My Second Favorite Post of the Year!

My favorite post of the year is coming up in about three weeks—stay tuned for it.

Every bad thing that has ever happened to me seems to have occurred in February. I wish I were kidding. I got hit by a car on I-290 while trying to help a disabled motorist, broke my wrist in a slip and fall that led to many painful months of rehabilitation (it still hurts sometimes), and two of my favorite people died in February. Ironically, one of them had told me years earlier that they were certain February would be the month they died because they hated it so much.

My sister-in-law has a birthday in February—I like her very much, but it's not her fault. She lives 3,000 miles away, so it’s not like there’s any cake.

Veronica and I always try to make Valentine’s Day special. This year, she made me an incredible Dark Shadows-themed card, an amazing Strawberry Vanilla cake, and a steak dinner worthy of our favorite restaurants. So we can't say we don’t try to turn February into a positive experience.

This year (tonight, actually), I’m introducing a new family tradition where we’ll dive into a King Cake—normally reserved for Mardi Gras, some folks call it a Baby Cake—because there is a little plastic baby baked into the cake. If you get the piece with the baby in it, you get to be King for a Day, but you also have to make or buy the cake next year. Those are the rules for playing.

I wrote about my hunt for one of these beauties a few weeks ago, and I’ll let you know if it’s as good as it looks.

But now for the big news—goodbye, February! Even though March can come in like a confused cousin walking into a wedding shower they weren’t invited to (or hoped to avoid), it tends to leave with a spring-like feel.