messymimi's meanderings

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Post a joke.
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Read my joke.
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Every Saturday, Brother-in-Law, The Mouth, and Sweetie have dinner together.

Most weeks, they eat something i prepare here at home.

The first Saturday of each month, which is right after payday, they instead go out and have dinner, each supposedly paying for his own meal.

"Supposedly" because Brother-in-Law, The Mouth's way of paying is to have Sweetie put it on our debit card, then pay back cash for the cost of his entree, ignoring the cost of his beverage, tax, tip, or any appetizers or extras he ordered.

This reminds me of a conversation Boudreaux and Thibodeaux had about Gauthier, who was always the last to grab his wallet when everyone was at a restaurant and the bill came.

"He gots him de 'shell-out falter!'" Boudreaux say.

Thibodeaux he laugh an' say, "Mais, no, dat's what dey usta call it, back in de Cold War, but now ever't'ing is a 'condition' or a 'disease,' so what he gots is a 'reach impediment!'"

Today is

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

Bent Wand-Straightening Day -- Fairy Calendar

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

Constitution Day -- Poland

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

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)

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

Full Flower Moon / Corn Planting Moon / Milk Moon
     Buddha Day/Vesak/Waisak -- Bhuddist's Buddha Day; date varies with many celebrating tomorrow, and some areas already started the celebrations yesterday; sometimes called "Buddha's Birthday"
     Kasone Full Moon -- Myanmar
     Vesak Full Moon Poya Day -- Sri Lanka
     Waisak/Vesak Festival -- Borobudur Temple, Java, Indonesia (on the day of the full moon, a stunning and spiritual celebration of Buddha's birthday)

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

Heavenly Sage Bao Sheng’s Birthday -- Taoism

Hug Your Cat Day -- sponsored by Apricat

International Bereaved Mothers' Day -- Project Heal

International Dawn Chorus Day -- encouaging everyone to get up early and join others in listening to the early morning bird chorus

Lemonade Day -- US (empowering youth to start their own small businesses; some states celebrate on different days, so look for local times and stands)

Lumpy Rug Day -- the tongue-in-cheek day to tease bigots about shoving unwanted facts under the rug, sponsored by Robert L. Birch of Puns corps

Martyr's Day -- Lebanon

Mayday for Mutts -- originally sponsored, but now celebrated by many animal rescues on different dates

Mother's Day -- Hungary; Lithuania; Mozambique; Portugal; Romania; 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 Infertility Survival Day® -- US (encouraging infertility survivors to reach out to those still coming to terms with being diagnosed as infertile)

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

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

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

Specially-Abled Pet Day -- because different abilities don't make them less a member of the family.

St. James the Lesser's Day (Patron of apothecaries, druggists, the dying, fullers, hatters and hatmakers, miliners, 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)

Togyu Taikai -- Tokunoshima Island, Japan (bull sumo, in which bulls push each other out of the ring; through the 5th)

Wordsmith Day

World Laughter Day -- sponsored by Dr. Madan Kataria, founder of the worldwide Laughter Yoga movement

World Press Freedom Day -- International/UN

Birthdays Today:

Joseph Addai, 1983
Christine Hendricks, 1975
Dule Hill, 1974
Christopher Cross, 1951
Mary Hopkin, 1950
Doug Henning, 1947
Greg Gumbel, 1946
Frankie Valli, 1937
Engelbert Humperdinck, 1936
James Brown, 1933
Sugar Ray Robinson, 1921
Pete Seeger, 1919
Bing Crosby, 1903
Golda Meir, 1898
Niccolo Machiavelli, 1469

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Bent"(Play), 1979
"All Things Considered"(National Public Radio Network first broadcast), 1971
"The Most Happy Fella"(Musical), 1956
"CBS Evening News"(TV), 1948

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
New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art announces it will return two statues from northern Cambodia's archeological site Koh Ker, 2013

Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.

Join us every Monday for Awww...Mondays. Post a picture that makes you say Awww... and that it.

Make sure you get the code from Sandee's site, linked above, and leave a link to your post so we can visit you. What better way to start the week than with a smile!

So many people came you couldn't get a pic without someone in it!

When a locally owned supermarket announced the Wienermobile was coming, it turned grown-ups back into kids again. They were thrilled to get pictures with it, and get wiener whistles for their children.

Since i had no kids with me, but animals that i was taking to the vet, i settled for stopping and snapping a picture. Yes, i admit, i had a bit smile on my face, since this was the first time i'd ever seen one in person.

Today is

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

Cassinga Day -- Namibia

Compliment Someone's Smile Day

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

Frustrating the Fairies Day -- Ireland (a day to confuse the fairies so they may not cause any mischief, although i can't find any details about how to frustrate them)

International Firefighters' Day

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

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

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 -- US (Home Brewers Association)

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 Library Legislative Day and Virtual Library Legislative Days -- US (40+ years of the ALA advocating for libraries, 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 tomorrowhttp://www.ala.org/advocacy/advleg/nlld)

National Meeting Planners Appreciation Day 2014 -- 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 Orange Juice Day

National Weather Observers Day -- another fun day that doesn't seem to be sponsored by anyone, but Family Crafts has suggestions for how to celebrate

Petite and Proud Day -- i've never heard of this one until now, but it's the one for me!

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)

School Bus Driver Appreciation Day -- US

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!"

Youth Day -- China

Birthdays Today:

Erin Andrews, 1978
Dawn Stanley, 1970
Randy Travis, 1959
Pia Zadora, 1956
David Guttersn, 1956
Jackie Jackson, 1951
Richard Jenkins, 1947
Nicholas Ashford, 1942
George F. Will, 1941
Roberta Peters, 1930
Audrey Hepburn, 1929
Heloise Bowles Cruse, 1919
Horace Mann, 1796
Bartolomeo Cristofori, 1655

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Beatles at Hollywood Bowl"(Album), 1977
"Another World"(TV), 1964
"New Girl in Town"(Musical), 1957

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
Mary Dixon Kies becomes the first woman in the US to obtain a patent, for a method of weaving hats with straw, silk, and thread, 1809
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
The last nuclear reactor in Japan is shut down, leaving the country without nuclear power for the first time since 1970, 2012

...a really witty, intriguing, intelligent, insightful, progressive and contemporary idea for a blog post.

Then i woke up.

Isn't it amazing how we can have something all sewn up in a dream and it vanishes upon awakening?

This seems especially true when i head downstairs to face a howling-for-her-breakfast KidaMosquito and dirty dishes in the sink.

So what was this post about that in my dream was so witty and etc.? If i'm remembering correctly, i had come up with the key that would have solved all the world's problems, and it had something to do with the leftover oranges from the homeless ministry outreach on Sunday.

It made sense in the dream, whatever it was.

This past Sunday, though (unless i dreamed it) i went to the parking lot where Pastor M preaches to the homeless at noon and found we were not just bagging up our usual offerings of fruit and water and whatever had been donated. There was also a huge amount of fruits, veggies, eggs, healthy frozen entrees -- in short, it looked like a small grocery store. The local food pantry had been most generous.

In the foreground, 250+ bags of food, and under the two tents, a mini-grocery.

The people who attended were thrilled, and i didn't even pull out all of the bags of oranges i had brought, deciding instead to bring them for the outreach at church that evening.

When i went back for that evening outreach, we had 15 chicken spaghetti casseroles and sides and oranges and cake, enough to feed many people.

Not too many showed up, however. Pastor M took a lot of meals to go, and everything was consumed or brought to a family that needed it, so there was no waste.

One of the men who did come to eat, however, said something i'd never thought about.

"This area is very generous," Lee noted. "I've lived in a lot of places, and in many of them, they won't deal with the homeless, they just put you in jail. They tell you to move along, they won't feed you or anything. Here, though, there's no reason you can't get a meal every day, even if you are homeless. The people are so generous it can cripple people!

"And that's the problem. See, people here are too generous. For example, the ones out on the streets who are on drugs. Why should they save what money they get for food when they know that there is food available? Some church or homeless outreach or someone is feeding people every day. They don't need to save their money for food, they can spend it on their drugs, because they know they won't go hungry for long. If they went hungry more, they might spend the money on food and be motivated to drop the drugs.

"And the other thing," he continued, "you have this meal on the first Sunday of the month, when people still have money and food stamps. If you have it on the third or fourth Sunday, instead, when nobody gots any money left, this place would be busting at the seams!"

He gave me a lot of food for thought, and when Pastor W gets back from his vacation, i'm going to bring it up with him. We might do better to move our evening outreach to a time later in the month. Helping Pastor M won't change, there are two different churches assigned to each week of the month.

Whether anything will come of it or not, i do not know, but it is worth contemplating --

the idea that too much help is crippling people and keeping them down.

