Grandma's Got Wheels! (Wordless Wednesday) and Words for Wednesday, an A to Z Challenge Post

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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday, Catsynth, Keith, and Sandee at Comedy Plus.     

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Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and has become a moveable feast of word or picture or music prompts to encourage us to write stories, poems, or whatever strikes our fancy.    

This month, the prompts are being provided by yours truly right here.

This week’s prompts are:

elegant

limited

spontaneous

bother

list

pin

and/or the following phrases

don’t count your chickens before they hatch (meaning do not rely on something you are not sure of)

par for the course (meaning what you would expect to happen)

a piece of cake (meaning a task which is easy to accomplish)

Charlotte's  colour of the month is Sea Green.

While the kids' trip to Alaska was not exactly SPONTANEOUS, it was a whirlwind visit, and as we all know if travel involves airlines, it's never A Piece Of Cake.

Years ago, air travel was ELEGANT, and if you are very wealthy it still can be, but when you are like most of us on a LIMITED budget, you just get the basics.  Because our little Annie is under age 2, they didn't BOTHER to get a seat for her, just for #2 Son and Daughter-in-Law, and the little bounced from lap to lap.

They had also taken the precaution to put an air tag in her shoe so they could track her location if they ever somehow lost sight of her.  There is also an air tag on Daughter-in-Law's keys, which i had because they were allowing me to use her car while they were gone.  Any time #2 son checked the LIST of where all of his air tags were (he uses to phone app to do it), the tag on the keys would start to beep, and to me it seemed totally random.  One minute, i'm sitting at my computer and the room has soft music in the background, the next my Sea Green pouch in my bag where i keep keys is beeping.  Once i figured out where the noise was coming from and what caused it, it actually got to be pretty funny.

It's a long trip from Louisiana to Alaska, and a three-hour time difference, so to say they arrived tired would be Par For The Course.  They still managed to let Annie play in the snow and see all the relatives, and the memorial service was just what they'd wanted it to be.

You Don't Count Your Chickens Before They Hatch and you don't count on all your flights to be on time, either.  On the way back, the inevitable happened and one flight was delayed, causing them to have to reschedule a connection.  They were able to PIN down the new flight quickly and actually arrived home around the same time as originally scheduled.

All this happened after TSA went back to work, also, which meant it was easier than air travel in the US has been in quite a while.

With the whole thing, they were only gone five days, and came home needing naps, well, except for Annie, who was quite ready for adventure after having slept on the plane and on the hour drive back from the airport.  She got handed to this GG for snacks, and walks, and reading time, and all the things until her parents felt human again.

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Today is:

Aerosol Day -- John D. Lynde receives a patent for an early aerosol dispenser on this day in 1862

All is Ours Day -- an internet holiday to remind us of what we do have

Buddha's Birthday -- Mahayana Buddhism in Japan (based on Gregorian Calendar, other Buddhists use a different dating system)

     Hana Matsuri Flower Festival

Counter Stool Memorial Day -- when was the last time you got to sit on the stool at a diner counter and spin?  if you can find such a place, go take a spin today

DAB(Draw a Bird) Day -- a movement begun in Britain in the 1940's, encourages everyone to draw a picture of a bird, and share it with friends

Feast of the Hummingbird -- Ancient Aztec Calendar (date approximate)

Hammerin' Hank Day -- anniversary of his 715th homer in 1974, breaking Ruth's record

International Day of the Roma -- a celebration of Romani culture

Milk in Glass Bottles Day -- prior to this day in 1879, milk was sold in the container you brought with you to the seller

National Empanada Day

Sealing the Frost -- Guatemala (Cuchumatan Indians ritual to protect their corn from frost; date approximate, always early in April)

St. Julie Billiart's Day (Patron against bodily ills, disease, and poverty)

Trading Cards for Grown-Ups Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, and i got this out of my system dealing with Pokemon cards when my kids were young

Tutor Appreciation Day -- because some people need that extra boost

Zoo Lovers' Day -- go support your local zoo

Anniversary Today:

Voyageurs National Park established, Minnesota, US, 1975

Birthdays Today:

