Resting Easy (Cajun Joke), Sunday Selections, and Sunday Selfie

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Just because Sandee of Comedy Plus is no longer hosting a Silly Sunday blog hop, do not expect me to quit telling Cajun jokes, especially as it has now become a habit.

Grandma and i got to talking about funerals again yesterday (it does come up once in so often) and she reiterated she doesn't want to be cremated, as for so long it was against the rules in the Roman Catholic Church.  I reminded her she preplanned and pre-payed for hers, so they will just do as she said.

"You know you have to take underwear and shoes and socks to the funeral home, right?" she said.  "We had to do that when P died."

Of course, i told her, you've already said you have to be buried with your undies on because your mama taught you a lady never goes anywhere without good undergarments.

She laughed, "Yes, I did tell you that.  And about them not standing around saying how good I look, I won't look good, I'll look dead!"

Yes, Grandma, i remember.

Boudreaux an' Clothile done be talkin' 'bout plannin' dey funerals, jes' in case ('cause dey don' plan to go nowhere soon), an' Boudreaux say, "We really don' know nothin' 'bout death, do we?"

An' Clothile say, "What you mean?"

An' Boudreaux say, "Mais, what fo' we give de corpse a pillow!"

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Sunday Selections was started as a way for bloggers to use photos that might otherwise just languish in their files.  The rules have been relaxed, and it is now simply a showcase for your photos, new or old, good or bad, although nothing rude, please.  Our friend River is hosting, and other participants often include Charlotte/Mother Owl, Andrew, and WiseWebWoman.  

The azaleas are almost done, but not quite, and the bees are still enjoying them.

The lilies are up, too, and other flowers, most of which i cannot name.

Then there was this guy, enjoying a plant whose name i don't know in front of Grandma and Grandpa's house.

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This week, Jack wants to join the Kitties Blue at The Cat On My Head for their Sunday Selfies Blog Hop.  

This is his, "Don't hate me because I'm ready for swimsuit season" selfie.

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Today is:

As Young As You Feel Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, which encourages you to stop acting your chronological age and go act peppy!

Banned in Boston Day -- see history for 1630 for explanation of why today

Care Sunday / Carling Sunday -- England, 5th Sunday of Lent (possibly from the Old Saxon "carles", or husbandman)

Coq Au Vin Day

Día de la Abolición de la Esclavitud (Emancipation Day) -- Puerto Rico

International Goof-off Day -- sponsored by Monica A. Dufour and A.C. Vierow, who think everyone needs a special day each year to goof off.

International Day of the Seal -- drawing attention to a disappearing species

Laser Day -- the first patent on a laser was granted this day in 1960 to Arthur Schawlow and Charles Townes

National Bavarian Crepes Day

National Sing-Out Day -- begun by an anonymous person who must love singing; and yes, i promise, i won't sing where anyone has to listen to me

St. Darerca's Day (reportedly the sister of St. Patrick; Patron of Valentia Island, Ireland)

World Day for Water -- UN

Anniversary Today:

The Tuskegee Airmen are activated, 1941

Birthdays Today:

James T. Kirk, 2233

Cristen Powell, 1979

Reese Witherspoon, 1976

Elvis Stojko, 1972

Matthew Modine, 1959

Stephanie Mills, 1957

Lena Olin, 1955

Bob Costas, 1952

Andrew Lloyd Webber, 1948

James Patterson, 1947

George Benson, 1943

Bruno Ganz, 1941

Marvin Yagoda, 1938

M. Emmet Walsh, 1935

J.P. McCarthy, 1933

William Shatner, 1931

Pat Robertson, 1930

Stephen Sondheim, 1930

Allen Neuharth, 1924

Marcel Marceau, 1923

Karl Malden, 1912

Louis L'Amour, 1908

Chico Marx, 1887

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Conversations with My Father"(Play), 1992

"Brighton Beach Memoirs"(Play), 1983

"All You Need is Cash"(TV movie), 1978

"I Can Get It For You Wholesale"(Musical), 1962

"Mr. Wonderful"(Musical), 1956

"This Year of Grace"(Musical), 1928

"El maleficio de la mariposa/The Butterfly's Evil Spell"(Play), 1920

Today in History:

