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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.
Yes, i took liberties with the title, but I've used xenial (a Greek word meaning hospitality) a few times and while Carl is hospitable, wanting to always be with friends or have them over, this is about an extraordinary time coming up in his life with much excitement ahead.
Yesterday while i was there i was getting him ready for his second-to-last day of work, and today is his last, and next Monday when i arrive they will be in the throes of packing and heading out. They'll actually move him in to his new digs on Tuesday, and as i get updates, i will let everyone know how he's doing.
Meanwhile, i arrived to find Ms. V had hung up most of the cleaning cloths from the week before, but some were left behind and when Carl did his load of laundry, he shifted them to the sink, requiring a rewash.
I'd found one of the two missing dryer balls last week in Ms. V's laundry, the second is probably gone forever. All four were there, only one in the dryer with the clothes Carl had washed and dried. I've tried telling him they do no good if he leaves them on top of the dryer, but it doesn't seem to help.
He has been using his green apron for weeks because the red one was missing. Then yesterday,
it turned up. The green one is now AWOL, i asked later about it and he gave his usual, "It's gotta be here somewhere," which means it will turn up, it's just a matter of time, and meanwhile, don't bother looking. It will find us when it's ready.
He was still snoozing in the sleep chair and i got into his room and found this.
A gift bag with cleaning supplies. His friends threw him a going-away party this past weekend. The bag also had some of his own stuff in it he's had for a while, i guess he thought it was a good place to put those items.
When i went for the cleaning supplies, Carl was up taking his meds and setting the timer for more snoozing. I smiled and said, "Only two more days of work for you!" and he looked at me solemnly and said, "Sore throat."
I'd noticed lots of the throat lozenges he keeps around in his lunch cooler and he had two new bottles of throat spray. Getting sick right now would be awful timing, but since when have illnesses ever listened and stayed away for that reason?
Anyway, he did sleep a while longer and then came to brush his teeth and shower.
While standing by the refrigerator, Carl looked over the top of it and said, "The top of the fridge needs dusting."
Now that he "hides" the sweets he's not supposed to have in the cupboard instead of cramming it all in grocery bags on top of the fridge, i guess the dust is having a chance to settle there.
Once he got up and wanted his shower, the bathroom was clean and ready with supplies. After the shower, he yelled out, "Is there a towel?"
You have one in there, i put it there, i told him.
"It's wet!" he said.
Please note it had not been wet when i got it from the linen closet and put it in there for him. Did you use it instead of the small towel to stand on? i asked him, as you must be very careful to give him a bath towel, a hand towel, one towel to stand on, and a washcloth.
"Maybe," he said and i heard nothing else until he came out, dressed but looking a bit grumpy.
Please note, two of his large bath towels are now missing, heaven only knows where they could be as he's the only one who uses them, but like the apron they'll turn up and for now we sub with the old towels from the linen closet, and those are worn a bit thin.
After he was dressed, Carl asked me about furniture stain remover.
I asked what furniture he needed it for and he indicated his old, stained, worn and so broken it will no longer properly sit up recliner.
You don't need to clean it, i told him, you are moving out in a week.
"I want to take my furniture," he said a bit plaintively.
They have furniture for you there, i told him. All the rooms are furnished for the residents.
"But I like mine," he said again, and i told him he'd have to talk to his mom about it.
I do get it, but moving the old, broken and badly stained furniture is probably not going to happen, no matter how comfortable he finds those seats.
I changed the subject by asking him why he didn't have his apron on. "Working on it," was his reply, of course.
I found out when i went in the kitchen why he didn't have the apron on. He'd spilled some water and instead of grabbing a towel to wipe it up, grabbed his apron.
As he ate breakfast and i made his lunch, he told me all about the party over the weekend. I didn't understand everything he was saying, but i did catch the part about them going to the Cracker Barrel restaurant and then coming back to his house and playing Chinese checkers and other games he's had in his closet for a while.
By the sound of it, he has a very good checkers strategy and won more often than he lost and everyone had a good time.
His leaving was accompanied by the usual flurry of looking for last minute things, but he had it all at the end.
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 now, so you can work on them and post them when it's Wednesday where you are.