Kirsten Storms, 1984

Katee Sackhoff, 1980

Patricia Arquette, 1968

Robin Wright, 1966

Julian Lennon, 1963

John Schneider, 1960

Gary Carter, 1954

James Augustus “Catfish” Hunter, 1946

Stuart Pankin, 1946

Kofi Annan, 1938

Seymour Hersh, 1937

Shecky Greene, 1926

William D. Chase, 1922

Carmen Mcrae, 1920

Betty Ford, 1918

Sonja Henie, 1912

Mary Pickford, 1893

O. Raymond Knight, 1872

William Williams, 1731

Lewis Morris, 1726

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Twin Peaks"(TV), 1990

"White Horse Inn"(Musical), 1931

"The Bolt"(Shostakovich ballet), 1931 *Note: sometimes translated as "The Arrow"

"La Gioconda"(Ponchielli opera), 1876

Today in History:

Sultan Baybars conquers the Krak des Chevaliers in Syria, 1271

The first Jewish congregation in the US forms the Shearith Israel synagogue in NYC, 1730

The first fire escape, a wicker basket on a rope and pulley system, is patented, 1766

The statue Aphrodite of Milos (Venus de Milo) is discovered on the Aegean island of Melos, 1820

John D. Lynde patents the aerosol dispenser, 1862

William Ewart Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons, 1886

The first recorded college basketball game occurs in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, 1893

Longacre Square in Midtown Manhattan is renamed Times Square after The New York Times, 1904

Auguste Deter, the first person officially diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease, dies, 1906

The last meeting of the League of Nations is held, 1946

Hammerin' Hank Aaron hits his 715th home run, beating Babe Ruth's record, 1974

Retired tennis great Arthur Ashe announces that he has AIDS, acquired from blood transfusions during one of his two heart surgeries, 1992

The Republic of Macedonia joins the United Nations, 1993

The construction of the world's first building to integrate wind turbines is completed in Bahrain, 2008

The U.S. Department of Justice admits that it has probed WikiLeaks-related Twitter accounts, defending the practice and dismissing privacy and freedom of speech concerns, 2011

Wikileaks released 1.7 million U.S diplomatic and intelligence documents from 1973-1976 when Henry Kissinger was U.S. Secretary of State, 2013

The world's oldest living person, Gertrude Weaver of the U.S., dies at age 116, just five days after the death of the previous record holder, Misao Okawa of Japan, who died at age 117, 2015

A record 17ft (5.2M) invasive Burmese python pregnant with 73 eggs is captured in Florida's Big Cypress National Preserve, 2019

Egyptian archaeologists announce the discovery of the "golden city" of Aten, near Luxor, 2021

The first all private space flight, Axiom-1, launches to the International Space Station, 2022

A total solar eclipse stretches from Mazatlán, Mexico, to Newfoundland, 2024

Facetime Has Advantages, A Random and Happy Tuesday Post for the A to Z Challenge

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To enjoy more blogs participating in the A to Z Challenge, click here.     

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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.  

Last time i was at Ms. V's on a Thursday, Carl wasn't working and had an appointment with his therapist.  He either drives up the road to the office, or he is allowed to do a Facetime call, but Ms. V told me before she left for exercise to make sure he was up before 11am when the appointment is set.

He popped into the kitchen right at 10:30 and i reminded him of the appointment, and he said that's why he was up so early.  When i asked if he was going to drive over or do Facetime, he said, "If I do Facetime, I can stay in my jammies!" with his huge, kid-like Carl grin.

Facetime does have its advantages, and knowing how Carl works, his therapist is totally good with him being in his jammies on a call, scarfing his breakfast.

Of course, he needs a nap after, and gets it.  After all, no work.

When i arrived yesterday the house was dark and his light flipped on as soon as i shut the car door.  He was heading for his sleep chair when i got in and sleepily said yes, he did have work.

The laundry room door wouldn't open from the hall so i followed him into the main house and got in there -- and once again, like an old dream haunting me, the light in the laundry room wouldn't turn on.

It hasn't been fixed, it turns out, it's just Carl hasn't left the light on all night in a long time so the ballast hasn't been acting up.

Up against the inside of the door.

I used my flashlight on the phone and realized, oh, yes, the day after Easter.

Ms. V hosts Easter in the family gatherings, and everything she doesn't want anyone to see in the kitchen gets stuffed in the tiny laundry room.

Job #1, empty the laundry room so it can be used for laundry again.

