Annual Madness

It is tax season.

When Sweetie saw me up to my eyeballs in receipts, he was wise enough to beat a hasty retreat without comment.

The goal is to have everything ready to mail to the accountant by Monday. It will happen. It has to, because i am not dragging this madness out any longer that necessary.

Someday, somehow, i have to come up with a system to streamline the process.

Until then, could everyone please pipe down a bit, i'm trying to figure out how to write off these crazy expensive cats as dependents. Oh, illegal? As much as they cost?

Madness makes you try crazy things.


Today is:

Birkenbeinerrennet -- Rena to Lillehammer, Norway (54km ski marathon commemorating the 1205 rescue of infant prince Hakon Hakonsson by ski over this route)

Cumbre Tanjin -- Veracruz, Mexico (Tanjin/Alternative Therapies Summit, also art, music, dance, and sports; through the 21st)

Curlew Day -- Umatilla National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon, US

Ennensai -- Kyoto, Japan (festival and traditional performances)

Evacuation Day -- Suffolk County, Massachusetts, US

Hatsume Fair -- Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens, Delray Beach, FL, US (through tomorrow; celebrating spring and Japanese culture)

Kustonu Diena -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (no planting today, to ward off insects)

Liberalia -- Ancient Roman Empire (fertility festival in rural areas)

Maple Festival of Nova Scotia -- Northern Nova Scotia, Canada (Saturdays through April 14, except Easter weekend)

National Corned Beef and Cabbage Day -- i wonder why

National Quilting Day -- US, sponsored by the National Quilting Association

Saint Patrick's Day -- a public holiday in the Canadian Province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Montserrat, and Ireland, and widely celebrated throughout the world (for those with a paid day off for this, it will be observed Monday).

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's Birth Anniversary -- Bangladesh

St. Gertrude's Day (Patron of travelers and protector of gardeners)

St. Joseph of Arimathea's Day (Patron of funeral directors, pallbearers, tin miners)

Submarine Day -- the sandwich or the submersible, your choice

Trefuilnid Treochair (Feast of Triple Bearer of the Triple Key) -- Ireland (Ireland's National Day)



Anniversaries Today:

Wellesley Female Seminary is established, 1870
Franklin D. Roosevelt marries Eleanor Roosevelt, 1905


Birthdays Today:

Caroline Corr, 1973
Mia Hamm, 1972
Rob Lowe, 1964
Arye Gross, 1960
Gary Sinise, 1955
Kurt Russell, 1951
Patrick Duffy, 1949
John Sebastian, 1944
Paul Kantner, 1941
Rudolf Nureyev, 1938
Nat "King" Cole, 1919
Bobby Jones, 1902
Shemp Howard, 1895


Today in History:

In his last victory, Julius Caesar defeats the Pompeian forces of Titus Labienus and Pompey the Younger in the Battle of Munda, BC45
Marcus Aurelius dies leaving Commodus as the sole emperor of the Roman Empire, 180
Led by Muhammad, the Muslims of Medina defeat the Quraysh of Mecca in the Battle of Badr, 624
Edward, the Black Prince is made Duke of Cornwall, the first Duchy made in England, 1337
Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated in New York City for the first time (at the Crown and Thistle Tavern), 1756
George Washington grants the Continental Army a holiday "as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence," 1780
The Italian Republic, with Napoleon as president, becomes the Kingdom of Italy, with Napoleon as King, 1805
Henry Jones of Bristol patents "self-raising" flour, 1845
Stephen Perry of London patents the rubber band, 1845
John Joseph Montgomery makes the first glider flight, in Otay, California, 1884
The first practical submarine leaves the dock at NYC and submerges for one hour forty minutes, 1898
A showing of seventy-one Vincent van Gogh paintings in Paris, 11 years after his death, creates a sensation, 1901
Luther Gulick and his wife Charlotte found Camp Fire Girls (now Camp Fire USA), 1910
Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley announce the creation of element 98, which they name "Californium", 1950
Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, flees Tibet for India, 1959
Golda Meir becomes the first female Prime Minister of Israel, 1969
A referendum to end apartheid in South Africa is passed 68.7% to 31.2%, 1992