messymimi's meanderings

"Do you happen to have any bandages?"

Those are words that often send a chill to my heart. This time, they were spoken by Young Jacob, friend of both #1 and #2 Son and co-worker of Sweetie. He is part of maintenance staff.

What happened?, i asked, turning to see him holding up the little finger of his right hand, and i headed for the cabinet and pulled down the first aid kit.

"I was using a sledgehammer to beat out a dent in my car, and I broke the sledgehammer and my hand kept going and hit the car and the finger split open."

That's going to need more than a bandage, i told him.

"Nah, I turned the hose on it when it happened, and rinsed it out. You can see to the bone, it really opened up, but all it needs is to be bandaged."

Are you sure? It looks bad to me, i really think you need to have it stitched.

Little Girl walked in at this point and began pulling the stuff out of the first aid kit i had pulled from the cabinet. Young Jacob didn't answer, and i knew it was no use, so i made sure he slathered it with Neosporin.

You do need to keep a close eye on that, i told him, you don't want an infection that could lead you to lose the use of your finger, or worse.

"No, I sure wouldn't want that, it would be bad -- I need that finger to play my sax!"

Really, i do know he didn't want to go to a doctor and get it sewn closed because he can't afford it. But it has reminded me, some of these kids are made of some pretty tough stuff.

Today is

Anniversary of the 3rd Druk Gyalpo -- Bhutan

Baby Day -- birth anniversary of Dr. Spock

Badminton Horse Trials -- Badminton, Gloucestershire, England (international horse trials of show jumping, cross-country, and dressage; through Monday)

Brothers and Sisters Day/Sibling Appreciation Day -- an internet generated holiday, not to be confused with National Siblings Day on April 10 each year

Day of Osiris going forth from his mountain -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Door-Banging and Window-Tapping Conference -- Fairy Calendar (Gremlins)

Festa Del Serpari -- Cocullo, Italy (The Procession of the Snake Catchers, in honor of the city's patron, St. Dominick, whom they believed could cure snakebite)

Festival of Matsu/Mazu -- Southern China and Taiwan (Taoist goddess of the sea who protects fishermen and sailors; often worshiped in sea-faring areas surrounding China as well)

Festival of Nations -- St. Paul, MN, US (cultural exhibits, food, dance, and folk art from 90 ethnic groups in a celebration held each year since 1932; through Sunday)

Flag Day -- Poland

Holiday of the Region of Madrid -- Madrid, Spain

International Scurvy Awareness Day -- because yes, some people do still get this disease of Vitamin C deficiency; www.limestrong.com

Kansas Barbed Wire Swap/Sell -- La Crosse, Kansas (held by the Barbed Wire Collectors Association, and no, i'm not making that up! through Saturday)

King James's Day -- marking the publication in 1611 of the King James Version of the Bible

Make-a-Book Day -- the Thursday of Family Reading Week

Martin Z. Mollusk Day -- Ocean City, NJ (if the hermit crab sees his shadow, summer comes a week early)

National Day of Prayer -- US / Interfaith

National Day of Reason -- US Humanist alternative to the National Day of Prayer

National Education Day -- Indonesia

National Play Your Ukulele Day -- just because it's fun!

National Truffles Day

Richmond Mushroom Festival -- Richmond, MO, US (arts and crafts, carnival, barbecue contest, bike and car show, bands, and stage shows, all to celebrate the fun fungus; through Sunday)

Roberts Rules of Order Day -- birth anniversary of Henry M. Robert, author of the standard parliamentary guide Robert's Rules of Order

Rowdy Friends Day -- go look up the ones you haven't seen in a while

St. Athanasius the Great's Day

St. Zoe's Day

Teacher's Day -- Bhutan; Iran

Twelfth Day of Ridvan -- Baha'i

Birthdays Today:

David Beckham, 1975
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, 1972
Lesley Gore, 1946
Bianca Jagger, 1945
Engelbert Humperdinck, 1936
Roscoe Lee Browne, 1925
Theodore Bikel, 1924
Dr. Benjamin Spock, 1903
Baron Von Richthofen, 1892
Hedda Hopper, 1885
Henry M. Robert, 1837 (author of those Rules of Order we celebrate today)

Today in History:

Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, is arrested and imprisoned on charges of adultery, incest, treason and witchcraft, 1536
John Knox returns from exile to Scotland to become the leader of the beginning Scottish Reformation, 1559
Mary, Queen of Scots, escapes from Loch Leven Castle, 1568
The King James Bible is published for the first time in London, England, by printer Robert Barker, 1611
King Charles II of England grants a permanent charter to the Hudson's Bay Company to open up the fur trade in North America, 1670
William Herschel discovers 1st binary star, Xi Ursae Majoris, 1780
Charles Fremantle founds the Swan River Colony in Australia, 1829
Peruvian defenders fight off Spanish fleet at the Battle of Callao, 1866
Good Housekeeping magazine goes on sale for the first time, 1885
Cree and Assiniboine warriors win the Battle of Cut Knife, their largest victory over Canadian forces during the North-West Rebellion, 1885
The Congo Free State is established by King Léopold II of Belgium, 1885
Hannibal W Goodwin patents celluloid photographic film, 1887
General Motors acquires the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware, 1918
Pearl S. Buck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for The Good Earth, 1938
The world's first ever jet airliner, the De Havilland Comet 1, makes its maiden flight, from London to Johannesburg, 1952
Tennessee Williams is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 1955
The British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 departs on her maiden voyage to New York City, 1969
The 1986 World Exposition in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, opens, 1986
The European Central Bank is founded in Brussels in order to define and execute the European Union's monetary policy, 1998
President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military, 2000
Cyclone Nargis makes landfall in Myanmar killing over 130,000 people and leaving millions of people homeless, 2008

A few weeks ago, it seems like yesterday, i posted a Feline Friday about Treasure.

The Treasure is All Growed Up now, and heading to the shelter today to go up for pre-adoption.

This was Iris, JetStar, and Scorj, or however #2 Son spells that last name, when they arrived, so little.

Today:

He's happy, and loves to play with his sister's tail.

The two big girls, laying on top of and among the "littles," which are only a bit bigger than they were in the first picture.

The adventure continues.

Today is

Bats Day in the Fun Park -- Anaheim, CA, US (includes The Bats Day Happy Haunts Swinging Wake: A Costumed Celebration, a Bat's Day Holiday Black Market, and a Spooky Trip to Disneyland; through Sunday)

Bent Wand-Straightening Day -- Fairy Calendar

Bona Dia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (a women's festival)

Canadian Tulip Festival -- Ottawa, O (the largest tulip festival in the world; through the 2oth)

Cinco de Mayo Fiesta -- Portland, Oregon (the sister city to Guadalajara, Mexico, has a multicultural party; through Sunday)

Constitution Day -- Poland

Constitution Memorial Day -- Japan (Part of the Showa Golden Week Festivities)

Dandelion May Fest -- Der Marktplatz, Dover, OH, US (if a food or drink can be made with dandelion, you will find it here, along with fun and entertainment galore; through tomorrow)

Dia de la Cruz -- Mexico (Day of the Holy Cross, a festive day for construction workers, with parties and a flower decorated cross placed on every piece of new construction through the country)

Exaltation of Wine -- Ribeiro, Spain (wine, fruit, music and dance, what more could you ask? through Sunday)

Florae -- Ancient Roman Calendar (ceremony at the temple of Flora)

Garden Meditation Day -- let go your concerns and center your attention on your garden

Great American Lobster Race Day -- Aiken, South Carolina, US (come adopt a lobster and have a great time!)

Good Friday/Holy Friday -- Orthodox Christians following the Julian Calendar

Hug Your Cat Day -- sponsored by Apricat

International Tuba Day -- yes, here for details

Isle of Eight Flags Shrimp Festival -- Fernandina Beach, FL, US (celebrating the birthplace of the modern shrimping industry; through Sunday)

Lumpy Rug Day -- the tongue-in-cheek day to tease bigots about shoving unwanted facts under the rug

Magic Dragon Street Meet and Generation Next Magic Dragon -- Historic Bagnell Dam Strip and Prewitt's Point, MO, US (if you like car shows, this is the place for you! through Sunday)

May Day Fairie Festival -- Spoutwood Farm, Glen Rock, PA, US (celebrate the beginning of spring and the return of all the nature spirits to the warm world with musicians, dancers, storytellers, a Maypole dance, fairie arts and crafts activities and vendors, education about healthy eating and organic farming, fairie and gnome habitat tours, fairie tea parties, and guest appearances by the Green Man, the Mossmen, Sweet Pea, and others; through Sunday)

National Raspberry Popover Day / National Raspberry Tart Day

National Two Different Colored Shoes Day -- celebrate your uniqueness, take a risk, and step outside of your routine today

No Pants Day -- first Friday in May, and not to be confused with the annual No Pants Subway Ride in NYC

Orangeburg Festival of Roses -- Orangeburg, SC, US (celebrating flowers on the banks of the Edisto River, the longest black water river in the world; through Sunday)

Orthodox Good Friday -- Orthodox Christians following the Julian Calendar

Paranormal Day -- i have enough trouble with normal, thank you

Pregnancy Fitness Awareness Day -- can't confirm this is still sponsored by Karen Bridson

Southern Appalachian Dulcimer Festival -- Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park, McCalla, AL, US (through tomorrow)

Specially-Abled Pet Day -- to learn more about caring for disabled pets, www.disabledpetday.com

St. James the Lesser's Day (Patron of apothecaries, druggists, the dying, fullers, hatters and hatmakers, milliners, pharmacists; Frascati, Italy; Monterotondo, Italy; Nemi, Italy; Uruguay; Venegono Inferiore, Italy)

St. Phillip the Apostle's Day (Patron of hatmakers and hatters, milliners, pastry chefs; Luxembourg; Monterotondo, Italy; Nemi, Italy; San Felipe Indian Pueblo; Uruguay; Venegono, Inferiore, Italy)

Toad Suck Daze -- Conway, AR, US (toad-jumping contests, carnival, parade, concerts, arts and crafts, softball tournament, and more; through Sunday)

Wordsmith Day

World Press Freedom Day -- International/UN

Birthdays Today:

Christopher Cross, 1951
Mary Hopkin, 1950
Doug Henning, 1947
Frankie Valli, 1937
James Brown, 1933
Sugar Ray Robinson, 1921
Pete Seeger, 1919
Bing Crosby, 1903
Golda Meir, 1898
Niccolo Machiavelli, 1469

Today in History:

Christopher Columbus first sights Jamaica (Santiago), 1494
Francis Bacon is charged with bribery, 1621
A royal charter is granted for Connecticut, 1662
The last total solar eclipse to be observed from London for the next 900 years occurs as predicted by Edmund Halley; called Halley's eclipse as he predicted it to within 4 minutes accuracy and described its path to within 30km, 1715
The Constitution of May 3 (the first modern constitution in Europe) is proclaimed by the Sejm of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 1791
Washington, D.C., is incorporated as a city, 1802
The Canterbury and Whitstable Railway is opened. It is the first steam hauled passenger railway to issue season tickets and include a tunnel, 1830
The Hudson's Bay Company gives up all claims to Vancouver Island, 1867
The Great Fire of 1901 in Jacksonville, Florida, destroys 1,700 buildings, 1901
Raja Harishchandra the first full-length Indian feature film is released, marking the beginning of the Indian film industry, 1913
The poem In Flanders Fields is written by Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, 1915
Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes the first woman to head the United States Mint, 1933
Margaret Mitchell's Gone With the Wind is awarded the Pulitzer Prize, 1937
The Kentucky Derby is televised for the first time, 1951
Lieutenant Colonels Joseph O. Fletcher and William P. Benedict of the United States land a plane at the North Pole, 1952
The Anne Frank House opens in Amsterdam, Netherlands, 1960
The first "spam" email is sent by a Digital Equipment Corporation marketing representative to every ARPANET address on the west coast of the United States, 1978
The strongest tornado ever recorded, one of 66 tornadoes recorded that day,with winds of up to 313mph, strikes Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, 1999
The sport of geocaching begins, with the first cache placed and the coordinates from a GPS posted on Usenet, 2000
New Hampshire's famous Old Man of the Mountain collapses, 2003

Friday was a long, long day.

Worth it, though. It started as usual, with kitten feedings and tons of laundry and dishes. Fielding kid questions. Making sure lunches got packed and groceries got purchased.

After dropping the kids at school, i took the three biggest kittens to the shelter to go up for adoption. Their combo test was negative, and they will be scheduled for surgery next week.

Meanwhile, i also arrived there to find out that in addition to my usual duties feeding, watering, and medicating, the morning caretaker hadn't come in and hadn't called until 11am to say she was sick, so the litter boxes hadn't been taken care of, either. Usually, Little Girl is there to help me, but i had to go early while she was still at school. Still i managed to do it alone, which was fine. Only 3 kitties in isolation, too, so that helped.

Back home to feed kittens, throw together some leftovers for supper, and as soon as Sweetie got the kids home from school, Little Girl and i headed to the church for my favorite night, rEcess.

Little Girl had never volunteered before, and even though i didn't get a chance to check it out ahead of time to make sure it was okay to bring her, i figured she's so good with kids it would only help to have an extra set of hands.

Never in my wildest dreams could i have imagined how right i would be.

We had 5 special needs kids and 10 siblings. We also had several volunteers not show up. Lack of communication, they somehow thought it had been cancelled.

It was a wild and crazy night. Often we couldn't concentrate on one child only, so i often ended up carrying one while chasing another. Our regular nurse wasn't there to do medical, and it took Brad a while to figure out where the rest of Ginny's feeding tube was, and Emmy, poor baby, pulled hers out (her parents say she's been doing that a lot lately). Lana's tubes got tangled, too, so we had a time with it and it's a good thing her older sister knows the machinery inside and out.

Little Girl stayed in the big room where most of the playing and the arts and crafts are done and just manned the room. Whatever was going on, she was playing, helping, carrying, and just generally taking care of whatever or whoever was in there, while the adults traded off being in there with her, depending on which kids wanted to do what activity. She was the constant in that room.

My night was traded off between trying to get Grace to eat and chasing her everywhere, following Emmy, and making sure Jack settled down long enough to eat. Speaking of Jack, the last time, one of his legs was in a cast. He healed, and grew an inch! He may not be able to walk, but he rolls wherever he needs to go and doesn't let anything slow him down.

A few times, i was also carrying Grace and chasing Thomas, the two-year-old sibling of Emmy, or carrying Thomas and chasing Grace. It works both ways.

Even short handed we had a lovely night. The parents all came back from their respective nights off to find we had helped the kids pot some impatiens for them, and make Mothers' Day cards, and use glitter glue to decorate hats. Everyone also got a special backpack with some summer supplies, thanks to a generous donor who wanted them to remember us through the summer.

