Are you sick and tired of the gray days of winter? Are you as ready for spring, green grass and flowers as I am?

Well, it's finally March. March 20 is the first day of spring. Come on Sunshine. Crocuses ... spring forth!To help break up our winter doldrums, we've got St. Patrick's Day on March 17 to look forward to. Easter too, but that isn't until March 31.So in the meantime, what can a girl celebrate in March?Thank heavens for the calendar of Bizarre and Unique Holidays!Yesterday, March 1, was Employee Appreciation Day, which honors employees everywhere. It says our employers should take us out to lunch, buy us snacks and a gift. In today's world, I'd say if you have a job, that's our gift. So to celebrate, I took myself out to lunch, (pizza, yum!) and gratefully appreciated the fact that I have a job and am an employee of a really great company.March 1 was also National Pig Day, giving thanks and recognition of domesticated pigs. The site says they are clever, intelligent animals and can be taught to do tricks. Well, so far, they haven't been clever and intelligent enough to come up with any tricks to avoid becoming a side of bacon. So I celebrated the day with a delicious sausage sandwich.Peanut Butter Lover's Day fell on March 1, too. Did you know that peanut butter is 90 percent or more peanuts? It has no artificial preservatives. The average American consumes more than six pounds of peanuts and peanut butter products each year. The average child will eat 1,500 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches before he/she graduates high school. Americans consume on average over 1.5 billion pounds of peanut butter and peanut products each year. The amount of peanut butter eaten in a year could wrap the earth in a ribbon of 18-ounce peanut butter jars one and one-third times. Americans spend almost $800 million a year on peanut butter. I celebrated the day with a few Girl Scout Peanut Butter Tagalong cookies. Delish!Tomorrow, March 3, we can celebrate National If Pets Had Thumbs Day, Peach Blossom Day and national anthem DayOK, If Pets Had Thumbs Day is just plain dumb. It wants you to think what would happen if pets had thumbs. I'm deleting this one from my calendar.Peach Blossom Day is a day to celebrate peach blossoms, and for girls to celebrate being girls. Can't see the connection? Well, apparently the attributes of peach blossoms include: pretty, delicate, dainty, and sweet smelling, all feminine traits. If you call a young lady "peach blossom" it is a term of endearment. The roots of Peach Blossom Day trace directly back to Japan. A Doll Festival is held in Japan every year on March 3 when peach trees bloom in Japan. China holds a Peach Blossom Festival on March 3 when peach blossoms there are opening. So if there are girls in your family, you are to celebrate them by giving them dolls and peach blossoms.I'd rather celebrate with a shopping trip and maybe a piece of peach crumb pie for dessert.Another March 3 date to remember is national anthem Day. "The Star-Spangled Banner" was written by Francis Scott Key on Sept. 14, 1814 after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British the day before during the War of 1812. He was so ecstatic to see the American flag still flying the next day that he wrote this song. The United States Congress made "The Star Spangled Banner" our national anthem on March 3, 1931. This is a date truly worth observing.March 3 is also I Want You to be Happy Day. It is an unselfish day. It encourages us to do something to make others happy. So I'm going to leave you with this warm fuzzy true story I read on Yahoo News.com this week. It celebrates I Want You to Be Happy Day and Employee Appreciation Day.Jhaqueil Reagan, 18, of Indianapolis, Indiana was walking down a street on his way to an interview for a minimum wage job. Art Bouvier, owner of Papa Roux restaurant, was laying rock salt on the ground outside the restaurant after an ice storm had hit the area earlier in the morning. Jhaqueil asked Art how far it was to 10th and Sherman. Art told him it was at least six or seven miles, and told Jhaqueil that he would be better off taking a bus instead of walking, especially considering the freezing temperature. The young man said "Thank you" and kept on his way to the job interview.Later, Art and his wife were driving to grab coffee, and they came across Jhaqueil again, still walking, so they offered him a ride. Jhaqueil shared with the couple that he was on his way to a thrift shop to interview for a job, and he didn't have money for bus fare. He told them that his mother had passed away and he was left to care for his two younger siblings. After his mom died a couple of years ago, he dropped out of high school but he did obtain his GED.After hearing Jhaqueil's story, Art told him that even if he was offered the thrift shop job, he would hire him and double his salary. Art was impressed with the teen's ambition and work ethic. Jhaqueil accepted the job, and his first day was Monday. He cannot believe how everything turned out for him.This act of kindness by Art has gone viral on the Internet. When IndyGo, the local public transportation system learned of it, they gave Jhaqueil a free one-year pass.I Want You to be Happy Day ... that one should be on our calendars 365 days of the year.