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It's time once again for a random and happy Tuesday, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked and Sandee at Comedy Plus.
Carl is intelligent. He has no executive function, but a high IQ and no sense on how to use it through no fault of his own (oxygen deprivation at birth).
He does, however, know how to get his sleep in when he can, and he knew (1) he has paid time off work, and (2) i'd be coming early to clean anyway.
Thus he was already in his sleep chair, snoozing blissfully, when i arrived. Don't ever say he can't put two and two together to get what he wants, which is always food and sleep.
This was the state of the laundry and his closet after one week off work and them not actually going on the planned vacation:
He's been trying, at least a little, to wash.
Although the laundry basket his mom told me to leave for him to put away never got put away, and ended up accumulating stuff instead. That's par for the course.
From stuff in the room, i knew his mom had been after him to use at least some of his vacation time productively and he'd been trying to clean the car.
Including cleaning the floor mats at his kitchen sink. What, use the outside hose? I can see the wheels spinning in his head if i suggested such a thing. Cleaning happens at sinks.
Another project, they'd apparently been trying to put up a new smoke alarm.
Without success, at least so far, but I know they won't give up.
The talk i had with him about not leaving the lotion bottle on the chair must have worked.
There's still lotion on the outside of the bottle, as always, but instead of it getting all over the chair, it's getting all over the clothes on top of the dresser.
Yes, it is too much trouble to put said lotion bottle back in the bathroom cabinet where it belongs, why would you even ask?
After making these discoveries, Carl himself appeared and asked, "Is it messy?"
No, i did not laugh. I told him it was just fine, and he started looking like he was going to pick things up. I told him to leave me to work my mommy/housecleaner magic and go get some sleep.
He informed me he needed to set an alarm for 8.
When i asked what was going on, he said, "Clean the car...get the trunk fixed."
Okay, i noted, i'll wake you at 8.
He nodded and went back to sleep more, and i gathered the laundry.
All four loads.
Cleaning and laundry was well under way at 8am when i went to wake him.
"Still sleepy..." he said, and i reminded him he needed to clean the car and get the trunk fixed, but he would have tomorrow off, too, and be able to sleep then.
He got up and took a shower, had breakfast, and i caught him trying to dig through the cleaning supplies.
"Carpet stains," he said. "Scrub brush."
We found a scrub brush, the carpet cleaner spray, closed the back door 3 times when he kept opening it, and i caught up with him a needed cleaning towel just before he headed to his own room to grab a bath towel.
Once the car was cleaned to his satisfaction he left all the supplies in a heap and said, "Gotta pack a lunch!"
I thought you were going to get the trunk fixed, i noted as he opened the fridge.
There wasn't much in there, and no sandwich.
He then said, "No, going to Camp Sunny Day!" His eyes lit up. He loves the day camp our recreation department here puts on each weekday for special needs adults, and i am guessing Ms. V didn't want him lying around the house too much for his vacation time and signed him up.
We cobbled together a lunch, including getting a nutri-grain bar into a snack size sipper bag instead of the two gallon bag he'd put it in, and he left and i finished the room, and the four loads of laundry.
He'll be back at work next Monday, thankfully.
Some after vacation funnies for your entertainment.
Have a blessed and beautiful Tuesday, everyone!
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Today is:
Cayenne Festival -- French Guiana (celebration of the capital city)
Day of Homage for the late King Father -- Cambodia (Norodom Sihanouk)
Dine with TV Dinners on the Floor Night -- probably started by someone who wanted to see how many websites would be crazy enough to even list this
Feast of the Three Noble Ladies -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (female pharoahs; date approximate)
Fete Nationale de l'Evacuation -- Tunisia (Evacuation Day, celebrates the day all foreign military finally and fully left)
Global Handwashing Day -- International (scrub up! prevent the spread of germs)
Guangzhou Autumn Trade Fair -- Guangzhou, China (through Nov. 15)
Ides of October -- Ancient Roman Calendar; also on this date
Harvest Festival of Mars
Ludi Capitolini (games in honor of Jupiter)
Winter's Day
Information Overload Awareness Day -- we all get bombarded, take stock of how it affects you; sponsored by the Information Overload Research Group
Mahakiki -- Hawai'ian New Year Season (a four month season where warfare is forbidden and many ceremonies take place; begins around the time of the first sighting of the Pleiades in the Northern Hemisphere)
Mertz of All Possible Mertzes -- internet generated and on the day "I Love Lucy" premiered; i guess Fred and Ethel were the definition of what a Mertz should be!