Today is

Arbegnoch Qen -- Ethiopia (Patriots' Victory Day)

Arrival Day -- Guyana

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 -- Japan (Kodomo-no-hi); South Korea (Orininal)

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

Europe Day -- Council of Europe

Fairy Ring Day (Receiving) -- Fairy Calendar

Give Local America -- US (encouraging people to support local charities with the largest crowdfuning event in history)

Halfway Point of Spring/Autumn

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 Day of the Midwife -- in some places, they just don't get enough respect

Lusophone Culture Day -- Community of Portuguese-speaking countries

National Chocolate Custard Day

National Ferret Day -- UK (Ferret Education & Research Trust)

National Hoagie Day

National Teacher Appreciation Day -- US

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

Save Lives Clean your Hands Day -- WHO (the day gets its own web page)

Senior Citizens Day -- Palau

St. Judith's Day (Patron of Prussia)

Totally Chipotle® Day

World Asthma Day -- International (Global Initiative for Asthma)

Anniversary Today:

The American Medical Association is founded, 1847

Birthdays Today:

Harry Cavill, 1983
Danielle Fishel, 1981
Tina Yothers, 1973
Brian Williams, 1959
Richard E. Grant, 1957
Jean-Pierre Leaud, 1944
Lance Henriksen, 1943
Michael Palin, 1943
Tammy Wynette, 1942
Michael Murphy, 1938
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

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Damn Yankees"(Play), 1955

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

This Friday and Saturday, i'll be delivering flowers again.

So, once again, from the point of view of the person who just might be delivering your flowers, a few hints for how to make my job easier and assure that you will get those flowers there.

1. Order early. Earlier than that. Yes, that early. Like, today early.

   Here's the thing. The florists order lots and lots of flowers, and some are going to be in better shape than others. The nicest ones get used first. By 3pm on the Saturday before Mother's Day, they are using the ones they would have passed over earlier. Ordering ahead, and ordering for early delivery, gets you the nicest selection.

   Get them delivered the day before, to get extra points with your mom/wife/mother figure in your life.. It means you didn't dawdle, you have flowers for her to enjoy the whole weekend, dinner out and a gift Sunday, you made a big thing of it. It also means you get the nicest flowers, as noted above. And, if we can't find your location or have trouble, we have time for a redelivery.

     Think about it. You have flowers or candy or cupcakes or whatever is being delivered early, and you have just let this person know you are not simply waiting for someone to slap you upside the head and tell you to get with it, the big day is here. You are plotting and planning and putting thought into a buildup. It goes a long way, baby.

2. Mark your home well! This is for your benefit as well as ours. After all, if we can't find you, what makes you think the EMTs can find you in the middle of the night? And if you are having us deliver to a place of business, don't think that lets you off the hook -- businesses need to have large numbers on the buildings where people can easily find them. Please.

3. Delivery drivers know the town in general, but not every single side street, business, nook and cranny. Give us your whole, complete address. This means include:

     Avenue, Street, Boulevard, Drive, Circle, Lane, or whatever is in the actual title of your street.

     Your apartment complex name and apartment number
     or the nursing home name and room number
     or the business name and office number/division of the business where your recipient works.

   You know where it is, but we don't, and it's no fun having to guess.

4. If you live in a gated community, please tell us, and give us a way to get in. It's frustrating not to be able to get to your home because we need a gate code. Give us a phone number, and i'll talk more about that later.

5. The same goes for if you are having flowers delivered to a limited access work place. Make sure we can get in there to it. More than once i've had to wait until someone was leaving the building to beg to be brought in, and had to register, and all of that. Again, a phone number helps.

6. If you and the recipient are both at work all day, give us permission, when you place the order, to leave the flowers in a safe place by the back door, under a patio, or with a neighbor.

7. Tell us what time the recipient gets off work, if you really want us to go to the workplace. It's frustrating to get there a half hour after she got off for the day.

8. About phone numbers: tell your recipient to answer the phone! Yes, you usually don't answer if you don't recognize the number. Tell her to answer anyway, on this day, because there is a surprise coming. Give us your number as well, and answer it. If we can get in touch with you, or you or the recipient, we can work out most delivery complications easily.

Yes, i know, you meant it for a surprise. Guess what? The recipient can be surprised when we call and say we have flowers for them and it can be a happy surprise because the flowers will get there, or you can get a nasty surprise of no flowers because i couldn't find the place, or get permission to leave it on your back porch, or reach you to get into the gated community.

9. Please do not ask us to deliver to a school (if you are having them delivered on Friday). The people in the carpool lane get very upset with us, as they think we are cutting in line, your recipient doesn't need the aggravation of having a class interrupted, and the office staff aren't always happy that we have to register, get a visitor tag, and etc. It takes an extra long time sometimes to deliver to a school, so please don't try, let us bring it to the house.

10. Remember your driver is paid only for completed deliveries. Time is of the essence for us, we want to successfully deliver as many items as we can, for the joy it brings you and the money it brings us. There's no shame in earning some extra cash by doing this service, so help us serve you better by following the tips above!

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

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

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

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

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

Great American Grump Out Day -- encouraging everyone to avoid grumpiness and rudeness for 24 hours; who knows, you might enjoy it so much it will stick!

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

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

Lag B'Omer -- Judaism (begins at sunset)

Martyrs' Day -- Syria

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

National Bike to School Day -- US (encouraging kids to have fun, get their exercise, and get to school under their own steam)

National Crepe Suzette Day

National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy -- US

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

National School Nurse Day -- US (the school nurse is there to help!)

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)

Occupational Safety and Health Professionals Day -- US (info here)

Pithi Chrat Preah Neanng Korl -- Cambodia (Royal Ploughing Ceremony, to mark the beginning of the rice growing season)

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

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)

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

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

Anniversaries Today:

David Duchovny marries Tia Leone, 1997
Princess Margaret marries Anthony Armstrong-Jones at Westminster Abbey (the first televised royal wedding), 1960

Birthdays Today:

Gabourey Sidibe, 1983
Leslie Hope, 1965
Roma Downey, 1964
George Clooney, 1961
Tom Bergeron, 1955
Tony Blair, 1953
Lynn Whitfield, 1953
Alan Dale, 1947
Ben Masters, 1947
Bob Seger, 1945
Willie Mays, 1931
Orson Welles, 1915
Stewart Granger, 1913
Rudolph Valentino, 1895
Gaston Leroux, 1868
Rabindranath Tagore, 1861
Sigmund Freud, 1856
Robert E. Peary, 1856
Maximilian Robespierre, 1758

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Entertaining Mr. Sloan"(Play), 1964

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

Ms. P and the kids moved. And like most moves, it has its complications.

First, the house wasn't really ready. Despite loads and loads of handyman work in the past two or three months, there are problems. The kitchen sink drain got disconnected by one of the workers (we figure one of the ones who used the opportunity of being in the house alone to steal a few items and order a couple of porn movies on the TV) the day before they moved in, and didn't get reconnected. They didn't find this out until they turned the water on. You can imagine how much fun they had there.

The washing machine is hooked up wrong, so the hot water is hooked up to the cold water valve and vice versa. When i went over to do laundry on Tuesday, i figured it out when everything came out of the "cold rinse" blazing hot.

One toilet doesn't work, the workers left grout and crud where it shouldn't be, and because they hadn't finished the work, the place wasn't cleaned up thoroughly before the move. Everything was moved in on top of the construction/repair dust, dirt, and detritus.

Ms. P's wonderful Sunday school class at her church helped with the actual move. They were wonderful, but they took it upon themselves to move almost everything, not just what she had packed and indicated was to be moved.

The result is that they've tried to cram the furnishings and everything else from a 2,000+ square foot house that had 4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 bathrooms, a bonus room, and generous living and dining rooms into a space about half the size, 3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths, and a tiny living/dining area.

To say it doesn't work is an understatement.

Today i am back over trying to help sort. This could take a while.

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 -- US (sometimes also called Green Ribbon Day, and sponsored by SAMHSA; SAMHSA's "Caring for Every Child's Mental Health" public awareness effort)

Day of the Soldier -- El Salvador

Doodle 4NF Auction Days -- Neurofibromatosis Foundation's biggest fundraiser, from today until May 17, go to Ebay to bid on doodles drawn by celebrities

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's 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

Lag B'Omer -- Judaism (began sunset yesterday, ends sunset today)

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

Mom's Night Out -- sponsored by momsniteout.com

National Barrier Awareness Day -- US (declared by Presidential Proclamation in 1986)

National Day of Prayer -- US / Interfaith

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

National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day -- US (SAMHSA's"Caring for Every Child's Mental Health" public awareness effort)

National Roast Leg of Lamb Day

Nones of May -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Radio Day -- Bulgaria; Russia

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

Anniversaries Today:

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

Birthdays Today:

Owen Hart, 1965
Peter Reckell, 1955
Amy Heckerling, 1954
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
David Hume, 1711

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Strike It Rich"(TV), 1951
Choral Symphony in D Minor(Beethoven's Ninth), 1824

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 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
A new study reports that all Europeans are related to a small group of ancestors dating back only 1,000 years; researchers believe it's likely that everyone in the world is related over the past few thousand years, 2013

Feline Friday is hosted by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude, and i'm going to believe it's because he likes cats.

