Visiting

"Mmm, it smells like Grandpa's birthday in here!"  #1 Son had followed his nose into the kitchen, and was at least partly right, as i was making my dad's Father's Day gift, which is always the sweet flatbreads his mama and aunt used to make.  Because they are best fresh, i wait to make them until i know he will be in town the next day, so this is my first chance to see him since Father's Day.

Yes, #1 Son arrived to visit, $300 poorer after having to pay for a tow truck from the middle of nowhere to the nearest place where he could get a tire, and paying for said tire.

His cat Mikey remembers outside and wants to go out multiple times a day, although he will not go outside while in Kansas, ever since he ran out once a few months ago and had his first encounter with snow.  It surprised him so much, he won't go outside up there any more.

The Charismatic Enigma SissyCat, and yes that is her full name, has declared war on her collar again, and is shredding it, slowly and carefully.  Mikey likes his collar, but SissyCat only likes them so she can shred them.

He came into the kitchen on the second day of his visit, and told me he was exercising -- he had jogged, ridden the exercise bike several miles worth, and done some weights.  It did not surprise me when he walked in the next morning and was hurting.  He is now on the heating pad, but i think he will take it easier after this.

The other kids are thrilled that he is home to visit, and so are we, although i've gotten used to cooking just a bit less and have had to adjust the amounts back up.  Summer school is crimping their style just a bit, but i'm glad -- it's keeping them on a more regular schedule, otherwise they would be up all night and sleep all day, which makes back to school much harder when it does come.

Summer seems to go better with a schedule.  It's something i've known for a long time, but had difficulty enforcing.  Next summer, i'm going to see what i can do about a schedule without summer school enforcing it.

In the meantime, we will enjoy seeing my biggest boy as long as he can stay.


Today is

Armed Forces Day -- Azerbaijan

Barcode/UPC Day -- the first scanner, at Marsh's Supermarket in Troy, Ohio, scanned its first item, a pack of Wrigley's gum at 8:01am this day in 1974

Beautician's Day -- on a couple of websites, while other list other days; if yours puts the "beauty" in beautician, remember her next time you go have your do tended to

Glastonbury Festival -- Pilton, Glastonbury, England (the world's largest green field music and performing arts festival, including theatre, circus, cabaret, children's activities and more; through Sunday)

Handing Back of Tiger-Get-By's Presents -- Fairy Calendar

Helen Keller Festival -- Tuscumbia, AL, US (performances of The Miracle Worker, historic tours, other entertainment, a fair, and more; through Sunday)

Holiday for the Shemsu of Heru -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Independence Day -- Madagascar[Fetin'ny Fahaleovantena]; Somalia

International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking -- UN

International Day in Support of Victims of Torture -- UN

National Canoe Day -- Canada

National Chocolate Pudding Day

Smithsonian Folklife Festival -- Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C., US (through Sunday, then again July 3-7; a model of research-based presentations of contemporary living cultural traditions of people around the world)

St. Pelayo's Day (Patron of abandoned people, torture victims; Castro Urdiales, Spain; Torreira, Portugal)

Sunthorn Phu Day -- Thailand (celebration of the country's best-known Royal Poet)

Ziua Tricolorului -- Romania (Flag Day)


Birthdays Today:

Jennette McCurdy, 1992
Derek Jeter, 1974
Chris O'Donnell, 1970
Harriet Wheeler, 1963
Greg LeMond, 1961
Chris Isaak, 1956
Eleanor Parker, 1922
Babe Didrikson Zaharias, 1914
Colonel Tom Parker, 1909
Peter Lorre, 1904
Pearl S. Buck, 1892
Lord Kelvin, 1824
Abner Doubleday, 1819


Today in History:

Roman Emperor Julian is killed during the retreat from the Sassanid Empire; General Jovian is proclaimed Emperor by the troops on the battlefield, 363
The legendary Pied Piper leads 130 children out of Hamelin, German, 1284
Richard III is crowned king of England, 1483
Francisco Pizarro is assassinated in Lima, 1541
W. K. Clarkson patents the first bicycle, 1819
The Christian  holiday of Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the United States, 1870
The Science Museum in London comes into existence as an independent entity, 1909
The United Nations Charter is signed in San Francisco, 1945
William Shockley files the original patent for the grown junction transistor, the first bipolar junction transistor, 1948
The Berlin Airlift begins, 1948
The Saint Lawrence Seaway opens, opening North America's Great Lakes to ocean-going ships, 1959
The Universal Product Code is scanned for the first time to sell a package of Wrigley's chewing gum at the Marsh Supermarket in Troy, Ohio, 1974
Indira Gandhi establishes emergency rule in India, 1975
The CN Tower, the world's tallest free-standing structure on land, is opened to general public, 1976*
Biologists J. Craig Venter and Francis S. Collins announced that their research groups had mapped the human genome, 2000


*It is still the tallest in the Western Hemisphere