Well kids, it's that time of year again. The calendar says I'm going to be a year older this Tuesday.

As an adult, my birthday has always been my excuse for self-indulgence. You know ... to do exactly what I want to do.One year, I went to the movies by myself. Nobody wanted to see "Titanic" so I went to a matinee alone, ate my popcorn without having to share the top with all the butter on it, and when I cried my eyes out, no one laughed at me.On my 50th I treated myself to a spa experience. Simply divine. Right up until they washed my hair. The stylist went gaga over my natural curl and asked if she could style my hair any way she wanted. I thought, "Cool. What a bonus!"When she was finished and turned me around and I saw my reflection in the mirror, I almost decked her! Here I had just spent the most calming, soothing, pampered day of my life to help me feel better about reaching this major milestone in my life and this goofball gave me a hairstyle that looked like I just got one of those god-awful home perms my mom gave me every night before school picture day. Instead of looking 50, I looked like my grandmother ... on steroids! No wait. My grandmother looked better!Last year I went to the Coach outlet and bought myself a Coach purse (HUGE sale!) Complete strangers tell me how much they like my purse. Why is it though, I feel compelled to tell them, "I got it on sale!" Why can't I just let them believe I'm a rich (rhymes with witch) with good taste?I'm not quite sure what I'm doing this year. So I went looking for ideas from my old friend Internet to see what I could come up with.Here are some holidays celebrated in January. Did you know it was National Reaching Your Potential Month? That sounds like too much work. As a professional procrastinator, (National Procrastination Week in March), I'll try reaching my potential next month.This coming week (Jan. 18-24) is National Hunt for Happiness Week. Evidently this is the Secret Society of Happy People's 14th Annual Hunt. They thought that after the end-of-year holiday hoopla winds down sometimes we may need to hunt for a little happiness. And since Jan. 19 is Blue Monday, the Saddest Day of the Year, they want us to focus on actually doing things to make ourselves a little happier. In Linda's World that means I should hunt for someone else to do the cooking, cleaning and laundry this week.Some other things to celebrate this week are:Jan. 17: Popeye Day. Eat some spinach so you'll be strong to the finish. I'd rather eat dirt and be weak.Jan. 18: Thesaurus Day. The thesaurus helps you find synonyms and antonyms of a word. I picked the word "happy" since it's Hunt for Happiness Week, and these are some words associated with it: fortunate, lucky, gay, contented, joyous, ecstatic, felicitous, apt, glad. See agreement, cheerfulness, pleasure. OK, gang, now let's go out there and try to find ways to live those words this week. Hoorah!Jan. 19: Popcorn Day. Easy peasy. Better yet, let's go to the movies and enjoy both.Jan. 20: Penguin Awareness Day. Why? The only time I'll ever meet one is at the zoo since they live in the Southern Hemisphere. But OK. I'm aware. And wouldn't you like to meet the whackjobs who say, "Hey, I really like penguins. I think there should be a Penguin Awareness Day." Of course it was probably someone like me. So maybe I'll come up with my own holiday ... Whack-a-Doodle Day.Jan. 21: Squirrel Appreciation Day. (This dude is related to the guy who came up with Penguin Awareness Day.) It is to remind us to enjoy these nut-burying, scampering animals respectfully and with consideration. (Whack-a-doodle. Just saying.)Jan. 22: National Blonde Brownie Day. Oh man! Have I got a killer Blonde Brownie recipe. Guess what I'm doing that day!Jan. 23: National Pie Day. Well, guess I'll just have to bake my favorite pie ... apple ... oh wait a minute ... I wasn't planning on cooking this week in my Hunt for Happiness endeavors. Mooooommm, you need to bake an apple pie.Of course there are some serious celebrations this month, but I'm all about the Hunt for Happiness one. In fact, I think that will be my new year's resolution.And in honor of next Saturday being National Belly Laugh Day, this one's for you ...While shopping for vacation clothes, Harry and I passed a display of bathing suits. It had been at least 10 years and 20 pounds since I had even considered buying a bathing suit, so I sought my husband's advice."What do you think?" I asked. "Should I get a bikini or an all-in-one?"Harry said, "Better get a bikini. You'd never get it all in one."He's still in intensive care. You can send your get-well cards to Pocono Medical Center.(Come on. Laugh. That was funny!)