Feline Friday is simple to join. All you have to do is..

1) post a picture, drawing, cartoon or video of a cat (They may be silly or cute)
2) go to Steve's page, linked above, then on the menu bar click on the Feline Friday tab to get the code
3) paste the code under your cat picture
4) add your name and link

That’s all there is to it! Be sure to check back every so often and visit all the Feline Friday bloggers. Also, please leave a nice comment on their blogs. Nasty comments will be deleted!

Mikey!

Mikey is sacked out, right on top of the cord someone needs to charge a phone. He will tell you it's okay, he doesn't bite when you get it out from under him, he's not that kind of cat. However, he will tell you he does own the table!

Today is

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

Canadian Tulip Festival -- Ottawa, Canada (the largest tulip festival in the world; through the 18th)

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)

Dog-Prodding Day -- Fairy Calendar (Gremlins)

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 tomorrow)

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

Fintastic Friday: Giving Sharks A Voice -- originally sponsored by the Shark Research Institute

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

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

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

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

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

National Animal Disaster Preparedness Day -- US (FEMA wants you to make plans for your pets in case of disaster or emergency)

National Coconut Cream Pie Day

National Empanada Day

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

Parents' Day -- South Korea

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

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 Ovarian Cancer Day -- International (because while up to 89% of women with breast cancer are likely to survive 5 years or more, only 45% of women who get ovarian cancer will survive that long)

World Red Cross Day / World Red Crescent Day

Birthdays Today:

Enrique Iglesias, 1975
Robert M. Hensel, 1969
Melissa Gilbert, 1964
Janet McTeer, 1961
David Keith, 1954
Toni Tennille, 1943
Peter Benchley, 1940
Rick Nelson, 1940
Thomas Pynchon, 1937
Charles “Sonny” Liston, 1932
Don Rickles, 1926
David Attenborough, 1926
Robert Johnson, 1911
Bishop Fulton Sheen, 1895
Harry S Truman, 1884
Louis Moreau Gottschalk, 1829
Jean-Henri Dunant, 1828
Miguel Hidalgo Y Costilla, 1753

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Let It Be"(Album), 1970
"A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum"(Musical), 1962
"Look Back in Anger"(Play), 1959
Concerto in E-flat, "Dumbarton Oaks"(Stravinsky concerto), 1938

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
George B. Selden files the first patent for an automobile in the US, 1879
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

"Hey, mom, guess what' I'm doing tonight?" Little Girl asked as we headed toward school one day this past week.

What would that be, besides homework? i asked.

"Well, I really don't have much work left to do. It's time for finals, and I don't have to take any of them, I just have to sit through the study lessons. And I finished my EOC tests, and passed, so my grades are already determined for the year."

So what will you be doing?

"Well, Sammy has a date! You know, little Sammy? He's big enough now that he has a date!"

Really? He would be about 7th grade now, right?

"Yes. And his sister Annie is going to chaperone him, and she doesn't want to go alone, so I'm going along! Plus she doesn't have her license yet, so I'm going to drive them."

You get to chaperone Sammy with Annie? That's one I never expected to hear!

The next day i asked how it went, and she said, "It was cute. We took them to the mall, and they held hands as we walked and looked at things, and they had dinner in the food court. We had to have his date home by 8pm because it was a school night."

Ah, young love, i thought. And your sister and her friend to chaperone. They do grow fast.

****************************

In totally different news, after working at Ms. P's on Thursday, and telling them i was delivering flowers all day Friday and Saturday, The Big Boss called and asked if i was available Friday night to babysit!

The upshot of it was i agreed to do my deliveries, go take care of the cats at the shelter, Little Girl would be at Ms. P's by 5pm, and i would get there as soon after that as i possibly could so she could get back home and get back to her plans for the evening. This would mean being out a lot later than i planned, and make Saturday even more difficult because of lack of sleep, but what can i say?

When i went in to do the deliveries after Bible study, i was handed my first manifest and about dropped my teeth! The route optimizer, which i have been saying is drunk and needs to go home for a couple of years now, had actually planned out a logical route!

It seems they sobered it up. Of course, they called it reprogramming, but i like my term better.

When i got back after my third route, i really wanted to take a fourth, but had to pass because of the cat shelter and babysitting situation. It's something i regret, because i really would have loved that fourth route.

There may come a day, whether The Big Boss likes it or not, that i will just have to say no to certain things. Except that i'm a pushover. Oh, well.

Today is:

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

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

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

Bladder Cancer Awareness Day

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

Europe Day -- European Union

Giro D'Italia -- San Lorenzo Al Mare to Milan, Italy (one of cycling's three Grand Tours; through May 31)

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

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, and this year to focus on the importance of bird habitat; 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)

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)

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

Liberation Day -- Guernsey; Jersey

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

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 Butterscotch Brownie Day

National Miniature Golf Day -- this one should be in every country, mini golf is too much fun to hog!

National Moscato Day

National Train Day -- US (a day to explore why trains matter, with events sponsored by Amtrak kicking off in Chicago today)

O. Henry Pun-Off World Championships -- Austin, TX, US (presented by The P.U.N.Y. [Punsters United Nearly Yearly])

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

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

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

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

Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure Day 2015 -- Washington, D.C., US

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

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)

World Belly Dance`Day -- to celebrate the wonderful art of belly dance

World Fair Trade Day -- sponsored by the World Fair Trade Organization; this year's theme is "Be an Agent for Change"

Xotira va Qadirlash Kuni -- Uzbekistan (Day of Remembrance and Honors)

Birthdays Today:

Rosario Dawson, 1979
Steve Yzerman, 1965
Tony Gwynn, 1960
Billy Joel, 1949
Candice Bergen, 1946
James L. Brooks, 1940
Charles Simic, 1938
Glenda Jackson, 1937
Albert Finney, 1936
Glenda Jackson, 1936
Richard Alonzo “Pancho” Gonzales, 1928
Mike Wallace, 1918
Howard Carter, 1873
J.M. Barrie, 1860
Belle Boyd, 1843
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
A report reveals that hackers using fraudulent ATM cards in February, 2013, stole $45 million, 2013

While delivering flowers, i've sometimes had difficulty finding places. The routing computer at the flower shop used to be terrible! It would give awful printed directions, often telling you to leave a business or area and go to a different one, then come back to the first one again for a second delivery. It should have put all of the deliveries to the same address or area at one stop or right after each other.

It used to be that i would tell them to tell their route optimizer to go home, it was drunk. They have sobered it up, although they called it reprogramming it.

It still isn't perfect, though. If a particular road is so new it hasn't been added to its maps yet, it puts the stop in the right place, but skips giving you the directions for it. That's when i have to "call back to the barn" and get them to tell me where to find it.

Yesterday i was on my last run of the day when the directions told me the name of a street on which to turn, but it's such a new street that it doesn't have a street sign yet. Thankfully i was able to wave down a very nice young gentleman who told me where it was, then had me follow him since he was going that direction. He pointed out the street, and i got that last delivery in.

Having to ask that nice young man for directions reminds me of a joke.

Boudreaux an' Thibodeaux was jes' settin' in front de little main street store in Ville Platte one day many year back, an' a man drive up an' roll down de window an' say, "Entschuldigung, koennen Sie Deutsch sprechen?"

Boudreaux an' Thibodeaux jes' say, "Heh?"

Den de man say, "Parlare Italiano?"

An' Boudreaux an' Thibodeaux again say, "Heh?

One mo' time he try, "Hablan ustedes Espanol?"

Boudreaux an' Thibodeaux jes' shake dey heads an' de man drive off disgusted.

Den Thibodeaux turn to Boudreaux an' ax, "We speak Cajun French, an' we speak Cajun English, do you t'ink we need to learn a t'ird language?"

An' Boudreaux he answer an say, "Mais, non! Dat man, he spoke t'ree language, an it don' do him no good!"