It's going to be a long time until September, and i miss all these kids already. Giving parents of extreme special needs kids a night off once in a while is so much fun, that even with the wildness of having so many to supervise at once on her first night Little Girl can't wait to come back with me.

Today is

Apple Blossom Festival -- Gettysburg, PA, US (58th annual; through tomorrow)

Bark in the Park -- Lincoln Park, Chicago, IL, US (in recognition of Be Kind to Animals week which begins tomorrow; sponsored by The Anti-Cruelty Society)

Bird Day -- anniversary of the first Bird Day declared in 1894 by the Superintendent of Schools in Oil City, PA, Charles Babcock

Bladder Cancer Awareness Day -- see this site for details

Cassinga Day -- Namibia

Clun Green Man Festival -- Clun, Shropshire, England (spring festival ending with the Clun Green Man battling and defeating the Frost Queen to end winter and bring in spring, along with a May Fair; through the 7th)

Compliment Someone's Smile Day

Cotton Pickin' Fair -- Gay, GA, US (a fabulous two days of Southern family fun)

Declaration of Independence Day -- Latvia

Dodenherdenking -- Netherlands (Remembrance of those in the armed forces who have died in war or peacekeeping missions.)

Fairy Ring Day (Giving) -- Fairy Calendar

Free Comic Book Day -- for the full line up of comics that will be given away today, check here

Frustrating the Fairies Day -- Ireland (a day to confuse the fairies so they may not cause any mischief)

Galveston Historic Homes Tour -- Galveston, TX, US (Galveston Island’s great treasures of Victorian and post-Victorian architecture that are privately owned are opened for tours this weekend and next)

Giro D'Italia -- Naples to Brescia, Italy (one of cycling's three Grand Tours; through the 26th)

Herb Day -- an international celebration of herbs and all the flavor they add to our lives; try a new herb to season a dish today

Holland Tulip Time Festival -- Holland, MI, US (one of the best small town festivals in the US, with visitors from around the world; through next Saturday)

Holy Saturday -- Orthodox Christians following the Julian Calendar

International Firefighters' Day

International Space Day

Join Hands Day -- uniting young people and adults to do community service projects

Kansas Sampler Festival -- Liberal, KS, US (a living brochure of the state of Kansas, with over 100 communities, hiking trails, historic sites, off-the-beaten-track places, and more represented in one place, highlighting all the great things there are to do in the state of Kansas; through tomorrow)

Kentucky Derby Day -- Churchill Downs, Louisville, KY, US (the longest continually held sporting event in the US)

Low Country Shrimp Festival -- McClellanville, SC, US (seafood, arts, crafts, civic displays, entertainment, and the blessing of the fleet)

May Fourth Movement
     Literary Day -- Republic of China
     Youth Day -- People's Republic of China

Memorial Day -- Curacao (military ceremonies to honor victims of WWII, not a government holiday)

Midori no hi -- Japan (Greenery Day/Arbor Day)

National Candied Orange Peel Day

National Homebrew Day

National Kids Fitness Day -- this one doesn't seem to have any particular sponsor or organization behind it, but please get those kids outdoors to do something fun, any time you can!

National Orange Juice Day

National Scrapbooking Day -- begun by Creative Memories, now celebrated by scrapbookers everywhere

National Travel and Tourism Week begins -- US

National Weather Observers Day -- another fun day not sponsored by anyone; as good a day, though, as any other to learn a bit more about meteorology

Orthodox Holy Saturday -- Orthodox Christians following the Julian Calendar

Peddler's Village Strawberry Festival -- Lahaska, PA, US (strawberries in every form imaginable; through tomorrow)

Relationship Renewal Day -- because someone, somewhere, wants you to stop taking the ones you love for granted

Remembrance Day for Martyrs and the Disabled -- Afghanistan

Respect for Chickens Day -- International (United Poultry Concerns)

Sagami Giant Kite Festival -- Sagami, Japan (through tomorrow; giant kite that requires a team of 100 people is flown on the banks of the Sagami River)

St. Florian's Day (Patron of brewers, chimney sweeps, coopers, drowning victims, fire prevention, firefighters, harvests, soap-boilers; Austria; Chur, Switzerland; Linz, Austria; Poland; against battle, drowning, fire, and flood)
     a recognized holiday in Austria

St. Venerius of Milan's Day (Patron of lighthouse keepers)

Star Wars Day -- greet others with "May the 4th be with you!"

Towsontown Spring Festival -- Towson, MD, US (four stages of continual entertainment, food, art and photography exhibit, and more; through tomorrow)

Virginia State Championship Chili Cook-Off -- Roanoke, VA, US (the best chili from around the country, and much more)

Birthdays Today:

Randy Travis, 1959
Pia Zadora, 1956
George F. Will, 1941
Audrey Hepburn, 1929
Heloise Bowles Cruse, 1919
Bartolomeo Cristofori, 1655

Today in History:

Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus are condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance, 1415
Peter Minuit becomes director-general of New Netherlands, 1626
A French manufacturer debuts the first folding umbrella, 1715
Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III, 1776
Napoleon arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile, 1814
The Haymarket Square Riot takes place in Chicago, 1886
The United States begins construction of the Panama Canal, 1904
The Royal Canadian Navy is created, 1910
May Fourth Movement: Student demonstrations take place in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, protesting the Treaty of Versailles, 1919
Al Capone begins serving an eleven-year prison sentence for tax evasion, 1932
Ernest Hemingway is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea, 1953
The "Freedom Riders" begin a bus trip through the South, 1961
The Don't Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to "Greenpeace Foundation", 1972
An all-female Japanese team reaches the summit of Manaslu, becoming the first women to climb an 8,000-meter peak, 1974
Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1979
Latvia proclaims the renewal of its independence after the Soviet occupation, 1990
The Scottish National Party wins the Scottish general election and becomes the largest party in the Scottish Parliament for the first time ever, 2007

When Bigger Girl walks into the kitchen to have a chat, you never know what you are going to get.

"Mom, what if the Earth is actually just a reality show for aliens, and if we ever do actually make peace, the show will get cancelled?" was her latest.

Hm, i told her, i think i'll have to go to church and pray about that one.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately since they are my kids, my sarcasm is usually lost on them.

Today will be full, with nursery duty at church, and then doing my second work day at the neighborhood pool (everyone has the option of working a few days, or paying extra dues, and i'm too, shall we say, frugal -- read stingy -- to pay someone else to do the work i know i can do over there), and then prayer meeting.

If the aliens get bored watching me, i'm sure the reality show that is someone else's life will keep them satisfied for a bit longer, and if our show gets cancelled, well, i won't have to worry about the ironing pile any more.

Today is

Arrival Day -- Guyana

Be Kind to Animals Week -- sponsored by the American Humane Association, through Saturday

Bevrijdingsday -- Netherlands(Liberation Day)

Bonza Bottler Day

Cartoonists Day -- celebrates the first color cartoon ever published, The Yellow Kid, on this day in 1895.

Children's Day -- South Korea

Cinco de Mayo / Anniversary of the Battle of Puebla -- Mexico, and anyplace that beer brewers want to make a minor battle into a big deal to increase beer sales today

Constitution Day -- Kyrgyzstan

Coronation Day -- Thailand (crowning of King Bhumibol Adulyadej in 1950)

Day of Adoration of Anubis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar

Easter/Pascha -- Orthodox Christians following the Julian Calendar

Europe Day -- Council of Europe

Fairy Ring Day (Receiving) -- Fairy Calendar

Halfway Point of Spring/Autumn

Hanswijk Procession -- Mechelen, Belgium (since the year 1272, the Sunday before Ascension Thursday, the town celebrates Our Lady of Hanswijk, in thanks for the ending of plague and war)

Hidirellez -- Turkey (arrival of spring and a religious holiday of the Alevi peoples, celebrating the meeting on Earth of the Prophets Al-Khidr and Elijah; begins this evening and goes through tomorrow)

International Bereaved Mothers' Day -- for mothers who are grieving the loss of their children

International Day of the Midwife -- an old option becomes new again

Kodomo-no-hi (Children's Day)-- Japan

Lusophone Culture Day -- Community of Portuguese-speaking countries

Martyr's Day -- Lebanon

Mother's Day -- Hungary; Lithuania; Mozambique; Portugal; Spain

Motorcycle Mass and Blessing of the Bikes -- Paterson, NJ (on the first Sunday of May, which is Motorcycle Safety Month; some other places will also observe bike blessings throughout the month)

National Chocolate Custard Day

National Hoagie Day

National Infertility Survival Day® -- encouraging infertility survivors to reach out to those still coming to terms with being diagnosed as infertile

National Childhood Stroke Awareness Day -- yes, children can have strokes, too

Orthodox Easter/Pascha -- Orthdox Christians following the Julian Calendar

Patriot's Victory Day -- Ethiopia

Perfect Game Day -- Cy Young pitches baseball's first officially recorded perfect game on this day in 1904

Senior Citizens Day -- Palau

St. Judith's Day (Patron of Prussia)

Totally Chipotle® Day -- details are here

World Laughter Day -- sponsored by Dr. Madan Kataria, founder of the worldwide Laughter Yoga movementhttp://www.laughternetwork.co.uk/world-laughter-2013.html

Ziua Barbatului -- Romania (Men's Day)

Birthdays Today:

Danielle Fishel, 1981
Tina Yothers, 1973
Brian Williams, 1959
Tammy Wynette, 1942
Pat Carroll, 1927
Ann B. Davis, 1926
Alice Faye, 1915
Tyrone Power, 1913
James Beard, 1903
Nelly Bly, 1864
John Batterson Stetson, 1830
Karl Marx, 1818
Soren Kierkegaard, 1813

Today in History:

Rebel barons begin a chain of events that leads to King John of England's eventual signing of the Magna Carta, 1215
Kublai Khan becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire, 1260
Jews are expelled from Speyer Germany, 1430
Christopher Columbus lands at Jamaica and claims it for Spain, 1494
In France, the Estates-General convenes for the first time since 1614, 1789
Citizenship is denied to Jews of Canton of Aargau Switzerland, 1809
Mary Kies becomes the first woman issued a US patent, for a method of weaving, 1809
The American Bible Society organizes in NY, 1816
Emperor Napoleon I dies in exile on the island of Saint Helena, 1821
In Belgium, the first railway in continental Europe opens between Brussels and Mechelen, 1835
The American Medical Association forms in Philadelphia, 1847
Cinco de Mayo in Mexico: troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halt a French invasion in the Battle of Puebla, 1862
The first train robbery in the US occurs in North Bend, Ohio, 1865
Sitting Bull leads his band of Lakota into Canada to avoid harassment by the United States Army, 1877
The Music Hall in New York City (later known as Carnegie Hall) has its grand opening and first public performance, with Tchaikovsky as the guest conductor, 1891
Cy Young pitches the first perfect game in modern baseball history, 1904
Coco Chanel introduces Chanel No. 5, 1921
John T. Scopes is arrested for teaching evolution in violation of Tennessee's Butler Act, 1925
West Germany gains full sovereignty, 1955
Alan Shepard becomes the first American to travel into outer space, 1961
Bobby Sands dies in the Long Kesh prison hospital after 66 days of hunger-striking, aged 27, 1981
The government of Sudan signs an accord with the Sudan Liberation Army, 2006
Mass protests in Greece erupt in response to austerity measures imposed by the government as a result of the Greek debt crisis, 2010

"Mom, I did something amazing and astonishing at Youth Group tonight!" Little Girl came in last night to grab a snack and made this announcement.

Okay, what was that? i asked.

"I went to Youth Group wearing a color other than black! See, I have my blue t-shirt on, and apparently it's a big deal that I wore something other than black tonight! Everyone was commenting on it, they were amazed."

So, now that they've gotten used to you being in black, are you going to start wearing blue every week instead?

"Well, since this is my only blue shirt, uh, no." She picked up her plate and a glass of water, then turned and said, "By the way. I don't understand why people say the glass is half empty or half full when, technically, it's always all the way full, just partly full of air."

And George Carlin says the glass is the wrong size i noted as she took her snack to the table.

Today is

Adhesive Postage Stamp Day -- the first adhesive postage stamps went on sale on this date in 1840 in Great Britain

Army Day/St. George's Day -- Bulgaria

Beverage Day -- an internet holiday that encourages you to try a beverage you've never had before

Festival of Min -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (a four day festival celebrating male fertility)

International No Diet Day -- for reasons not to diet, but focus n health instead, click here

Joseph Brackett Day -- birth anniversary of Shaker author of the song "Simple Gifts"

Martyrs' Day -- Syria

Melanoma Monday -- learn how to check yourself for skin cancer

Mounikhia / Munichia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival of Artemis, date approximate)

National Crepe Suzette Day

National Meeting Planners Appreciation Day 2013 -- US (you are only obligated to celebrate this if you love meetings, love to plan meetings, or have a meeting planner in your organization to humor)

National Nurses Day -- US, start of National Nurses Week

National Tourist Appreciation Day -- during US National Travel and Tourism Week

No Homework Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays (celebrated on Monday if it falls on a weekend)

Orthodox Easter Monday -- Orthodox Christians following the Julian Calendar
Sham el Nessim

Remembrance for Eyvind Kelve -- Asatru/Norse Pagan Calendar (pagan martyr)

School Bus Drivers Appreciation Day -- US

St. George's Day -- Eastern Orthodox Churches (the day to visit graves and decorate, leave special food, and provide entertainment for the dearly departed) related observance:
Shepherd's and Herdsman's Day -- Bulgaria

St. Gerard of Lunel's Day (Patron of epileptics and Montesanto, Italy; against epilepsy and headaches)

Yale Lock Day -- the Yale lock was patented this day in 1861

Anniversaries Today:

Princess Margaret marries Anthony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey (the first televised royal wedding), 1960

Birthdays Today:

George Clooney, 1961
Tom Bergeron, 1955
Tony Blair, 1953
Bob Seger, 1945
Willie Mays, 1931
Orson Welles, 1915
Stewart Granger, 1913
Rudolph Valentino, 1895
Gaston Leroux, 1868
Sigmund Freud, 1856
Robert E. Peary, 1856
Maximilian Robespierre, 1758

Today in History:

Spanish and German Imperial troops sack Rome, which many consider the end of the Renaissance, 1527
Mongol emperor Babur defeats the Afghans and Bengals, 1529
Henry VIII orders that English Bibles be placed in every church, 1536
Louis XIV of France moves his court to Versailles, 1682
The first African-American Masonic Lodge (African # 459) forms Prince Hall, Boston, 1787
John Deere produces the first steel plow, 1833
James Gordon Bennett, Sr. publishes the first issue of the New York Herald, 1835
The Glaciarium, the world's first mechanically frozen ice rink, opens, 1844
Dr John Gorrie patents a "refrigeration machine", 1851
Linus Yale patents the Yale lock, 1851
Chief Crazy Horse of the Oglala Sioux surrenders to United States troops in Nebraska, 1877
The Eiffel Tower is officially opened to the public at the Universal Exposition in Paris, 1889
George V becomes King of the United Kingdom upon the death of his father, Edward VII, 1910
George Herman "Babe" Ruth, of the Boston Red Sox, slams his first home run, against the New York Yankees, 1915
The German zeppelin Hindenburg catches fire and is destroyed, 1937
John Steinbeck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his novel The Grapes of Wrath, 1940
Bob Hope performs his first USO show, 1941
Roger Bannister becomes the first person to run the mile in under four minutes, 1954
Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and French President François Mitterrand officiate at the opening of the Channel Tunnel, 1994
Chaiten Volcano erupts in Chile, forcing the evacuation of more than 4,500 people, 2008

The funny thing about libraries is, they are still needed, and i believe they always will be.

