Breaks

"Mo-om." The voice of Little Girl held the tell tale note that she was about do divulge something someone had done, probably #2 Son, i guessed. Turns out i had guessed correctly.

"He caught a water moccasin." Her voice had a bored, what-am-I-going-to-have-to-tell-about-next tone to it.

Is he crazy? Well, i can say he's probably only generally nuts, not clinically nuts. At least, nothing anyone has ever diagnosed.

Spring Break has sprung, or broken over us, or however you want to term it, and the next week will be filled with such things. He has a humane trap that he wants to use to get a raccoon. There will be fishing. There will be grilling on the BBQ. There will probably be pranks that involve water or mud. Certainly there will be friends in and out the door all day long.

Bigger Girl will read and write poetry, discuss philosophy, play piano, draw or paint, and generally talk my ears off most days, when she isn't out volunteering or saving the earth or something.

Little Girl will write stories, play with friends, and torment her older siblings.

#1 Son will probably work most of the week. The place where he works always wants to give him more hours, and he is limited only by his school schedule.

#2 Son, however, is the one who is turning my hair white. Well, i would ask for a break, but it might end up involving a bone, so i'll just ask for an extra guardian angel for him.

Hm, while i'm at it, i better remember that summer is around the corner, and he'll probably need double then, too.


In honor of National Humor Month:

What's round and bad tempered?
A vicious circle!

Poor ole Boudreaux up and died one day.
Upon arriving at the gates of Heaven, St. Peter greeted him, "Welcome to Heaven, dere Boudreaux!"
Boudreaux exclaimed "Mai, tank ya, cher!"
St. Peter explained to ole Boudreaux that there was one stipulation before he was allowed through the gates of Heaven....he had to answer one question and get it right.
Boudreaux scratched his head and said, "Mai, ok, cher. What dat be?"
St. Peter says "What is God's first name?"
Boudreaux answers, "Mai, cher, dat be easy, it's Howard."
St. Peter (laughing himself silly) "HOWARD? May I ask you, Boudreaux, how'd you come up with that name?"
Boudreaux, smiling proudly, says "Mai cher, dat be an easy one.....Our Fadda who art in Heavin, HOWARD be dy name."
St. Peter, still chuckling, says "I can't argue with that one, Boudreaux! Come on in!"



Today is

Black Saturday -- Christian

Book Day and Lover's Day -- Spain, especially Catalan (women give books to men, while men give flowers to the women. Celebrated in the Spanish city of Barcelona since 1714 to honor Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, and in observance of St. George's Day)

Chance Day -- Fairy Calendar

Children's Day -- Turkey

Feria Nacional de San Marcos -- Mexico, through the middle of May (feast of San Marcos, with rodeos, bull fights, folk dancing, parades, mariachi and muchos more)

Festival of Jupiter and Venus -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Independence Day -- Turkey (a/k/a National Sovereignty Day)

Industry Day

Interstate Mullet Toss / The Gulf Coast's Greatest Beach Party -- FloraBama Bar, Gulf Shores, Alabama, US (through the 25th)

Lovers' Day

National Bulldogs are Beautiful Day

National Cherry Cheesecake Day

National Day of Puppetry

National Zucchini Bread Day - they hold this at a time when you are not sick of all that zucchini.

Oistins Fish Festival -- Barbados (through the 25th)

Peppercorn Ceremony -- Bermuda

Read To Me Day

Sigurd the Dragon Slayer's Day

St. Adalbert's Day (patron of Prussia)

St. George's Day -- Christian (patron saint of England, Portugal, Germany, the Boy Scouts, cavalry, equestrians, farmers, horses; against leprosy, syphilis; by the middle ages, St. George was revered in much of Europe as the personification of chivalry)*

Take a Chance Day

Talk Like Shakespeare Day

Vinalia Priora -- Ancient Roman Calendar (tasting the first wines of the year)

World Book & Copyright Day

*To save a Maid, St. George the Dragon slew
A pretty tale, if all is told to be true
Most say, there are no Dragons, and tis said
There was no George: pray God there was a Maid.
-- John Aubrey, Remains of Gentilism (1688)


Birthdays Today:

Dev Patel, 1990
John Cena, 1977
Scott Bairstow, 1970
George Lopez, 1961
Valerie Bertinelli, 1960
Craig Sheffer, 1960
Jan Hooks, 1957
Michael Moore, 1954
Joyce DeWitt, 1949
Sandra Dee, 1942
Lee Majors, 1940
Roy Orbison, 1936
Shirley Temple Black, 1928
Vladimire Nabokov, 1899
Sergei Prokofiev, 1891
James Buchanan, 1791
William Penn, 1621
William Shakespeare, 1564


Today in History:

The founding of the Order of the Garter by King Edward III is announced on St George's Day, 1348
William Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor is first performed, with Queen Elizabeth I in attendance, 1597
The first public school in the United States, Boston Latin School, is founded in Boston, Massachusetts, 1635
Connecticut is chartered as an English colony, 1662
Canada issues its first postage stamps, 1851
The Vitascope system of movie projection debuts the first motion picture at Koster & Bial's Music Hall in NYC, 1896
Namibia becomes the 160th member of the UN and the 50th member of the Commonwealth of Nations, 1990
Eritrians vote overwhelmingly for independence from Ethiopia, 1993
Beijing closes all schools for two weeks because of the SARS virus, 2003
The gamma ray burst GRB 090423 is observed for 10 seconds. The event signals the most distant object of any kind and also the oldest known object in the universe, 2009