What, No Gravy?!

Brother-in-Law, The Mouth, insisted on coming over for the Fourth because he had no invitations to go elsewhere.

He knows how tight our finances are. Yes, we have enough. Not much for extras, but plenty compared to the rest of the world, and we are grateful.

He knows that sometimes there's a bit more filler on the plates than main dish these days. That's okay with us, there's enough to go around.

He knows we are happy to make do, and are thankful for all of our many blessings.

He complained that we didn't serve him steak.

People have asked why i married the brother i did.

My response has always been and always will be, because if i had married The Mouth, i would be a widow and a felon because i would have killed him.


Today is

Bonza Bottler Day

Chocolate Day -- no one knows why today, so why not? Enjoy chocolate cereal with chocolate milk for breakfast, some chocolate covered raisins and nuts as a midmorning snack, chocolate milk with lunch, chocolate truffles as a midafternoon snack, chocolate liquer before dinner, chocolate cake for dessert, and sip chocolate coffee any time through the day!

Double Seven Day -- China

Father-Daughter Take a Walk Together Day

Independence Day -- Solomon Islands

Macaroni Day -- it goes with more than just cheese!

National Strawberry Sundae Day

Ommegang Pageant -- Grand-Palace, Brussels, Belgium (recreation of the medieval entertainment at the court of Charles V)

Parilia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (festival for Pales, god of the herds)

Saba Saba Day -- Tanzania (Peasant's Day)

Tanabata -- Japan (star festival)

Tell The Truth Day

Unity Factory Day -- Yemen

White Cloud's Birthday and Tatanka (Bison) Festival -- National Buffalo Museum, Jamestown, ND, US (annual celebration of bison and their role in American history, on the birthday of White Cloud, the true albino bison born this day in 1996)

Worshipful Company of Vintners (Winemakers) of the City of London Annual Procession

Ziegfeld Follies Day -- his first "Follies of 1907" opened on this day


Anniversaries Today

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr., marries Eleanor Rosalynn Smith, 1946


Birthdays Today

Michelle Kwan, 1980
Cree Summer, 1969
Shelley Duvall, 1949
Ringo Starr, 1940
Doc Severinsen, 1927
Pierre Cardin, 1922
Robert Heinlein, 1907
Satchel Paige, 1906
Marc Chagall, 1887


Today in History

A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death, 1456
Raid of the Redeswire, the last major battle between England and Scotland, 1575
United States begins first military draft; exemptions cost $300, 1863
An International Railway trolley with an extreme overload of 157 passengers crashes near Queenston, Ontario, killing 15, 1915
Sliced bread is sold for the first time by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri; it is described as “the greatest forward step in the baking industry since bread was wrapped", 1928
Alleged and disputed Roswell UFO incident, 1947
Venus occults the star Regulus. This rare event is used to determine the diameter of Venus and the structure of the Venusian atmosphere, 1959
In Canada, the Official Languages Act is adopted making the French language equal to the English language throughout the Federal government, 1969
Sharia is instituted in Iran, 1980
Samantha Smith, a U.S. schoolgirl, flies to the Soviet Union at the invitation of Secretary General Yuri Andropov, 1983
The Western Black Rhinoceros is declared extinct due to poaching, 2006