Friday a week ago, for the answer to one of the Friendly Fill-Ins, i came up with the challenge to list three things for which you are thankful each day. It's a habit i've been cultivating, and i promise that making lists of what you are thankful for helps you look on the bright side.
On Saturdays i up the ante a bit. The more i exercise my thankful muscles, the stronger they become and the more cheerful i feel.
There have been some things that could have put a crimp in my style, but i am choosing to look on the bright side and find thankful things even among challenges.
This week, i am thankful that Tropical Storm Cindy sucked up a bit patch of dry air and broke up. Yes, there has been lots of rain, yes, some areas have flooded, yes, there was damage. As someone who lived through Katrina i can tell you it could have been much, much worse. We have had bands of clouds that bring rain, then sun for a few hours, then another band of clouds and rain, over and over for days on end. Trust me, i am grateful even for the rainy times when i think of the big storms and the floods of last August.
Little Girl and i went dress shopping and i found two very nice outfits, one for the rehearsal dinner and one for the wedding. They and the shoes were on sale, and the one pair of shoes will go with both outfits. She also found a dress to wear, and shoes (same style as mine, different color). She and i both hate clothes and shoe shopping and we got into and out of the mall (where i haven't been for several years) in under two hours, and that's something to be thankful about in and of itself, as far as i am concerned.
My Wednesday morning client, Ms. G, got called out of town this week, which means a bit less pay. That's okay though, because i got to go to the new every-other-Wednesday-afternoon client, Ms. SE, several hours earlier than i would have otherwise. It was great timing on Ms. G's part, as Ms. SE's house is big and a first cleaning is always slow. As it was, i am thankful Sweetie and i got it done and still had some time left in the day.
The Jalopy, poor thing, has three warning lights on and needs an oil change. It makes me grateful to have a mechanic's shop i can trust, they know the warning lights are usually just Jalopy having a short in the electricals and they turn them off for me and change the oil for a reasonable price.
Sweetie is finding his new phone a steep learning curve. (He went from a flip phone that was built like a tank so even he couldn't break it to one of the latest-and-greatest smartphone models, mostly so he could take better pictures.) There have been a couple of frustrated rants, and i'm grateful that he is figuring things out, including that if he sends a text to a person's land line by accident, he needs to check the number and resend it.
Bigger Girl is disappointed that her friend Hugging Sam hasn't had as much time to apartment hunt with her as she wants. While i know she really wants to spread her wings, and i want to see her do so, it makes me grateful that we can offer our children to let them stay at home if they need to.
It's costing what seems like a lot of money for us to keep the cats flea free this summer, and i am grateful we live in a time where flea prevention is possible if expensive. Imagine what it was like when wealthy people kept small dogs they carried around with them specifically for the purpose of making sure the fleas that were everywhere bit the dogs instead of them!
Another challenge that involves the cats for which i am thankful is the battle of the healthier cat food. They are not happy about it, but they are learning to accept that they will be fed lower calorie, healthier food, and if they want to eat, they will eat what is served. They are mad at me, but they are eating it, and i hope it trims them all down some.
It's summer in south Louisiana, where you supposedly cannot exist without a central A/C unit in your house. We are grateful to be surviving with the window units and portable quite well.
It's been raining. That saves us money on getting the lawn mowed until it stops!
If you feel so inclined, list your thankful things and link up at Ten Things of Thankful, see if it brightens your mood, too.
Today is:
Araw ng Maynila -- Philippines (Manila Day)
Armed Forces Day -- Great Britain
ARRL Field Day -- American Radio Relay League's ham radio operators practice and drill for communications during emergencies; through tomorrow
Bannockburn Day -- Scotland (decisive battle of the first Scottish War of Independence, led by Robert Bruce)
Baymen's Seafood and Music Festival -- Tuckerton, NJ, US (this year including a micro-brewers tent with the seafood and music; through tomorrow)
Burning of the Lamps in Egypt at Sais -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar, a celebration of Isis and Neith (date approximate)
Calcio Fiorentino -- Florence, Italy (reviving 16th century style football in period costumes, through the 28th)
Carabobo Day -- Venezuela (battle commemoration)
Celebration of the Senses -- Wellcat Holidays urges you to enjoy all five (six?) of your senses today
Countryman's Day -- Peru (one of Peru's three Fiestas Patrias Peruanas)
Day of the Caboclo -- Amazonas State, Brazil
Eastern Music Festival -- Guilford College, Greensboro, NC, US (an acclaimed festival and school, with world-class guest artists; through July 29)
Feast of Rahmat (Mercy) -- Baha'i
