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After our drought last year, we've had a lot of gray, drizzly days this week, and even a few thunder bumpers, for which to be thankful.
Meanwhile, i've looked for sunshine in the other happenings of the week and found plenty.
Grandma was much happier this past Saturday. No coffee was spilled, it all got into her, and all was right in her world.
Both of my boys came by for a visit over the course of the weekend.
As cold as Sunday was, Mr. Cal thoroughly enjoyed his walk, and Becca and i did not totally freeze.
After taking care of both Carl and Ms. D, i got to visit Ms. JAI in the hospital. I was there visiting until the transport people came for her to take her to the rehab, and i'm going to go visit her there this week.
Our civic association had the annual meeting and we got all caught up with the latest. Our neighborhood is a good one, and remains so. The main highway in front of the neighborhood is going to be under construction for the better part of the next year and a half, but we know the timeline and will be able to follow progress, as well as be assured access and egress from our homes, although it won't be quite as convenient as before.
Tuesday morning, i was trying to stop for gas and quickly get to Ms. V's house so we could go to our ladies' circle meeting. I pulled up to a pump and it malfunctions, the computer on it was frozen from the previous customer. I was about to give up when the lady in front of me pulled out just in time for me to pull up, gas up, and get to Ms. V's.
We had a wonderful meeting.
The biggest rain day was Wednesday, and somehow, every time i went to drive to my next work place, the rain slacked off. It was a huge blessing.
I managed to get to the bank Friday and take care of a bit of paperwork which has been hanging over me.
We had plenty of volunteers at the shelter Friday evening.
See? Plenty of sunshine in the midst of the clouds.
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:
Big Snow Day -- remembering the 15-inch snowflakes that fell on in Fort Keough, Montana, on this date in 1887
Chocolate Cake Day
Day of Remembrance for Victims of Nazism -- Germany (anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz)
Day the Netjers of Heaven Receive Ra -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)
Family Literacy Day -- Canada
Gasparilla Pirate Fest -- Tampa, FL (reenactment of the invasion of Tampa by pirates, this is the adult version of last weekend's celebration for kids)
International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust
Iroquois Mid-Winter Ceremony -- Iroquois Native Americans (for the continuation of all life-sustaining things; a multi-day ceremony and feast that begins around this time of year)
Listen to Classical Music During Lunch Day -- in honor of Mozart
Mozart Day
National Storytelling Week -- UK (the Society for Storytelling encourages you to celebrate one of the most ancient art forms; through Feb. 4)
Punch the Clock Day -- internet generated, and no reason for it given; this has to be one of the more baffling ones
St. Angela Merici's Day (Founder of the Sisters of the Order of St. Ursula; Patron of the disabled and ill; against bodily ills and the death of parents)
St. Devota's Day (Patron of Corsica; Monaco)
Thomas Crapper Day -- death date, in 1910, of the perfector of the flush toilet mechanism
Wakakusa Yamayaki -- Nara, Japan (Grass Burning on Mt. Wakakusayama, and fireworks; an annual New Year tradition)
Anniversaries Today:
Founding of the National Geographic Society, 1888
The first sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, is founded at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, 1870
The University of Georgia is chartered, the first state university in the US, 1785
Birthdays Today:
Julie Foudy, 1971
Jennifer LB Leese, 1970
Patton Oswalt, 1969
Alan Cumming, 1965
Bridget Fonda,1964
Cris Collinsworth, 1959
Mimi Rogers, 1956
Mikhail Baryshnikov, 1948
Nick Mason, 1944
Mairead Corrigan, 1944
James Cromwell, 1942
Troy Donahue, 1936
Donna Reed, 1921
David Seville, 1919
Skitch Henderson, 1918
Hyman George Rickover, 1900
Jerome Kern, 1885
Samuel Gompers, 1850
Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson), 1832
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1756
Debuting/Premiering Today:
"Laverne and Shirley"(TV), 1976
"Tarzan of the Apes"(Film), 1918
Today in History:
Trajan becomes Roman Emperor, 98
The Rashidun Caliphate ends with the death of Ali, 661
Song Dynasty General Yue Fei is wrongfully executed, 1142
Dante Alighieri becomes a Florentine political exile, 1302
The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins, ending with their execution on January 31, 1606
The first American lime kiln begins operation in Providence, Rhode Island, 1662
Mustafa II becomes the Ottoman sultan in Instanbul, 1695
Czar Peter the Great sets the first Russian state budget, 1710
Abdication of Stanislas, the last king of Poland, 1736
The US Congress approves the opening of Indian Territory for settlement, which led to the forced relocation of Native Americans on the "Trail of Tears," 1825
Manitoba and the Northwest Territories are incorporated, 1870
Thomas Edison is granted a patent for the electric incandescent lamp, 1880
The National Geographic Society is organized, in Washington, D.C., 1888
"Tarzan of the Apes," the first Tarzan movie, premiers, 1918
Apollo 1 – Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of their spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center, 1967
More than sixty nations sign the Outer Space Treaty banning nuclear weapons in space, 1967
Through cooperation between the U.S. and Canadian governments, six American diplomats secretly escape hostilities in Iran in the culmination of the Canadian caper, 1980
The pilot shaft of the Seikan Tunnel, the world's longest sub-aqueous tunnel (53.85 km) between the Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, breaks through, 1983
American-born sumo wrestler Akebono Taro becomes the first foreigner to be promoted to the sport's highest rank of yokozuna, 1993
Germany first observes International Holocaust Remembrance Day, 1996
Western Union discontinues its Telegram and Commercial Messaging services, 2006
Albert II, former king of Belgium, admits paternity after a DNA test confirms he fathered a child, Delphine, with Baroness Sybile de Selys Longchamps, 2020
Australian officials launch a search effort for a small radioactive capsule dropped from a truck somewhere on a 1,400km journey through Western Australia, 2023