Today is

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

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

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)

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

Mother Ocean Day -- celebrate the wonders of the ocean, wherever you happen to be; day originally proposed by the South Florida Kayak Fishing Club

Mother's Day -- Belize; El Salvador; Guatemala; Mexico (always May 9 in these countries)

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 Shrimp Day

Punch's Birthday / Covent Garden May 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

State Flag and State Emblem Day -- Belarus

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

Birthdays Today:

Kenan Thompson, 1978
Amanda Borden, 1977
Jason Brooks, 1966
Paul "Bono" Hewson, 1960
Phil and Steve Mahre, 1957
Donovan, 1946
Dave Mason, 1946
Marie-France Pisier, 1944
Judith Jamison, 1943
Gary Owens, 1936
Barbara Taylor Bradford, 1933
Pat Summerall, 1930
Ara Raoul Parseghian, 1923
Nancy Walker, 1922
T. Berry Brazelton, 1918
"Mother" Maybelle Carter, 1909
David O. Selznick, 1902
Fred Astaire, 1899
Max Steiner, 1888
Karl Barth, 1868
George Ross, 1730
Emperor Fushimi of Japan, 1265
Emperor Claudius, 213

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Twister(Film), 1996
"The Rest of the Story"(Radio), 1976
Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major(Shostakovich Op. 102), 1957

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 Jamaica 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

Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.

Join us every Monday for Awww...Mondays. Post a picture that makes you say Awww... and that it.

Make sure you get the code from Sandee's site, linked above, and leave a link to your post so we can visit you. What better way to start the week than with a smile!

These kittens were at the shelter Friday.

Ahhh! We love the hammock!

While i couldn't quite get a picture of him doing it, the brother at the bottom was not quite asleep. Every time the sister at that side of the hammock flicked her tail over the edge, he would reach up and bat at it!

He's stretching to bat at his sister's tail!

If they could read the note on top of their cage, they might say, "We didn't know we were broken!"

Today is

Aso ote Tala Lei -- Tuvalu (Gospel Day)

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)

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

Hostess Cupcake Day -- the Hostess Cupcake, the first cmmercially produced cupcake, went on sale on this day in 1919

Lemuralia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (second day)

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

Ma Zu, Goddess of the Sea’s Birthday -- Buddhism; Taoism

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

National Mocha Torte Day

National Technology Day -- India

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

Root Canal Appreciation Day -- Dr. Chris Kammer, the 'rock and roll dentist', declared this day back in 2005 because he said the much maligned proceedure saves millions of teeth a year and needs an image make over

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

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

Women's Check-up Day 2015 -- US (always the Monday after Mother's Day, encouraging women to be proactive about their health

Anniversaries Today:

Sammy Davis, Jr., marries Altovise Gore, 1970
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is founded, 1927
Glacier National Park established, MT, US, 1910
Minnesota becomes the 32nd US state, 1858

Birthdays Today:

Corey Monteith, 1982
Jonathan Jackson, 1982
Natasha Richardson, 1963
Boyd Gaines, 1953
Robert Jarvik, 1946
Mort Sahl, 1927
Bernard Fox, 1927
Foster Brooks, 1912
Phil Silvers, 1911
Salvador Dali, 1904
Martha Graham, 1894
Irving Berlin, 1888
Charles Warren Fairbanks, 1852
Chang and Eng Bunker, 1811

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Once Upon a Mattress"(Musical), 1959

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
In Nepal, Sherpa Apa Sherpa achieves a new record by climbing Mount Everest for the 21st time, 2011

A couple of things have happened in the last few days that may not seem related, but in a weird way are.

Last Friday, while delivering flowers, i followed a delivery truck into a gated community (it's always a stroke of luck when that happens and we can get in that way) to find the homeowner wasn't there. Upon calling her and leaving a message (they won't answer the phone because they don't recognize the number so you have to leave a message and hope they listen), she actually was one of those who did call back right away.

She asked me to go over to the garage and open the back gate, that i could leave the flowers on the porch in there. We are allowed to leave flowers in a safe place like that if we have permission, so i opened the gate, while still on the phone with her, and got attacked by a hornet building a nest there.

He bit my ring finger on my left hand, the hand holding the phone at the time, so i screamed and dropped the phone. Once i got rid of him, i picked the phone up, hoping it wasn't broken. It was fine, so i called her back and apologized for screaming in her ear and warned her about the hornets.

Then i left her the flowers and went on to finish out the say. The finger was a bit sore at first, but not too bad.

When i went to bed Friday night, after babysitting until almost 11pm, it seemed okay.

On Saturday morning, when i woke up to go back to work, the finger was swelling. My first instinct, to grab a Benadryl, i ignored. The last thing i needed was to be drowsy all day while driving all over town. Of course, Someone had taken all the Claritin in the house and hadn't told me, so i stopped and bought one at the gas station's store while filling up.

By the time i had done three runs, the finger was swollen so badly that i knew i was going to have to get the ring cut off. (It was swollen enough that morning that i couldn't get it off, but it wasn't so tight as to be uncomfortable then.) Mr. R, one of the co-owners of the shop, told me, "I can cut it off!" and he did. "I should have been a surgeon," he told me after he accomplished this feat.

It's not easy to get a pic of your own hand! And this is after the swelling was down a bit.

After my final run, which ended after the shop closed, i went home and sent the doctor a text message. He called in a prescription steroid to bring the swelling down. The only pharmacy that's open 24 hours in our area took almost 3 hours to fill it (they are notoriously slow), so it was another late night.

Sunday we went to church, and yes i did the usual stuff, including nursery duty, holding ice on my hand by this time to try to help. Then on to the restaurant to meet Grandma and Grandpa for Mother's Day lunch.

The Monday after Mother's Day is Women's Check-up Day, as i noted. Actually, i had scheduled the first part of my annual physical for that day about two months ago. When i went, they not only did the usual first part of the physical (blood pressure, ECG, visual field, hearing, weight/height, lung capacity, ankle/brachial arterial check, and the blood draw and pee in a cup routine, as well as assessing my activity level, diet, mental wellbeing and etc. by questionnaire), the doc took a few minutes out to look at my hand.

It's much better, and by next week, when i go for the follow up to talk to the doc about the blood work results and etc., it should be back to normal. It still itches, but less than before, and the swelling is about gone.

Now that i stop and think about it, only i would have something like this happen right before i was going to be at the doctor's office anyway.

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

Hug Your Cat Day -- another date given on many sites, and here's some advice about how to do it safely

International CFS/ME Awareness Day -- bringing awareness about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

International Nurses Day -- birth anniversary of Florence Nightingale

Lailat al Miraj -- Islam (observance of Mohammed's night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem; begins at sundown, local customs and dates may vary)

Limerick Day -- birth anniversary of Edward Lear

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)

Rotuma Day -- Rotuma, Fiji

Saint Andrew, the First Called Day -- Georgia

Snellman Day/Day of Finnish Identity -- Finland

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:

Mick Jagger marries Bianca De Macias, 1971
Eddie Fisher marries Elizabeth Taylor, 1959
Coronation of George VI of England, 1937
Maria Theresa of Austria is crowned Queen of Bohemia, 1743
National University of San Marcos is founded in Lima, Peru (oldest in the Americas), 1551
Jagiellonian University is fouded in Krakow, Poland (oldest in Poland), 1364
Richard I (Lionheart) of England marries Berengaria of Navarre, 1191

Birthdays Today:

Emily VanCamp, 1986
Cheryl Burke, 1984
Jason Biggs, 1978
MacKenzie Astin, 1973
Christian Campbell, 1972
Jamie Luner, 1971
Kim Fields, 1969
Tony Hawk, 1968
Stephen Baldwin, 1966
Emilio Estevez, 1962
Ving Rhames, 1961
Kim Greist, 1958
Bruce Boxleitner, 1951
Gabriel Byrne, 1950
Lindsay Crouse, 1948
Steve Winwood, 1948
Millie Perkins, 1938
George Carlin, 1937
Tom Snyder, 1936
Frank Stella, 1936
Burt Bacharach, 1929
Yogi Berra, 1925
Mary Kay Ash, 1918
Katharine Hepburn, 1907
Florence Nightingale, 1820
Edward Lear, 1812

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Lena Horne: The Lady And Her Music"(Musical revue), 1981
"Mary Had a Little Lamb"(Paul McCartney & Wings single release), 1972
"The Poisoned Kiss, or The Empress and the Necromancer"(Opera), 1936
The Symphony No. 1 in F minor(Shostakovich Op. 10), 1926
"L'elisir d'amore / The Elixir of Love"(Opera), 1832

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

Red-Headed Alec had a problem.

Thanks to the combination of old wiring and territorial cats around here, his phone ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. Liquid was knocked over during a loud cat cussing session and his plugged in phone ceased to be able to charge up.

The phone itself still worked, but it would no longer charge the battery when plugged in, and the battery was running low. He took the battery out and charged it in someone else's similar phone, but it wouldn't charge in his phone.