Flying Saucer Day -- anniversary of Kenneth Arnold's 1947 sighting, while flying near Mt. Rainier, of 9 metallic, circular objects he could not identify
Fors Fortuna -- Ancient Roman Calendar (rites and festival for the goddess of good luck and fortune)
Gettysburg Civil War Relic and Collectors Show -- Gettysburg, PA, US (featuring leading collectors and dealers; through tomorrow)
Great American Campout -- sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation, the theme this year is Help America's Wildlife Survive
Great American Picnic Day -- various dates given, with the most common being the final Saturday of June
International Fairy Day/Faerie Day -- day for collectors, believers, and artists to share their love for the little folk
Ladies of Country and Bluegrass Music Show -- Waretown, NJ, US (at the historic Albert Music Hall)
Long Beach Bayou and Blues Festival -- Rainbow Lagoon, Long Beach, CA, US (celebrating Cajun/Creole culture, food, music, arts and crafts, and even a Mardi Gras parade; through tomorrow)
Lost Handkerchief Day -- Fairy Calendar
Midsummer's Day -- Aland; Finland; Sweden
Mineral Collecting Field Trips -- Bancroft, ON, CA (every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday through July and August, geologists lead mineral collecting field trips, educating participants about mineral identification, collecting techniques, and earth sciences)
Museum Comes to Life Day -- another fun and funny day someone came up with
National Creamy Pralines Day
St. John the Baptist's Nativity Day and related Midsummer celebrations (Patron of baptism, bird dealers, converts, children with convulsions, epileptics, farriers, French Canadians, lambs, monastic life, motorways, printers, tailors; against convulsions, epilepsy, hail and hailstorms, and spasms; Patron of over 60 cities and countries around the globe)
Inti Raymi -- Peru (Incan Sun Festival)
Jaanipaev -- Estonia
Jani -- Latvia
Jónsmessa -- Iceland (feast of St. John the Baptist, considered a magical night when cows can speak, seals take on human form, finding magical stones and herbs is propitious, and rolling naked in the dew is healing.)
Macau Day -- China (celebrating the defeat of Dutch invasion forces in 1622 and paying homage to St. John as the port's Patron Saint)
Midsummer Day -- England
National Holiday -- Quebec, Canada (Sant Jean-Baptiste)
Saint John the Baptist Day -- Andorra
Saint Jonas Festival or Jonines -- Lithuania
San Juan -- CT and GA, Spain
Surinal -- North Korea
Zuni Buffalo, Corn, and Comanche Dances -- Zuni Native Americans (for fertility of land and people; Vespers is also observed, as San Juan is their Patron Saint)
Swim a Lap Day -- just for fun!
Swing a Kid Day -- if swimming isn't right for you
Veteranendag -- Netherlands (Veterans Day)
Anniversaries Today:
Eton College is founded by Henry VI, 1441
Birthdays Today:
Sherry Stringfield, 1967
Joe Penny, 1956
Nancy Allen, 1950
Phyllis George, , 1949
Peter Weller, 1947
Mick Fleetwood, 1947
Ellison Shoji Onizuka, 1946
Jeff Beck, 1944
Michele Lee, 1942
Claude Chabrol, 1930
John Anthony Ciardi. 1916
Phil Harris, 1904
Jack Dempsey, 1895
Roy O. Disney, 1893
Ambrose Bierce, 1842
Henry Ward Beecher, 1813
Debuting/Premiering Today:
Catch-22(Film), 1970
"Hopalong Cassidy"(TV), 1949
"American Mercury Presents: Meet the Press"(Radio), 1945
Today in History:
Battle of Cedynia, the first documented victory of Polish forces, takes place, 972
A sudden outbreak of St. John's Dance causes people in the streets of Aachen, Germany, to experience hallucinations and begin to jump and twitch uncontrollably until they collapse from exhaustion, 1374
John Cabot lands in North America at Newfoundland; the first European
exploration of the region since the Vikings, 1497
Miguel Lopez de Legazpi founds Manila, the capital of the Republic of the Philippines, 1571
Samuel de Champlain discovers the mouth of the Saint John River, site of Reversing Falls and the present day city of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, 1604
The colony of New Jersey is founded, 1664
Kingston, Jamaica is founded, 1692
The Premier Grand Lodge of England, the first Masonic Grand Lodge in the world (now the United Grand Lodge of England), is founded in London, England, 1717
The first republican constitution in France is adopted, 1793
The decisive battle in the war of independence of Venezuela from Spain, the Battle of Carabobo takes place, 1821
First performance of O Canada, the song that would become the national anthem of Canada, at the Congrès national des Canadiens-Français, 1880
The first exhibition of Pablo Picasso's work opens, 1901
Mary Pickford becomes the first female film star to get a million dollar contract, 1916
The first airmail service in Canada from Montreal to Toronto begins, 1918
Siam is renamed Thailand by Plaek Pibulsonggram, the third prime minister, 1939
The Soviet Union makes overland travel between the West with West Berlin impossible, 1948
The United Kingdom grants Zanzibar internal self-government, 1963
Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud completes his first mission, becoming the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a Payload Specialist, 1985
John Isner of the United States defeats Nicolas Mahut of France at Wimbledon, in the longest match in professional tennis history, 2010
The last known Pinta Island Tortoise, Lonesome George, is found dead in the Galapagos Islands, 2012