Job #2, open the washer.

Carl and Ms. V wanted the washer at the same time, i see, so the kitchen linens were in with his clothes.  At least they all smelled clean so the linens got hung up to dry and the clothes went to the dryer.  We still have five dryer balls in our count, it has to be a record for this house to hold on to so many for so long.

Then on to Carl's room.

Where's the actual business end of the floss, on which side of the wall?  Under all the clothes on top of the dresser, of course.

Ms. V made him take out the trash and told him to put in a new bag.  She didn't specify how he should put it in, however.

One leftover breakfast, one bag with an apple core in it, his fridge continues to be bachelor typical.

He finally has gloves to take to work!  Maybe he won't lose these before he turns in his notice in a couple of weeks.

Every sheet in his room was off the shelf, including one still folded but in the laundry hamper.  Because if a sheet falls off the shelf into the dirty clothes, what's a Carl supposed to do?  Wash it again, of course, or leave it for me to wash it again.

While i was putting his apron where i'd remember to hand it to him when the time came, Carl walked in to brush his teeth and announced it was shower time.

It's a little early, i told him, don't you want to sleep more?

"Shower first, sleep after," he said, something he's never done before while i was there.  Oh, well, it's up to him.

"So much garbage to deal with at work..." he trailed off and then headed for the shower, and once done, went to lie down for 42 more minutes by the timer.

No one but Carl knows his formula for figuring out how long to put on the timer, and he's not talking, at least about that.

Once he's up and we are in the kitchen, him getting breakfast and me packing his lunch, he's talking up a storm.

"My friend Rob had to work Easter," he said.

Rob works at the hospital, in the cafeteria.  People get sick even at Easter, i told him, and someone has to be there.

Carl nodded and then grabbed the white bread he has to have bought himself, as his mother only buys whole grain.  "This is the good stuff!" he said with a grin.  After helping himself to a couple of slices, he started perusing his cereal choices.

"Should I eat Total or Wheaties?" he asked, then without waiting for an answer, grabbed both and mixed them, along with granola and chopped dates and heaven knows what else.  He makes it his own, whatever it is.

He talked about the war, and terrorism, and there wasn't much i could say about it, as he follows the news and is concerned, as are all of us.  He did brighten up when he mentioned how good his mom's Easter dinner was.

As we were preparing him to leave, he asked for a water bottle in his cooler (all the styrofoam ice chests have been relegated to the trash after severe use).  As i have the past two weeks, i told him he needs to buy more water bottles.

"A thermos, then," he said, searching his cabinets.

All your thermoses disappeared long ago, i told him, and he grabbed his hat, glasses and gloves instead.

Put them on top of your cooler so you'll remember to take them with you, i suggested but to no avail.  He walked them into the kitchen and set them on the table, and i snagged them and put them on the cooler.

He came rushing back into his room to say, "I need freshener!"

What kind? i asked.  Air freshener?  Upholstery freshener?

Carl gave me a pained look and grabbed a clothes hanger out of his closet.

What's the hanger for? i asked.

He looked at it confused and said, "I don't know," and then set it down for me to put back in the closet.

Then it took 3 tries to get him out the door, but it finally happened.

How about some funnies.

Have a blessed and beautiful Tuesday, everyone!

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It's my month to provide the prompts for Words for Wednesday.  Since it becomes Wednesday in some parts of the world while it is still Tuesday here, i am providing the prompts early, so you can work on them and post them when it's Wednesday where you are.

This week’s prompts are:

elegant

limited

spontaneous

bother

list

pin

and/or the following phrases

don’t count your chickens before they hatch (meaning do not rely on something you are not sure of)

par for the course (meaning what you would expect to happen)

a piece of cake (meaning a task which is easy to accomplish)

Charlotte's colour of the month is Sea Green.

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Today is:

Act of Self Determination Day -- Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Easter Tuesday -- TAS, Australia; Cyprus; Nauru

Genocide Memorial Day -- Rwanda

Goddess Karna's Day -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan Calendar (goddess of crying and wailing)

International Beaver Day -- celebrating the species that restores valuable wetlands 

International Snailpaper Day -- relax today with a hard copy of a regular, old-fashioned newspaper

Metric System Day -- officially adopted in France on this day in 1795

Motherhood and Beauty Day -- Armenia (day the Armenian Orthodox Church celebrated the Annunciation; it is the only Church to celebrate it on this day, which is also observed as Mother's Day in this country)

National Beer Day -- US (unofficial, the celebration of the end of Prohibition)

National Coffee Cake Day

National Health Day -- Kiribati

No Housework Day/Let Someone Else Clean Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, enjoy this one!

