest your child. If not, go to the library anyway. There’s plenty to discover!
The Day the Music Died: The day referenced in the song American Pie: Feb. 3, 1959. A plane crash took the lives of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper.
Ice Cream for Breakfast Day: What kid (or kid at heart) doesn’t want ice cream for breakfast? Well today you get your wish! I’m kinda sad this day doesn’t coincide with Crepe Day … what a great combination that would be! … Might do it anyway. :)
February 4:
USO Day: Honoring the creation of the USO on February 4, 1941. The USO provides many different services to help keep troops’ morale up and let them and their families feel more connected to home, no matter where they are.
Popcorn Day: Yes, we just celebrated this 2 weeks ago. But some people insist it is celebrated on the day of that really big football game. Since that’s today, Popcorn Day is resurrected! If you love popcorn, we’re pretty sure you won’t mind. :D
Medjool Date Day: Eat Medjool dates plain or use them in recipes. But do it today!
