So after two weeks of  cooking, cleaning up, cooking, cleaning up, cooking, cleaning up…I’m d-o-n-e.

The holidays are fun. Love seeing my family. Love relaxing. Love the decorations. Love the music. I even love all that food. That food that I’ve cooked and cleaned up over and over.

But this little red hen has had enough. I’ve made breakfast casseroles galore. I’ve marinated meat in special sauces. I’ve bought wine by the case. And I’ve run out of dish-washing detergent.

So when these BCS football bowl games ( http://www.bcsfootball.org/) have extended into 2012 for days and days, I want to protest. Who thought we needed to keep up this celebration mode for weeks on end? Seems like an excuse for the chips, dips, cakes, cookies, malt liquor and champagne to remain on constant display. Dare I say it was a man who has yet to fix his own Frito chili pie?

 OK, so you are probably thinking that this is some type of “Hallmark Holiday” made up by the card companies just to push a few cards to boost slow summer sales.  WRONG!  Actually, this is a real and legitimate, honest to goodness, proclaimed by the US Congress, holiday. 

According to website www.friendshipday.org

“The United States Congress, in 1935, proclaimed first Sunday of August as the National Friendship Day. Since then, celebration of National Friendship Day became an annual event.”

Now you may not have planned a big celebration for this day but come on, how about a phone call just to say “Thank you for being a friend”…wow, that could be a song cue!  Everybody hum the theme to the TV Show Golden Girls. 

Oh, and get this: Friendship Day isn’t just a US event, Friendshipday.org also states that
it has become so popular worldwide that “the United Nations named Winnie – the Pooh as the world’s Ambassador of Friendship.”

Of course, it is always easier to talk the talk than to walk the walk, so let me take this time to say Thank You to the many friends that I am so very fortunate to have.  I don’t want to put a bunch of names out on the ol World Wide Web, but to the Lucy of my Ethel, to the one I always credit for my career in media, to the one who was my shield when all of the swords were coming at me (remember it can be deadly out here in Social Land) and of course the best business partner anyone could ask for, maybe I don’t always say it, but Thank You, your friendship is something I treasure.

“Friends make you smile from ear to ear.” -Winnie the Pooh