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Every week is an adventure, and this one was no exception.
Bigger Girl came with me to NOLA last Saturday instead of Sweetie, and we had a wonderful time cleaning and visiting. She went back to California yesterday, and i am so thankful for the time we had together.
Then on Sunday afternoon, Red-headed Alec, Sweet Sue and Little Lee came over to get their Christmas gifts. Lee is speaking in complete sentences now and his first words to me were, "Do you have a present for me?" It made me laugh, and of course i did, i get him books (and give his parents some money to buy things for him that they know better than i what he needs).
It was his first pop-up book and he was fascinated. It's always a joy to see them.
We had a wonderful Ladies' Circle zoom meeting on Tuesday morning, then i headed over to see Ms. S. The interstate was locked up (again), and on the main street to her house, the railroad cross arms were stuck down long after the train was gone, most frustrating.
Even so, i got to her place just in time. Her insurance is sending a different home health agency in, and i got to meet the new nurse just as she was leaving.
The best part is this new nurse is a go-getter. She has recommended Ms. S to a hospice that focuses on keeping people in their homes as long as possible, so Ms. S will get more help than i can give her by myself. As the nurse said, she likes to see her patients getting help from hospice for their last years, not just days or weeks, it actually improves their quality of life if it is done right.
Then came Wednesday, and, well, it all goes back to falling out of a tree when i was 11. At one point on the way down, i landed on a limb in such a way that i know it did some damage to my back, i just don't know what. Since i was young, not much was made of the fall, and the spot on my back where i landed on that limb has only given me the occasional twinge over the years.
Wednesday at Ms. G's house it was more than a twinge. A muscle bunched up and wouldn't budge, so i did what i could at Ms. G's and called the doctor.
The rest of the week i am thankful i got the work done for Ms. V, Ms. GA, and Ms. S, and i am very thankful for G-d's grace, grit, cyclobenzaprine, naproxen, lidocaine pain patches, Tiger Balm, heating pads and a short nap on Friday afternoon. It's starting to feel marginally better, as long as i am careful.
The thankful news from the shelter is that adoptions are going well and a lot of kitties have gone to their forever homes.
Please write up your own list and link up to Ten Things of Thankful, where Dyanne and her co-hosts always have a warm welcome waiting.
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Today is:
Balloon Ascension Day / Aviation in America Day -- the first manned free balloon flight in the US was on this date in 1793 at Philadelphia
Children's Day -- Thailand
Duelo Nacional -- Panama (Martyrs' Day)
Feast of All Fairies -- Fairy Calendar
Feast of the Most Holy Black Nazarene -- Quiapo District, Manila, Philippines (culmination of the celebrations; a 400 year old Catholic procession with a black life-sized wooden statue of Jesus)
Festival of the Agonalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (gifts given to Janus)
"I Will Stay" Day -- Brazil (anniversary of the start of the Independence Movement in 1922)
National Apricot Day
Peace Agreement Day -- South Sudan
Positively Penguins Day -- a day to celebrate all things penguin
Republic Day -- Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Static Cling/Static Electricity Day -- on some sites, listed as April 26; i can only ask why it's listed anywhere for any reason
St. Marciana's Day (Patron of those with wounds)
Stepfather's Day -- not official, but it should be, there are some great stepfathers out there
Stuffed Animal Laundry Day -- give that old bear a bath!
Anniversaries Today:
Connecticut becomes the 5th US State, 1788
Birthdays Today:
Sergio Garcia, 1980
Dave Matthews, 1967
Joely Richardson, 1965
Mark Martin, 1959
Imelda Staunton, 1956
J.K. Simmons, 1955
Crystal Gayle, 1951
Jimmy Page, 1944
Joan Baez, 1941
Susannah York, 1941
Byron Barlett "Bart" Starr, 1934
Bob Denver, 1935
Judith Krantz, 1928
Lee Van Cleef, 1925
Les Paul, 1915
Gypsy Rose Lee (Rose Hovick), 1914
Richard Nixon, 1913
Simone De Beauvoir, 1908
Chic Young, 1901
Carrie Lane Chapman Catt, 1859
Gracie Fields, 1898
Debuting/Premiering Today:
"It Takes a Thief"(TV), 1968
"Rawhide"(TV), 1959
"Dear Abby"(newspaper column), 1956
"Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze"(Film), 1894
Today in History:
Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople, 475
Seven hundred Jews, believed to be causing the Black Death, are burned in their homes in Basel, Switzerland, 1349
The first sighting of manatees by a European (Columbus), 1493
Philip Astley stages the first modern circus in London, 1768
The first hot-air balloon flight in the US lifts off in Philadelphia, 1793
Income Tax is introduced in the UK (to fund the war against Napoleon), 1799
Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson receives a state funeral and is interred in St Paul's Cathedral, 1806
Sir Humphry Davy tests the Davy lamp for miners at Hebburn Colliery, 1816
The Daguerrotype photo process is announced at French Academy of Science, 1839
Thomas Henderson makes the first measure of stellar parallax, of Alpha Centauri, 1839
The Astor Library opens in NYC, 1854
The first hostilities of the Civil War, at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, 1861
The Great Gale of 1880 devastates parts of Oregon and Washington with high wind and heavy snow, 1880
New England Telephone and Telegraph installs the first battery-operated telephone switchboard in Lexington, Massachusetts, 1894
Alfred Tennyson's son, Hallam, the Second Baron Tennyson, becomes the second Governor General of Australia, 1903
Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc., the first historically black intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity to be officially recognized at Howard University is founded, 1914
The Ottoman Empire prevails in the Battle of Çanakkale, as the last British troops are evacuated, 1916
Juan de la Cierva makes the first autogiro (helicopter) flight, Spain, 1923
A fire at the Laurier Palace movie theatre in Quebec, Montreal, kills 78 children, 1927
Several Panamanian youths try to raise the Panamanian flag on the U.S.-controlled Panama Canal Zone, leading to fighting between U.S. military and Panamanian civilians, 1964
Elections are held to replace Yasser Arafat as head of the Palestine Liberation Organization. He is succeeded by Rawhi Fattouh, 2005
Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement rebel group sign a peace agreement in Naivasha, Kenya, 2005
Venezuela's Supreme Tribunal of Justice determines they can defer the latest inauguration of President Hugo Chavez while his cancer operation recovery continues, 2013
Car manufacturer Hyundai unveils a model of a proposed walking car for first responders, 2019