Happy RAD! Let's Get Busy Appreciating ME!

I should know the year off the top of my head … but I don’t – I just looked, it was 2007…. Once upon a time I created a holiday. R0nda Appreciation Day. It was my own protest against Valentine’s Day since I had just (exceedingly happily) gotten divorced. I figured Valentine’s Day is a fake holiday that people get behind, so why not have my own holiday? So one week after Valentine’s Day I celebrate R.A.D.!

Two years ago on this date I hurried to work. My mom had told this obnoxious guy at work that R0nda Appreciation Day was coming up and he said he would leave me a little gift at my desk. She passed that along to me and so when R.A.D. came along I was filled with curiosity. What would this guy that I hated for so many years have to leave for me for MY holiday?!?! Ugh, it was the annoying slip showing how much money was taken from our paychecks to cover our union dues. Damn union rep! He knew how much I hated those things, so I did have to laugh when I saw that is what he had left me. Perhaps that obnoxious guy was smarter than suspected …. Because just over a year later I married him!

See what can happen if you create your own holiday?!?! I’m always shocked when people actually gift me things. I did not make it so I’d get presents, although I did try to solicit a new iPod the first year – to no avail. In the past I have received things like a gigantic plastic diamond ring, a puzzle book, a princess photo frame and even an Apollo astronaut complete with Lunar Rover! This year I might gift myself a vacuum cleaner now that I have two stories of carpets to clean in my wonderful new home. Also, I have the pleasure of company. My in-laws are staying with us for a while, and with that brings many other family guests. With all of us actually having homes hours apart, it’s nice to have us all together in one place. I think that’s a great R.A.D. present! Heck, we even have two visiting boys named Shadow and Speed. Without a doubt they are the largest cats I have ever seen in my life. You might think you know of a bigger one – but I assure you Shadow will convince you otherwise. He’s nearly 7 times larger than my old dog was. No joke, I just did the math!

So anyway, happy R0nda Appreciation Day everybody! Get busy appreciating me, dammit!

*Ignore the 0 instead of an o - I do it on purpose to avoid google alerts.