I am the first to admit that I have many fears and phobias. For instance, I am a hypochondriac. If I hear of someone with an ailment, I'm constantly evaluating the symptoms to see if I might have this same ailment. I recently watched 3 back to back episodes of Mystery Diagnosis and I'm pretty darn sure that I have all 3 of those rare diseases. So what if I'm not a black man in my 50's with recent travels to Zimbabway. I could still have what he has!

I am scared senseless of mice. There is a little hole in the fence between my garden and the neighbors garden that often times in the spring plays home to a tiny little mouse. I brace myself every time and tell myself not to be afraid, but when I hear it's little feet scratching my heart stops, my feet become cement and my mind cannot make coherent thoughts, except oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh...well you get the picture.

I am VERY afraid of the dark...especially being outside in it alone. I am getting better, but there are still times, ok- every day, that I will run to the house from my car just in case someone is out there lurking in the carport.

But by far my biggest fear is of nakedness. Yes, you read that correctly...NAKEDNESS. You might think this is ridiculous, but this is a lesser known phobia and even has a name...Gymnaphobia. And no, I did not get that from Mystery Diagnosis. My whole life I have been uncomfortable with nakedness. It may have something to do with the fact that I grew up in Nakedville with the Nakedsons. My family LOVES to be naked. Except me. I don't even like to walk around naked in my own home, when I am all alone. And I'm pretty sure my dogs are judging me on the rare occassion that I do risk running from the bathroom to my bedroom after a shower.

I am currently house/dog sitting for my friend Carrie in Park City, UT. She has a nice big house that I have all to myself complete with a steam shower and a hot tub. I had not really taken advantage of either because I also do not like water on my face, especially hot water. Alene and Amber at work were making fun of me for not using the hot tub (did I mention it's outside...in the dark??) and they both said that they go in their hot tubs almost every day....NAKED. WHAT? Are they C-R-A-Z-Y? I laughed at them and told them they were weird.

But then I went home that night and was sitting around with nothing to do, because this house does not have TiVO or a DVR (how do these people LIVE here??!!) and decided it was time. I would use the hot tub. So I locked all the doors, put the dogs in the laundry room (I didn't want them judging me too), turned out all the lights, and went in the hot tub. Naked. In the dark. With hot water on my face. IT WAS LIBERATING!!! I felt alive and slightly brave. Until that is I heard some scratching, which I'm pretty sure was a mouse, so I ran back in the house and went to bed.