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Sitting on the front porch in my great-grandma's rocking chair, trying to soak the newly-spring sunshine into my bones and store it there as a source of contentment... that's a good day.

Drinking my coffee as my daughter tumbles out of bed and runs downstairs because she can't wait to give me a hug and present me with the birthday card she made... that's a good day too.

Looking back to a year ago and realizing how much I've learned since then... knowing that every passing birthday brings me a little closer to being the person I was meant to be... you really can't ask for more than that.

Well, you can. But today I'm content. Today I won't.

I am deathly afraid of...

It was recommended to me at one point that I type this into the Google search bar for entertainment purposes. I have to say, it worked. So much that I did it again a week later. Amazing how laughing at other people's ridiculous fears can make you feel better. :P

Here's a list of some of the less common fears that folks have felt compelled to write about on the internet (and keep in mind that I did not visit these websites to read more... that's something that I'M afraid of!).

swimming pool drains
February
jump ropes
lepracuans (spelling intact - yikes)
haircuts
lizards (watch some Geico commercials, okay?)
that the Patriots will trade Brady for MULTIPLE 1st round picks this offseason (how about if they just fire him? would that be alright?)
palmetto bugs (I don't know what these are. Maybe this is warranted.)
bears (stay out of the woods)
the concept of cheating (not the deed itself, apparently)
napkins
pickles
getting an apparition (how's this work?)
Mike Cammalleri (is he after you personally??)
authors that blurb their own books (oh, the horror)
holes in reality (I think I'm in one now.)
people making fun of me in the forums (heh. some of us actually crave that.)
cows
butterflies
cotton
pressure cookers
feathers
Peter Pan
bees (yet, I am attracted to them... that's a direct quote)
facial hair (guy or girl talking? big difference in the psychological issues involved)
whales

whew. Have to stop. My own fears, of course, are perfectly normal and understandable. Spiders. Popsicle sticks. Condiments (only the big 3 - oh, and that one that weirdos sometimes put on their fish).

Stop looking at me like that.

I could be useful

So, this may seem like an inauspicious way to start a blog, but my hair is full of birdseed.

There was a coffee can full of yummy treats for the avians in the outdoor covered walkway, and I opened the side door to find it spilled everywhere. It appeared that something had used its teeth as a can-opener to pry off the plastic lid. Well, okay... raccoons get hungry too. They're a little rude and messy about it, but oh well. So I start scooping up handfuls to put back in the can, and decide to refill the bird-feeder while I'm at it. The bird-feeder is on a tall metal pole, so it can be seen from the kitchen window. By standing on a concrete block and stretching my arm over my head, I can just reach it. See where this is going?

Instead of hunting around for the plastic cup that we use for this purpose, I take a handful of birdseed and attempt to dump it into the feeder over my head. Half of it cascades down into my long, stupidly thick hair, where it somehow works its way down to the scalp and lodges immovably.

Now, either I spend half an hour brushing it out, or possibly having my daughter groom me like a monkey, or I could go out in the middle of the fields, sit very still, and see if the birds would just eat their breakfast out of my hair. I could be a human bird-feeder. Think it would work?

**reading: Shadow of the Ghost by Tanner Artesz. I'd been looking forward to this since I gave myself a teaser of the opening pages several weeks ago. It hooked me fast.

**reading aloud: The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo. We're into the second section and the jury's still out.

**listening to: the birds. Apparently I got enough seed into the feeder that a party is warranted.