Judge, We Need a rEcess

 Friday was a long, long day.

Worth it, though.  It started as usual, with kitten feedings and tons of laundry and dishes.  Fielding kid questions.  Making sure lunches got packed and groceries got purchased.

After dropping the kids at school, i took the three biggest kittens to the shelter to go up for adoption.  Their combo test was negative, and they will be scheduled for surgery next week.

Meanwhile, i also arrived there to find out that in addition to my usual duties feeding, watering, and medicating, the morning caretaker hadn't come in and hadn't called until 11am to say she was sick, so the litter boxes hadn't been taken care of, either.  Usually, Little Girl is there to help me, but i had to go early while she was still at school.  Still i managed to do it alone, which was fine.  Only 3 kitties in isolation, too, so that helped.

Back home to feed kittens, throw together some leftovers for supper, and as soon as Sweetie got the kids home from school, Little Girl and i headed to the church for my favorite night, rEcess.

Little Girl had never volunteered before, and even though i didn't get a chance to check it out ahead of time to make sure it was okay to bring her, i figured she's so good with kids it would only help to have an extra set of hands.

Never in my wildest dreams could i have imagined how right i would be.

We had 5 special needs kids and 10 siblings.  We also had several volunteers not show up.  Lack of communication, they somehow thought it had been cancelled.

It was a wild and crazy night.  Often we couldn't concentrate on one child only, so i often ended up carrying one while chasing another.  Our regular nurse wasn't there to do medical, and it took Brad a while to figure out where the rest of Ginny's feeding tube was, and Emmy, poor baby, pulled hers out (her parents say she's been doing that a lot lately).  Lana's tubes got tangled, too, so we had a time with it and it's a good thing her older sister knows the machinery inside and out.

Little Girl stayed in the big room where most of the playing and the arts and crafts are done and just manned the room.  Whatever was going on, she was playing, helping, carrying, and just generally taking care of whatever or whoever was in there, while the adults traded off being in there with her, depending on which kids wanted to do what activity.  She was the constant in that room.

My night was traded off between trying to get Grace to eat and chasing her everywhere, following Emmy, and making sure Jack settled down long enough to eat.  Speaking of Jack, the last time, one of his legs was in a cast.  He healed, and grew an inch!  He may not be able to walk, but he rolls wherever he needs to go and doesn't let anything slow him down.

A few times, i was also carrying Grace and chasing Thomas, the two-year-old sibling of Emmy, or carrying Thomas and chasing Grace.  It works both ways.

Even short handed we had a lovely night.  The parents all came back from their respective nights off to find we had helped the kids pot some impatiens for them, and make Mothers' Day cards, and use glitter glue to decorate hats.  Everyone also got a special backpack with some summer supplies, thanks to a generous donor who wanted them to remember us through the summer.

It's going to be a long time until September, and i miss all these kids already.  Giving parents of extreme special needs kids a night off once in a while is so much fun, that even with the wildness of having so many to supervise at once on her first night Little Girl can't wait to come back with me.


Today is

Apple Blossom Festival -- Gettysburg, PA, US (58th annual; through tomorrow)

Bark in the Park -- Lincoln Park, Chicago, IL, US (in recognition of Be Kind to Animals week which begins tomorrow; sponsored by The Anti-Cruelty Society)

Bird Day -- anniversary of the first Bird Day declared in 1894 by the Superintendent of Schools in Oil City, PA, Charles Babcock

Bladder Cancer Awareness Day -- see this site for details

Cassinga Day -- Namibia

Clun Green Man Festival -- Clun, Shropshire, England (spring festival ending with the Clun Green Man battling and defeating the Frost Queen to end winter and bring in spring, along with a May Fair; through the 7th)

Compliment Someone's Smile Day

Cotton Pickin' Fair -- Gay, GA, US (a fabulous two days of Southern family fun)

Declaration of Independence Day -- Latvia

Dodenherdenking -- Netherlands (Remembrance of those in the armed forces who have died in war or peacekeeping missions.)

