Day in the Life

 "Mom, good news!  You and I have an 8am appointment on Wednesday to go to the Culinary School and talk to them!  They're going to give us a tour, and let us know what we need to do to enroll, and we should look at the website before we go and get familiar with the courses of study so we know what to ask about."  #2 Son can't wait to get started, and even the early hour isn't upsetting him.

Just as he finished telling me this, Little Girl walked in, saying "Abstinence is 99.99% effective!"

"What, not 100%?" Bigger Girl asked from the table where she was brushing up on some math formulas for her final exam tomorrow.

"Remember Jesus?" Little Girl grinned.

"Oh, I've never thought of that!" Bigger Girl looked startled.  Then she turned to me and said, "Speaking of religion, I was reading an article the other day about Native Americans, and how their culture and religion are used at sporting events as mascots and sporting rituals.  One of them was noting that if they decided to use Christianity as a mascot and celebrate the Lord's Supper as one of their pregame rituals, as a pep rally kind of thing, everyone would be horrified, but when their Native religion is used that way, people try to defend it.  Doesn't that make you think?"

Before i could answer, Sweetie walked in with his tube of antibiotic cream and a cotton swab.  "Can you help me put this on my scratches?" he asked, with a look that said i couldn't possibly say no.

The other night, during a bad thunderstorm, a big clap of thunder scared his coward cat, Horizon, so much that it jumped off the windowsill and landed, all claws out, right on Sweetie's face.  None of the lacerations were deep enough to need stitches (though he did go get his first tetanus shot in years), but a couple of them barely missed his eyes.  He has been taking excellent care of making sure we keep them moistened a few times a day with the cream, so it won't scar up so much.

Just as i finished the swabbing with the cream, i felt a nibble at my toe.  Time to feed kittens again.


Today is

Carabao Festival -- Pulilan, Philippines (to honor their patron, St. Isidro [St. Isadore the Farmer], hundreds of carabaos [water buffalo] are dressed up and paraded, and eventually blessed in front of the church; through tomorrow)

Cheung Chau Bun Festival -- Cheung Chau Island, Hong Kong (coincides with Buddha's Birthday celebration, with the procession on the 17th; celebration through the 18th)

Commemoration Day -- Transdniestria

Dance Like a Chicken Day -- no idea why today, but i'm waiting for wedding season

Drunk Driving Memorial Day -- not sponsored by MADD, or anyone else i can find, but let's all work and pray for the day drunk driving by anyone is just a bad memory

French Fairy Awareness Day -- Fairy Calendar

Gesta de Independencia -- Paraguay

Izumo-taisha Shrine Grand Festival -- Izumo-taisha, Japan (through tomorrow)

Marshmallow Fluff Day -- Mr. Durkee and Mr. Mower announced, on this day in 1920, that they were in business producing this sweet confection

Mars Invictus Festival -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Midnight Sun at North Cape -- Norway (the sun will not set until July 30)

National Buttermilk Biscuit Day

National Unification Day -- Liberia

President Kamuzu Banda's Birthday -- Malawi

Runic Half-Month Ing (expansive energy) commences

Shavuot -- Judaism (Pentecost; begins at sundown, through sundown on the 16th)

"Stars and Stripes Forever" Day -- first public performance this day in 1897

St. Bonifatius' Day (4th Ice Saint)

St. Matthias the Apostle's Day (Patron of carpenters, reformed alcoholics, tailors; Gary, Indiana; Great Falls-Billings, Montana; against alcoholism and smallpox)

Underground America Day -- Malcolm Wells wants us to imagine what our landscapes would look like if more of our buildings were under ground


Anniversaries Today:

Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark marries Mary Donaldson, 2004


Birthdays Today:

Miranda Cosgrove, 1993
Dan Auerbach, 1979
Martine McCutdcheon, 1976
Cate Blanchett, 1969
Danny Wood, 1969
Jose Da Silveira, 1965
Tim Roth, 1961
David Byrne, 1952
Robert Zemechis, 1951
George Lucas, 1944
Jack Bruce, 1943
Bobby Darin, 1936
Laszlo Kovacs, 1933
Otto Klemperer, 1885
Thomas Gainsborough, 1727
Gabrile Daniel Fahrenheit, 1686


Today in History:

Jamestown, Virginia is settled as an English colony, 1607
Edward Jenner administers the first smallpox  vaccination, 1796
The Lewis and Clark expedition sets out, 1804
Paraguay  gains independence from Spain, 1811
The first edition of the London Illustrated Times is published, 1842
Gail Borden patents her process for condensed milk, 1853
Vaseline, the first petroleum jelly, is marketed, 1878
Lina Medina becomes the world's youngest confirmed mother in medical history at the age of five, 1939
Israel is declared to be an independent state and a provisional government is established; immediately after the declaration, Israel is attacked by the neighboring Arab states, triggering the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, 1948
Kuwait joins the United Nations, 1963
Skylab, the United States' first space station, is launched, 1973
The Institute for War documents publishes Anne Franks complete diary, 1986
The last episode of Seinfeld airs, with commercials going for $2M per 30 seconds, 1998