Maybe i'm just spoiled, because our libraries in this parish are really, really great. Spacious and beautiful and full of helpful, knowledgeable people, wonderful reference works, and the ability to find out something besides what Google can tell you.

They also have the most fabulous children's summer programs imaginable. Every day of the summer there are events at multiple branches, and not just story time. Ballet performances, visits from zoo docents with fascinating animals, crafts, science experiments, and one branch even hosts their now famous watermelon seed spitting contest each year.

When i first moved to this area, the libraries were at a crossroads. This was well before the internet, and it was all budget related. The people who ran the libraries made a promise. If the voters would give them a property tax millage devoted solely to running the libraries, thus protecting them from the vagaries of budget decisions being fought from year to year as people argued about such things, they would give us the best library system in the state. It was voted in, and they kept their word, and the tax has been renewed every time by a huge margin.

We love our libraries!

My favorite library story came from a friend whose husband was career military. During budget cuts many years ago, one thing the commander of one base was considering was shutting down the base library. While there was a hue and cry from the school and others on the base, his idea was that "nobody really needs a base library."

Then the officers over him heart about it. An edict was issued -- any base that chose to close down its library to save costs because libraries aren't needed had better not leave its golf course open, either.

No libraries were closed. That story always leaves me grinning when i think of it.

If you live in any area where the librarians are speaking to legislators today (see below for an explanation), give them your support if you can.

No matter what Google says, we need our libraries!

Today is

Beaufort Wind Force Scale Day -- birth anniversary of the British Navy officer whose wind scale, in refined form

Box Camera Day -- George Eastman patented the Box Camera on this day in 1888

Childhood Depression Awareness Day / Children's Mental Health Awareness Day -- sometimes also called Green Ribbon Day

Day of the Soldier -- El Salvador

Experience the Awesome Stomach-Churning Wonder of a Thrill Ride Day -- internet generated, and they can have it!

Feast of St. Nicola -- Bari, Italy (celebrates the moving of the relics of St. Nicholas -- yes, later Santa Claus -- to this town, where they still are; here he is patron of orphans and pirates, and the date of his body's arrival is celebrated as a huge three-day festival with fireworks included)

Fire Escape Ladder Day -- Joseph Winters patented a wagon-mounted version on this day in 1878

Hamburg Harbor Day -- Hamburg, Germany (founding of the city)

Homeland Defender's Day -- Kazakhstan

Homespun History Day -- internet holiday often exploited by Modern Drunkard Magazine as a day upon which to drink specifically so the stories will sound better

Library Legislative Days and Virtual Library Legislative Days -- sponsored by the ALA, encouraging librarians around the US to go to Washington, D.C., or their own state capitals to speak to legislators about the important library issues; through tomorrow

National Roast Leg of Lamb Day

National Teacher Appreciation Day -- US

Nones of May -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Primary Day: Live from Delaware Street -- Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site, Indianapolis, IN, US (hear conversations of the day and time of President Harrison, and speak to re-enactors who play the parts of his family and staff to see what life was like in 1898)

Radio Day -- Bulgaria; Russia

St. Domitian of Huy's Day (Patron of Huy Liege, Belgium; against fever)

World Asthma Day -- International

Anniversaries Today:

Founding of Univerzita Karlova in Prague, the first university in Central Europe, 1348

Birthdays Today:

Owen Hart, 1965
Tim Russert, 1950
Johnny Unitas, 1933
Teresa Brewer, 1931
Darren McGavin, 1922
Eva Peron, 1919
Gary Cooper, 1901
Archibald Macleish, 1892
Gabby Hayes, 1885
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, 1840
Johannes Brahms, 1833
Robert Browning, 1812
Francis Beaufort, 1774

Today in History:

The dome of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople collapses, 558
Joan of Arc leads the final charge in the Battle of Orleans, 1429
Louis XIV of France inaugurates The Palace of Versailles, 1664
The city of New Orleans is founded by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, 1718
Jews are expelled from Ukraine by Empress Catherine I of Russia, 1727
Chief Pontiac begins the "Conspiracy of Pontiac" by attacking British forces at Fort Detroit, 1763
The world premier of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, 1824
The independence of Greece is recognized by the Treaty of London, 1832
George Eastman patents the "Kodak Box Camera," 1888
In Saint Petersburg, Russian scientist Alexander Stepanovich Popov demonstrates to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society his invention, the Popov lightning detector — a primitive radio receiver, 1895
German submarine SM U-20 sinks RMS Lusitania, 1915
England lowers age of women voters from 30 to 21, 1928
Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering (later renamed Sony) is founded with around 20 employees, 1946
The Council of Europe is founded during the Hague Congress, 1948
The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is first published by Geoffrey W.A. Dummer, 1952
Canadian Patrick Morrow became the first person to climb each of the Seven Summits, 1986
The Space Shuttle Endeavour is launched on its first mission, 1992
Mercedes-Benz buys Chrysler for $40 billion USD and forms DaimlerChrysler in the largest industrial merger in history, 1998
The tomb of Herod the Great is discovered, 2007

Before there was CGI, in fact, before there were too many computers on the planet at all, creating special effects was a painstaking, exacting task. The best in the business, hands down, was Ray Harryhausen, who inspired our current crop of filmmakers.

A light has gone out, Mr. Harryhausen has died. He was 92, living in London, and i grew up believing he was a magician.

He didn't have the huge budgets films have today, and so would often do the incredibly detailed work by himself to save funds. From what i gather, he never had more than two or three people helping him anyway.

My favorite of all his films was Clash of the Titans (it's Sweetie's favorite, too). Once, during a class on ancient Greek history, we were studying the mythology of the Greeks as well, and the professor arranged a screening of that film, so we could compare what we knew of the actual myths to the Hollywood version. It's a fond memory, popcorn and a Harryhausen film and i didn't have to spend a dime. (Remember there weren't personal computers in the dinosaur ages, and no Netflix on demand, so you had to either wait for it to come on TV, or go to the movies.)

Rest in Peace, Mr. Harryhausen; you showed generations what is possible, and i thank you.

Today is

Blessing of the Sea -- Hastings, Sussex, England (traditional blessing on the day before Ascension Day, conducted by the Rectors of All Saints and St. Clement's churches)

Bonnie Blue Horse Show -- Virginia Horse Center, Lexington, VA, US (a major, A-rated, all-breed event of the American Horse Show Association)

Desert Folk Festival -- Homs and Palmyra Syria (keeping the culture of the desert peoples alive for the next generations; through Saturday)

Dog-Prodding Day -- Fairy Calendar (Gremlins)

Donate a Days Wages to Charity Day 2013 -- onedayswages.org

Fête de l'iris -- Belgium (Brussels Region Day)

Helston Furry Dance a/k/a The Flora -- Helston, Cornwall, England (the world-famous dance is each year on May 8, unless that day is Sunday or Monday, when it's held the Saturday before; dancing around the streets begins very early in the morning)

Iris Day -- celebrate these beautiful spring flowers

Liberation Day -- Czech Republic; Slovakia

Miguel Hidalgo Day -- Mexico (birth anniversary of the father of Mexican independence)

National Coconut Cream Pie Day

National Empanada Day

National Nightshift Workers Day/Third Shift Workers Day -- US (remembering those intrepid souls who keep things running smoothly through the night)

National Receptionist Day -- US (because that first impression is important; National Receptionists Association)

National School Nurse Day -- US

National Student Nurses Day -- US

No Socks Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, who want you to let your toes go free, and cut down on your laundry a bit today

Occupational Safety and Health Professionals Day

Parents' Day -- South Korea

Royal Windsor Horse Show -- Windsor, England (through the 12th)

Stay Up All Night Day -- some teenager probably thought this one up, as an excuse to go ahead and convince the parents it was okay

St. Ida of Nivelles' Day (Patron of erysipelas patients, toothache sufferers; against erysipelas and toothache)

Thank Your School Librarian Day -- US (American Association of School Librarians)

Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for Those Who Lost Their Lives during the Second World War -- International

Truman Day -- Missouri, US

V-E Day -- some countries celebrate today, some celebrate tomorrow

World Red Cross Day / World Red Crescent Day

Birthdays Today:

Enrique Iglesias, 1975
Robert M. Hensel, 1969
Melissa Gilbert, 1964
Toni Tennille, 1943
Peter Benchley, 1940
Rick Nelson, 1940
Don Rickles, 1926
Robert Johnson, 1911
Bishop Fulton Sheen, 1895
Harry S Truman, 1884
Jean-Henri Dunant, 1828

Today in History:

Hernando de Soto reaches the Mississippi River and names it Río de Espíritu Santo, 1541
Antoine Lavoisier, the father of modern chemistry, is tried and guillotined by the Reign of Terror, 1794
Future US president Zachary Taylor defeats a Mexican force north of the Rio Grande in the first major battle of the Mexican-American war, 1846
At Gilmore's Gardens in New York City, the first Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show opens, 1877
Pharmacist John Styth Pemberton first sells a carbonated beverage named "Coca-Cola" as a patent medicine, 1886
In Martinique, Mount Pelée erupts, destroying the town of Saint-Pierre and killing over 30,000 people, 1902
In Rheims, France, German forces agree to an unconditional surrender, ending the war in Europe, 1945
The rollercoaster Revolution, the first steel coaster with a vertical loop, opens at Six Flags Magic Mountain, 1976
Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler make the first ascent of Mt. Everest without supplemental oxygen, 1978
The World Health Organization announces the eradication of smallpox, 1980
The new Canadian War Museum opens, in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of V-E Day, 2005

What's up, Son? i asked as #2 Son walked into the kitchen carrying a plate of hamburgers.

"Oh, I just barbecued some burgers for me and Festus."

Please note that this was about two hours after dinner. Remind me to write a post about how much it costs to feed teen boys. Then again, now that i think about it, please don't. It would depress me.

He proceeded to procure and prepare the burgers for consumption, grabbing condiments, tomato, and lettuce, and assembling it all as quickly as he could.

Don't forget to wash the lettuce, i told him, you never know whose hands have been on it.

"Mom, really?" he said. "Don't you know that the day I met Festus we had a potato chip eating contest at Mike Next Door's house, eating the chips right off the floor of the garage?"

He then put lettuce on his own burger (Festus doesn't like lettuce, it seems), topped them both with buns, and left.

No wonder my kids are so healthy, with no allergies (besides to a couple of antibiotics). Gads.

Today is

Ascension Day -- Christian

Doodle 4NF Auction Days -- Neurofibromatosis Foundation's biggest fundraiser, from today until May 19, go to Ebay to bid on doodles drawn by celebrities

Europe Day -- European Union

Hafengeburtstag -- Hamburg, Germany (Hamburg Harbor Birthday celebration, through Sunday)

Independence Day -- Romania (1877, from the Ottoman Empire)

Lawn Mower Day -- a rotary blade mower was patented this day in 1899

Lemuralia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (first of 3 non-consecutive days dedicated to getting rid of the spirits of the malevolent dead; rituals performed today, the 11th, and the 13th)

Liberation Day -- Guernsey; Jersey

Lost Sock Memorial Day -- they go to the hozone layer!

Mom's Night Out -- sponsored by momsniteout.com
National Butterscotch Brownie Day

National Moscato Day

Occupational Safety and Health Professional Day -- US

Olympieia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (spring festival for Zeus; date approximate)

Remembrance for Gudrod of Gudbrandsdal -- Slavic Pagan/Asatru (pagan martyr)

Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Fairies Founded -- Fairy Calendar

St. Beatus of Lungern's Day (Apostle of Switzerland)

St. Nicholas Albergati's Day (Patron of learning)

Tear Tags Off of Mattresses Day -- yes, you can! If you bought it, you're allowed to.

Victory Day / Victory and Peace Day -- countries that didn't celebrate V-E day yesterday, mostly Russia and former SSR's

Birthdays Today:

Rosario Dawson, 1979
Steve Yzerman, 1965
Tony Gwynn, 1960
Billy Joel, 1949
Candice Bergen, 1946
James L. Brooks, 1940
Albert Finney, 1936
Glenda Jackson, 1936
Mike Wallace, 1918
Howard Carter, 1873
J.M. Barrie, 1860
John Brown, 1800

Today in History:

The first battle recorded with what is considered historic accuracy and detail, the Battle of Megiddo between Thutmose III and a large Canaanite coalition under the King of Kadesh, BC1457
Christopher Columbus leaves Spain for his 4th and final voyage, 1502
Thomas Blood, disguised as a clergyman, attempts to steal England's Crown Jewels from the Tower of London, 1671
British inventor Joseph Bramah patents beer-pump handle, 1785
The city of Reno, Nevada, is founded, 1868
The Vienna stock market crash (Der Krach) heralds the Long Depression, 1873
The first horse-drawn bus makes its début in the city of Mumbai, 1874
Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show opens in London, 1887
The first horseless carriage show in London opens, featuring 10 models, 1896
The lawn mower is patented, 1899
Australia opens its first parliament in Melbourne, 1901
The steam locomotive City of Truro becomes the first steam engine in Europe to exceed 100mph, 1904
The Australian Parliament first convenes in Canberra, 1927
Edgar Bergen and Charley McCarthy take to the airwaves, becoming an overnight radio sensation, 1937
Rainier III of Monaco becomes Prince of Monaco, 1949
Sam and Friends, with Jim Hensen and his muppets, debuts, 1955
The FDA announces it will approve birth control as an additional indication for Searle's Enovid, making Enovid the world's first approved oral contraceptive pill, 1960
Iranian Jewish businessman Habib Elghanian is executed by firing squad in Tehran, prompting the mass exodus of the once 100,000 member strong Jewish community of Iran, 1979
The South African parliament chooses Nelson Mandela as president, 1994
Estonia ratifies the European Constitution, 2006

Can you tell how many kittens are in the kitten quilt on the floor?

Count the Kittens!

If you can count 11, you are right! The current crop is from 5 litters. The eldest are just over five weeks old, so i'm trying to get them to start drinking out of a bowl. They already nibble at the dry food.

The youngest are about 3 weeks old, and so are just allowed to roam the kitchen in the last few days. They were in the cage until three days ago.