This week's prompts are:
artist
kitchen
alive
manage
case
and/or these fabulous, funny words:
bamboozled (fooled or cheated someone)
persnickety (fussy over minor details)
kerfuffle (commotion or fuss)
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Today is:
Biological Clock Day -- the "biological clock gene" that governs the circadian rhythm in mice was isolated on this day in 1994
Cubicle Day -- because if you can't beat 'em, join 'em
Feast of Jamal(Beauty) -- Baha'i
Festival of Floralia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (three-day festival to Flora, goddess of flowers and vegetation)
Great Poetry Reading Day -- make sure you read some great poetry today
Hidaka Hibuse Matsuri -- Mizusawa, Iwate Prefecture, Japan (through the 29th; floats, child musicians, traditional costumes, and fun)
James Monroe Birthday Celebration -- Charlottesville, VA, US (at his home, Ash Lawn-Highland)
Kiss Your Mate Day -- guys, do not forget this one, in case she reads it somewhere on the internet; kiss her, then read her a great poem
National Blueberry Pie Day
National Kids and Pets Day
National Day of Mourning -- Canada (In conjunction with Workers' Memorial Day and World Day for Safety and Health at Work, honoring those injured or killed on the job)
National Heroes Day -- Barbados
Pay It Forward Day -- International (begun in the US as National Pay It Forward Day, it is now observed in over 80 countries; this year the global initiative wants to inspire over 10 million acts of kindness around the world!)
Rip Cord Day -- the first successful jump with a parachute that used a rip cord was this day in 1919 by Leslie Erwin of the U.S. Army Air Corps
Sa die de sa Sardinia -- Sardinia, Italy (Sardinia Day, celebrating the uprising of 1794)
School Bus Driver's Day -- these longsuffering drivers put up with a lot, thank a school bus driver today!
St. Peter Chanel's Day (Patron of Oceania)
Saint Pierre-Chanel Day -- Wallis and Fortuna
Sts. Vitalis and Valeria's Day (Patrons of Thibodaux, Louisiana)
Workers Memorial Day / World Day for Safety and Health at Work -- International (remembering all who have lost their lives or been injured on the job)
Anniversaries Today:
William Randolph Hearst marries Millicent Veronica Willson, 1903
Maryland becomes the 7th US State, 1788
Birthdays Today:
Jenna Ushkowitz, 1986
Jessica Alba, 1981
Penelope Cruz, 1974
Jorge Garcia, 1973
Nicklas Lidstrom, 1970
John Daly, 1966
Elena Kagan, 1960
Ian Rankin, 1960
Nancy Lee Grahn, 1958
Mary McDonnell, 1952
Jay Leno, 1950
Marcia Strassman, 1948
Ann-Margaret, 1941
Harper Lee, 1926
Oskar Schindler, 1908
Erich Salomon, 1886
Lionel Barrymore, 1878
Mifflin Wister Gibbs, 1828
James Monroe, 1758
Debuting/Premiering Today:
"One Man's Family"(Radio), 1932
Today in History:
Newly elected King of Jerusalem Conrad of Montferrat is assassinated in Tyre, 1192
Nichiren Buddhism is founded, 1253
Virginia governor John Harvey is accused of treason and removed from office, 1635
Female English Pirate Mary Read, who operated throughout the Caribbean, died in prison (she was pregnant at the time), 1721
Captain William Bligh and 18 crewmen from the HMS Bounty are set adrift, 1789
Chinese and Irish laborers for the Central Pacific Railroad working on the First Transcontinental Railroad lay 10 miles of track in one day, a feat which has never been matched, 1869
Azerbaijan is added to the Soviet Union., 1920
The first night game in organized baseball history takes place in Independence, Kansas, 1930
A vaccine for yellow fever is announced for use on humans, 1932
Thor Heyerdahl and five crew mates set out from Peru on the Kon-Tiki, 1947
The Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty (Treaty of Taipei) is signed in Taipei, Taiwan between Japan and the Republic of China to officially end the Second Sino-Japanese War, 1952
Charles de Gaulle resigns as President of France, 1969
The Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure is signed, 1977
Millionaire Dennis Tito becomes the world's first space tourist, 2001
According to the WHO, leading causes of death in the world include chronic illnesses such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes, 2011
In recognition of democratic reforms, the European Union opens an office in Burma, 2012
The government of India announces that electricity has now reached every Indian village, 2018
American diver Victor Vescovo makes the deepest dive ever to the bottom of the Mariana trench at 10,927m (35,849ft), discovering three new marine species and finding plastic waste, 2019
NASA's Parker Solar Probe becomes the first spacecraft to cross the Alfvén critical boundary, the outer atmosphere of the Sun, 2021
Six new indigenous land reserves covering 620,000 hectares (1.5m acres) where mining is banned and commercial farming is restricted are set up by Brazilian President Lula da Silva, 2023
Airports, hospitals, and public transit shut down due to a widespread power outage in Spain, Portugal, Andorra, and parts of France, 2025
