Leisure at the Lake Adventure

Just over 5 years ago, a wonderful friend named Farmer Pickles invited her internet friends to come and visit her.  Several of us did.

That began a tradition of a yearly gathering, what i call my sanity retreat.  It's the only time i get away  from home without kids, cats, and CHAOS (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome -- remember, i'm not called a messy mimi for nothing, and yes, people come over anyway, they know not to expect the Taj Mahal and that my bathrooms and kitchen are sanitized daily, the rest can wait until i have time, and who ever has time with so many kids and kittens around, but i digress).

Anyway.  The first year was Albuquerque, which i had always wanted to visit, if only to find out why Bugs Bunny always missed his left turn there.  The next year, it was San Antonio.  Then up to a small town near the Quad Cities area.  Last year, my friends came here.  (See, i told you i have people over, i'm crazy that way.)

This year, Script has invited us to all gather at a rented lake home in the Finger Lakes area.

Today, i pack, including my cast iron.  It is a tradition, i go and i bring cast iron, and i cook a big Cajun meal.  Script will do an Italian meal.  FiveCat will make her famous chili.

There are plans afoot to perhaps visit Niagra Falls, as many of us from the South might not get a chance to be this close again any time soon.  There has been talk of nature trails and museums.  We have plans, but nothing in stone.

Ninja is driving here from Dallas.  She and i will head out very, very early tomorrow morning to drive as far as Ohio, where we will spend the night before driving the rest of the way.  We are taking her car, Cranberry.  Sweetie keeps asking me what kind of car it is.  What kind of question is that for me?  All i know is car, truck, SUV, minivan, sports car, and Beetle.  Cranberry is some kind of Toyota, a small SUV.  Very reliable, with A/C and a radio.  Nothing matters beyond that in transportation as far as i am concerned.

Another thing that matters to me is splitting the costs and goin cheap.  This is something i save up all year for, counting pennies.  It's worth it.

Today, i pack, as noted, and get all the last minute stuff done.  Make sure the family has food in the freezers.  Make sure Sweetie has clean clothes.  Make sure there's enough cat food and formula and everything else (80lbs. of cat litter, anyone?) here.  Make sure the bank knows i'm going so they don't cut off my debit card.

There's also, of course, a parent meeting at Little Girl's school tonight.  It would have to be tonight, when Ninja is here and we want to spend time together.  Oh, well, we will have time together on the road.

It's time, and i'm excited.  Grace will be there, and Eagle.  Ally, whom i haven't met yet.  Peppermint will be coming for a day trip, and so i get to meet her (and see the latest pictures of her husband, Hairy, and Little Hairy).   Blondie and Miss P might also be able to get away for a day and come visit, again, as they live only a short drive away.

Westie is flying in from the West Coast, and Farmer Pickles, who now lives in Maine (talk about a change from New Mexico!) might be able to come for a couple of days.

Ninja and i may also get to pick up another friend in Cincinnatti, if she can swing it.  It's never too late, i told her, until we have already passed the area.

Meanwhile, i can hardly wait.  Lists are being made, because i get excited, and forget stuff.  Can't forget the hot sauce, and the roux.  Or the charge cord for the computer.  My brain is all over the map.

it's okay, it's going to be a great time.

Breathe.



Today is:

Armed Forces Day -- Mozambique; Peru

Constitution Day/Recoronation of King Norodom Sihanouk -- Cambodia

Do Impressions of Famous People Around the Office Day -- again, i wonder about the intentions of those who start these things

Feast of Our Lady of Mercy -- Catholic Christian
     Lady of Mercedes Day -- Dominican Republic
     La Merce -- Barcelona, Spain

Festival of the Latest Novelties -- an internet generated holiday to celebrate everything from traditional whoopie cushions to some of the more modern and weird novelty gifts out there; a great day for practical jokers

Gallbladder Good Health Day -- seems unsponsored, but there's information about keeping your gallbladder healthy here

Going Forth of Isis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Heritage Day -- South Africa

Independence Day/National Day -- Guinea-Bissau(1973)

Mahidol Day -- Thailand (commemorates the passing of Prince Father Mahidol Adulyadej, the "Father of Thai Modern Medicine")

Moose Day -- the day Bullwinkle J. Moose, from Frostbite Falls, MN, US, and his pal Rocky the Flying Squirrel debuted in 1959

National Bluebird of Happiness Day -- US (and no one knows why, but it's supposed to be a day to go spread some happiness)

National Cherries Jubilee Day

National Punctuation Day® -- make sure you are using those punctuation marks correctly! Jeff Rubin can help

New Caledonia Day -- New Caledonia

Republic Day -- Trinidad and Tobago

Santa Cruz Day -- Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia

Schwenkfelder Thanksgiving -- Pennsylvania Dutch followers of Silesian Reformation theology

St. Gerard's Day (Patron of Hungary)

St. Rupert's Day (Patron of Salzburg, Austria, where it is an official school and government holiday)

Transatlantic Telephone Day -- the first cable across the Atlantic was completed on this day in 1956



Birthdays Today:

Nia Vardalos, 1962
Phil Hartman, 1948
Linda McCartney, 1941
Jim Henson, 1936
Anthony Newley, 1931
Sheila MacRae, 1924
Jim McKay, 1921
F. Scott Fitzgerald, 1896
Horace Walpole, 1717


Today in History:

Prophet Muhammad completes his hijra from Mecca to Medina, 622
The last Emperor of the Komnenian restoration of the Byzantine Empire, Manuel I Komnenos, dies; the empire slips into terminal decline, 1180
The Dutch Republic surrenders New Amsterdam to England, 1664
The first autopsy and coroner's jury verdict is recorded in the state of Maryland, 1657
John Jay is appointed by George Washington as the first Chief Justice of the then six-person Supreme Court, which was instituted by the Federal Judiciary Act passed that same day, 1789
US Attorney General Office is created, 1789
The Northern Daily Times becomes the first provincial daily newspaper in London, 1853
Alexander Dey patents a dial time recorder, 1889
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially renounces polygamy, 1890
U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt proclaims Devils Tower in Wyoming as the nation's first National Monument, 1906
Cathay Pacific Airways is founded in Hong Kong, 1946
The Honda Motor Company is founded, 1948
Forest fires black out the sun over portions of Canada and New England, and a Blue moon (in the astronomical sense) is seen as far away as Europe, 1950
Camp Nou, the largest stadium in Europe, is opened in Barcelona, 1957
President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends 101st Airborne Division troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce desegregation, 1957
The United States court of appeals orders the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith, 1962
Swaziland joins the United Nations, 1968
Compu-Serve launches the first consumer internet service, which features the first public electronic mail service, 1979
Periodic Great White Spot observed on Saturn, 1990
Hurricane Rita devastates Beaumont, Texas, southwest Louisiana, and finishing off some of the parts of New Orleans and southeast Louisiana that Katrina missed, 2005
The G20 Summit in Pittsburgh, PA, US, marks the first use of LRAD for crowd control in the US, 2009