So far this kitten season, i have probably gone through about 20lbs. of dry kitten formula mix. That's just the kittens i've raised, as we do have a few others who will take one litter at a time, or only litters on the cusp of weaning. They aren't crazy like me.

At this time, i've already informed Miss W that vacation is coming up the first week of June, so any new kittens i take will have to have somewhere else to go by then, as will all of these. These shouldn't be a problem, and should all be weaned by then and up for adoption.

Then i get to come home from vacation and start over!

\

Today is

Armed Forces/Amateur Radio Crossband Test Day -- US (ham operators and the US military team up to test ham operators ability and expertise in contacting appropriate military radio stations in an emergency)

Blueberry Hill Open Dart Tournament -- St. Louis, MO, US (America's oldest and largest pub dart tournament; through Sunday)

Child Care Provider Appreciation Day -- US (on the Friday before Mother's Day, to recognize the important role of child care providers in society today)

Clean up Your Room Day -- one of those holidays that no one knows how it got started, but it's a good idea, especially if your house is decorated by teens in "Recently Ransacked" style!

Constitution Day -- Federated States of Micronesia

Electra Goat BBQ Cook Off & Craft Show -- Electra, TX, US (with a salsa dance contest, Cow Patty Drop, live bands, games, a Jackpot Steak & Beans Competition, there is something here for everyone; through Sunday)

Fintastic Friday: Giving Sharks A Voice -- they are really amazing creatures

Golden Spike Day -- finishing the first US Trancontinental Railroad in 1869

Josey's World Champion Junior 4-D Barrel Race -- Josey's Ranch, Marshall, TX, US (finest youth barrel racing in the world; through Sunday)

Lilac Festival -- Rochester, NY, US (a beautiful ten days of the biggest and best lilac festival anywhere)

Military Spouse Appreciation Day -- US (Friday before Mother's Day)

Mother's Day -- Belize; El Salvador; Guatemala; Mexico

National Shrimp Day

St. Cathal's Day (Patron of blind people, drought relief, epileptics, paralyzed people; Taranto, Italy; against blindness, drought, epilepsy, hernias, paralysis, plagues, storms)

St. Father Damien of Moloka'i's Day (Patron of lepers, outcasts, those with HIV/AIDS; Hawaii)

St. Job the Patriarch's Day (Patron against depression and ulcers)

Trust Your Intuition Day -- practice, and you'll get better at it

World Lupus Day -- www.worldlupusday.org

Birthdays Today:

Kenan Thompson, 1978
Amanda Borden, 1977
Paul "Bono" Hewson, 1960
Phil and Steve Mahre, 1957
Donovan, 1946
Judith Jamison, 1943
Gary Owens, 1936
Pat Summerall, 1930
Nancy Walker, 1922
David O. Selznick, 1902
Fred Astaire, 1899
Max Steiner, 1888
Emperor Fushimi of Japan, 1265
Emperor Claudius, 213

Today in History:

The Roman armies under Titus open a full scale assault on Jerusalem, 70
Vienna's church orders all Jews to wear a distinctive garb, 1267
Scottish nobles recognize authority of English king Edward I, 1291
Amerigo Vespucci allegedly leaves on a voyage to the New World, 1497
Christopher Columbus "discovers" the Cayman Islands, 1503
Jacques Cartier visits Newfoundland, 1534
Scottish Protestants under John Knox uprise against queen-mother Mary, 1559
England forcefully annexes Jamaice from Spain, 1655
Benjamin Franklin first tests the lightning rod, 1752
Louis XVI becomes King of France, 1774
The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States of America, 1801
New York City banks fail, and unemployment reaches record levels, 1837
In India, the first war of Independence begins, 1857
The First Transcontinental Railroad, linking the eastern and western United States, is completed at Promontory Summit, Utah (not Promontory Point, Utah) with the golden spike, 1869
Romania declares itself independent from Turkey, 1877
The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Nix v. Hedden that a tomato is a vegetable, not a fruit, under the Tariff Act of 1883, 1893
The first Mother's Day is observed, 1908
J. Edgar Hoover is appointed Director of the FBI, 1924
First successful launch of a V-2 rocket at White Sands Proving Ground, 1946
Bill Haley & His Comets release "Rock Around the Clock", the first rock and roll record to reach number one on the Billboard charts, 1954
The nuclear submarine USS Triton completes Operation Sandblast, the first underwater circumnavigation of the earth, 1960
The Federated States of Micronesia becomes self-governing, 1979
François Mitterrand becomes the first Socialist President of France in the French 5th republic, 1981
Nelson Mandela is inaugurated as South Africa's first black president, 1994
Deadliest day on the mountain: a rogue storm on Everest claims 8 lives, including experienced climbers, 1996
The Maeslantkering, a storm surge barrier in the Netherlands that is one of the world's largest moving structures, is opened by Queen Beatrix, 1997
Solicitor General Elena Kagan is the youngest Justice and third woman nominated for the Supreme Court of the United States, 2010
Microsoft announces plans to purchase Skype, 2011

Mother's Day flower deliveries, that is. Yes, i'm at it again. Ain't i a sucker?

Don't answer that. Yesterday was wet, but went surprisingly well. Each time i went out, i was going against the traffic. And i even managed to find all the roads out in Boonville that are completely unmarked. After all, why put up signs? Everyone in Boonville knows that this street is Old Church Road, why should we have to put up a sign telling so?

It was a good day, though, in spite of the rain and lack of signs. My second delivery of the day was to an old family friend, and when i looked ahead several deliveries and figured out that some had to be by certains times before people went home, i went ahead and ran parts of the route backwards. It kept everything running quite smoothly.

So, for those of you who haven't ordered flowers for Mom yet, get crackin' if you plan to do it. And if you haven't ever read my suggestions for making it possible for me to deliver them without losing my mind, please make sure the house or business is clearly marked and i have a phone number to contact that will be answered if i need it. Those two things alone will take care of almost all problems.

Today is

Albany Tulip Festival -- Albany, NY, US (celebrate spring and Albany's Dutch heritage; through tomorrow)

Birth Mother's Day -- the day before Mother's Day, for all the women who have made an adoption plan for their babies

Blow Bubbles for Your Cat Day -- internet generated entertainment urged for human and feline like

Cormorant Fishing Festival -- Nagara River, Gifu, Japan (traditional fishing with trained cormorants is celebrated nightly under the light of blazing torches through mid-October)

Cornelia de Lange Syndrome Awareness Day -- shedding light on this rare genetic condition

Eat What You Want Day -- since none of the "experts" can totally agree on what's good and what isn't, today, ignore them all! sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Fairy Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Royal Humans Founded -- Fairy Calendar

Holiday of the City of Miskolc -- Miskolc, Hungary

Houston Art Car Parade -- Houston, TX, US (the world's oldest and largest art car parade)

International Migratory Bird Day -- original date second Saturday in May, but the IMBD organization encourages you to celebrate when birds are migrating in your area; one special celebration on this date:
International Migratory Bird Celebration -- Chincoteague, VA, US (walks, talks, tours, art, and children's activities, all outdoors with the birds)

Jamestown Day -- Jamestown, Williamsburg, VA, US (special demonstrations and programs for the anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, America's first permanent English colony)

Lemuralia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (second day)

Letter Carriers "Stamp Out Hunger" Food Drive -- US

Lokadagur -- Iceland (Final Day, festival to mark the end of the fishing season in the south-west of the country)

Mother Ocean Day -- celebrate the wonders of the ocean, wherever you happen to be

National Babysitter's Day -- US, giving recognition to the babysitters who make your date nights possible

National Bake Sale Day -- US (recognizing the tradition of raising money and expanding waistlines through the old fashioned bake sale)

National Miniature Golf Day

National Mocha Torte Day

National Technology Day -- India

National Train Day -- US (a day to explore why trains matter)http://www.nationaltrainday.com/s/

Nisga'a Day -- Nisga'a (one of the First Nations of Canada [ effective date of treaty])

Randwick Wap Cheese Rolling -- Randwick, Gloucestershire, England (Yes, they roll cheeses that were blessed last Sunday around the church and give the Mayor a good dunking in the pond; yes, they've been doing it for 700 years; no, no one is quite certain why, though many stories are told of the origin.)

Sun Awareness Day -- like Melanoma Monday, a few days back, a day to remember the damage the sun can do to skin and stock up on sunscreen, if you haven't already

Stay Up All Night Night -- as declared by George Mahood of Northampton, England, everyone needs to relive the excitement of staying up late like you always wanted to as a kid at least once a year

St. Gengulf's Day (Patron of knights, separated spouses, victims of adultery or unfaithfulness; against unhappy marriages)

St. Mamertus' Day (first of the Ice Saints, whose days are supposed to herald the last frost)

Tubeless Tire Day -- B. F. Goodrich Company announced the development of a tubeless tire on this day in 1947

Twilight Zone Day -- no, it didn't premier on this day, nor was Rod Serling born or died on this day; it's today on the internet for no particular reason except that someone decided to celebrate it today

Windmill Day -- Netherlands (on the second Saturday of May each year, more than 600 windmills, including many that are now national monuments, are open to the public)

Witching Day -- Isle of Man (Mayday Eve based on the OS calendar, be careful of the spirits today)

World Fair Trade Day -- sponsored by the World Fair Trade Organization

Anniversaries Today:

Minnesota becomes the 32nd US state, 1858

Birthdays Today:

Corey Monteith, 1982
Natasha Richardson, 1963
Mort Sahl, 1927
Foster Brooks, 1912
Phil Silvers, 1911
Salvador Dali, 1904
Martha Graham, 1894
Irving Berlin, 1888

Today in History:

Constantinople becomes the capital of the Roman Empire and is also called Nova Roma and Byzantium, 330
Peter Stuyvesant arrives in New Amsterdam, 1647
Captain Robert Gray becomes the first documented European to sail into the Columbia River, 1792
The waltz is introduced into English ballrooms, and becomes popular in spite of being called "riotous and indecent," 1812
William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland and William Wentworth lead an expedition westwards from Sydney, opening the interior of Australia for settlement, 1813
Indian rebels seize Delhi from the British, 1857
Luxembourg gains its independence, 1867
U.S. Congress establishes Glacier National Park in Montana, 1910
Mercedes-Benz is formed by Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz merging their two companies, 1924
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded, 1927
Siam officially changes its name to Thailand for the second time, 1949
Israel joins the United Nations, 1949
In Baltimore, Maryland, the first heart-lung transplant takes place, 1987
In New York City, more than 170 countries decide to extend the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty indefinitely and without conditions, 1995
IBM Deep Blue, a chess-playing supercomputer, defeats Garry Kasparov in the last game of the rematch, becoming the first computer to beat a world-champion chess player in a classic match format, 1997

...went as well as can be expected.

Sixty-six deliveries, four of those out of town. A few of the usual glitches came up, but they were handled. This time i didn't break any balloons, but i did manage to lose my favorite pen.

The florist i work for at these very busy times is one of the busiest, and in my opinion, the best. Somehow i managed not to get into any traffic jams that kept me delayed for hours, and the only road construction i had to drive through was on Saturday, so the traffic was light anyway.

The rain spent itself in the very early mornings before we really got started, at least the heavy stuff did, so i didn't end up with wet socks and trying to tote an umbrella everywhere.

The big joy of this job is seeing the smiles on people's faces. The smiles when they peep to see who is there, and the first thing they see through the peephole or curtain is a bouquet. It makes people's day, and it makes me smile with them.

Even coming home to kittens squalling like they haven't been fed in days (when, in fact, they had been well cared for by the kids all day each day), and a messy kitchen couldn't damp down my enthusiasm.

Maybe i missed my calling. Maybe i should be a delivery driver for a living. Then again, on second thought, i would probably get tired of it eventually, and you can't exactly be gone all day every day and raise kittens.

Well, i'll just continue to enjoy doing this a few times a year. And maybe someday one of my lists of ways to make a delivery person's job easier will go viral. As soon as i recover enough to consolidate them and link to them, which won't be today as i will teach Sunday school and meet up with my parents for lunch, among other things.

A blessed and beautiful Mother's Day to all of you.

Today is

Day of Purification of All Things -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Fairy Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Royal Humans Disbanded -- Fairy Calendar (and don't ask how we blew it)

Fibromyalgia Awareness Day http://www.fmcpaware.org/awareness-day-2013

Hug Your Cat Day -- this link for details

Infant Mortality Awareness Day -- as we celebrate mothers today, let's remember those who have lost children

International CFS/ME Awareness Day -- bringing awareness about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Myalgic Encephalomyelitishttp://www.whathealth.com/awareness/event/internationalcfsmeawarenessday.html

International Nurses Day -- birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale

Limerick Day -- birth anniversary of Edward Lear

Mother's Day -- Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Aruba; Australia; Austria; Bahamas; Bangladesh; Barbados; Belgium; Bermuda; Bonaire; Botswana; Brazil; Brunei; Canada; Cambodia; Chile; China(People's Republic of China); Colombia; Croatia; Cuba; Curaçao; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Dominica; Ecuador; Estonia; Ethiopia; Fiji; Finland; Germany; Ghana; Gold Coast; Greece; Grenada; Guyana; Honduras; Hong Kong; Iceland; India; Italy; Jamaica; Japan; Kurdistan; Latvia; Liberia; Liechtenstein; Macao; Malaysia; Malta; Myanmar; Netherlands; New Zealand; Pakistan; Papua New Guinea; Peru; Philippines; Puerto Rico; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Samoa; Singapore; Sint Maarten; Slovakia; South Africa; Sri Lanka; Suriname; Switzerland; Taiwan; Tanganyika; Tonga; Trinidad and Tobago; Turkey; Uganda; Ukraine; United States; Uruguay; Vietnam; Venezuela; Zambia; Zimbabwe

National Nutty Fudge Day

Odometer Day -- actually first called a "roadometer", it measured wagon wheel revolutions, as 360 of them made a mile, and was invented and first used this day by William Clayton, Orson Pratt, and Appleton Milo Harmon, Mormon pioneers traveling to Utah in 1847

Olde May Day (Julian Calendar)

Pilgrimage to Fatima -- Fatima, Portugal (procession, mass, and etc. to commemorate the first appearance of the Virgin of the Rosary to the three shepherd children on this day in 1917)

Punch's Birthday / Covent Garden Maye Fayre and Puppet Festival -- St. Paul's Cathedral, London, England (Punch, of Punch and Judy, celebrates his birthday on the Sunday closest to May 9 with a fair and by preaching at the cathedral to other puppets and their puppeteers, or "professors".)