Hugo de Groot escapes imprisonment in Loevenstein Castle in a book case, 1621

The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony sign a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoags, 1621

Algonquian Indians kill 347 English settlers around Jamestown, Virginia, a third of the colony's population, 1622

Massachusetts Bay Colony outlaws the possession of cards, dice, and gaming tables, 1630

Joseph Priestly invents carbonated water (seltzer), 1733

The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Stamp Act, which introduced a tax to be levied directly on its American colonies, 1765

The Emerald Buddha is moved with great ceremony to its current place in Wat Phra Kaew, Thailand, 1784

The three protecting powers (Britain, France and Russia) establish the borders of Greece, 1829

Cornstarch is patented by Orlando Jones, 1841

Slavery is abolished in Puerto Rico, 1873

The Edmunds Act adopted by US to suppress polygamy in the territories (especially aimed at the Mormons), 1882

August and Louis Lumiere privately screen the first "motion picture" ever made, of workers leaving their factory three days earlier, 1895

World's first airline, St Petersburg Tampa Airboat Line, begins, 1914

The Arab League is founded when a charter is adopted in Cairo, Egypt, 1945

Arthur Leonard Schawlow and Charles Hard Townes receive the first patent for a laser, 1960

Karl Wallenda of The Flying Wallendas dies after falling off a tight-rope between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1978

The Intel Corporation ships the first Pentium chips, 1993

Cosmonaut Valeriy Polyakov returns after setting a record for 438 days in space, 1995

The Comet Hale-Bopp has its closest approach to earth, 1997

Tara Lipinski, age 14 years and 10 months, becomes the youngest women's World Figure Skating Champion, 1997

ETA, the armed Basque separatist group, declares a permanent ceasefire, 2006

Mount Redoubt, a volcano in Alaska began erupting after a prolonged period of unrest, 2009

The "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" between Hawaii and California has 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic and increasing rapidly according to new research, 2018

The journal Science publishes the first major announcement of the discovery of the Qingjiang biota, a 518-million-year-old fossil site near the Danshui River in China that is one of the most well preserved and diverse sites of the early Cambrian explosion ever found, 2019

The world's largest painting, "The Journey of Humanity" by British artist Sacha Jafri, sells in Dubai for $62m to raise funds for children's charities, 2021

New research conducted at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam finds microplastics in human blood for the first time, 2022

The American Library Association says 2022 had the highest number of calls to censor library books in the US in over 20 years, 2023

A new DNA analysis of composer Ludwig von Beethoven's hair reveals he probably died of hepatitis B and cirrhosis of the liver, 2023

British runner Jasmin Paris is the first woman and 20th person to complete one of the world's hardest ultramarathons - the Barkley Marathons, 2024

A Plethora of Potatoes and Other Blessings, a Ten Things of Thankful Post

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When i get to Thankful Day, i'm always thankful i keep a running list through the week.

Grandma was craving a baked potato last Saturday, so we ordered one.  Then Ms. C, the family friend who takes it upon herself to cook and bring a meal to Grandma and Grandpa every Saturday, brought stuffed baked potatoes!  Grandma had a plethora of potatoes and we were very thankful as it's one of the few meals she really enjoys now.

We're also thankful for Ms. C, who has brought them a meal (or a cake) almost every weekend since Uncle P died almost five years ago.

I'd rented a car last weekend and my Sweetie was going to be pushed for time having to pick me up from the rental place as he and Brother-in-Law had an event they wanted to attend.  We were thankful Daughter-in-Law was able to pick me up instead, freeing them to go to their event without rushing.

Sunday morning i arrived at Becca's house and we got ready for our walk with Mr. Cal.  Pets have a way of telling you when they are just not feeling it, and Mr. Cal must have been hurting that morning as he was not feeling in a walking mood, after i had the leash on him, he climbed under a piece of furniture!  It was so unlike him we were worried.  He did accept his treats, though, and we were thankful, as only a very sick dog will not accept his treats.

