Give Thanks

Today, I am thankful for so much, there is no way to list it all.

I don't have a working dishwasher, but I have water, and soap, and dishes, and food to put on the dishes. I can live with washing by hand.

We have old cars, but they work.

We can't get everything we want, but #2 Son needs new shoes, as his old ones have holes in them, and we will be able to get them for him.

Our house has many problems, but it is here, and is better shelter than what so many people have in this world.

I have friends, and things to laugh about, and even though my lung is wheezing and I've had a few SVT's, I'm basically healthy, and so is the family.

May all of you who celebrate have a blessed and beautiful Thanksgiving Day.


Today is:

Cat-Nipping Convention -- Fairy Calendar

Celtic Tree Month Ruic (Elder) begins

Evacuation Day -- 19th Century New York City

Hari Guru -- Indonesia (Teacher's Day)

Independence Day -- Suriname

International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women

National Day -- Bosnia and Herzegovina

National Don't Utter A Word Day (while trying to cook for Thanksgiving? Right!)

National Parfait Day

Shopping Reminder Day (One month until Christmas!)

Saint Catherine Laboure's Day -- promulgator of the Miraculous Medal

Thanksgiving Day -- US

Vajiravudh Day -- Thailand

Windmill Blessing Day -- Holland (millers bless their windmills by throwing a handful of flour into the wind as an offering to the mischievous windmill spirits)

Women's Merrymaking Day -- Women go 'Cath'rining' and have a good time (in some places, especially France, women may propose marriage on this day)


Birthdays Today:

Barbara and Jenna Bush, 1981
Donovan McNabb, 1976
Christina Applegate, 1971
Jill Hennessy, 1968
Amy Grant, 1960
John F. Kennedy, Jr., 1960
John Larroquette, 1947
Paul Desmond, 1924
Ricardo Montalban, 1920
Joe DiMaggio, 1914
Solanus Casey, 1870
Carry Nation, 1846
Karl F. Benz, 1844
Andrew Carnegie, 1835


Today in History:

A tsunami, caused by the earthquake in the Tyrrhenian Sea, devastates Naples (Italy) and the Maritime Republic of Amalfi, among other places, 1343
The siege of Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain, begins, 1491
A deadly earthquake rocks Shemakha, in the Caucasus, killing 80,000 people, 1667
The Great Storm of 1703, the greatest windstorm ever recorded in the southern part of Great Britain, reaches its peak intensity which it maintains through November 27. Winds gust up to 120 mph, and 9,000 people died, 1703
First English patent granted to an American, for processing corn, 1715
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is founded, 1758
Farmer's Almanac first published, 1792
The Greek frigate Hellas arrives in Nafplion to become the first flagship of the Hellenic Navy, 1826
A cyclone slams India with high winds and a 40 foot storm surge, destroying the port city of Coringa (never to be entirely rebuilt again); the storm wave sweeps inland, taking with it 20,000 ships and thousands of people. An estimated 300,000 deaths result from the disaster, 1839
Alfred Nobel patents dynamite, 1867
John B Meyenberg of St Louis patents evaporated milk, 1884
American College of Surgeons incorporates in Springield, Illinois, 1912
First Thanksgiving Day Parade is held in Philadelphia, 1920
690 earthquake shocks recorded in 1 day in Ito, Japan, 1930
The first Soviet liquid fuel rocket attains altitude of 261' (80m), 1933
Woody Woodpecker debuts with release of Walter Lantz's "Knock Knock", 1940
New Zealand ratifies the Statute of Westminster and thus becomes independent of legislative control by the United Kingdom, 1947
Agatha Christie's murder-mystery play The Mousetrap opens at the Ambassadors Theatre in London later becoming the longest continuously-running play in history, 1952
The Minneapolis Thanksgiving Day Fire destroys an entire city block, 1982
Powerful storm brings 3 years worth of rain in 4 hours to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, sparking terrible floods, 2009