Resistance and Liberation Day -- Lebanon

Rotuma Day -- Rotuma, Fiji

Saint Andrew, the First Called Day -- Georgia

Snellman Day/Day of Finnish Identity -- Finland

State Flag and State Emblem Day -- Belarus

Stay Up All Night Night -- because George Mahood thinks everyone should, at least once a year

St. Diomma of Kildimo's Day (Patron of Kildimo, County Limerick, Ireland)

St. Francis Patrizi's Day (Patron of reconciliations)

St. Pancras' Day (2nd Ice Saint; Patron of children, oaths, treaties; Albano, Italy; Iserlohn, Germany; Pontevico, Italy; Sestino, Italy; against cramps, false witness, headaches, and perjury)

Anniversaries Today:

Richard I (Lionheart) of England marries Berengaria of Navarre, 1191
Jagiellonian University is fouded in Krakow, Poland (oldest in Poland), 1364
National University of San Marcos is founded in Lima, Peru (oldest in the Americas), 1551
Maria Theresa of Austria is crowned Queen of Bohemia, 1743
Coronation of George VI, 1937

Birthdays Today:

Jason Biggs, 1978
Kim Fields, 1969
Tony Hawk, 1968
Stephen Baldwin, 1966
Emilio Estevez, 1962
Ving Rhames, 1961
Steve Winwood, 1948
George Carlin, 1937
Tom Snyder, 1936
Burt Bacharach, 1929
Yogi Berra, 1925
Mary Kay Ash, 1918
Katharine Hepburn, 1907
Florence Nightingale, 1820

Today in History:

Antipope Nicholas V, a claimant to the papacy, is consecrated in Rome, 1328
Rao Jodha, a Rajput chief of to the Rathore clan, founds Jodhpur, India, 1459
Philip Lenzi places the first ice cream advertisement, in the NY Gazette, 1777
Society of St Tammany is formed by Revolutionary War soldiers; it later becomes an infamous group of NYC political bosses, 1789
The Manitoba Act is given the Royal Assent, paving the way for Manitoba to become a province of Canada on July 15, 1870
US District Court Judge J. Dundy rules, in Standing Bear vs. George Crook, that Native Americans are persons within the meaning of the laws of the United States, 1879
Tunisia becomes a French protectorate, 1881
In the North-West Rebellion, the four-day Battle of Batoche, pitting rebel Métis against the Canadian government, comes to an end with a decisive rebel defeat, 1885
Ten weeks after his abduction, the infant son of Charles Lindbergh is found dead in Hopewell, New Jersey, 1932
Konrad Zuse presents the Z3, the world's first working programmable, fully automatic computer, in Berlin, 1941
A formal North American Aerospace Defense Command agreement is signed between the United States and Canada, 1958
West Germany and Israel establish diplomatic relations, 1965
The U.S. merchant ship Mayaguez seized by Cambodian forces in international waters, 1975
South Africa prisoner Nelson Mandela sees his wife for 1st time in 22 years, 1984
Amy Eilberg is ordained in New York as 1st woman Conservative rabbi, 1985
Fred Markham of the US becomes the first person to pedal a bike at 65mph unaided by wind, 1986
Ingrid Baeyens becomes the first Belgian woman to ascend Mount Everest, 1992
Russia and Chechnya sign a peace agreement after 400 years of conflict, 1997
The Texas, US, legislature is brought to a standstill when 59 Democratic lawmakers go into hiding in a dispute with Republicans over redistricting, 2003
An 8.0 earthquake in southwest China kills more than 69,000 people, 2008
Queen Elizabeth II becomes the second-longest-reigning monarch in British history, 2011

For many years i have maintained the my #2 Son is a born con artist, just like his Grandpa and Uncle J. Natural born smooth talkers, salesmen extraordinaire, they could all sell eggs to chicken farmers. In fact, Grandpa once managed to convince the cranky old priest at a local parish to let his college group hold weekly dances that he would organize in the gymnasium by promising the priest a cut of the proceeds (the priest was also notoriously stingy and always looking for ways to rake in more money for the parish).

When i wonder where #2 Son got it, i only have to remember things like the conversation around the table yesterday at our Mother's Day dinner.

Uncle J was talking about many years ago when he was in college. He was heading home, a fourteen to sixteen hour drive usually, and he made it in just over 8 hours, with only one stop for gas, restroom, and a bite of fast food.

He then told how he was going down the highway on that trip and saw a police officer's lights go on behind him, then disappear as the officer had to turn around to come back up the interstate toward him. At first, when he saw the lights, he was tempted to get off at the next exit and hurry to go park somewhere, but decided to just wait, and take his medicine if needed. When he realized the officer was actually after him, he pulled over.

The officer came over and asked for license, registration and insurance, and as my brother got the stuff out the officer said, "Son do you realize you were doing a bit over 90 miles per hour?"

Uncle J, who had actually been doing almost 130mph, responded, "Yes, sir, I know I was doing at least 95, and I shouldn't have been doing that."

The officer further said, seeing his out of state driving license, "Do you realize that doing anything over 25mph above the speed limit means you get taken to jail?" Note that this was before limits of 70mph were allowed, and it was 60mph there.

My brother then started to get out of the car. "Whoa, what are you doing, son?" the officer asked.

"I'm going to get out of the car so you can take me to jail, sir. I know I was breaking the law."

"Now, son, you've been respectful and cooperative, so I'm not going to take you to jail. I'm going to take care of you and only give you a ticket for doing 24mph over the speed limit. This way, all you will have to do is pay the ticket and take the class to get it erased from your record if you haven't had any tickets in the last couple of years."

"No, sir, I haven't had any," Uncle J responded, which was true.

The officer gave him the ticket, and told him to be careful, which of course went in one ear and out the other. In fact, when Grandma, his mother and mine, asked if he had learned his lesson, he said, "No, of course not! Now I have a radar detector!"

That's where #2 Son gets it. From the relatives.

Today is

Arlington National Cemetary Day -- US (the first serviceman to be interred here was Private William Henry Christman, on this date in 1964

Aso ote Tala Lei -- Tuvalu (Gospel Day)

Bun Bung Fai (Rocket Festival) -- Yasothon, Thailand (through the 14th, teams compete to build the highest flier, with no regard for safety!)

Celtic Tree Month Huath (hawthorn) commences

Election Day -- Philippines

Fairy King and Queen Jumping Competition -- Fairy Calendar

Garland Day -- Abbotsbury, Dorset, England

King Norodom Sihamoni's Birthday -- Cambodia

Lemuralia -- Ancient Roman Empire (third day)

Leprechaun Day -- spread around the internet, presumably by the little people themselves, as since St. Patrick gets a day, so should they!

National Apple Pie Day

National Fruit Cocktail Day

Pastele Blajinilor -- Moldova (Memory/Parents' Day)

Royal Ploughing Ceremony Holiday -- Thailand

St Julian of Norwich's Day (Author of what is believed to be the first book written by a woman in the English language, Sixteen Revelations of Divine Love, around 1393)

St. Servatus' Day (3rd Ice Saint, Patron for success; against foot problems, lameness, leg problems, mice, rats, rheumatism, vermin)

Women's Check-up Day 2013 -- US (always the Monday after Mother's Day, encouraging women to be proactive about their health

Birthday Today:

Debby Ryan, 1993
Robert Pattinson, 1986
Samantha Morton, 1977
Darius Rucker, 1966
Stephen Colbert, 1964
Dennis Rodman, 1961
Stevie Wonder, 1950
Ritchie Valens, 1941
Harvey Keitel, 1939
Beatrice Arthur, 1923
Joe Louis, 1914
Arthur Sullivan, 1842
Maria Theresa, 1717

Today in History:

The forces of Mary, Queen of Scots, are defeated by a confederacy of Scottish Protestants under James Stewart, Earl of Moray, her half-brother, 1568
A major earthquake in Santiago, Chile, kills 1/3 of the population, 1643
Captain Arthur Phillip leaves Portsmouth, England with eleven ships full of convicts (First Fleet) to establish a penal colony in Australia, 1787
Ecuador gains its independence from Gran Colombia, 1830
The first performance of Finland's national anthem, 1848
Queen Victoria declares Britain neutral in the US Civil War, 1861
The Great Comet of 1861 is discovered by John Tebbutt of Windsor, New South Wales, Australia, 1861
Thomas Edison performs the first test of his electric railway, 1880
The Royal Flying Corps (now the Royal Air Force) is established in the United Kingdom, 1912
Igor Sikorsky becomes the first man to pilot a four-engine aircraft, 1913
The first commercial FM radio station in the United States (WDRC-FM) is launched in Bloomfield, Connecticut, 1939
Winston Churchill makes his "blood, toil, tears, and sweat" speech to the House of Commons, 1940
The trade mark Velcro is registered, 1958
The Free Speech Movement is born at UC Berkeley, 1960
Dr. Zakir Hussain becomes the third President of India and the first Muslim President of Indian Union, 1967
Large groups of students occupy Tiananmen Square and begin a hunger strike, 1989
Johnny Carson makes his last television appearance on Late Show with David Letterman, 1994
A 33 years old British mother Alison Hargreaves, became the first woman to conquer Everest without oxygen or the help of sherpas, 1995
Star Trek: Enterprise broadcasts its final show in the U.S., 2005
Construction of the Calafat-Vidin Bridge between Romania and Bulgaria begins, 2007

"Mom, good news! You and I have an 8am appointment on Wednesday to go to the Culinary School and talk to them! They're going to give us a tour, and let us know what we need to do to enroll, and we should look at the website before we go and get familiar with the courses of study so we know what to ask about." #2 Son can't wait to get started, and even the early hour isn't upsetting him.

Just as he finished telling me this, Little Girl walked in, saying "Abstinence is 99.99% effective!"

"What, not 100%?" Bigger Girl asked from the table where she was brushing up on some math formulas for her final exam tomorrow.

"Remember Jesus?" Little Girl grinned.

"Oh, I've never thought of that!" Bigger Girl looked startled. Then she turned to me and said, "Speaking of religion, I was reading an article the other day about Native Americans, and how their culture and religion are used at sporting events as mascots and sporting rituals. One of them was noting that if they decided to use Christianity as a mascot and celebrate the Lord's Supper as one of their pregame rituals, as a pep rally kind of thing, everyone would be horrified, but when their Native religion is used that way, people try to defend it. Doesn't that make you think?"

Before i could answer, Sweetie walked in with his tube of antibiotic cream and a cotton swab. "Can you help me put this on my scratches?" he asked, with a look that said i couldn't possibly say no.

The other night, during a bad thunderstorm, a big clap of thunder scared his coward cat, Horizon, so much that it jumped off the windowsill and landed, all claws out, right on Sweetie's face. None of the lacerations were deep enough to need stitches (though he did go get his first tetanus shot in years), but a couple of them barely missed his eyes. He has been taking excellent care of making sure we keep them moistened a few times a day with the cream, so it won't scar up so much.

Just as i finished the swabbing with the cream, i felt a nibble at my toe. Time to feed kittens again.

Today is

Carabao Festival -- Pulilan, Philippines (to honor their patron, St. Isidro [St. Isadore the Farmer], hundreds of carabaos [water buffalo] are dressed up and paraded, and eventually blessed in front of the church; through tomorrow)

Cheung Chau Bun Festival -- Cheung Chau Island, Hong Kong (coincides with Buddha's Birthday celebration, with the procession on the 17th; celebration through the 18th)

Commemoration Day -- Transdniestria

Dance Like a Chicken Day -- no idea why today, but i'm waiting for wedding season

Drunk Driving Memorial Day -- not sponsored by MADD, or anyone else i can find, but let's all work and pray for the day drunk driving by anyone is just a bad memory

French Fairy Awareness Day -- Fairy Calendar

Gesta de Independencia -- Paraguay

Izumo-taisha Shrine Grand Festival -- Izumo-taisha, Japan (through tomorrow)

Marshmallow Fluff Day -- Mr. Durkee and Mr. Mower announced, on this day in 1920, that they were in business producing this sweet confection

Mars Invictus Festival -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Midnight Sun at North Cape -- Norway (the sun will not set until July 30)

National Buttermilk Biscuit Day

National Unification Day -- Liberia

President Kamuzu Banda's Birthday -- Malawi

Runic Half-Month Ing (expansive energy) commences

Shavuot -- Judaism (Pentecost; begins at sundown, through sundown on the 16th)

"Stars and Stripes Forever" Day -- first public performance this day in 1897

St. Bonifatius' Day (4th Ice Saint)

St. Matthias the Apostle's Day (Patron of carpenters, reformed alcoholics, tailors; Gary, Indiana; Great Falls-Billings, Montana; against alcoholism and smallpox)

Underground America Day -- Malcolm Wells wants us to imagine what our landscapes would look like if more of our buildings were under ground

Anniversaries Today:

Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark marries Mary Donaldson, 2004

Birthdays Today:

Miranda Cosgrove, 1993
Dan Auerbach, 1979
Martine McCutdcheon, 1976
Cate Blanchett, 1969
Danny Wood, 1969
Jose Da Silveira, 1965
Tim Roth, 1961
David Byrne, 1952
Robert Zemechis, 1951
George Lucas, 1944
Jack Bruce, 1943
Bobby Darin, 1936
Laszlo Kovacs, 1933
Otto Klemperer, 1885
Thomas Gainsborough, 1727
Gabrile Daniel Fahrenheit, 1686

Today in History:

Jamestown, Virginia is settled as an English colony, 1607
Edward Jenner administers the first smallpox vaccination, 1796
The Lewis and Clark expedition sets out, 1804
Paraguay gains independence from Spain, 1811
The first edition of the London Illustrated Times is published, 1842
Gail Borden patents her process for condensed milk, 1853
Vaseline, the first petroleum jelly, is marketed, 1878
Lina Medina becomes the world's youngest confirmed mother in medical history at the age of five, 1939
Israel is declared to be an independent state and a provisional government is established; immediately after the declaration, Israel is attacked by the neighboring Arab states, triggering the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, 1948
Kuwait joins the United Nations, 1963
Skylab, the United States' first space station, is launched, 1973
The Institute for War documents publishes Anne Franks complete diary, 1986
The last episode of Seinfeld airs, with commercials going for $2M per 30 seconds, 1998

"Guess who I talked to today? Violet called me, and we talked for a good 45 minutes!"

Sweetie and his identical twin brother have a biological sister, and an adopted sister. This is the biological sister, who doesn't talk to them often.

How is she doing? i asked, a bit startled. If my memory serves me, she hasn't ever spoken to Sweetie for that long at one time except when they were physically visiting each other.

"She's tired of Montana," he said as he started rummaging in the fridge for an apple. "She wants prayer that an opportunity will open up for her to move to someplace warmer, like New Mexico. She's not sure she can take another winter up there, it's so hard on her physically."

That i can understand, i noted. Cold is not my friend. So, where is she working these days?

"She's putting in 46 hours a week at a chain grocery store, and she really wants to be working with children," he said. "Even though she's single and has no kids, she's always loved working with children."

Yes, i remember that. What else did you talk about for that long?