That afternoon, as #2 Son was dropping our little Annie off for me to watch, he mentioned he was thankful he didn't get electrocuted that day.  I told him i was thankful, also, and i am, and he explained he had repaired a piece of equipment at one of his stores and when he plugged it in, it wasn't quite correct, but he managed to unplug it fast enough to prevent damage to himself or the equipment and redo it correctly.

This is the same son who used to come home from the creek and tell me how many snakes he'd caught that day, and sometimes how many times he'd been bitten (by the non-venomous ones, thankfully the venomous ones never bit him), so i'm not surprised to hear he is still taking his life in his hands and somehow surviving.

While watching Annie, i was thankful she wanted a walk as it gave me a chance to meet a new neighbor and let him know about rEcess.  He has a daughter with Down's Syndrome, and he and his wife will look into the program.

Late Sunday night or early Monday morning, after another hearty rainstorm, the electricity went out in part of our neighborhood (not on our block, but up the street).  Ms. D was without electricity until about 15 minutes before i arrived to clean her house.

She was starting to get cold enough to consider where she could go to warm up, and i'm thankful it came back on when it did so she could get the heat going, and also thankful as she wanted the whole house vacuumed which requires electricity.

We're all thankful #2 Son decided to check Slow-Moe's oil after the valve cover change last month just to be sure and realized enough oil had leaked out before he changed it that more was needed.  All seems to be well now.

Getting our little Annie down for her naps has been getting harder and harder, each time she actually does fall asleep for me i am very thankful, as you will think she's out and then you realize once again those little peepers are no longer closed but are peeping back at you.

On Wednesday, Ms. G had us moving furniture and artworks, we visited her storage unit 4 times to ferry stuff over there.  I'm thankful i can still lift and fetch, and very thankful i can still climb into the bed of a pick-up truck easily and move things around up in there when needed.

Ms. SE's boys are almost finished with switching up their bedrooms, so most of the disarray as been cleared out and we're thankful as it is much easier to clean a home when it's not cluttered and with pieces of beds all over as they're being moved around.

Also, her mother had been in town and folded a lot of the clothing, and i'm always thankful for help with folding.

I'm also thankful we were again able to do a double cleaning, getting Ms. GA done in good time after.

Mr. M next door has passed on one of those "Little Tykes" cars for children to us, as his grands have outgrown it.  We're thankful little Annie seems to like it, although she has to scoot it with her feet and can only go backward for now.

Friday was a beautiful day, Annie and i were thankful for a walk.  

The cat shelter was quietly busy, with lots of volunteers, for which i was thankful as Ms. M who does room while i do cages was out for a church event.

On the way home i was thankful to see a lemonade stand in our neighborhood.  It's always great to see kids taking the initiative and being entrepreneurs, so even though i don't drink lemonade, i do stop and make a donation.

This time, Brother-in-Law had been there ahead of me and had bought a loaf of the home baked bread they were also selling - these kids are serious about raising some dough ;) - and i gave them a bit more with my thanks and we'll be thankful to have fresh bread in the morning.

Please write up your own list and link up to Ten Things of Thankful, where Clark and his co-hosts always have a warm welcome waiting.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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Today is:

Aizu Higan Shishi/Sanbiki Shishimai -- Aizu Wakamatsu, Japan (lion dances to mark the end of winter)

Back Badge Day -- Gloucestershire Regiment, British Army

Birthday of Wenchang Wang, the God of Literature -- China

Birth of Benito Juarez, a Fiestas Patrias -- Mexico (trad.)

