Winding Down

Because Sweetie had to take Bigger Girl home Friday evening for the ACT Saturday morning, it was even more of a winding down day than usual.

#2 Son had come in from a late night with friends and slept in as usual. Little Girl had taken advantage of having a tv with full satellite options to herself and stayed up half the night watching, so also slept late. Personally, i think they waste the best part of the day, as i got to see beautiful sunrises on the beach each morning. The fact is, at least on the beach, the morning sun does shine "like a red rubber ball."

Uncle J planned to leave Friday evening as well, so he tried to take Bryn parasailing. It was a disappointment, as the boat broke down. The concern that a planned activity might have to be rescheduled is the reason i try to do the "must do" things early in the week instead of leaving them to the last day. It also means no running around at the last minute, so a couple of days to do nothing but enjoy being, not doing. There is method to my madness.

In a funny incident that proved the kind of luck i usually have, finally, on the last day, maintenance arrived and looked at why my computer wouldn't connect to the internet. After having to share the business office for several days, it took only 5 minutes for the nice guy to get it online. Figures, only on the last day.

So around mid afternoon we packed Sweetie's car as full as we could, sending things the rest of us knew we wouldn't need back to give us less to tote the next day. They made it home without incident and quicker than we ever have when we have 5-6 people, and bladders, to deal with.

That evening was supposed to be for a fish fry. We got stymied at the last minute by the fact that Doc had forgotten to buy cooking oil! So the fish stayed frozen, to be brought home and give us a taste of vacation a few days later. Meanwhile, there was enough left over to have dinner and still fill ice chests, multiple, for the trip home. If anyone goes hungry on this trip, it is his own fault.

The only part of the day i didn't like, besides having to say good-bye early, was having to dismantle the beach tent myself. Taking it down alone wasn't too bad, but it weighs so much, and i couldn't find any of my family to help me out until i was halfway to the elevator. Several able bodied men stood by and watched this 93lb. woman lug a 60lb. tent through the sand and not one offered to help. At least it had wheels to use once i got it up to the boardwalk.

For a last full day, it was more good than bad, though.


Today is

Baltic Freedom Day

Buophonia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (sacrifice to the honored dead, date approximate)

Family History Day

Feast Day of Elisha the Prophet

Flag Day -- United States

Freedom Day -- Malawi

Leinapaev -- Estonia (Mourning and Commemoration Day)

Liberation Day -- Falkland Islands

National Strawberry Shortcake Day

Pause for the Pledge Day

Pop Goes the Weasel Day

Rice Planting Festivals -- Sumiyoshi Shrine, Osaka and Izawanomiya Shrine, Mie Prefecture, Japan (rice planting at sacred fields, some rites date back over 1,700 years)

St. Dogmael's Day

Waldchestag -- Germany (Forest Day)

Women's Day -- Iraq

World Blood Donor Day -- International


Birthdays Today:

Daryl Sabara, 1992
Lucy Hale, 1989
Steffi Graf, 1969
Yasmine Bleeth, 1968
Boy George, 1961
Donald Trump, 1946
John F. MacArthur, 1939
Jerzy Kosinski, 1933
Joe Arpaio, 1932
Marla Gibbs, 1931
Che Guevara, 1928
Pierre Salinger, 1925
Gene Barry, 1919
Burl Ives, 1909
Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1811


Today in History:

Kublai Khan defeated the force of Nayan and other traditionalist Borjigin princes in East Mongolia and Manchuria, 1287
Richard II in England meets leaders of Peasants' Revolt on Blackheath and the Tower of London is stormed by rebels who enter without resistance, 1381
Margaret Jones is hanged in Boston for witchcraft in the first such execution for the Massachusetts colony, 1648
The Stars and Stripes is adopted by Congress as the Flag of the United States, 1777
Bounty mutiny survivors including Captain William Bligh and 18 others reach Timor after a nearly 7,400 km (4,000-mile) journey in an open boat, 1789
Whiskey distilled from maize is first produced by American clergyman the Rev Elijah Craig, who named it Bourbon because he lived in Bourbon County, Kentucky, 1789
Badi VII, king of Sennar, surrenders his throne and realm to Ismail Pasha, general of the Ottoman Empire, ending the existence of that Sudanese kingdom, 1821
The village of Henley, on the River Thames in Oxfordshire, stages its first Royal Regatta, 1839
Trade unions are legalized in Canada, 1872
Norway adopts female suffrage, 1907
John Alcock and Arthur Whitten Brown depart St. John's, Newfoundland on the first nonstop transatlantic flight, 1919
Action Comics issue one is released, introducing Superman, 1938
The Canadian Library Association is established, 1946
UNIVAC I is dedicated by the U.S. Census Bureau, 1951
The European Space Research Organisation is established in Paris – later becoming the European Space Agency, 1962
The Vatican announces the abolition of the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, 1966
The 1994 Stanley Cup Riots occur after the New York Rangers win the Stanley Cup from Vancouver, 1994