"Oh, things we both remember about our mother and father. She talked about some of their quirks I didn't know much about, since I didn't grow up with them and she did. We talked about how sad it was when she had to sell our father's house and use the money to pay the debts. Oh, and I told her that we have the picture!"

Sweetie has a picture of her that was blown up to life size by their father; he gave it to Sweetie a few months before he died.

What did she think about that? i asked.

"Oh, she laughed! She was only 16 in that picture, with braces. She remembers when it was taken, and thinks it's funny that we have it. I told her that it looks a good bit like our Bigger Girl, and she seemed to like that."

New Mexico, then, i said. Okay, i'll be praying she gets to move somewhere warm, and gets a better job than just over minimum wage at a chain grocery.

"She'd appreciate that," he noted as he walked off, crunching his apple..

Today is

Aoi Matsuri -- Kyoto, Japan (Hollyhock Festival, a pageant reproducing ancient imperial processions)

Cannes Film Festival -- through the 26th

Cold Sophie's Day (5th Ice Saint; according to Nordic legend, this day may be very cold, but there will be no more frosts after this)

Flip Your Mattress Day -- because it's a good thing to do

Hyperemisis Gravidarum Awareness Day -- bringing attention to morning sickness that becomes life-threatening

Ides of May -- Ancient Roman Calendar; related observances
     Feast of Maia and Vesta
     Mercuralia -- festival for Mercury
     Sacrifice day to the Tiber River

Independence Day -- Paraguay

International Conscientious Objectors' Day

International Day of Families -- UN

International MPS Awareness Day -- here for details about these inherited diseases

Kan Phuetchamongkhon -- Thailand (Royal Plowing and Farmers Day) 6th day 4th lunar month

La Corsa del Ceri -- Gubbio, Italy (festival on the eve of the saint day of the city's patron, St. Ubaldo)
Mother's Day -- Paraguay

National Chocolate Chip Day

National Safety Dose Day -- cannot confirm they sponsor a day any more, but the Safety Dose people still want us to remember that more is not necessarily better when it comes to taking medicines, and to dose them correctly for children

Nylon Stockings Day -- they went on sale at stores around the US this date in 1940

Over the Rainbow Day -- birth anniversary of Lyman Frank Baum

Peace Officers Memorial Day -- US

Pithi Chrat Preah Neanng Kori -- Cambodia (Royal Plowing Ceremony)

Relive Your Past By Listening to the First Music You Ever Bought No Matter What It Was No Excuses Day -- no, i can't find out who started this, or why; maybe we should all take a pass at this one

Sea Monkey Day -- because somebody really loves theirs, and wants you to love them, too

Shavuot -- Judaism (Pentecost, began at sundown yesterday, through sundown tomorrow)

St. Dymphna's Day (Patron of epileptics, family happiness, incest victims, martyrs, mental asylums/hospitals, mental health caregivers and professionals/psychiatrists/therapists, mentally ill people, nervous disorders, neurological disorders, possessed people, princesses, rape victims, runaways, sleepwalkers, those who have lost parents; against sleepwalking, epilepsy, insanity, mental disorders, mental illness)

St. Hallvard's Day (Patron of Oslo; protector of innocence and virtue)

St. Isidore of Madrid's Day (a/k/a Isidore the Farmer; Patron of agricultural workers/farm workers/farmers/field hands/husbandmen/ranchers, day laborers, livestock, rural communities; Angono, Philippines; Asturias, Cebu, Philippines; Bukidnon, Mindanao, Philippines; Carampa, Peru; Castalla, Spain; Cuz Cuz, Chile; Digos, Philippines; Estepona, Spain; La Celba, Honduras; Leon, Spain; Lima, Peru; Lucban, Philippines; Madrid, Spain; Malaybalay, Philippines, diocese of; Morong, Philippines; Nabas, Philippines; Orotava, Spain; Pulilan, Philippines; Pulupandan, Philippines; Sabana Grande, Puerto Rico; San Isidro, Argentina; Saragossa, Spain; Sariaya, Philippines; Seville, Spain; Tavalera, Philippines; Tayabas, Philippines; United States National Rural Life Conference; against the death of children)
     Carabao Festival -- San Isidro, Pulilan, and Angono, Philippines (second day and main festival; on St. Isidore of Madrid's Day; the farming communities celebrate their beasts of burden and have them blessed)
     Municipal Holiday -- Madrid
     San Isidro Day -- Mexico

St. Sophia of Rome's Day (considered by some to be among the Ice Saints, and invoked for protection against frost)

Straw Hat Day -- just as you don't wear white after Labor Day, you don't wear straw hats before today, the unofficial start of summer and the official start of straw hat season

Teacher's Day -- Mexico; South Korea

Tuberous Sclerosis Global Awareness Day -- http://www.tsalliance.org/index.aspx

Turn Beauty Inside Out Day -- the day to remember what really counts is who you are, not just what you look like

Anniversaries Today:

Mary, Queen of Scots, marries James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, 1567
Airmail service begins between NYC, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia, 1918

Birthdays Today:

Jamie-Lynn Sigler, 1981
David Krumholtz, 1978
David Charvet, 1972
Emmit Smith, 1969
George Brett, 1953
Madeleine Albright, 1937
Trini Lopez, 1937
Anna Maria Alberghetti, 1936
Jasper Johns, 1930
Eddy Arnold, 1918
James Mason, 1909
Joseph Cotten, 1905
Abraham Zapruder, 1905
Katherine Anne Porter, 1890
Pierre Curie, 1859
L. Frank Baum, 1856

Today in History:

Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, is sentenced to death, 1536
Bartholomew Gosnold becomes the first European to see Cape Cod, 1602
Johannes Kepler confirms his discovery of the third law of planetary motion, 1618
James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents the world's first machine gun, 1718
The Seven Years' War begins when Great Britain declares war on France, 1756
Diego Marín Aguilera flies a glider for "about 360 meters", at a height of 5-6 meters, during one of the first attempted flights, 1793
George III survives two assassination attempts in one day, 1800
Opening of the first private mental health hospital in the United States, the Asylum for the Relief of Persons Deprived of the Use of Their Reason (now Friends Hospital) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1817
Francis Baily observes "Baily's beads" during an annular eclipse, 1836
Rama IV is crowned King of Thailand (The King and I), 1851
Opening of the present Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, 1858
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman's Suffrage Association, 1869
Las Vegas, Nevada, is founded, 1905
The United States Supreme Court declares Standard Oil to be an "unreasonable" monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act and orders the company to be broken up, 1911
The Winnipeg General Strike begins; by 11:00 a.m., almost the whole working population of Winnipeg, Manitoba had walked off the job, 1919
Mickey Mouse premiered in his first cartoon, Plane Crazy, 1928
In an attempted Coup d'état, the Prime Minister of Japan Inukai Tsuyoshi is killed, 1932
The Moscow Metro is opened to public, 1935
The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3, 1958
Mercury-Atlas 9 astronaut L. Gordon Cooper becomes the first American to spend more than a day in space, 1963
President Richard Nixon appoints Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington the first female United States Army Generals, 1970
Portrait of Doctor Gachet by Vincent van Gogh is sold for a record $82.5 million, the most expensive painting at the time, 1990
Edith Cresson becomes France's first female prime minister, 1991
California becomes the second U.S. state after Massachusetts in 2004 to legalize same-sex marriage, 2008
Jessica Watson, age 17, becomes the youngest person to sail, non-stop and unassisted around the world solo, 2010

#2 Son wiped his bleary eyes early and got up, got dressed, and we got to our appointment at the Culinary School fifteen minutes early. It helps that the place is just up the highway about a mile. He could bike there if he wanted, or even walk if he had to. Unless we were having one of our monsoon storms, of course.

The place is spectacular, at least to me. State of the art, beautiful kitchens, a bake shop, everything. The students wear full chef uniforms as they would if they were working, so by the time they are, they're used to doing all the work in that type of clothing. They also get their knife and utensil kit provided.

There is a restaurant set-up there, and each student is required to learn how to manage the front and back of a restaurant, proper service, adding up tickets, cost control, what to do on the day your sous chef calls in sick, your line chef is late, and two waitresses just don't show up. They don't want to throw these kids out cold into the very competitive world of running a restaurant.

Ms. Cullen was professional and friendly. She brought us in her office and asked #2 Son the typical questions, such as why he wants to go into culinary arts and about his work experience. She also discussed the curriculum which leads to an Associates Degree in 16 months.

She stressed timeliness, as missing even a minute of class is not acceptable. The only way to get through what should be a two year degree in 16 months is to make every minute count.

#2 Son talked about how much he loves cooking. We discussed how i taught cooking at a homeschool co-op, and his father was a sous chef. Ms. Cullen seemed to like that it runs in the family.

We even got to see and meet a couple of the instructors, who are referred to as "Chef" followed by their first name, like Chef Dave and Chef Chris. They are down to earth.

At the end of it all, as we were heading home, i asked him what he likes most about it. He said, and this is an exact quote: "At last, a school where I can grow my hair as long as I want! After all, the rule is if I can get it under the net and hat, I can grow it out!"

Today is

Biographer's Day -- anniversary of the day Boswell met Johnson in 1763

Brown Bag-It Thursday -- it's cheaper and healthier

Calaveras County Fair and Frog Jumping Jubilee -- Calaveras Fairgrounds, Angel's Camp, CA, US (the "Super Bowl" of frog jumping contests; through Sunday)

Frog Jumping Day -- for those of us who don't live in Calaveras County, you can still celebrate Mark Twain's famous story and go play with a frog

Hires Root Beer Day -- pharmacist Charles Elmer Hires created it on this day in 1866

Love a Tree Day -- and read about the love of a tree, in Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree

Middlesex Day -- Middlesex, England (although it is only a postal county now, many celebrate the heritage of what was once the county that included London)

Miles City Bucking Horse Sale -- Miles City, MT, US (a celebration worthy of the city that inspired "Lonesome Dove;" through Saturday)

National Coquilles St. Jacques Day

Sea-Monkey® Day -- as declared by someone who likes these little brine shrimp as pets; for info on keeping Sea Monkeys, check herehttp://www.sea-monkey.com/; for ideas about how to celebrate there is a site about how to worship sea monkeyshttp://www.seamonkeyworship.com/nationalday.html

Sing "Row Row Row Your Boat" in Rounds Day -- but not around me, please, or i might do something drastic

Sneeze Without Embarrassment Day -- because of pollen levels, as declared by Karen Richmond, of Eastport, MI, US

Spaghetti-Os Day -- they were first sold on this day in 1966

St. Brendan the Voyager's Day (Patron of boatmen/mariners/sailors/watermen, travellers, whales; Ardfert, Ireland; Clonfert, Ireland; Kerry, Ireland)

St. Honorius of Amiens' Day (Patron of bakers[especially bakers of communion wafers], cake makers, candlemakers, chandlers, confectioners, florists, flour merchants, oil refiners, pastry chefs; against drought)

St. John of Nepomuk's Day (Patron of bridges, bridge builders, confessors, discretion, good and right confession, running water, silence; Bohemia; Czech Republic; Slovakia; against calumnies, floods, indiscretions, and slander)

Shavuot -- Israel (Pentecost, ends at sunset)

Sudan People's Liberation Army Day -- South Sudan

Teachers' Day -- Malaysia

U.S.Nickel Day -- the first U.S. five-cent nickel was minted on this day in 1866

Wear Purple for Peace Day -- the idea being that until we become a peaceful species, the aliens won't visit

Anniversaries Today:

Louis-Auguste, Dauphin of France, marries Marie Antoinette, 1770
Edgar Allen Poe marries his cousin Virginia Clemm, 1836

Birthdays Today:

Megan Fox, 1986
Jim Sturgess, 1981
Tori Spelling, 1973
David Boreanaz, 1971
Gabriela Sabatini, 1970
Tracey Gold, 1969
Janet Jackson, 1966
Olga Korbut, 1955
Debra Winger, 1955
Pierce Brosnan, 1953
Bob Edwards, 1947
Liberace, 1919
Woody Herman, 1913
Henry Fonda, 1905
William Seward, 1801

Today in History:

The Florentines drive out the Medici for a second time and Florence is re-established as a republic, 1527
Sir Thomas More resigns as Lord Chancellor of England, 1532
Samuel Johnson meets his future biographer, James Boswell, in London, 1763
Denmark abolishes slave trade, 1792
The first major wagon train heading for the Pacific Northwest sets out on the Oregon Trail, 1843
Charles Elmer Hires invents root beer, 1866
A naval Curtiss aircraft NC-4 commanded by Albert Cushing Read leaves Trepassey, Newfoundland, for Lisbon via the Azores on the first transatlantic flight, 1919
Pope Benedict XV canonizes Joan of Arc, 1920
Chaim Weizmann is elected the first President of Israel, 1948
The first regularly scheduled transatlantic flights begin between John F Kennedy International Airport (then Idlewild Airport) in New York City and Heathrow Airport in London, operated by El Al Israel Airlines, 1951
Theodore Maiman operates the first optical laser, at Hughes Research Laboratories in Malibu, California, 1960
China's Cultural Revolution begins, 1966
The Soviet Venera 5 spacecraft lands on Venus, 1969
India annexes Sikkim after the mountain state holds a referendum in which the popular vote is in favour of merging with India, 1975
Junko Tabei becomes the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest, 1975
The Seville Statement on Violence is adopted by an international meeting of scientists, convened by the Spanish National Commission for UNESCO, in Seville, Spain, 1986
A report by United States' Surgeon General C. Everett Koop states that the addictive properties of nicotine are similar to those of heroin and cocaine, 1988
Queen Elizabeth II becomes the first British monarch to address the US Houses of Congress, 1991
Kuwait permits women's suffrage in a 35-23 National Assembly vote, 2005

The danger of walking barefoot when you have kittens:

They love toes!

