Leisure at the Lake Adventure: Best Laid Plans

Ninja had every intention of being at my place by 7pm.  Unfortunately, something blew up at work, and she didn't get out of the office the night before until 9pm, so she didn't leave Dallas until close to noon the next day.

She had no trouble coaxing her SBK (Sweet Baby Kitty) to go to the kennel, and the ladies there oohed and aahed over him appropriately, and promised to play with him, so she left him and packed and headed for the swamps.

The parent meeting i had to attend went quickly, mostly because i ducked out expecting Ninja to be there not long after.  (Side note:  Little Girl's progress report shows all As and Bs, so she breathed a sigh of relief, one i remember breathing when that age and the reports came back good.)

It was almost 9pm when she called, as she checked into her hotel.  She was weary, so i said good-bye to Bigger Girl, who said, "Don't get into trouble with the Mounties, being that close to Canada, and remember, if you go over Niagara Falls in a barrel, I get the good silver and dad gets the outhouse and all its contents!" 

Yea, i love you, too, i told her.

Little Girl and Sweetie helped me pack up and drove me to the hotel.  At one point, Sweetie fussed at her for leaving the door open and "letting the good air out!"  Of course, he meant the air conditioning, and he was teasing, but she teased back with, "Who says it's good?  How do you know it's not bad air, and it's plotting against us?"

"You mean the atoms are fighting us?" he grinned back at her.

"You can't trust those mean hydrogen atoms!" she laughed, and we joined in.

 After we got to the hotel and i  unloaded my things, i told them good-bye, and Ninja and i went to find something to eat.

Chili's was close, so we took it.  Sweet potato fries and guacamole sufficed for me.  Next, it was time to search for a contact lens case for her, as she had forgotten hers and had to sterilize her contacts.

Walgreens was closed, Wal-Mart had only one check stand open and 20 people in line, and by the time we got through with Albertson's and got back to the hotel and in bed, it was midnight.

The original plan had been to get to bed around 9, get up and 3am and get on the road.  Instead, we got up at 5am and on the road just after 7.

That meant, of course, our plans were going to change.  Instead of making it to well past Cincinnati, we were  going to barely make it to Cincinnati.  This would help us in the end, as another friend from Cincinnati had decided by the time we realized all of this that yes, she could join us.


Today is:

Barnesville Pumpkin Festival -- Barnesville, OH, US (pumpkins are just the start of the fun; through Sunday)

Bureflux -- Discordian Calendar

Cobweb Pie Making Day -- Fairy Calendar

Dia de la Bandera Nacional -- Ecuador (Day of the National Flag)

Dominion Day -- New Zealand (trad.)

European Day of Languages -- European Union

Fairmount Museum Days/Remembering James Dean Festival -- Fairmont, IN, US (celebrating Dean and other famous people from Fairmont; through Sunday)

Festival of Venus Genetrix -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Haustmanuour -- Iceland (beginning of traditional Autumn Month, during which all the summer chores are finished, including livestock rounded up, before winter begins)

Imilchil Marriage Festival -- Imilchil, Morocco (Marriage Festival, among the Berber people, a whirlwind of speed dating, weddings, exotic music, traditional costumes, and romance; through the 29th)

International Tool Day -- internet generated, now gladly embraced by toolmakers

Johnny Appleseed Day -- birth anniversary of John Chapman

Mesothelioma Awareness Day -- bringing to light this cancer caused by asbestos exposure
 
National Pancake Day

Old Holy Rood Day -- OS calendar (the day blackberries become unsafe for picking) related observance
     Mid-Autumn Day -- Scottish Highlands (traditional; considered the day harts begin to mate and a weather prognostication day)

Preston County Buckwheat Festival -- Kingwood, WV, US (something for everyone at this fun annual event; through Sunday)

RAINN Day -- The Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network encourages all of us to get involved in stopping sexual violence

Search for Your Baseball Cards Again Day -- on lots of trivia sites; recommended because you never know

September Revolution Day -- Yemen

Simchat Torah -- Judaism (day to celebrate the reading of the Law; begins at sunset, through sunset tomorrow)

Sts. Cosmas and Damian's Day (Patrons of apothecaries/druggists/pharmacists, barbers, blind people, chemical industry/manufacturers, doctors/physicians/surgeons, hairdressers, midwives, people with hernias; Alberobello, Italy; Ossimo, Italy; against blindness and pestilence) related observance:
     Begin now to lay in supplies for your Michaelmas supper on the 29th

United States Postal Service Day -- US (the first postmaster general under the current constitution, Samuel Osgood, was appointed this day in 1789)

Virginia Peanut Festival -- Emporia, VA, US (and you thought all peanuts came from Georgia! come enjoy peanuts and carnival, quilt show and fireworks, the Virgina way; through Sunday)

World Maritime Day -- UN (this year's theme is “Sustainable Development: IMO's contribution beyond Rio+20", chosen to focus on IMO's efforts to carry out commitments made during Rio+20, the UN Conference on Sustainable Development)


Birthdays Today:

Lawrence Leritz, 1962
Linda Hamilton, 1956
Olivia Newton-John, 1948
Anne Robinson, 1944
Kent McCord, 1942
Julie London, 1926
Jack LaLanne, 1914
George Gershwin, 1898
T.S. Eliot, 1888
Edmund Gwenn, 1877
John "Johnny Appleseed" Chapman, 1774
St. Francis of Assisi, 1181


Today in History:

In keeping a vow he made at the Battle of Pharsalus, Julius Caesar dedicates a temple to his mythical ancestor Venus Genetrix, BC 46
Sir Francis Drake returns to England with Spanish treasure, 1580
In a battle between Venetians and Turks in Athens, the Parthenon and Acropolis are seriously damaged, 1687
New Jersey passes a bill requiring a license to practice medicine, 1772
Thomas Jefferson is appointed the first Secretary of State of the US, 1789
Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson proved tomatoes weren't poisonous by eating several on the steps of the courthouse in Salem, New Jersey, 1820
The Diamond Match Company patents book matches, 1892
New Zealand and Newfoundland each become dominions within the British Empire, 1907
Indonesia is admitted to the United Nations, 1950
Concorde makes its first non-stop crossing of the Atlantic in record-breaking time, 1973
The United Kingdom agrees to the handover of Hong Kong, 1984
An earthquake strikes the Italian regions of Umbria and the Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis at Assisi to collapse, 1997
Swiss pilot and inventor Yves Rossy becomes first person to fly a jet engine-powered wing across the English Channel, 2008