Well, i promised.

 He didn't want me saying anything on his birthday.  You know how kids are.

So, i promised, and i didn't.  Instead, i'm celebrating today on my blog.

#2 Son turned 17 yesterday.

CocaCola Cake was made, two of them, actually.  One to bring to school, the other to be enjoyed by family and friends at home.

Phone calls from far away family came in.  He had already gotten his gift from us (what cash i could scrape together, what else does 17 want?) and will get a gift from Grandma and Grandpa on Sunday when Grandpa comes to town to take them all to a baseball game.

Time is marching inexorably toward when my babies will all by flying on their own.

Meanwhile, i still get to sit in the front seat as they practice driving, oversee chores, hand-wash favorite items of clothing, and go to parent-teacher conferences.

It's time i am cherishing.


Today is:

Armored Warships Day -- the first battle between armored warships, the Monitor and the Merrimac, was this day in 1862

Baron Bliss Day -- Belize

Bear Tie Ball -- Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation fundraiser

Celebrate Your Name Week -- Saturday:  Geneology Day, begin or continue the journey to learn about your family

Day to Mourn Slavery -- commemorates the day it was outlawed worldwide in 1927, and to mourn that it still exists

Daylight Saving Time -- begins 2am tomorrow morning for most of the US, so "spring forward" one hour before you go to bed tonight

Eid Al Moalim -- Lebanon (Teacher's Day)

Finnmarkslopet -- Alta, Finland (the world's northernmost dog sled races, since 1981)

Get Over It Day -- halfway between Valentines and April Fools, a day to just get over something or someone that is bugging you http://www.getoveritday.com/

Highland County Maple Festival -- Highland County, VA, US (this weekend and next)

International Fanny Pack Day -- started by someone who really likes the things (although i do admit they come in handy for keeping your money with you at all times when you have a garage sale)

Natchez Spring Pilgrimage -- Natchez, MS, US (tour of 25 antebellum mansions, some of which are private homes; through Apr. 9)

National Crabmeat Day

National Meatball Day

Panic Day -- a day in which to run around in a panic and tell everyone you can't take it any more, to get it all out of your system, i guess; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Saitousai -- Kashima-shi, Ibaraki-ken, Japan (festival to pray for good harvest that dates back to the Nara period of 710-794, and still includes traditional dress)

Second Day of No Interest to Fairies -- Fairy Calendar

St. Catherine of Bologna's Day (Patron of art, artists, Bologna Academy of Art, liberal arts, painters; against temptation)

St. Dominic Savio's Day (Patron of boys, children's choirs, choir boys, choirs, falsely accused people, juvenile delinquents, and Pueri Cantores)

St. Frances of Rome's Day (Patron of automobile drivers/motorists, cabbies/taxi drivers, lay people, people ridiculed for their piety, Roman housewives, widows)

Strinennia -- Slavic Pagan Calendar (festival to call birds and spring to come back)

Takaosan Hiwatari Matsuri -- Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan  (fire walking festival, usually on this date but can vary)

Turkey Vultures Return to the Living Sign -- Canisteo, NY (San Juan Capistrano has swallows, and Canisteo has living trees planted to spell out the name of the valley where the turkey vultures/buzzards return each year, traditionally on St. Patrick's Day; this weekend and next enjoy living history events, dealers, and demonstrations on Amish farms -- but only on Saturdays on the farms)



Anniversaries Today:

Napoléon Bonaparte marries his first wife, Joséphine de Beauharnais, 1796
Gustav Mahler marries Alma Schindler in Vienna, 1902


Birthdays Today:

Emmanuel Lewis, 1971
Juliette Binoche, 1964
Bobby Fischer, 1943
Raul Julia, 1940
Mickey Gilley, 1936
Yuri Gagarin, 1934
Keely Smith, 1932
Ornette Coleman, 1930
Wally Bronner, 1927
Irene Papas, 1926
Mickey Spillane, 1918
Samuel Barber, 1910
Will Greer, 1902
Amerigo Vespucci, 1454


Today in History:

Liu Che, posthumously known as Emperor Wu of Han, assumes the throne over the Han Dynasty of China, BC141
First known mention of Lithuania, in the annals of the monastery of Quedlinburg, 1009
Jews are expelled from Carintha Austria, 1496
Nicolaus Copernicus makes his first recorded astronomical observation, 1497
Marten Luther preaches his first Invocavit sermon, 1522
Kissing in public is banned in Naples, punishable by death, 1562
Publication of the economics book The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, 1776
Prussian government limits work week for children to 51 hours, 1839
The Amistad Ruling:  The US Supreme Court rules that captive Africans who had seized control of the ship carrying them had been taken into slavery illegally, and were to be set free, 1841
The first documented discovery of gold in California occurred at Rancho San Francisco, six years before the California Gold Rush, 1842
Albert Potts of Philadelphia patents the street mailbox, 1858
The Westmoreland County Coal Strike, involving 15,000 coal miners
represented by the United Mine Workers, begins, 1910
Pancho Villa leads nearly 500 Mexican raiders in an attack against Columbus, New Mexico, 1916
Pink's War: The first Royal Air Force operation conducted independently of the British Army or Royal Navy begins, 1925
President Franklin D. Roosevelt submits the Emergency Banking Act to the Congress, the first of his New Deal policies, 1932
CBS television broadcasts the See It Now episode, "A Report on Senator Joseph McCarthy", produced by Fred Friendly, in which Edward R. Murrow criticizes the senator, 1954
The Barbie doll makes its debut at the American International Toy Fair in New York, 1959
Dr. Antonia Novello is sworn in as Surgeon General of the United States, becoming the first female and Hispanic American to serve in that position, 1990
Observers in China, Mongolia and eastern Siberia are treated to a rare double feature as an eclipse permits Comet Hale-Bopp to be seen during the day, 1997
Space Shuttle Discovery makes its final landing after 39 flights, 2011