Today is

Art Fair and Winefest -- Washington, MO, US (the largest tasting if state wines, juried art show, and more; through Sunday)

Asakusa Sanja Matsuri -- Tokyo, Japan (sake and processions of elaborate mini shrines celebrate the goddess of mercy and the three fishermen; through Sunday)

Bike to Work Day 2013 -- the League of American Bicyclists have urged you to celebrate this day the third Friday of May ever since 1956

Birthday of the Raja -- Perlis, Malaysia

Buddha's Birthday -- Buddhist

Celebrate Your Elected Officials Day 2013 -- unless you don't like them, then get to work electing better ones; if you know of a good one, take time today to thank her/him

Constitution Day -- Nauru; Norway; Svalbard and Jan Mayen

Day of Remembrance -- Cambodia (anniversary of Khmer Rouge regime takeover in 1975, a day to remember all who died at their hands and work for peace)

Dea Dia Festival -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of growth)

Endangered Species Day -- because premature extinction due to human activity is not a happy thing

Falling Off a Log Night -- Fairy Calendar

Feast of Azamat(Grandeur) -- Baha'i

Fishing Has No Boundaries, Hayward Event -- Hayward, WI, US (sponsored by Fishing Has No Boundaries, Inc., a non-profit with the goal of opening the great outdoors through the sport of fishing to the disabled; the Hayward event is their biggest each year, and runs through tomorrow)

Galician Literature Day -- Galicia (an autonomous region of Spain)

Grand Spring Festival -- Toshogu Shrine, Nikko, Japan (through tomorrow; includes horseback archery, processions in costume, and more)

International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia

International Virtual Assistants Day -- acknowledging the dedication, experience, expertise, and determination of virtual professionals, sponsored by the Alliance for Virtual Businesses

Liberation Day -- Democratic Republic of the Congo

Magnolia Blossom Festival and World Championship Steak Cook-Off -- Magnolia, AR, US (all the usual fun, with a steak eating contest, live entertainment, and an art show;through tomorrow)

Maifest -- Mainstrasse Village, Covington, KY, US (celebrating German tradition and welcoming the first spring wines; through Sunday)

Merry-Go-Round Day -- the first merry-go-round, powered by horses, opened this day in 1620

NASCAR Day -- drivers, celebrities, corporate partners, media, and millions of fans come together to raise funds for charitable causeshttps://foundation.nascar.com/netcommunity/sslpage.aspx?pid=1578

National Cherry Cobbler Day

National Defense Transportation Day -- US (remembering the contributions of people working in the transportation industries)

National Pizza Party Day -- as declared by Garlic Jim's Famous Gourmet Pizza, on the 3rd Friday of May

National Walnut Day -- declared in 1949 by the Walnut Marketing Board

Navy Day -- Argentina (anniversary of the victory at the Battle of Montevideo in 1814)

Pack Rat Day -- come on out and admit it, you are a pack rat, too!

Rhododendron Festival -- Florence, Oregon, US (parades, flower show, car show, carnival and more; through Sunday)

Rhubarb Festival -- Intercourse, Pennsylvania (come on out and enjoy the music, games, rhubarb-inspired foods, and lots of family fun, including the Rhubarb Race Car Derby and best pie contest; through tomorrow)

Rubber Band Day -- patented this day in 1845, and aren't we pack rats glad.

Syttende Mai -- Stoughton, WI, US (come celebrate the Norwegian heritage of this town with a three day colorful gala; through Sunday)

Shunki Reitaisai -- Toshogu Shrine, Nikko, Japan (Grand Festival of Spring, through the 18th)

St. Madron of Cornwall's Day (Patron against pain)

Tell An Umpire "I Love Your Outfit" Day -- only if he has a sense of humor or you can duck quickly

Watch a Baby Fall Asleep Day -- because few things in the world are as funny and precious

World Hypertension Day -- because high blood pressure is dangerous

World Neurofibromatosis Day -- for information on the disease that makes people grow tumors, see hereWorld Telecommunication and Information Society Day -- UN

Birthdays Today:

Tahj Mowry, 1987
Drew Roy, 1986
Andrea Corr, 1974
Jordan Knight, 1970
Enya, 1961
Sugar Ray Leonard, 1956
Bob Saget, 1956
Bill Paxton, 1955
Dennis Hopper, 1936
Maureen O'Sullivan, 1911
Edward Jenner, 1749

Today in History:

Italian Jesuit Niccolo Zucchi becomes the first to see 2 belts on Jupiter's surface, 1630
Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve founds the Ville Marie de Montréal, 1642
Frontenac becomes governor of New France (Canada), 1672
Louis Joliet and Jacques Marquette begin exploring the Mississippi River, 1673
England passes the Molasses Act, putting high tariffs on rum & molasses imported to the colonies from a country other than British possessions, 1733
The US Continental Congress bans trade with Canada, 1775
The New York Stock Exchange is founded, 1792
John Hawkins & Richard French patent the Reaping Machine, 1803
Napoleon I of France orders the annexation of the Papal States to the French Empire, 1809
Occupation of Monaco changes from French to Austrian, 1814
Antoine Joseph Sax patents the saxophone, 1846
Rosalía de Castro publishes Cantares Gallegos, the first book in the Galician language, 1863
Aristides wins the first Kentucky Derby, 1875
Greek archaeologist Valerios Stais discovers the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient mechanical analog computer, 1902
The Columbia Lions and the Princeton Tigers play in the first-ever televised sporting event, a collegiate baseball game in New York City, 1939
The United States Supreme Court hands down a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, 1954
Soviet Venera 6 begins its descent into the atmosphere of Venus, sending back atmospheric data before being crushed by pressure, 1969
Thor Heyerdahl sets sail from Morocco on the papyrus boat Ra II to sail the Atlantic Ocean, 1970
Maoist guerrilla group Shining Path attacks a polling location in the town of Chuschi, Ayacucho, starting the Internal conflict in Peru, 1980
Lebanon, Israel, and the United States sign an agreement on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, 1983
After 18 years as the mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac takes office as President of France, 1995
Three days of popular protests against the government of Prime Minister of Thailand Suchinda Kraprayoon begin in Bangkok, leading to a military crackdown, 1992
Zaire is officially renamed Democratic Republic of the Congo, 1997
Massachussetts becomes the first US State to legalize same-sex marriage, 2004
The aircraft carrier USS Oriskany is sunk in the Gulf of Mexico as an artificial reef, 2008
Dalia Grybauskaite is elected the first female President of Lithuania, 2009

The girls are supposed to take turns "swishing and swiping" their bathroom. This means, every day, they are supposed to alternate swishing out the toilet bowl, spritzing the mirror, counter, and toilet with cleaner, and swiping them down. This only takes about 1 1/2 minutes in the small bathroom they have, and keeps it from needing a "blast it clean with a sandblaster" treatment as much, if at all.

Then, they are to empty the trash can twice a week, sweep and wipe the floor with a damp cloth twice a week, and wipe down the shower as soon as they get done taking a shower. Again, this keeps it from building up.

Of course, they get confused, and argue about whose day is whose, and i'm now going to post a schedule on the mirror so they won't forget.

Anyway, Bigger Girl finished her final exams a few days ago, so yesterday she tackled giving the bathroom a good sandblasting, so to speak. She did a really great job (she wasn't a janitor's assistant for nothing).

Little Girl came in from school a bit later, and after using the facilities, came to find her sister.

"Did you get the bathroom so cleaned up?" she asked.

"Yes," Bigger Girl responded.

"Well, if you were getting it ready for the Queen, you forgot the complimentary tea, the Harry Potter reading material, and the ceramic model of a Tardis!"

Both laughed, and then Little Girl turned to me. "This sock is too big!" she said, pulling it off and showing it to me.

That's because it's one of your father's socks, i noted drily. The kids are notorious for leaving socks everywhere, losing them, and then grabbing whatever they can find that hasn't been folded yet.

"Do you know what socks are?" she asked, showing off her only-in-sock-clad feet.

What are they? i played along.

"They are 5% warmth, 5% comfort, and 90% fun with sock skating!" She then took off, skating across the floor in the dining room.

Today is

Apollon Day -- Ancient Roman Calendar (god of music, poetry, sunlight)

Armed Forces Day -- US (honoring those currently serving in the US military)

Battle of Las Piedras Day -- Uruguay

California Artichoke Festival -- Castroville, CA, US (lots of fun in the Artichoke Capital of the World; through tomorrow)

Dermott's Annual Crawfish Festival -- Dermott, AR, US (mud bugs aren't just for Cajuns any more! carnival, music, street dances, tons of crawfish and more through tomorrow)

Do Dah Day -- Rhodes and Caldwell Parks, Birmingham, Alabama (fun while fundraising for local animal charities)

Flag and University Day -- Haiti

HIV Vaccine Awareness Day/World AIDS Vaccine Day -- because viruses are so hard to treat, it's easier to develop vaccines to prevent them

I Love Reeses Day -- as voted in by lovers of the candy a few years ago

International Museum Day -- International Council of Museums (ICOM)

Iris Festival -- Greeneville, Tennessee, US (the community's major festival of the year, featuring artists, craftsmen, merchants, food vendors and entertainers from across the country; through tomorrow)

Moonbeam Hopping Gala -- Fairy Calendar

Morel Mushroom Festival -- Muscoda, WI, US (the "Morel Mushroom Capital of Wisconsin" celebrates the end of the peak morel season in style, with everything including an antique tractor pull, Fireman's Steak Feed, and even a parade; through tomorrow)

Lewis & Clark Heritage Days -- St. Charles, MO, US (reenacting the 1804 encampment just before their departure, with activities including a parade with drum and fife corps, and even a church service; through tomorrow)

Mike the Headless Chicken Festival -- Fruita, CO, US (it all started with a chicken that kept trying to eat even after the farmer lopped off his head to prep him for the stew pot; Mike's indomitable spirit and will to live is a legend here and the basis of a two day festival celebrating the fact that you can live a normal life even after you have lost your mind!)

National Cheese Souffle Day

National Learn To Swim Day -- US (with summer just around the corner, remember that drowning is the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children ages one to 14, so please, learn to swim and teach your kids!)http://blog.swimways.com/national-learn-to-swim-day/

National Pike Festival -- Fayette County, Pennsylvania, US (through the 20th)

No Dirty Dishes Day -- spread around the internet by a mom who needed the break, possibly; go ahead, break out the paper plates just on this day

O. Henry Pun-Off World Championships -- Austin, TX, US

Preakness Stakes-- Pimlico Race Course, Baltimore, MD, US (138th annual; the second jewel in horse racing's Triple Crown)

Restoration of Somaliland Sovereignty Day -- Somaliland Region, Somalia

Revival, Unity, and Poetry of Magtymguly Day -- Turkmenistan

St. Eric's Day (Patron of Sweden)

St. Theodotus' Day (Patron of hotel keepers and innkeepers)

Suigo Itako Ayame Matsuri -- Maekawa Ayame-en, Itako, Japan (Iris Flower Festival, with over a million blooms of 500 species, special dance and demonstrations on weekends; through June 23)

Visit Your Relatives Day -- if they are great, go have fun; if awful, go remind yourself why you moved so far away!

Wisconsin Dells Automotion -- Noah's Ark Waterpark, Wisconsin Dells, WI, US (showcase of more than 1,000 classic cars, music, food, and family fun; through tomorrow)

World Goodwill Day -- commemorates the opening meeting of 26 nations in the First Hague Peace Conference, 1899

Wright Plus -- Oak Park, IL, US (The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust’s annual house walk features rare interior tours of privately owned homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and his contemporaries in the historic community of Oak Park)

Anniversaries Today:

Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine, 1152

Birthdays Today:

Tina Fey, 1970
Chow Yun-Fat, 1955
Rick Wakeman, 1954
George Strait, 1952
Reggie Jackson, 1946
Brooks Robinson, 1937
Dwayne Hickman, 1934
Robert Morse, 1931
Pernell Robers, 1930
Pope John Paul II, 1920
Margot Fonteyn, 1919
Perry Como, 1912
Frank Capra, 1897
Omar Khayyam, 1048

Today in History:

The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars in the Battle of Antioch, 1268
Vasco da Gama reaches the port of Calicut, India, 1498
Playwright Thomas Kyd's accusations of heresy (under torture) lead to an arrest warrant for Christopher Marlowe, 1593
John Winthrop takes the oath of office and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts, 1631
Rhode Island passes North America's first anti-slavery law, 1652
Fire destroys a large part of Montreal, Quebec, 1763
The first United Empire Loyalists reach Parrtown, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada after leaving the United States, 1783
Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French by the French Senate, 1804
The destruction of Saturdays forever after: Edwin Budding of England signs an agreement for manufacture of his invention, lawn mower, 1830
The Disruption in Edinburgh of the Free Church of Scotland from the Church of Scotland, 1843
The United States Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that separate but equal is constitutional, 1896
A mass panic on Khodynka Field in Moscow during the festivities of the coronation of Russian Tsar Nicholas II results in the deaths of 1,389 people, 1896
Bram Stoker's Dracula is published, 1897
The Earth passes through the tail of Comet Halley, 1910
Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier, 1953
Under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon, 1974
Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, United States, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage, 1980
In France, a modified TGV train achieves a new rail world speed record of 515.3km/h (357.2 mph), 1990
Photos from the Hubble Space Telescope confirm the existence of two additional moons, Nix and Hydra, around Pluto, 2005
A landmark bill passes in Nepal curbing the power of the monarchy and making it a secular country, 2009

Little Girl, sitting next to me in the car, was busily writing in her notebook.

"Mom, I've been keeping track," she said. "For the past couple of days I've been watching the drivers as we pass them on the road to school and back, and you know what? Earlier in the day, maybe about a third of them are on the phone or texting, and in the late afternoon, it's more than half of them!"

And the ones on the phone or texting are the worst drivers, aren't they? i asked.

"Yes, they are," she noted. "They are very slow or very fast, or weaving around."

It's good that she has taken notice. Especially since i read this story.

Savannah Nash was on her way to the grocery store, just out running an errand, so close to her own neighborhood that one neighbor heard the crash. It was her very first time driving alone. She was texting, perhaps about her first time going solo in the car. She never made it to the store. Savannah turned 16 last week, and didn't see the truck she was supposed to yield to. She won't see 17.

Take notice, all of us. No, i don't text behind the wheel. If i get a call, i make one of the kids answer, or, if i'm alone, i ignore it and call back when i pull off the road. Not that i am perfect, i just try.

Pass that link to people you know, it's time for all of us to take notice.

Today is

Aunt's Day -- you honored your mother last week, if you have an aunt who has been good to you and a good influence, call today and let her know

Boy's Club Day -- founding in 1906

Circus Day -- the four Ringling Brothers opened their first circus on this day in 1884

Dance to Mark the Third of January -- Fairy Calendar (Third of January is when the Founding Fairy Fathers and Mothers arrived in what is now called Fairyland [no one knows where they lived before, or what lived in Fairyland before], so it is one of their most important days; no one knows why it is celebrated in May, either)

Greek Genocide Remembrance Day -- Greece

ING Bay to Breakers 12k Race -- San Francisco, CA, US (the largest footrace in the world with 70,000+ runners, followed by a festival)

May Ray Day -- to celebrate being able to go out into the sun's rays as summer nears

Mifune Matsuri -- Kurumazaki Shrine, Kyoto, Japan (Boat Festival, with over 20 different kinds of traditional Japanese performing arts and costumes of the Heian Period)

National Devil's Food Cake Day

National Stationery Show -- NYC, NY, US (if you love beautiful paper, or quirky cards, or all forms of stationery, this is a show for you; through the 22nd)

Neighbor Day -- Rhode Island, US (a "Day of Special Observance"www.neighbordayworldwide.com here, and they encourage everyone, before summer starts, get to know your neighbors so you will have more people to enjoy the season with

New England's Dark Day*

Plant Something Day -- because it's fun, and summer is coming so you can!