For his birthday, when i asked what he wanted, he said he needed help with the phone. His current one is customized, and he's with Verizon which would charge him a good bit to switch everything from his phone to a new one (one of the good things about AT&T, a SIM card moved is plenty good enough, you don't have to pay extra when your phone breaks and you have to buy a phone anyway). Verizon also would charge him more monthly to have a plan for a new phone, as the plan he has is no longer offered when you buy new phones.

So he wanted a similar phone simply to leave it plugged in, charging up a battery for him at all times. He would then just switch batteries into and out of his phone and the "charging phone" as needed.

That's what we did, i took him and bought him the phone that was the closest match, and it worked. The battery is interchangeable, so he will be leaving the new phone at home to work as both his alarm to wake him for work and to keep one battery charged at all times.

"I have to say it, I have a 'ghetto MacGyver phone' now!" he told me gleefully.

If he's happy, i'm happy. After all, it's his birthday gift.

Today is

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

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

Cannes Film Festival -- through the 24th

Celtic Tree Month Huath (hawthorn) commences

Donate a Days Wages to Charity Day 2015 -- onedayswages.org

Fairy King and Queen Jumping Competition -- Fairy Calendar

Frog Jumping Day -- original date for celebrating Twain's short story

Garland Day -- Abbotsbury, Dorset, England

King Norodom Sihamoni's Birthday -- Cambodia

Lailat al Miraj -- Islam (observance of Mohammed's night journey from Mecca to Jerusalem; began at sundown yesterday, local customs and dates may vary)

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

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)

Royal Windsor Horse Show -- Windsor, England (through the 17th)

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)

Birthday Today:

Debby Ryan, 1993
Robert Pattinson, 1986
Samantha Morton, 1977
Darius Rucker, 1968
Darius Rucker, 1966
Stephen Colbert, 1964
Julianne Phillips, 1962
Dennis Rodman, 1961
Frances Barber, 1957
Stevie Wonder, 1950
Bobby Valentine, 1950
Franklyn Ajaye, 1949
Tim Pigott-Smith, 1946
Mary Wells, 1943
Ritchie Valens, 1941
Harvey Keitel, 1939
Beatrice Arthur, 1923
Joe Louis, 1914
Arthur Sullivan, 1842
Maria Theresa, 1717

Debuting/Premiering Today;

Let It Be(Film), 1970
"Paint It Black"(Single release), 1966
"The Pajama Game"(Musical), 1954
Schelomo: Rhapsodie Hébraïque for Violoncello and Orchestra (Bloch concerto), 1917
"Apollo et Hyacinthus"(opera, Mozart K 38), 1767

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
In Belize, a construction company requiring road fill gravel destroys a 2,300 year-old Mayan pyramid, 2013

It's a bit cramped over at Ms. P's new place.

New place, tiny closets.

For those who want to know, Ms. P was married to the ex for over 10 years. When he dumped her for a new honey, he had been lying to her for a long time about a lot of things. He didn't tell her that their house was far enough behind that it was in danger of foreclosing and that they were in serious trouble with the IRS.

Because he has now set himself up to receive almost no money from his job, but for all of it to go to the new honey because he opened the business in her name, he can claim he's too poor to pay child support or anything else. He provides little or nothing for the kids, and only takes them for his weekends on occasion. He is most likely to take Eldest Boy and leave the rest.

The Big Boss had known Ms. P for quite a while, and when he realized the IRS was only letting her keep about $150/week of anything she earned, and that she would soon be homeless, he stepped in to help. He has made sure she and the kids have what they need. Having her family to be his pet project and take care of them proved to be the best thing in the world for him when everything blew up at work and he had to retire. She and the children have kept him from wallowing and fretting and having nothing much to do, and they all love him dearly. When he has needed support, he's had it, from them and us.

Stuff everywhere in the new place

Ms. P still needs to get the house sold, however, which she has known from the beginning. Even if she is found to be an innocent spouse and not owe the IRS money (after all, the ex worked and she just signed where he told her to when tax time came), there's no way she can afford the house.

She and the kids are now living in one of The Big Boss's houses that he usually rents out (he owns several). This one is over 60 years old, so the closets are small and the whole thing modest and compact.

The hallway -- suck in your gut and get through!

For the time being, she wants the children here and wants them to understand that they are not still living the lifestyle they had when their father was "taking care" of them. She doesn't say a bad word about him in front of the kids, none of us do, but they will understand as they get older.

Especially as they now live in such a cramped place, compared to what they are used to.

Today is

Ascension Day -- Christian; related observances
Procession of the Holy Blood -- Belgium (religious historical procession recalling the adventurous crusaders, especially Count Thierry of Alsace, who was supposed to have carried back relics of the Holy Blood)

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

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)

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)

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

National Buttermilk Biscuit Day

National Unification Day -- Liberia

President Kamuzu Banda's Birthday -- Malawi

Runic Half-Month Ing (expansive energy) commences

"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
Carlsbad Caverns National Park established, NM, US, 1930

Birthdays Today:

Miranda Cosgrove, 1993
Amber Tamblyn, 1983
Dan Auerbach, 1979
Martine McCutdcheon, 1976
Cate Blanchett, 1969
Danny Wood, 1969
Jose Da Silveira, 1965
Suzy Kolber, 1964
Tim Roth, 1961
Valerie Still, 1961
Ronan Tynan, 1960
David Byrne, 1952
Robert Zemechis, 1951
Meg Foster, 1948
George Lucas, 1944
Jack Bruce, 1943
Atanasio "Tony" Perez, 1942
Bobby Darin, 1936
Laszlo Kovacs, 1933
Patrice Munsel, 1925
Otto Klemperer, 1885
Robert Owen, 1771
Thomas Gainsborough, 1727
Gabrile Daniel Fahrenheit, 1686

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Kids Are Alright"(Documentary), 1979
“It’s Time for Ernie"(Ernie Kovacs' TV premier), 1951
"When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd: A Requiem for those we love"(Hindemith composition), 1946
"Die Hebriden/The Hebrides"(Mendelssohn Op. 26), 1832

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
Scientists at Stanford University invent a working bionic eye the is powered only by focused light; the eye could eventually restore the sight of millions of people suffering from macular degeneration and retinal pigmentosa, 2012

Feline Friday is hosted by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude, and i'm going to believe it's because he likes cats.

Feline Friday is simple to join. All you have to do is..

That’s all there is to it! Be sure to check back every so often and visit all the Feline Friday bloggers. Also, please leave a nice comment on their blogs. Nasty comments will be deleted!

You can tell the hot weather has settled into the swamp when Link settles himself into the coolest spot in the house.

Link in the coolest spot around -- our stained, but comfy, bathtub.

Today is

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

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)

Bath International Music Festival -- Bath, UK (with musicians from more than 30 countries, this is truly a premier festival; through the 25th)

Bike to Work Day 2015 -- the League of American Bicyclists have urged you to celebrate this day the third Friday of May ever since 1956

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)

Endangered Species Day

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)

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(1811)

International Conscientious Objectors' Day

International Day of Families -- UN

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

International Virtual Assistants' Day -- acknowledging the dedication, experience, expertise, and determination of virtual professionals; no longer sponsored, but the The International Virtual Assistant's Association is still around

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)

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)

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!)

Mother's Day -- Paraguay

National Chocolate Chip 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; Garlic Jim's holds a contest for school students to nominate their favorite teacher, and the winning teacher gets a free pizza party for the class on this 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

Police Officer/Peace Officer Memorial Day -- US (National Association of Chiefs of Police sponsor the main memorial event at the American Police Hall of Fame and Museum in Titusville, FL, but there may be services where you are also)

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

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)

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

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

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

Teacher's Day -- Mexico; South Korea

Tuberous Sclerosis Global Awareness Day

Anniversaries Today:

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

Birthdays Today:

Jamie-Lynn Sigler, 1981
David Krumholtz, 1978
David Charvet, 1972
Sam Trammell, 1971
Emmit Smith, 1969
Giselle Fernandez, 1961
Dan Patrick, 1956
Lee Horsley, 1955
George Brett, 1953
Chazz Palminteri, 1951
Brian Eno, 1948
David Cronenberg, 1943
Lainie Kazan, 1942
Madeleine Albright, 1937
Trini Lopez, 1937
Anna Maria Alberghetti, 1936
Jasper Johns, 1930
Richard Avedon, 1923
Eddy Arnold, 1918
Max Frisch, 1911
James Mason, 1909
Joseph Cotten, 1905
Abraham Zapruder, 1905
Katherine Anne Porter, 1890
Arthur Schnitzler, 1862
Ellen Louise Axson Wilson, 1860
Pierre Curie, 1859
L. Frank Baum, 1856

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Esclarmonde"(Opera), 1889

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
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
U.S. scientists develop a device that can generate electricity from genetically-engineered viruses; these piezoelectric materials are a step toward the development of personal power generators, 2012

"Hey, mom, guess what? I made a high B in my trig class!" Bigger Girl was rightfully proud of the effort she put out to do that.