Pandia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (a festival of Zeus; date approximate)

Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume Day -- Tanzania

Southland Provincial Anniversary Day -- Southland, NZ

St. John Baptist de La Salle's Day (Patron of educators, school principals, teachers)

Women's Day -- Mozambique

World Health Day -- UN

Anniversaries Today:

World Health Organization is founded, 1948

Prague University is chartered by Charles IV, the first university in central Europe, 1348

Birthdays Today:

Russell Crowe, 1964

Anthony Drew "Tony" Dorsett, 1954

Jackie Chan, 1954

Janis Ian, 1951

John Oates, 1948

Gerhard Schroeder, 1944

Francis Coppola, 1939

David Frost, 1939

William Hodding Carter III, 1935

Wayne Rogers, 1933

Daniel Ellsberg, 1931

James Garner, 1928

Ravi Shankar, 1920

Billie Holiday, 1915

Walter Winchell, 1897

Bronislaw Malinowski, 1884

 John Joseph McGraw, 1873

David Grandison Fairchild, 1869

W.K. Kellogg, 1860

Walter Camp, 1859

William Ellery Channing, 1780

William Wordsworth, 1770

St. Francis Xavier, 1506

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"South Pacific"(Musical), 1949

"Monsieur Beaucaire"(Operetta), 1919

Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major,"Eroica"(Beethoven Op. 55), 1805

Today in History:

Attila's Huns plunder Metz, in northern France, 451

Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian I issues the first draft of the Corpus Juris Civilis, the basis for much civil law even today, 529

A crowd in Florence, Italy, storms the Convent of San Marco, demanding Fra Savonarola be turned over as they rebelled against his Bonfires of the Vanities and interference with trade, 1498

Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Cebu, 1521

Michael Cardozo becomes the first Jewish lawyer in Brazil, 1645

American pioneers found Marietta, Ohio, as the first permanent settlement of the new Northwest Territory, 1788

France adopts the meter as the standard measure of length, 1795

The Mississippi Territory is established, 1798

English chemist John Walker invents wooden matches, 1827

Thomas D'Arcy McGee, one of the Canadian Fathers of Confederation is assassinated by the Irish, in one of the few Canadian political assassinations, and the only one of a federal politician, 1868

Nebraska establishes an 8 hour work day, 1891

Texas Oil Company (Texaco) is formed, 1902

An eruption of Mt. Vesuvius devastates Naples, 1906

Dr. K. Winfield Ney performs the first brain tumor operation under a local anesthesia, at Beth Israel Hospital, 1923

Using phone lines, the first long distance television image is sent, of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover, from Washington, D.C. to NYC, 1927

Booker T. Washington becomes the first African-American depicted on a postage stamp in the US, 1940

Syria is officially recognized as independent from France, 1946

Dwight D. Eisenhower gives his "domino theory" speech, 1954

Spain relinquishes its protectorate in Morocco, 1956

IBM announces the System/360, 1964

The publication of RFC1 marks the symbolic birth of the Internet, 1969

Development of the neutron bomb is canceled by President Jimmy Carter, 1978

During STS-6, astronauts Story Musgrave and Don Peterson perform the first space shuttle spacewalk, 1983

Mars Odyssey is launched, 2001

Mass protests begin across Moldova under the belief that results from the parliamentary election are fraudulent, 2009

Following the death of Bingu wa Mutharika, Joyce Banda becomes President of Malawi, 2012

The longest python ever documented is found on Penang in Malaysia (26ft/8m), 2016

Action Comics #1, which introduced Superman, sells at auction for a record price of $3.25 million (USD), 2021

Ketanji Brown Jackson becomes the first black woman to be confirmed to the United States Supreme Court, 2022

British charity fundraiser Russ Cook, nicknamed the "Hardest Geezer," completes his Project Africa charity run of the length of Africa, arriving at Ras Angela, Tunisia, almost a year after setting off from Cape Agulhas, South Africa, 2024