Oh Happy Day!

The most awesome picture I've ever taken doing 70 MPH on the Dan Ryan.  It's a van with an airbrushed picture of a van and a Puerto Rican flag on the spare tire.  Only this picture is awesome enough for this day)

Today is my absolute favorite day of the year!  (If you had any doubts that I am crazy, please leave them at the door and pick them up on your way out.  I'd appreciate it.  Thank you).

I have loved March 4th since I was a kid.  It's the only date that is a command (March Forth!).  Later on, when people refused to see how cool that was, I found other ways to justify my love of this date.

• My beloved (six months of the year) hometown of Chicago was founded on this date.  So was Vermont and Pennsylvania
• The Constitution of the United States went into effect.  I love the movie "1776."  Do you see how this all ties in to me?  Does this make me a narcissist?
• Abraham Lincoln and FDR were both inaugurated.  Do you have the chills yet??
• Martha Stewart finished her prison term for insider trading and got back to the business of matching napkin rings to her fresh-cut flowers.

Most of all, I love March 4th because in my mind, it's the first day of Spring.  Yes, I'm aware that this is delusional and that in Chicago we have snowstorms right up through April, but this is my HONORARY first day of Spring.  It's my signal to stop bitching and moaning about how much I hate winter and start getting ready to see the color green in nature at some point in the near future.  It's a day to celebrate the fact that I made it through another winter and prepare for the future of perhaps having the sun come out!  March Forth, happiness!

You guys have no idea how much I filter my hatred of winter from this blog.  Every day, I sit down, think, "Hmm, what should I write about?  I know, I'll write about how snow is awful."  Luckily, for the most part, I spare you people from this.  Now that March 4th has arrived, they'll be no more complaining!  Even if it snows 16 inches tomorrow, I know that spring really will happen at some point, so I can grin and bear it.

Happy March 4th!