Happy Leap Day!

Ahhh, February 29, the day that only comes around once every four years. It's kind of a magical day, no? An extra day in the month to do something you wouldn't normally do. And you get to meet Leap Day William, the monopoly man who happens to be a huge University of Michigan fan. 

Kenneth is my favorite 30 Rock character.

He gives you candy for your tears, so what better way to spend another work day you don't want to be at then by getting free candy?

I've never really considered it before, but Leap Day is an opportunity to do something you wouldn't normally do. Try a new food or book a travel excursion, text your ex you've been dying to get back together with, or maybe tell your boss how you REALLY feel about that assignment.

But why bother to have Leap Day anyway? What's so special about February? It's just a tedious month filled with sappy love references and bad weather. Well, the Huffington Post has an excellent article about the history of Leap Day, if you're interested.

In short, the reason we have an extra day is because Julius Ceasar noticed the calendar wasn't lining up with the solar calendar--the amount of time it takes the earth to orbit the sun. So he decided to add an extra day to the last month of the year, which happened to be February. Voila! The Julian calendar was born. Aside from being one of Rome's greatest ruler (if not THE greatest) Julius Ceasar also saved our holiday schedule as we know it.

But there were still some problems with the timing, so Pope Gregory XII moved the calendar up by 11 days and came up with a new calendar that would more accurately reflect the timing of the earth's orbit. Now we have the Gregorian calendar, which is what we still use today.

So go out, enjoy a few Leap Day beers and do something impulsive before settling back into your office cubicle and your real life. Maybe you'll see Leap Day William while you're on the street.