Wednesday, April 30, 2014

A to Z Challenge: Z is for Zillions

Yes, i know that technically "zillions" is a made up word and not a real number.

Today, that doesn't matter.  Today, zillions describes what Little Girl means to me.

Today, she is Sweet Sixteen.  My baby is growing up.

Even as a teen, she is a sweet and special girl.  Yes, she has her "teen moments."  She also has moments i wouldn't trade for zillions of dollars.

About a month ago, when spring was first showing signs of having sprung, she saw some purple flowers.  Knowing how much i love purple, she picked them for me, and brought them home, just as she used to when she was much younger.

Small purple flowers, courtesy of Little Girl.
 Yes, at her age, she still picks wildflowers for her mother.

If you had her, you wouldn't trade her for zillions, either.


 

Today is

Armed Forces Day -- Georgia

Birthday of the King / Konungens födelsedag -- Sweden (HM King Carl XVI Gustav; an official flag day)

Bugs Bunny Day -- while some consider his debut to have been in "A Wild Hare," released in July two years later, other say that Bugs was the rabbit in "Porky's Hare Hunt," relased this date in 1938

Camarón Day -- French Foreign Legion

Carnival Day -- Sint Maarten

Consumer Protection Day -- Thailand

Díá De Los Niños/Díá De Los Libros -- American Library Association (Children Day/Book Day; a celebration that emphasizes the importance of literacy for children of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds)

Dia de Rincon -- Rincon, Bonaire

El Dia del Nino -- Mexico (Children's Day)

Fairy Queen's Birthday -- Fairy Calendar

Faeriae Latinae -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Feast of the Latin League, a festival to honor Jupiter)

International Guide Dog Day

International Jazz Day -- UNESCO (originated with the New Jersey Jazz Society and sanctioned by the United Nations Jazz Society, the American Federation of Jazz Societies, and the Sacramento Traditional Jazz Society; this year's International Jazz Day Global Concert 2014 will be held in Osaka, Japan and streamed live, with info here)

La Frontera Tucson International Mariachi Conference -- Tuscon, AZ, US (festival showcasing the best of balle folklorico and mariachi; through Saturday)

Liberation/Reunification Day -- Vietnam

May Eve -- eve of the first day of summer in many traditions, including
     Beltane/Samhain Eve -- Pagan traditions
     Carodejnice -- Czech Republic; Slovakia
     Maitag Vorabend -- Switzerland
     Mange les Morts -- Haiti (festival of the dead)
     Salus -- Portugal; Spain (festival of the dead)
     Valborgsmässoafton -- Sweden
     Walpurgis Night -- Ancient Celtic/Nordic Calendars

Mr. Potato Head Day -- the classic toy went on sale this day in 1952, and you used your own potato

National Adopt a Shelter Pet Day -- US (can't find a sponsoring organization, but it's not a bad idea)

National Animal Advocacy Day -- in 2013, this was a specific day sponsored by the ASPCA; this year, they seem to be sponsoring separate lobbying days in each state

National Honesty Day -- including Honest Abe Awards (Abies) and dishonorable mentions for those who have been particularly publicly egregious; celebrated today because we began the month with April Fooling and lies, so today is to celebrate the opposite*

National Raisin Day

St. Adjutor of Vernon's Day (Patron of drowning victims, sailors, swimmers, yatchsmen; Vernon, France; against drowning)

St. James the Great's Day -- Orthodox Christian


Sunfest -- West Palm Beach, FL, US (Florida's largest music, art, and waterfront festival; through Sunday)


Teacher's Day -- Paraguay

Walk @ Lunch Day -- founded and encouraged by Blue Cross / Blue Shield

*to nominate someone for an Abie or a dishonorable mention, contact M. Hirsh Goldberg, founder and author of The Book of Lies, mhgoldberg@comcast.net)



Anniversaries Today:

Pele marries Assiria Seixas Lemos, 1994
The Organization of American States is founded, 1948
Louisiana becomes the 18th US state, 1812


Birthdays Today:

