"Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is." ~ German Proverb

You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face... The danger lies in refusing to face the fear, in not daring to come to grips with it... You must make yourself succeed every time. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.

Last week, Finnleigh took a cue from Eleanor Roosevelt and faced her fears. That's right. She took on the evil-haunted-mobile-smiley-balloon. (You may recall that a balloon is haunting my bathroom.)



“Many of our fears are tissue paper thin, and a single courageous step would carry us clear through them” — Brendan Francis

She was scared at first. But she slowly reached out and poked that creepy balloon in the mouth. Face to face. Mano a mano. Errr. Paw.

Finnleigh's bravery is an inspiration.

It is spring. And a new month. Not to mention, 2011 is your bitch.

Why not face one of your fears this week? Pick one. Take it down. And tell us about it. I'll do the same.

It can be a small little fear, or something huge and awful that has plagued you for years. Like spiders. Or alien abductions. (Not that I would know anything about fearing aliens...)

Don't be scared. We've got your back. That's what wolfpacks are for...

Tuesday Loseday: It was the ghost, in the powderoom, with the balloon.

Sunday morning, I woke up to this balloon hovering over my second floor, private toilet.

It was mocking me, this smug smiley face of goldenrod.

A drunken joke by my roommate? Nope. She got home at 5am and went straight to bed.

And with that, a mystery unraveled before us. I need your help. Here are the facts, gumshoes.

1. No one else had been in the apartment for the 48 hours prior to balloon discovery.

2. Before I went to sleep, the balloon was sitting in the living room, on the first floor of our apartment.

3. There was a window opened in the kitchen--which is just off the living room.

4. There are no windows in direct view of the staircase or my bathroom.

5. I did consider that Finnleigh, a four pound yorkie-poodle, may have been the culprit. But when I brought her in for questioning, I realized she was terrified of the yellow orb. The poor little pup can't even look at the helium infused emoticon.

My theory? The balloon is haunted. Its the most logical explanation I can offer. That, or Moaning Myrtle is living in my lavatory and wanted to play. What are your thoughts?