Fairy Ring Day (Giving) -- Fairy Calendar

Free Comic Book Day -- for the full line up of comics that will be given away today, check here

Frustrating the Fairies Day -- Ireland (a day to confuse the fairies so they may not cause any mischief)

Galveston Historic Homes Tour -- Galveston, TX, US (Galveston Island’s great treasures of Victorian and post-Victorian architecture that are privately owned are opened for tours this weekend and next)

Giro D'Italia -- Naples to Brescia, Italy (one of cycling's three Grand Tours; through the 26th)

Herb Day -- an international celebration of herbs and all the flavor they add to our lives; try a new herb to season a dish today

Holland Tulip Time Festival -- Holland, MI, US (one of the best small town festivals in the US, with visitors from around the world; through next Saturday)

Holy Saturday -- Orthodox Christians following the Julian Calendar

International Firefighters' Day

International Space Day

Join Hands Day -- uniting young people and adults to do community service projects

Kansas Sampler Festival -- Liberal, KS, US (a living brochure of the state of Kansas, with over 100 communities, hiking trails, historic sites, off-the-beaten-track places, and more represented in one place, highlighting all the great things there are to do in the state of Kansas; through tomorrow)

Kentucky Derby Day -- Churchill Downs, Louisville, KY, US (the longest continually held sporting event in the US)

Low Country Shrimp Festival -- McClellanville, SC, US (seafood, arts, crafts, civic displays, entertainment, and the blessing of the fleet)

May Fourth Movement
     Literary Day -- Republic of China
     Youth Day -- People's Republic of China

Memorial Day -- Curacao (military ceremonies to honor victims of WWII, not a government holiday)

Midori no hi -- Japan (Greenery Day/Arbor Day)

National Candied Orange Peel Day

National Homebrew Day

National Kids Fitness Day -- this one doesn't seem to have any particular sponsor or organization behind it, but please get those kids outdoors to do something fun, any time you can!

National Orange Juice Day

National Scrapbooking Day -- begun by Creative Memories, now celebrated by scrapbookers everywhere

National Travel and Tourism Week begins -- US

National Weather Observers Day -- another fun day not sponsored by anyone; as good a day, though, as any other to learn a bit more about meteorology

Orthodox Holy Saturday -- Orthodox Christians following the Julian Calendar

Peddler's Village Strawberry Festival -- Lahaska, PA, US (strawberries in every form imaginable; through tomorrow)

Relationship Renewal Day -- because someone, somewhere, wants you to stop taking the ones you love for granted

Remembrance Day for Martyrs and the Disabled -- Afghanistan

Respect for Chickens Day -- International (United Poultry Concerns)

Sagami Giant Kite Festival -- Sagami, Japan (through tomorrow; giant kite that requires a team of 100 people is flown on the banks of the Sagami River)

St. Florian's Day (Patron of brewers, chimney sweeps, coopers, drowning victims, fire prevention, firefighters, harvests, soap-boilers; Austria; Chur, Switzerland; Linz, Austria; Poland; against battle, drowning, fire, and flood)
     a recognized holiday in Austria

St. Venerius of Milan's Day (Patron of lighthouse keepers)

Star Wars Day -- greet others with "May the 4th be with you!"

Towsontown Spring Festival -- Towson, MD, US (four stages of continual entertainment, food, art and photography exhibit, and more; through tomorrow)

Virginia State Championship Chili Cook-Off -- Roanoke, VA, US (the best chili from around the country, and much more)


Birthdays Today:

Randy Travis, 1959
Pia Zadora, 1956
George F. Will, 1941
Audrey Hepburn, 1929
Heloise Bowles Cruse, 1919
Bartolomeo Cristofori, 1655


Today in History:

Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus are condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance, 1415
Peter Minuit becomes director-general of New Netherlands, 1626
A French manufacturer debuts the first folding umbrella, 1715
Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III, 1776
Napoleon arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile, 1814
The Haymarket Square Riot takes place in Chicago, 1886
The United States begins construction of the Panama Canal, 1904
The Royal Canadian Navy is created, 1910
May Fourth Movement: Student demonstrations take place in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, protesting the Treaty of Versailles, 1919
Al Capone begins serving an eleven-year prison sentence for tax evasion, 1932
Ernest Hemingway is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea, 1953
The "Freedom Riders" begin a bus trip through the South, 1961
The Don't Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to "Greenpeace Foundation", 1972
An all-female Japanese team reaches the summit of Manaslu, becoming the first women to climb an 8,000-meter peak, 1974
Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1979
Latvia proclaims the renewal of its independence after the Soviet occupation, 1990
The Scottish National Party wins the Scottish general election and becomes the largest party in the Scottish Parliament for the first time ever, 2007