Dianna Agron, 1986
Kirsten Dunst, 1982
Johnny Galecki, 1975
Jeff Timmons, 1973
Carolyn Dawn Johnson, 1971
Adrian Pasdar, 1965
Michael Waltrip, 1963
Isiah Thomas, 1961
Stuart Mathis, 1960
Stephen Harper, 1959
Jane Campion, 1954
Perry King, 1948
Carl XVI Gustav, King of Sweden, 1946
Michael J. Smith, 1945
Jill Clayburgh, 1944
Burt Young, 1940
Gary Collins, 1938
Willie Nelson, 1933
Cloris Leachman, 1926
Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, 1909
Eve Arden, 1908
Ellis Wilson, 1899
Louise Dilworth Beatty Homer, 1871


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Barnum"(Musical), 1980
"The Dresser"(Play), 1980
"Inside U.S.A."(Musical revue), 1948
"Arthur Godfrey Time"(Radio), 1945
"Pelleas et Melisande"(Opera), 1902
"Dmitri Donskoi"(Opera), 1852
"Love for Love"(Play), 1695


Today in History:

Supernova  SN 1006, the brightest supernova in recorded history, appears in the constellation  Lupus, 1006
Orbital calculations suggest that on this day, Pluto moved inside Neptune's orbit until July 23, 1503, 1483
Columbus is given a royal commission to equip his fleet, 1492
On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first elected President of the United States, 1789
The United States purchases the Louisiana Territory from France, 1803
Nicaragua  declares independence from the Central American Federation, 1838
Casey Jones dies in a train wreck in Vaughn, Mississippi, while trying to
make up time on the Cannonball Express, 1900
Honolulu, Hawaii becomes an independent city, 1907
Peru becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty, 1920
Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford become the first celebrities to leave their footprints in concrete at Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, 1927
The animated cartoon short Porky's Hare Hunt debuts in movie theaters, introducing Happy Rabbit (a prototype of Bugs Bunny, 1938
In Bogotá, Colombia, the Organization of American States is established, 1948
The Bristol Bus Boycott is held in Bristol to protest the Bristol Omnibus Company's refusal to employ Black or Asian bus crews, drawing national attention to racial discrimination in the United Kingdom, 1963
Communist forces gain control of Saigon and the Vietnam War formally ends, 1975
Accession of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, 1980
CERN announces World Wide Web protocols will be free, 1993
Cambodia joins the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, 1999
Two skeletal remains found near Ekaterinburg, Russia are confirmed by Russian scientists to be the remains of Alexei Nikolaevich, Tsarevich of Russia and one of his sisters, 2008
Chrysler automobile company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, 2009
Hailed as the largest World's Fair in history, Expo 2010 opens in Shanghai, China, 2010
Born without a trachea, a 2-year-old Korean-Canadian child is the youngest patient in history to receive a bioengineered organ made from stem cells; she received the transplanted organ at the Children's Hospital of Illinois, 2013

10 comments:

  1. I love when you write the things she says. She is a special one and I hope the world treats here well as she moves into womanhood.

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  2. oh, happy birthday to your sweet lovely girl!

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  3. Aww, your daughter is so sweet! Wishing her a very Happy Birthday!! :)

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  4. ♪♪Happy Birthday to you,♪♪
    ♪♪Happy Birthday to you,♪♪
    ♪♪Happy Birthday Dear Little Girl,♪♪
    ♪♪Happy Birthday to you.♪♪

    Awww on the flowers. Too precious.

    Have a fabulous day. ☺

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  5. Oh Happy Birthday and Sweet 16 to her.
    that's so nice that she brought you wild flowers. I hope my girls still do that. but not the rocks and bird feathers - those I could do without.
    And I think zillion is actually a number. isn't it?
    I'll have to look that up.

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  6. She sounds lovely! I am glad you are treasuring this time.

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  7. And, I meant to say, I hope she has had a wonderful birthday! :)

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  8. She sure is a sweet sixteen. Happy Birthday to your dear one.

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  9. What a sweet thing for Little Girl to do. Happy Birthday to her.

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  10. as I have said before- I just love your family! What a lovely daughter and mother!

    ReplyDelete

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