Great work! i told her.

"I'll take a math class this summer, and I should be able to graduate with my AS in zoological science in the fall!" she continued.

You are doing a wonderful job, i said, and i meant it. (This is the child who was once diagnosed as so dyslexic and autistic that i was told she would never learn to read or do math, and the best we could hope for was that she could live in a group home someday and have a menial job.)

"Thanks. Yesterday I went with Callie and Vera to celebrate the end of the semester, and Vera wanted to buy a corset! So we went to this place where they had those and lots of other stuff, including one of those poles, you know, for pole dancing. And they dared me to try it, and I did! Mom, I've got enough lower body strength that I was able to climb it and lower myself a few inches at a time until I was on the floor! Can you believe it! I could pole dance if I wanted to! Not that I want to, of course."

Thanks, i needed to know that about my daughter, i told her drily, and we both laughed.

"Well, here's something else you might find interesting," #1 Son said as he walked in.

What's that? i asked.

"I can perform marriage ceremonies in certain states!" he said.

How? i asked.

"I sent my $10 in to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, and they sent me a certificate, so I'm now ordained in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster! So in any state where that church is recognized, and there are a few, I can perform a wedding!" he said.

Somehow, i'm not surprised.

Today is

All Wright Housewalk -- Oak Park, IL, US (formerly called Wright Plus, 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)

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

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

Celebrate Your Elected Officials Day 2015 -- 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

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)

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

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)

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)

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)

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)

National Coquilles St. Jacques 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!)

Preakness Stakes-- Pimlico Race Course, Baltimore, MD, US (140th annual; the second jewel in horseracing's Triple Crown)

Sea-Monkey® Day -- as declared by someone who likes these little brine shrimp as pets; for info on keeping sea monkeys, check here; for ideas about how to celebrate there is a site about how to worship sea monkeys

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, travelers, 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)

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

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)

Yom Yerushalayim -- Israel (Jerusalem Day; begins at sunset)

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
Matt Ryan, 1985
Jim Sturgess, 1981
Tori Spelling, 1973
David Boreanaz, 1971
Gabriela Sabatini, 1970
Tracey Gold, 1969
Janet Jackson, 1966
Mare Winningham, 1959
Joan Benoit Samuelson, 1957
Olga Korbut, 1955
Debra Winger, 1955
Pierce Brosnan, 1953
Bob Edwards, 1947
Bill Smitrovich, 1947
Billy Martin, 1928
Liberace, 1919
Woody Herman, 1913
Louis "Studs" Terkel, 1912
Margaret Rey, 1906
Henry Fonda, 1905
Elizabeth Palmer Peabody, 1804
William Seward, 1801

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Top Gun(Film), 1986
"McCartney II"(album release), 1980
"Listen to What the Man Said"(Single release), 1975
"Annie Get Your Gun"(Musical), 1946
"Dalibor"(Opera), 1868

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 oldest water ever found is discovered in a Canadian mine; the water dates back 2.6 billion years, 2013

Silly Sunday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.

Silly Sunday is the place to come for weekly laughs. The rules are simple, just have fun.

This is a great opportunity to get to know other bloggers and have a laugh or two in the process.

Here is how it works: Laugh and Link Up!

Post a joke.
Link Up with the URL to your joke in the Linky Tools Widget.
Read my joke.
Leave a comment to tell me how much you enjoyed my joke.
Try and visit a few others participating in Silly Sunday.
Go to Sandee's site, linked above, and get the Silly Sunday code for your blog, too!

Yesterday i went to the bank to deposit the larger portion of Little Girl's paycheck into her savings account, and bring the smaller amount back to her in cash. As i sat in line at the drive up window at the bank, i thought about the disappearance of physical money and what that will mean.

No more giving kids their weekly commission payment for doing their chores (a/k/a allowance) in cash. No more slipping a little something into the tip jar, or dropping some money into the collection box at the door of a museum or other place that relies on donations. No way to anonymously give money any more, in any way, to anyone, for any reason. That's a very sad thing to me.

Checks are a dying breed, too. None of my children even bother with them. If they need to send a check, they put the money in my account, and i send the check.

Some churches are turning on to the fact that their members want an easier way to give tithes and offerings. (One wag noted that his nondenominational church accepts every denomination, but prefers $20s and $100s)

Boudreaux was at a meeting to discuss the addition of a card reader chip to the collection plates at his church to make it easier to give.

"I don' know 'bout dat," he was heard to say, "but what I done be wantin' fo' a long time is a refreshment stand at de back o' de church. Mais, but I could use a cold root beer when Father be givin' a long homily!"

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

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

Birthday of the Raja -- Perlis, Malaysia

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

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

Dia de las Letras Gallegas -- GA, Spain (Galician Literature Day in Galacia, an autonomous region of Spain)

Falling Off a Log Night -- Fairy Calendar

Feast of Azamat(Grandeur) -- Baha'i

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

International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia

Liberation Day -- Democratic Republic of the Congo

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

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 Cherry Cobbler 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 Wednesday)

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

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

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

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

Route 66 Summerfest -- Rolla, MO, US (citywide celebration to kick off the summer; through tomorrow)

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

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

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. 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

World Neurofibromatosis Awareness Day -- for information about neurofibromatosis click here or here

World Telecommunication and Information Society Day -- UN

Yom Yerushalayim -- Israel (Jerusalem Day; began sunset yesterday, ends sunset today)

Birthdays Today:

Nikki Reed, 1988
Tahj Mowry, 1987
Drew Roy, 1986
Andrea Corr, 1974
Sendhil Ramamurthy, 1974
Mia Hamm, 1972
Jordan Knight, 1970
Trent Reznor, 1965
Craig Ferguson, 1962
Enya, 1961
Sugar Ray Leonard, 1956
Bob Saget, 1956
Bill Paxton, 1955
Debra Winger, 1955
Christian Lacroix, 1950
Dennis Hopper, 1936
Maureen O'Sullivan, 1911
James "Cool Papa" Bell, 1903
Joseph Norman Lockyer, 1836
Edward Jenner, 1749

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Information Please!"(Radio), 1938
"Shéhérazade"(Ravel song cycle), 1904
Comic Cuts(Comic Paper, first publication), 1890
"Cavalleria rusticana/Rustic Chivalry"(Opera), 1890

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 brightest lunar meteor impact ever observed is recorded by NASA, 2013

Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.

Join us every Monday for Awww...Mondays. Post a picture that makes you say Awww... and that it.

Make sure you get the code from Sandee's site, linked above, and leave a link to your post so we can visit you. What better way to start the week than with a smile!

The Lorax.

Giselle, Lorax's mother.

Laith, Lorax's father

We finally have a happy ending to the story of Lorax's mom and dad.

The lady upon whom they were foisted by her daughter couldn't keep them, so they were brought to the shelter to be adopted.

Laith, the male, was adopted right away. Within a week he was returned, and the adopter given her money back, as she was covered with ringworm.

Turned out that, even though he had no hair loss typical of ringworm infection, he had it from nose to tail tip. He was a symptomless carrier.

He was quarantined and put on two oral medications, and he was not happy about it, but there wasn't much else we could do.

Meanwhile, Giselle was adopted by a man who had previously owned two Persians. They had grown old and died, and he was wanting another Persian.

When he found out we had Laith back at the shelter, he wanted to adopt both.

He had to wait two months while Laith finished his course of medication, to make sure he would be totally cleared.

Now Laith has been taken to his new owner's house, and has been reunited with Giselle. They had never been parted until these last couple of months, and they are ecstatic to be back together.

The new owner is thrilled, too. He and his wife have children over age 10, who dote on these cats.

It's a great thing for everyone, so a nice "Awww!" story all around.

Today is

Accounting Day -- promoting the profession of accounting and finance

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

Battle of Las Piedras Day -- Uruguay

Discovery Day -- Cayman Islands

Flag and University Day -- Haiti

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 Memorial Day)

HIV Vaccine Awareness Day/World AIDS Vaccine Day

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

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

Moonbeam Hopping Gala -- Fairy Calendar

National Cheese Souffle 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

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)

Victoria Day -- Canada

Visit Your Relatives Day -- if they are great, go have fun; if awful, go remind yourself why you moved so far away!
World Goodwill Day -- commemorates the opening meeting of 26 nations in the First Hague Peace Conference, 1899

Anniversaries Today:

Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine, 1152

Birthdays Today:

Tina Fey, 1970
Jari Kurri, 1960
Chow Yun-Fat, 1955
Rick Wakeman, 1954
George Strait, 1952
James Stephens, 1951
Tom Udall, 1948
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
Big Joe Turner, 1911
Meredith Willson, 1902
Frank Capra, 1897
Wilhelm Steinitz, 1836
Omar Khayyam, 1048

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Le roi malgré lui / King in Spite of Himself"(Opera), 1887

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

As in, checking in with a check-up.