Praia Municipal Day -- Praia, Cape Verde

Stepmothers' Day -- the too often overlooked and unsung heroines of families; if you have one, and she has been there for you, thank her today

St. Dunstan of Canterbury's Day (Patron of armourers, blacksmiths, blind people, gold workers and smiths, jewelers, lighthouse keepers, locksmiths, musicians, silver workers and smiths, swordsmiths; Charlottetown, PEI, Canada)

St. Peter Celestine's Day (Patron of bookbinders; Aquila, Italy)

Upper Canada Village -- Morrisburg, ON, Canada (through early October, various programs that let visitors and students enter the world of the 1860s)

Whit Sunday / Pentecost -- Christian
Hvitasunnudagur -- Iceland (sleeping in on Whitsunday is detrimental to your health, but monsters are asleep through the day and can be taken by surprise)
Romeria del Rocia -- Huelva, Spain (pilgrims transport an image of the Virgen del Rocio [Our Lady of the Dew] through Andalucia, with no motorized transport allowed, accompanied by Gypsy Caravans; when the image gets to the shrine, there is mass and a few days of fireworks and celebrating)

Youth and Sports Day / Commemoration of Atatürk -- North Cyprus; Turkey

Birthdays Today:

Rachel Appleton, 1992
Jordon Pruitt, 1991
Kevin Garnett, 1976
Kyle Eastwood, 1968
Grace Jones, 1952
Joey Ramone, 1951
Andre the Giant, 1946
Pete Townshend, 1945
Nora Ephron, 1941
James Fox, 1939
Malcolm X, 1925
Ho Chi Minh, 1890
Nancy Astor, 1879
Johns Hopkins, 1762

Today in History:

Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America, 1535
Anne Boleyn is beheaded, 1536
Queen Elizabeth I orders the arrest of Mary, Queen of Scots, 1568
French forces under the duc d'Enghien decisively defeat Spanish forces at the Battle of Rocroi, marking the symbolic end of Spain as a dominant land power, 1643
The Long Parliament declares England a Commonwealth, and England remains a republic for the next 11 years, 1649
King George II of Great Britain grants the Ohio Company a charter of land around the forks of the Ohio River, 1749
*A combination of thick smoke and heavy cloud cover causes complete darkness to fall on Eastern Canada and the New England area of the United States at 10:30 A.M, 1780
Napoleon Bonaparte founds the Légion d'Honneur, 1802
Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo thus ending the Mexican-American War and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of four other modern-day U.S. states to the United States for $15 million USD, 1848
Jan Matzeliger begins the first mechanized shoe production, 1885
Oscar Wilde is released from Reading Gaol, 1897
White women win the right to vote in South Africa, 1930
Margaret Mitchell's Gone With The Wind is published, 1936
Churchill and Roosevelt set May 1, 1944 as their goal date for D-Day (it had to be delayed over a month because of weather), 1943
The Soviet Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly-by another planet by passing Venus, 1961
Croatians vote for independence, 1991
The Sierra Gorda Biosphere, the most ecologically diverse region in Mexico, is established as a result of grassroots efforts, 1997

We are doing the Happy Snoopy Dance here; nose up, feet moving!

Today is the last day of school for the semester!

Little Girl baked a treat yesterday for the end of the year party.

This morning, i'm buying a snack to send to go with it.

Don't remind me that they have summer school coming up to make sure they can reach some accelerated academic goals, i already know. Right now i'm choosing to ignore that and bask in the fact that, for a few weeks anyway, i don't have to do the commute to a school that is in the next parish over.

It's almost as much fun as kissing school good-bye was when i was a kid.

Have a great week, everyone! After today, i will.

Today is

Accounting Day -- promoting the profession of accounting and finance

Be a Millionaire Day - now we all can go for that

Blue Jeans Day -- Levi Strauss and David Jacobs received the patent for their denim pants with riveted pockets on this day in 1873

Dainty-Four Remembrance Day -- Fairy Calendar

Discovery Day -- Cayman Islands

Eliza Doolittle Day* -- in honor of Shaw and his famous fictional character, to encourage proper use of one's native language

Emancipation Day -- Florida, US

Festival of Mjollnir -- Ancient Norse Calendar (feast of Thor's Hammer, date approximate)

Flying Solo Day -- Lindberg began his historic flight on this day in 1927

Frigga Blot -- Slavic Pagan/Asatru (honoring Frigga)

Grudie Rosnoe -- Slavic Pagan/Asatru (ten days of sacrifices to Rod for rain and good harvests)

Herrinfesta Italiana -- Herrin, IL, US (a whole week of celebrating all things Italian, with a Midwest Pasta Sauce Contest, races, music, grape stomp, and more; through Sunday)

Independence Day -- East Timor

Hari Kebangkitan Nasional Indonesia -- Indonesia (Indonesian National Awakening Day)

Mecklenburg Day -- North Carolina, US (commemoration of the signing of a declaration of independence from England by the citizens of Mecklenburg County on this day in 1775)

National Day -- Cameroon

National Geographic Geography Bee -- National Geographic Society Headquarters, Washington, D.C., US (through Tuesday, with the finals aired then)

National Quiche Lorraine Day

Norman Rockwell Day -- his first Saturday Evening Post cover appeared this day in 1916

Pick Strawberries Day

St. Bernadine of Siena's Day (Patron of advertising and advertisers, communications personnel, compulsive gamblers/gambling addicts, public relations work and personnel; Italy; Aquila, Italy; Capri, Italy; Castelspina, Italy; Trevignano, Italy; the diocese of San Bernardino, California; against compulsive gambling, chest, lung, and respiratory problems and hoarseness of the throat)

St. Ives' Day (an honest lawyer; in the Anglican tradition, Patron of abandoned children and orphans, advocates, canon lawyers, judges, lawyers, and notaries; in the Roman Catholic tradition, Patron of Saint Ives, Cambridgeshire, England)

Victoria Day -- Canada

Whit Monday -- Belgium; England; Germany; Iceland; Ireland; Sweden; The Netherlands; Wales

Weights and Measures Day / World Metrology Day -- anniversary of the treaty in 1875 which established the International Bureau of Weights and Measures in Sevres, France

*"One evening the King will say, "Oh, Liza, old thing,
I want all of England your praises to sing,
Next week on the twentieth of May,
I proclaim Liza Doolittle Day."

Birthdays Today:

Tony Stewart, 1971
Bronson Pinchot, 1959
David Paterson, 1954
Cher, 1946
Joe Cocker, 1944
Stan Mikita, 1940
Anthony Zerbe, 1936
George Gobel, 1919
Jimmy Stewart, 1908
William Fargo, 1818
John Stuart Mill, 1806
Honore de Balzac, 1799
Dolly Madison, 1768

Today in History:

The first Ecumenical Council in the Christian Church, the Council of Nicea, opens, 325
An earthquake kills about 300,000 people in Syria and Antiochia, 526
John Cabot sets sail from Bristol, England, on his ship Matthew looking for a route to the west, 1497
Cartographer Abraham Ortelius issues the first modern atlas, 1570
Shakespeare's Sonnets are first published in London, 1609
Napoleon Bonaparte reinstates slavery in the French colonies, revoking its abolition in the French Revolution, 1802
Otto is named the first modern king of Greece, 1835
HMS Erebus and HMS Terror with 134 men under John Franklin sail from the River Thames in England, beginning a disastrous expedition to find the Northwest Passage in which all hands are lost, 1845
U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law, 1862
Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets, 1873
The Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy is formed, 1882
Krakatoa begins to erupt (the volcano's final and most notable explosion will occur on August 26), 1883
The first public display of Thomas Edison's prototype kinetoscope, 1891
Cuba gains independence from the United States, 1902
The Saturday Evening Post publishes its first cover with a Norman Rockwell painting ("Boy with Baby Carriage"), 1916
Montreal, Quebec radio station XWA broadcasts the first regularly scheduled radio programming in North America, 1920
By the Treaty of Jedda, the United Kingdom recognizes the sovereignty of King Ibn Saud in the Kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd, which later merge to become the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, 1927
At 07:52 Charles Lindbergh takes off from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York, on the world's first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, 1927
Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland to begin the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean by a female pilot, 1932
In a referendum in Quebec, the population rejects by a 60% vote the proposal from its government to move towards independence from Canada, 1980
First publications of the discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science by Luc Montagnier and Robert Gallo individually, 1983
The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre, 1989
In a second referendum in Quebec, the population rejects by a slight majority the proposal from its government to move towards independence from Canada, 1995
The independence of East Timor is recognized by Portugal, formally ending 23 years of Indonesian rule and 3 years of provisional UN administration (Portugal itself is the former colonizer of East Timor until 1976), 2002

So, i asked, how was the last day of school?

"Well, Mark managed to talk through some of the movie, and it was irritating," Little Girl answered.

"Yeah," #2 Son agreed. "He's one of those people who repeat the lines, and try to explain what's going on when you just want to watch it for yourself. The kind of person who can make you hate a movie you loved because they mess it up."

"We all finally had to threaten to lock him out of the room if he wasn't quiet, so he was, and it was okay after that. Also, we had enough food for an army as usual, but no one would try my cookies except one person!"
Little Girl had worked hard on those, i was not happy to hear no one wanted to try them. It's their loss, though, it leaves more for Sweetie, who loves them.

"We got to give each other job interviews, too!" #2 Son picked back up with the narrative. "We took turns being the interviewer and interviewed person..."

Interviewee? i asked, always ready to supply a new word they might want to use. Can't help it, i'm a mom.

"Yeah, the interviewee. We were interviewing each other for a bank teller job, and we had a set of questions to ask, and we were supposed to come up with some of our own."

"That was the fun part," Little Girl said. "When I was interviewing each of them, my last question was, 'If I make you my most trusted assistant and hire you to be my right hand and minion, will you swear to hate all of my enemies and make sure they die brutal and violent deaths?' Only one kid actually thought it through and took time to answer that question. Him I would hire!"

Hm, makes me wonder what kind of bank you are running, i muttered.

Today is

American Red Cross Founder's Day -- established by Clara Barton on this day in 1881

Anastenarides Feast -- Greece (feast to St. Constantine and St. Helen)

Battle of Las Piedras Day -- Uruguay

Circassian Day of Mourning -- Circassians

Día de la Afrocolombianidad -- Columbia (Afro-Colombian Day; commemorates Columbia's abolition of slavery on this date in 1851)

Dia De Las Glorias Navales -- Chile (Navy Day)

European Maritime Day -- European Council (this year's host for the conferences is Malta; through tomorrow)

Festival for Vevodus -- Ancient Roman Calendar (god of the dead, swamps, and volcanic movements, and sometimes regarded as the king of the Di Manes)

French Open Tennis Tournament -- Roland-Garros Stadium, Paris, France (part of the Grand Slam of Tennis, annually since 1925; through June 9)

Honvédelem Napja -- Hungary (Day of Patriots and Military)

Independence Day -- Montenegro

"I Need A Patch For That" Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, which notes that since everything else has a patch, why shouldn't you?

Lilies and Roses Day -- London, England (memorial of the death of Henry VI on this day in 1471; held at the Tower of London with representatives of Eton College and King's College, which he founded.)

National Memo Day -- an internet holiday with no known origin, just take a memo

National Strawberries and Cream Day

National Waitstaff Day

Passion Play Day -- the first Oberammergau, Germany, Passion Play was staged this date in 1634

RHS Chelsea Flower Show -- Chelsea, London, England (the world's greatest flower show celebrates its 100th anniversary;through Saturday)

Sister Maria Hummel Day -- birth anniversary of the Franciscan nun and artist

St. Constantine's Day (Greek Orthodox Church; Patron of Greece)

St. Eugene de Mazenod's Day (Patron of dysfunctional families)

St. Helen's Day (Greek Orthodox Church; Patron of Greece)
St. Helena Day -- St. Helena

World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development -- UN

Birthdays Today:

Sarah Ramos, 1991
Ashlie Brillault, 1987
Lisa Edelstein, 1966
Mr. T, 1952
Peggy Cass, 1924
Raymond Burr, 1917
Dennis Day, 1917
Harold Robbins, 1916
Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel, 1909
Fats Waller, 1904
Armand Hammer, 1898
Alexander Pope, 1688

Today in History:

Syracuse, Italy is captured by the Muslim sultan of Sicily, 878
The island of Saint Helena is discovered by the Portuguese navigator João da Nova, 1502
The nobility elect John Sobieski King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, 1674
The Order of St. Alexander Nevsky is instituted in Russia by the empress Catherine I; it would later be discontinued and then reinstated by the Soviet government in 1942 as the Order of Alexander Nevsky, 1725
Mary Campbell is abducted from her home in Pennsylvania by Lenape during the French and Indian War, 1758
Slavery is abolished in Colombia, South America, 1851
Russia declares an end to the Russian-Circassian War and many Circassians are forced into exile, 1864
French troops invade the Paris Commune and engage its residents in street fighting, 1871
The American Red Cross is established by Clara Barton, 1881
The Manchester Ship Canal in England is officially opened by Queen Victoria, 1894
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is founded in Paris, 1904
Charles Lindbergh touches down at Le Bourget Field in Paris, completing the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, 1927
Bad weather forces Amelia Earhart to land in a pasture in Derry, Northern Ireland, and she thereby becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, 1932
Oskaloosa, Iowa, becomes the first municipality in the United States to fingerprint all of its citizens, 1934
A Soviet station becomes the first scientific research settlement to operate on the drift ice of the Arctic Ocean, 1937
The National War Memorial in Canada is unveiled by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in Ottawa, 1939
Physicist Louis Slotin is fatally irradiated in a criticality incident during an experiment with the Demon core at Los Alamos National Laboratory, 1946
The opening of the Ninth Street Show, otherwise known as the 9th Street Art Exhibition – a gathering of a number of notable artists, and the stepping-out of the post war New York avant-garde, collectively know as the New York School, 1951
Michelangelo's Pietà in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome is damaged by a vandal, 1972
Democratic Republic of Yemen and North Yemen agree to a unity, merging into Republic of Yemen, 1990
The Ethiopian Civil War ends, 1991
Suharto, Indonesian president of 32 years, resigns, 1998
The clipper Cutty Sark is badly damaged by fire in London, England, 2007
JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, launches the solar-sail spacecraft IKAROS aboard an H-IIA rocket, 2010

Tough Stuff

Feline Friday: All Growed Up

Judge, We Need a rEcess

Reality?

Fade to Black

Funny Thing About Libraries

Ray of Light

"Lettuce" Pray

Feline Friday: Count the Kittens

Deliver Us!

The last two days...

Relatively Speaking

Day in the Life

Guess Who?

Give Me a Head With Hair

Feline Friday: Oooh, Toes!

There's Clean, and Then There's a Teens' Bathroom

Taking Notice

Happy Snoopy Dance!

Just What Kind of Bank Are You Hiring For?