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Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee at Comedy Plus.
Join us every Monday for Awww...Mondays. Post a picture that makes you say Awww... and that's 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!
Some may remember a few weeks ago i arrived at the shelter to find a kitten, probably about 3 months of age, abandoned in a carrier on the doorstep in the rain. Once she calmed down and was fully vetted, Storm turned out to be a little love.
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Sparks is the brainchild of Annie of McGuffy's Reader, who wanted us to post something positive and uplifting at the start of the week. While she no longer blogs, i like to post an Inspiring Quote of the Week in her honor.
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| RockPaperCynic |
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Poetry Monday was started by Diane at On The Alberta/Montana Border. Jenny at Procrastinating Donkey is on a blog semi-break and her poetry is sorely missed, we hope she comes back soon. Charlotte/Mother Owl participates, and now Karen at Baking in a Tornado is jumping in at least once a month, too. Anyone else is welcome to join in the fun, just let Diane know!
This week the theme is Stuffed Animals.
To stuffies my children did cling,
for blankies were never their thing.
I still have a few,
I keep them in view,
I admit they just make my heart sing!
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When the children were young
and had toys everywhere
you could find stuffed animals
in about every chair.
There were piles in the corners,
they sat on each bed,
we tried to corral them,
they ran wild instead.
Now children are grown,
and the stuffies, well that
has been replaced by
each overstuffed cat!
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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
Clean Off Your Desk Day -- me and what army? (Note: some sites put this as always on Jan. 9, some the second Monday of January; either way, my question remains)
Duelo Nacional -- Panama (Martyrs' Day)
Eugenio Maria de Hostos' Day -- Puerto Rico (birth anniv. obs.)
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)
Hatsu-Ichi -- Maebashi, Japan (a daruma -- good luck doll -- market, to start the year off right)
"I Will Stay" Day -- Brazil (anniversary of the start of the Independence Movement in 1922)
National Apricot Day
Peace Agreement Day -- South Sudan
Plough Monday -- UK (farm work is resumed the Monday following the 12 Days of Christmas, and ploughs are brought to the church to be blessed)
Positively Penguins Day -- a day to celebrate all things penguin
Republic Day -- Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Seijin-no-hi -- Japan (Adult's Day, or Coming of Age Day; celebrating all who have reached age 20, full legal adult age, in the past year)
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!
Toka Ebisu -- Japan (parades and shrine rituals through Japan, but especially in Kyoto, Osaka, and Fukuoka; through the 11th)
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