For those of you not here in Canada it is a looooong weekend, wOOt! 🙂 I am not celebrating because I get a long weekend away from work, I am celebrating because I get to work the stat holiday thereby getting stat pay! Double wOOt! 🙂 🙂
So why the long weekend? May 25th is Queen Victoria’s birthday and who doesn’t like to celebrate a birthday? The Monday before Victoria Day is a statutory holiday throughout Canada, it is meant to honour Queen Victoria but it is commonly thought of as the beginning of summer.
It is practically tradition to go camping on this weekend which in parts of BC will be a pleasant experience, in most of the rest of the country it will still be quite chilly at night and is almost considered a test of strength lol.
In honour of Queen Victoria and the day off from work she is giving some of us and the stat pay she is giving the rest of us, here are some facts you may not know about her:
(1) She became Queen at the age of 18
(2) She kept regular diaries that you can read here.
(3) She is associated with Britain’s great age of industrial expansion, economic progress and empire.
(4) She married in 1840 and had 9 children by 1857 – that is a lot of kids!
(5) Her hubby died in 1861, she wore black for the rest of her reign. Sadness.
(6) After her hubby died she almost completely stopped going out in public, with the encouragement of family she started taking part in public life again in the late 1860’s.
(7) Seven attempts were made on her life. Seven!! Eesh!
(8) Her reign lasted 64 years and she stayed active right till the end – reminds me of the current Queen!
She has some amusing quotes, if not all that positive or uplifting:
(1) Being pregnant is an occupational hazard of being a wife.
(2) I feel sure that no girl would go to the altar if she knew all.
(3) I don’t dislike babies, though I think very young ones rather disgusting.
(4) An ugly baby is a very nasty object – and the prettiest is frightful.
(5) I think people really marry far too much; it is such a lottery after all, and for a poor woman a very doubtful happiness.
(6) We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat. They do not exist.
I especially like that last quote, used when going to war. I think I might adopt it for inspiration when working out and I feel like I am hitting a wall, maybe insisting that defeat doesn’t exist will help me push a little harder next time I’m exercising…can’t hurt to try! lol
If you think of Queen Victoria at all you probably get an image like this in your head…
How she is remembered
But don’t forget that once upon a time she was a young lady getting married in a crown made of flowers…
On her wedding day
And before that she was just a little baby…
Awww, Queen V you were kinda cute!
So there we have it, the reason so many people will be sleeping in tomorrow and why I will be getting paid time and a half! Thanks Queen V!…anybody care for a spot ‘o tea? 😉
The Amazing Shrinking Woman 