Fragrance Day and Flower Day -- the first full day of spring

Harmony Day -- Australia (managed by the Department of Immigration and Citizenship)

Human Rights Day -- South Africa

Independence Day -- Namibia(1990)

International Day of Forests -- UN

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination -- UN

Memory Day -- internet based, to examine the use of memory aids throughout history

Mother's Day -- most Arabic nations

National Common Courtesy Day -- commonly listed on this day on many sites, with no origin given, but i guess it's not so common any more, someone had to declare a holiday to try to foster some

National French Bread Day

National Single Parent Day -- US (by Presidential designation in 1984)

National Tree Planting Day -- Lesotho

National Quilting Day -- US, sponsored by the Quilt Alliance     

Paper Dress Day -- the paper dress was introduced as part of an ad campaign by the Scott Paper Co. on this day in 1966

Save the Florida Panther Day -- FL, US

Single Parents' Day -- sponsored by Parents Without Partners, on the date of their inception in 1957

St. Nicholas of Flue's Day (Patron of councilmen, difficult marriages, large families, magistrates, parents of large families, Pontifical Swiss Guards, separated spouses, Switzerland)

World Down Syndrome Day -- UN

World Forest Day/International Day of Forests and the Trees -- UN

World Puppetry Day  

World Poetry Day -- UNESCO

Youth Day -- Tunisia

Birthdays Today:

Ronaldinho, 1980

Kevin Federline, 1978

Matthew Broderick, 1962

Rosie O'Donnell, 1962

Ayrton Senna da Silva, 1960

Gary Oldman, 1958

Eddie Money, 1949

Timothy Dalton, 1944

Peter Brook, 1925

Julio Gallo, 1910

John D Rockefeller III, 1906

Bascom Lamar Lunsford, 1882

Florenz Ziegfeld, 1867

Modest Mussorgsky, 1839

James Jesse "King Strang" Strang, 1813

Benito Juarez, 1806

Francis Lewis, 1713

Johann Sebastian Bach, 1685

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Annie"(Film), 1982

"Stop the Music"(Radio show), 1948

Today in History:

The Byzantine emperor Heraclius restores the "True Cross" to Jerusalem, 630

Accession to the throne of Japan by emperor Antoku, 1188

3,000 Jews are killed in the Black Death riots in Efurt, Germany, 1349

n Oxford, Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer is burned at the stake, 1556

Czar Peter the Great begins his tour through West, 1697

Fire destroys 856 buildings in New Orleans, Louisiana, 1788

With the church leadership driven out of Rome during an armed conflict, Pius VII is crowned Pope in Venice with a temporary papal tiara made of papier-mâché, 1800

Code Napoléon is adopted as French civil law, 1804

The Bahá'í calendar begins, 1844

An earthquake in Tokyo, Japan kills over 100,000, 1857

The Zoological Society of Philadelphia, the first in the US, is incorporated, 1859

Journalist Henry Morton Stanley begins his trek to find the missionary and explorer David Livingstone, 1871

Loretta Walsh becomes the first female US Navy Petty Officer, 1917

Charles Lindbergh is presented the Medal of Honor for his first trans-Atlantic flight, 1928

Shah Reza Pahlavi formally asks the international community to call Persia by its native name, Iran, which means 'Land of the Aryans,' 1935

Alan Freed presents the Moondog Coronation Ball, the first rock and roll concert, in Cleveland, Ohio, 1952

Martin Luther King Jr. leads 3,200 people on the start of the third and finally successful civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, 1965

The first Earth Day proclamation is issued by San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto, 1970

Canadian paraplegic athlete and humanitarian Rick Hansen begins his circumnavigation of the globe in a wheelchair in the name of spinal cord injury medical research, 1985

Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones become the first to circumnavigate the Earth in a hot air balloon, 1999

The first full face transplant is performed by surgeons at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, 2011

Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard formally apologizes to people affected by forced adoptions during the 1950s through 1970s, 2013

Dave Patterson and John Hennessy win computings' Turing Award for RISC computer chips, 2018

A Bangladeshi woman with two uteruses safely gives birth to twins 26 days after giving birth to another child, 2019

As large crowds descend on the area for spring break, Miami imposes a state of emergency and a curfew, 2021

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake strikes Afghanistan's north-east near the border with Pakistan, 2023

Neuralink company posts a video of a patient playing chess online using a brain implant, 2024

Social media company Reddit makes it's debut on the New York Stock Exchange, 2025