National Cake Decorating Day -- again, because every website gives a different date
National Cheese Curd Day
National Chicken Cacciatore Day
National Grouch Day -- sponsored by Alan Miller, chairman of the board of NAG (National Association of Grouches)
National Latino AIDS Awareness Day -- US
National Mushroom Day
National Pharmacy Technician Day -- because pharmacy technicians "Help America Feel Better"
National Roast Pheasant Day
National Tree Planting Day -- Sri Lanka
Newspaper Week -- Japan
Poetry Day -- birth anniversary of the Roman poet Virgil
Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day -- Canada; NSW, Australia; UK; US
Pro-Life Day of Silent Solidarity www.silentday.org
Rectification Day -- Burkina Faso
Sewing Lovers' Day -- internet generated, as those who love to sew deserve a day to celebrate
St. Teresa of Avila's Day (Founder of the Reformation of the Discalces[Barefoot] Carmelites; Patron of lace makers/workers, people in need of grace, people in religious orders, people ridiculed for their piety, sick people; Amos, Canada; Berzano di Tortona, Italy; Pozega, Croatia; Spain; against bodily ills, headaches, sickness, the death of parents)
Teacher's Day -- Brazil
White Cane Safety Day -- US (celebrating the achievements of the blind/visually impared, and recognizing the white cane as the symbol of their independence)
Wishbones for Pets begins -- US program asking professional pet sitters to gather pet supplies and donations for homeless pets through Thanksgiving
World Rural Women's Day/International Day of Rural Women -- UN; related observance
Mother's Day -- Malawi
Birthdays Today:
Paige Davis, 1969
Sarah Ferguson, 1959
Emeril Lagasse,1959
Tanya Roberts, 1955
Tito Jackson, 1953
Richard Carpenter, 1946
Victor Banerjee, 1946
Jim Palmer, 1945
Penny Marshall, 1942
Linda Lavin, 1937
Lee Iacocca, 1924
Mario Puzo, 1920
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., 1917
John Kenneth Galbraith, 1908
Marty Mann, 1904
P.G. Wodehouse, 1881
Edith Bolling Galt Wilson, 1872
John L. Sullivan, 1858
Friedrich Nietzsche, 1844
Publius Vergilius Maro / Virgil, 70BCE
Debuting/Premiering Today:
"The Untouchables"(TV), 1959
"I Love Lucy"(TV), 1951
"Abe Lincoln in Illinois"(Play), 1938
To Have and Have Not(Publication date), 1937
"La Mer/The Sea"(Debussy orchestral composition), 1905
Today in History:
Belisarius makes his formal entry into Carthage, having conquered it from the Vandals, 533
Commissioned by Catherine De Medici, the 1st ballet "Ballet Comique de la Reine," is staged in Paris, 1581
Asser Levy is granted a butcher's license for kosher meat in New Amsterdam, 1660
The Montgolfier brothers' hot air balloon marks the first human ascent, by Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier, (tethered balloon), 1783
George Washington takes the first formal presidential tour, of New England, 1789
Napoleon Bonaparte is exiled to the Island of St. Helena, 1815
Child labor law takes 12 year olds out of the work force, 1874
Edison Electric Light Company is incorporated, 1878
Koln cathedral is completed, 633 years after it was begun, 1880
The German dirigible "Graf Zeppelin' lands in Lakehurst, NJ, 1928
LaGuardia Airport opens, 1939
Fortran, the first modern computer language, is shared with the coding community for the first time, 1946
The start of the 2500-year celebration of Iran, celebrating the birth of Persia, 1971
The Great Storm of 1987 hits France and England, 1987
Wayne Gretzky becomes the all-time leading points scorer in the NHL, 1989
Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, 1990
The first supersonic land speed record is set by Andy Green in ThrustSSC (United Kingdom), exactly 50 years and 1 day after Chuck Yeager first broke the sound barrier in the Earth's atmosphere, 1997
The Cassini probe launches from Cape Canaveral on its way to Saturn, 1997
NASA's Galileo spacecraft passes within 112 miles of Jupiter's moon Io, 2001
China launches Shenzhou 5, its first manned space mission, 2003
The final breakthrough occurs on the east bore of the Gotthard Base Tunnel in the Swiss Alps, now the world's longest railway tunnel, 2010
Actress Alyssa Milano tweets "If you've been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’", prompting a flood of replies across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, 2017
The government of Thailand issues an emergency decree banning public gatherings amid the increase in pro-democracy protests and criticism of the king, 2020
Businessman Daniel Noboa, 35, becomes the youngest person ever elected President of Ecuador, 2023
