Endurance Test

That's what Monday is, because it is Big Shopping Day.

Grandma rousts everyone early (i'm already up, but no one else, really), and we are off to spend a day getting the kids jeans and t-shirts, shoes for school and a few fun things.

Yes, Grandma does her own share of getting things.

It's an endurance test because with so many of us, each wanting to get to different shops in the outlet mall, all with unique taste, there's a lot of running back and forth as one person gets a few things here while another is getting a few other things there, and mom is running back and forth with the debit card, which is by now smoking hot.

Now that it worked.  Got on the phone the moment they opened and took care of that, too.  Good thing, having it work was essential.

We walked for the better part of a day, with Grandma actually bowing out a bit early as her back hurt.

That's another thing.  We take 3 cars, so she can go home early if she is done and wants to.  It was 2pm when Uncle J decamped to take Bryn, Little Girl, and #2 Son to a movie.

Bigger Girl and Teresa kept busy off to themselves most of the day.

Mom got a new toaster oven, as the kids broke the old one.  The glass door fell off, and they jam it back up there to use it.  Without the handle.  Yep, think that's seen enough use.

It was dinner time by the time everyone was home, and i still had to get too Publix to pick up bacon and eggs forgotten the first day.  Besides, we were out of bread.

Oh, and i almost forgot the biggest endurance test of all.  Grandpa, heaven bless him, stayed behind to babysit Dre, the very active 6-year-old.  And he cooked dinner to boot.

Funny event of the day was when i was in the Kitchen shop with Bigger Girl.  They actually had the kind of can opener Sweetie likes, a manual one that separates the lid from the can without leaving sharp edges.  She asked if it comes in left handed, and i told her no, you would have to look online for such a thing.

"Well, I know why they don't make it for left handed people," she sputtered.  "They don't make anything for us because they believe that crud about left handed people not living as long, so they are figuring we will give up and not live long enough to have to worry about it.  We don't die younger.  Wait, actually, we do die younger because we have more fun!   Don't ask how we have fun with can openers, either!"


Don't worry, i didn't ask.


Today is

Apple II Day

Arbor Day -- New Zealand

BookExpo America -- NY, NY, US (through the 7th; publishers display of fall titles)

Children's Awareness Memorial Day -- a day to remember children who have died from violence

Constitution Day -- Denmark and the Faroe Islands

Festival of Popular Delusions Day -- just another person's desire for a bizarre holiday to celebrate

Indian Arrival Day -- Suriname

Judgement Day -- Fairy Calendar (Nosegays)

Liberation Day -- Seychelles

National Gingerbread Day

Nones of June -- Ancient Roman Calendar; related observance
     Festival of Semo Sancus -- god of loyalty, honesty and oaths (one of the oldest Roman cults, probably Etruscan or Oscan originally)

President's Day -- Equatorial Guinea

St. Boniface's Day (Patron of brewers, file cutters, tailors; Fulda, Germany)

Transit of Venus -- Venus passes directly between the Earth and the Sun today and tomorrow (next occurrence will be in 2117)

World Environment Day -- UN


Birthdays Today:

Mark Wahlberg, 1971
Brian McKnight, 1969
Kenny G, 1956
Jill Biden, 1951
Suze Orman, 1951
Ken Follett, 1949
Spalding Gray, 1941
Bill Moyers, 1934
Tony Richardson, 1928
Panco Villa, 1878
Thomas Chippendale, 1718
Pu Songling, 1640


Today in History:

Traditional date for the sinking of Atlantis, 8498BC
Titus and his Roman legions breach the middle wall of Jerusalem  in the Siege of Jerusalem, 70
Kraków, Poland  receives city  rights, 1257
The first Great Lakes steamer, the Frontenac, is launched, 1817
Houston, Texas is incorporated by the Republic of Texas, 1837
Denmark  becomes a constitutional monarchy, 1849
Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery serial, Uncle Tom's Cabin or, Life Among the Lowly starts a ten-month run in the National Era abolitionist newspaper, 1851
Denmark  amends its constitution to allow women's suffrage, 1915
Elvis Presley introduces his new single, "Hound Dog", on The Milton Berle Show, scandalizing the audience with his suggestive hip movements, 1956
The first government of the State of Singapore is sworn in, 1959
The Apple II, the first practical personal computer, goes on sale, 1977
Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi orders an attack on the Golden Temple, the holiest site of the Sikh religion, 1984
A severe heat wave across Pakistan  and India  reaches its peak, as temperatures exceed 50°C (122°F) in the region, 2003