Saving Daylight

Thanks to Daylight Saving Time beginning, we lost an hour in the night, and when we woke at what my phone said was 5am, even in bed since midnight, we had only 4 hours sleep. Everyone was eager to be on the way, though, so no complaints as we packed and got down to breakfast by 6am start time.

Sweetie and the kids napped as i sipped coffee and searched for radio stations i could tolerate. We only stopped twice on the way back, getting snacks and gas both times. They didn't want to stop for lunch, and we got home by 12:30pm, the fastest we have ever made time to anyplace.

Because the weather was cool, the house was pleasantly cool also, and Sam had done a great job with the cats, there was no nasty smell. Unlike other homecomings, there was also no smell from The Mouth leaving out food to go bad, and he hadn't generated enough garbage, apparently, to even take it out while we were gone.

He had, however, left my bathroom and kitchen in a sorry state, and my first order of business, after we got the most important stuff unloaded, was to clean my bathroom, change the sheets on my bed, and get into the kitchen for a thorough wipedown. The inside of the fridge even looked like a bomb went off, so i checked email a while, did some dishes, checked email again, more dishes, until it was all done.

The family were all thrilled to be back, and scattered to visit friends and hand out souvenirs they had bought. It took until the next morning to make sure we had gotten everything out of the van to return it. We kept finding things tucked into nooks and crannies.

Despite the chaos of everything still in suitcases and scrambling to find stuff, it was good to be home.


Today is:

Awkward Moments Day

Bindus Diena -- Ancient Latvain Calendar

Celtic Tree Month Fearn (Alder) begins

Ember Day -- Western Catholic Christian (second Ember Day of Lent, a day for prayer and fasting)

Flag Day -- Aruba

Forgive Mom and Dad Day

Gallipoli Memorial Day -- Turkey

Goddess of Fertility Day -- a modern celebration of all goddesses of fertility

Grandparent's and Grandchildren's Day -- Michigan, US

Jonquil Festival -- Washington State Park, Arkansas, US (through the 20th)

Mens and Soldiers Day -- Mongolia

National Biodiesel Day

National Lacy Oatmeal Cookie Day

Red Nose Day -- Telethon for Comic Relief, UK

Sheelah's Day -- Ireland (probably Sheela Na Gig, goddess of fertility)

St. Anselm of Lucca's Day

St. Edward the Martyr's Day


Birthdays Today:

Dane Cook, 1972
Queen Latifah, 1970
Bonnie Blair, 1964
Vanessa Williams, 1963
Irene Cara, 1959
Brad Dourif, 1950
Wilson Pickett, 1941
Charlie Pride, 1938
F.W. deKlerk, 1936
John Updike, 1932
George Plimpton, 1927
Peter Graves, 1926
Edward Everett Horton, 1886
Rudolph Diesel, 1858
Grover Cleveland, 1837


Today in History:

Crusaders kill 57 Jews in Bury St Edmonds England, 1190
German emperor Frederick II crowns himself king of Jerusalem, 1229
Kraków is ravaged by Mongols, 1241
According to legend, Tenochtitlan is founded on this date, 1325
John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton sells his part of New Jersey to the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, 1673
Henry Wells and William Fargo form American Express in Buffalo, NY, 1850
Former Governor General Lord Stanley pledges to donate a silver challenge cup, later named after him, as an award for the best hockey team in Canada, 1893
Mohandas Gandhi is sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience (he served only 2 years), 1922
The first public celebration of Bat mitzvah, for the daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, is held in New York City, 1922
The Tri-State Tornado hits the Midwestern US states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killing 695 people, 1925
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy kills 26 and causes thousands to flee their homes, 1944
Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space, 1965
The U.S. Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back US currency, 1968
In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found nearby the Pyramid of Cheops, 1989
White South Africans vote overwhelmingly in favour, in a national referendum, to end the racist policy of Apartheid, 1992
Bosnia's Bosniaks and Croats sign the Washington Agreement, ending warring between the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and establishing the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1994
British Sign Language is recognized as an official British language, 2003