I woke up to the sound of pouring rain outside -- which is a comforting thing, and not many residents of Los Angeles will admit that or realize that -- and wanted instantly to declare a small holiday for myself given the events of the past few days and the fact that I worked until midnight last night. Mental Health Day. Sleep late, watch big dumb movies, order a pizza to be delivered, stay in the t-shirt & flannel pants I sleep in all day long, lie in bed for most of the afternoon, maybe read a book or finish a magazine, sleep some more.

The problem is that Mental Health Days are not covered under my company's medical insurance plan, and I also have an eye doctor's appointment scheduled conveniently at 10am -- and one of my co-workers has an appointment at the same eye doctor at 9:30, so she'll know that I'm not sick if I call in sick.

There's this radio station that we covered in my newspaper that came up with a couple different holidays, and Mental Health Day is one of them. Of course, this is the same station that proposed that since Valentine's Day is mostly oriented towards women, men should get their own holiday: Steak and Blowjob Day.

UPDATE: My eye doctor's office called three minutes after I'd already left the apartment and ventured out into the rain -- the doctor had an "emergency due to the rain" and would not be able to make my appointment this morning and could I reschedule for another day? What do you think the chances are he woke up, heard the rain and decided to take a Mental Health Day?

I'm going back to bed. Wake me when it's March.