It was time for the annual physical.

Last week i went and got all the pre-testing done. Blood work, ECG, and etc.

This week, it was time to get all the results and talk them over with the doctor.

My health is good overall. My thyroid is still wonky, but it has been since i was a teen. It's not going to suddenly start working correctly.

My C-Reactive Protein level was, for the first time ever, sky-high. Since i have no other markers for any form of heart disease and my ECG is normal for me and none of my arteries are clogged and my blood pressure is 100/62 and all my lipid levels are low enough to be text book perfect, we are chalking that up to the sudden stress of the hornet attack that happened three days before the blood was drawn. After all, it goes up because of stress, and having your hand swell up so much you have to cut a ring off is rather stressful.

One of the other things my doc checks for is early signs of dementia. He does this by asking me to remember certain words while we discuss other things, asking me to spell a word backward, talking about the date and year and season, asking me to draw the hands on a clock to point to a certain time, and a few other things. It's been the same test for three years in a row now.

As a joke, i went in with the clock drawn and the hands pointing to 3 o'clock, handed it to him and said, The words are apple, penny, and table, world spelled backward is d-l-r-o-w, it's May 18 and i delivered flowers last week for Mother's Day, and i already drew the clock for you. Do i pass my brain test? Do i still have one?

He laughed and told me i passed. It's nice to have a doc with a sense of humor.

He asked about hot flashes and i said, are you kidding? You know i'm always cold, thus the sweater in all seasons.

His response was, "That means that either your ovaries are still working, or you are menopausal and asymptomatic."

Either way, we don't care, i said, and he agreed and we laughed again.

The upshot, as noted, is i'm good for another year, with the exception of needing to cut down my thyroid pills to a half pill two days a week, and be retested in 3 months. He doesn't want to over-treat, but he doesn't want to stop the treatment, since my goiter is now not even palpable.

It's nice to know you check out as far as medical goes.

Today is

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, but it might be because the weather is better)

Greek Genocide Remembrance Day -- Greece

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

National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day -- US (information at Banyan Tree Project)

National Devil's Food Cake Day

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

RHS Chelsea Flower Show -- Chelsea, London, England (the world's greatest flower show celebrates its 102nd anniversary; through Saturday)

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

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

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

Anniversary Today:

Eric Clapton marries Pattie Boyd, 1979

Birthdays Today:

Rachel Appleton, 1992
Jordon Pruitt, 1991
Eric Lloyd, 1986
Kevin Garnett, 1976
Kyle Eastwood, 1968
Grace Jones, 1952
Joey Ramone, 1951
Archie Manning, 1949
Andre the Giant, 1946
Pete Townshend, 1945
Nora Ephron, 1941
James Fox, 1939
Francis R. Scobee, 1939
David Hartman, 1937
James Lehrer, 1934
Malcolm X, 1925
Ho Chi Minh, 1890
Nancy Astor, 1879
Johns Hopkins, 1762

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith(Film), 2005
Smokey and the Bandit,(Film), 1977
"Room Service"(Play), 1937
Gone With The Wind(Publication date), 1936
"L'heure espagnole / How They Keep Time in Spain"(Ravel comédie musicale), 1911

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
Hundreds of Albert Einstein's scientific papers, personal letters and humanist essays were make available on the Internet. Einstein had given the papers to the Hebrew Universtiy of Jerusalem in his will, 2003
A rare 19th century torpedo is discovered off the coast of California by the US Navy dolphins, 2013

The other day, Little Girl knew i was having a difficult day, so she changed what she had written on my chalkboard cup:

A comforting message.

It's nice when someone knows just what to do to cheer you!

Today is

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

Elf Fest -- Lothlorien Nature Sanctuary (near Needmore, Indiana; through next Monday)

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

Emergency Medical Services for Children Day -- because children need different care, they aren't just tiny adults

European Maritime Day -- European Council (this year's host for the conferences is Pireaus, Greece, and the conference will be 28-29 May)

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)

Independence Day -- East Timor(2002)

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 Employee Health & Fitness Day -- US (originally the 3rd Wednesday in May, but now spreading around the world as Global Employee Health & Fitness Month)

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)

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

T'veer Chong Kamhaeng -- Cambodia (Day of Remembrance, anniversary of Khmer Rouge regime takeover in 1975, a day to remember all who died at their hands and work for peace)

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

World Autoimmune Arthritis Day -- The International Foundation for Autoimmune Arthritis sponsors an online virtual convention in all time zones around the world from today through Wednesday

*"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:

Tahmoh Penikett, 1975
Tony Stewart, 1971
Tony Goldwyn, 1960
Bronson Pinchot, 1959
Ronald Prescott Reagan, 1958
David Paterson, 1954
Cher, 1946
Joe Cocker, 1944
Stan Mikita, 1940
Anthony Zerbe, 1936
George Gobel, 1919
Jimmy Stewart, 1908
Henri Julien Felix Rousseau, 1844
William Fargo, 1818
John Stuart Mill, 1806
Honore de Balzac, 1799
Dolly Madison, 1768

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Elegie für junge Liebende / Elegy for Young Lovers(Opera), 1961
Norman Rockwell's First Saturday Evening Post Cover, 1916

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
Scientists at the Craig J. Venter Institute announce they have successfully created the world's first artificial lifeform by transplanting a synthesized genome into an existing cell, 2010

Remember the Y2K mania?

We were members of a church at that time that had a very influential member caught up in it mightily.

He and his family went in with some other families they knew and bought land, guns, and supplies, dug a well and built it into the house they put on the land so they could defend it, and spent December 31, 1999 holed up on their property expecting to have to defend it from the hordes of unprepared people who would show up wanting to pillage.

Of course, it was much ado about nothing.

This coming June 30, there will be a Leap Second Adjustment. This is done every few years because our clocks would get out of sync with the actual time and seasons, since the earth doesn't go around the sun in exactly 365 days to the second.

Leap days every four years (besides years that end in 00) take care of the majority of the time disparity, but it can't be that clean and neat and easy.

So a second has to be added once in a while, and this June 30, right before midnight Coordinated Universal Time/Greenwich Mean Time.

What's the big deal? Well, the stock markets around the world are in a dither. After all, trades are now made on the split second with computer programs, and how the computers are going to react to the extra second added has them worried.

Color me unimpressed. If Y2K didn't shut the world down, i hardly think adding a second to the clocks is going to do much damage.

Well, maybe to the programmers who have the headache of dealing with it, but i believe the rest of us can rest easily. And those programmers might have an easier time of it if, next time a leap second needs adding, they do it on a day when all of the stock markets are closed. (There has to be at least one hour, once in a year, when all of them are closed.)

No need to go get supplies, unless you want to throw a party that night to celebrate getting an extra second added to your year.

My plan is to snooze right through it.

If it ends the world as we know it, i guess someone will tell me the next morning.

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)

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

Grand Prix de Monaco -- Monaco (premier Formula 1 race through the streets of Monte Carlo, run since 1929; through Sunday)

Hay Festival of Literature -- Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales (largest annual festival of literature in a beautiful market town in the Black Mountains of the Welsh marches; through May 31)

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?

Kodiak Crab Festival -- Kodiak, AK, US (there's more than bears up here, you know! through Monday)

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.)

Memory Days -- Grayson, KY, US ("WOW! Just look at us Now!" is this year's theme, with a parade, art show, music, Firefighter's Dinner and more; through Monday)

Mudbug Madness -- Shreveport, LA (festival of crawfish and Cajun heritage, arts, entertainment, and more; through Sunday)

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

National Strawberries and Cream Day

National Waitstaff Day

One Day Without Shoes -- sponsored by Toms Shoes, to raise global awareness for children's health and education, which can be compromised when they do not have shoes http://www.toms.com/onedaywithoutshoes

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

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 disfunctional families)

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

World Championship Old-Time Piano Playing Contest -- Peoria, IL, US (competition and festival of ragtime, honky-tonk and old-time music; through Monday)

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

Anniversary Today:

Humphrey Bogart marries Lauren Bacall, 1945

Birthdays Today:

Sarah Ramos, 1991
Ashlie Brillault, 1987
Lisa Edelstein, 1966
Judge Reinhold, 1957
Mr. T, 1952
Ian McEwan, 1948
Leo Sayer, 1948
Janet Dailey, 1944
Bobby Cox, 1941
Heinz Hollinger, 1939
Peggy Cass, 1924
Andrey Dmitriyevich Sakharov, 1921
Raymond Burr, 1917
Dennis Day, 1917
Harold Robbins, 1916
Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel, 1909
Fats Waller, 1904
Armand Hammer, 1898
Glenn Hammond Curtiss, 1878
Elizabeth Gurney Fry, 1780
Alexander Pope, 1688
Albrecht Dürer, 1471

Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Empire Strikes Back(Film), 1980
"Gypsy"(Musical), 1959
"Le Fils prodigue / The Prodigal Son(Prokofiev ballet, Op. 46), 1929
"Pagliacci"(Opera), 1892

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
The most active volcano in Iceland, Grimsvotn, erupts and triggers 50 small earthquakes, 2011

Feline Friday is hosted by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude, and i'm going to believe it's because he likes cats.

Feline Friday is simple to join. All you have to do is..

That’s all there is to it! Be sure to check back every so often and visit all the Feline Friday bloggers. Also, please leave a nice comment on their blogs. Nasty comments will be deleted!

Cat pillow and cat purse.

Pre-empted

My Thursday was pre-empted.

It's understood that i will spend Thursdays cleaning and doing tons of laundry for Ms. P. Generally i'm done by between 4-5pm.

The Big Boss and his son have had a bit of a difficult time lately. So when his son on Thursday afternoon extended an olive branch and an invitation to a family event Thursday night, The Big Boss knew he couldn't refuse.

The invite was for him and Ms. P, which is really extending the olive branch.

So my Thursday evening was spent taking Youngest Boy to the birthday party for which they had already RSVP'd.

Because the venue doesn't have anything but pizza available, i left to go find something i could eat. Because the venue is in a mall area, and parents are asked not to stick around, i got to go do one of my least favorite things -- wander around in a mall area. (No, i'm not a mall rat, i only go when i actually need to search for and buy something.)

The only good thing about that is i found what cute pillows and purses cat figures make.

Today is

Abolition Day -- Martinique

Azalea Festival -- Brookings, OR, US (with a parade and street fair and bonsai, as well as azaleas and more; through Memorial Day)

Bear Waking Day -- Norway (traditionally said to be the day the bears awaken from their hibernation, at least according to many sites)

Buy a Musical Instrument Day -- even just a kazoo, and have some fun making music; maybe if this one spreads around the world and enough of us do it, it will foster some harmony in our lives

Celebrate Commemorate Memorial Day -- Waterloo, NY, US (the 149th observance at the National Birthplace of Memorial Day includes a car show, crafts, food, races, a biker rally and more; through observed Memorial Day, and again on the 30th, which is traditional Memorial Day)

Cheung Chau Bun Festival -- Cheung Chau Island, Hong Kong (one of Hong Kong's liveliest and most coloorful festivals, coincides with Buddha's Birthday celebration, with the procession on the final day; celebration through the 26th)

Coal Miner Days -- Novinger, Missouri, US (a turn of the century coal mining town celebrates its heritage; through Sunday)

Don't Fry Day -- another day to raise awareness of the need for sun protection through the summer

Down East Spring Birding Festival -- Cobscook Bay, ME, US (through Memorial Day)

Florida Folk Festival -- White Springs, FL, US (a true celebration of Florida's folk heritage; through Sunday)

Harvey Milk Day -- The Harvey Milk Foundation

Heat Awareness Safety Day -- US (your guv'mint at work)

Independence Day -- Montenegro

International Day for Biological Diversity -- UN

Iris Festival -- Sumter, SC, US (fun, food, music, and beautiful flowers; through Sunday)

National Death Busters Day -- US, because the upcoming Memorial Day weekend in the US is the most dangerous for driving; be careful out there!

National Maritime Day -- US (commemorating the first transoceanic voyage under steam power)

National Polka Festival -- Ennis, TX, US (everyone is invited to enjoy this festival, through Sunday)

National Sovereignty Day -- Haiti

National Vanilla Pudding Day

National Wig Out Day -- US (on the Friday before Memorial Day, don your wig and your alter ego and have fun! there are events around the country)

Northwest Folklife Festival -- Seattle, WA, US (ethnic and traditional arts event celebrating world cultures; through Monday)

Pitlochry Festival Theatre -- Pitlochry, Perthshire, Scotland (plays, concerts, exhibitions, tours and talks; through early November)

Sacramento Music Festival (formerly the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee) -- Sacramento, CA, US (some of the best music from around North America; through Monday)

Spoleto Festival USA -- Charleston, SC, US (a premier performing arts festival; through June 7)

St. Julia's Day (Patron of torture victims; Corsica, Portugal; Livorno, Italy)

St. Rita of Cascia's Day/La Abodada de Impossibles (Patron of desperate causes, difficult marriages, forgotten causes, illness, lost causes, parenthood, sick people, sterile people, victims of physical spousal abuse, widows, wounded people; against abuse, infertility, loneliness, sickness, sterility, wounds, unhappy marriages; Cascia, Italy; Dalayap, Philippines; Igbaras, Philippines)

Toad-Pinching Day -- Fairy Calendar (Pixies)

Toothpaste Tube Day -- the tube was invented on this day in 1892 by dentist Washington Wentworth Sheffield, who wanted to replace the unhygenic practice of dipping the brush into a jar of dental cream

Unity Day / National Day -- Republic of Yemen

World Goth Day -- get your Goth on around the world!

Birthdays Today:

Apollo Anton Ohno, 1982
Ginnifer Goodwin, 1978
A.J. Langer,1974
Naomi Campbell, 1970
Morrissey, 1959
George Best, 1946
Paul Winfield, 1941
Michael Sarrazin, 1940
Frank Converse, 1938
Richard Benjamin, 1938
Susan Strasberg, 1938
Garry Wills, 1934
Peter Nero, 1934
Charles Aznavour, 1924
Judith Crist, 1922
Sun Ra, 1914
Sir Laurence Olivier, 1907
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1859
Mary Cassatt, 1844
Richard Wagner, 1813

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood"(TV), 1967
"Paulus / St. Paul"(Oratorio, Mendelsshon Op. 36), 1836

Today in History:

The Macedonian army of Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of the Granicus, BC334
The Hashshashin (Assassins) attempt to murder Saladin near Aleppo, 1176
Pope Gregory XI issues five papal bulls to denounce the doctrines of English theologian John Wycliffe, 1377
Richard, Duke of York, defeats and captures King Henry VI of England, 1455
A grand jury indicts former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr on a charge of treason, 1807
On the second and last day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling (near Vienna), Napoleon is repelled by an enemy army for the first time, 1809
The SS Savannah leaves port at Savannah, Georgia, United States, on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean; the ship arrived at Liverpool, England on June 20, 1819
HMS Beagle departs on its first voyage, 1826
The transporting of British convicts to the New South Wales colony is abolished, 1840
Farmers Lester Howe and Henry Wetsel discover Howe Caverns, 1842
The Blackwall Tunnel under the River Thames is officially opened, 1897
The Wright brothers are granted U.S. patent number 821,393 for their "Flying-Machine", 1906
Lassen Peak erupts with a powerful force, and is the only mountain other than Mount St. Helens to erupt in the continental US during the 20th century, 1915
The most powerful earthquake ever documented, the Great Chilean Quake, measures 9.5 and strikes southern Chile, 1960
The nuclear-powered submarine the USS Scorpion sinks with 99 men aboard 400 miles southwest of the Azores, 1968
Ceylon adopts a new constitution, thus becoming a Republic, changes its name to Sri Lanka, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations, 1972
Namco releases the highly influential arcade game Pac-Man, 1980
Microsoft releases the Windows 3.0 operating system, 1990
Johnny Carson retires from The Tonight Show after 30 years, 1992
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia join the United Nations, 1992
A jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murders of four girls in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church, 2002
Sarah West, a British naval officer Commander is appointed commander of HMS Portland, the Royal Navy frigate; she is the first female officer to take command of a major British warship, 2012

Silly Sunday: Disability

Awww Monday: Being a Kid Again

Well, i had...

Mother's Day is just around the corner

It finally happened.

Feline Friday: Sacked Out!

The Chaperone and the Pushover

Silly Sunday: Directions

Awww Monday: New Crop of Kittens

Only i could end up with this problem, and solution.

Happy, Happy, Happy

Cramped

Feline Friday: Cool Cat

What kids can do.

Silly Sunday: Refreshing Idea

Awww Monday: Happy Ending

Checking In

Almost Wordless Wednesday: Comfort

Much Ado, Part Two

Feline Friday: Pre-Empted