It's Official

Note:  If Suldog sent you, you are probably looking for Thanksgiving Comes First.  You are also more than welcome to read today's meanderings while you are here.


It's official -- Sweetie is 60 years old today.

(Yes, that means his identical twin, Brother-in-Law, The Mouth, is also 60 today.  You know it's going to be a bad day if your twin forgets your birthday, but that won't happen.)

In long running tradition, i will try to fool him into believing that i will not make banana pudding for him for his birthday.  In long running tradition, he will not believe me, and he will be right.  We still have to go through the ritual, though, and i got chocolate covered pecans so i can tell him that's all he gets.  He will eat a few then ask for the banana pudding, and i will bring it out.

The children, as usual, will pretend to forget, then give him hugs and gifts.  How we got into this habit i do not know, but once something becomes a tradition, you don't question it much any more, especially when everyone enjoys playing along.

The Mouth will be here later, consuming his fair share of the pudding, and probably of the pecans, too.

Dinner will also be a favorite, tomato gravy over rice, and breaded fried okra.  When it's a birthday, you want the down home country cooking with which you were raised, even if you were a chef at a fancy restaurant at one time in your career.

(For those who will lament the lack of cake at this celebration, there will be mini bundt cakes and cupcakes, but those are eschewed by the main celebrants, as they don't bother with cake when banana pudding is offered.)


We will not make a big deal about Sweetie's age, or jokes about being over-the-hill.  He hasn't even gotten to the top of the hill yet, much less over it, at least to us.

Happy Birthday, Sweetie and Brother-in-Law.

If anyone wants to know, my banana pudding recipe is here.


 
Today is:

Canning Day -- get that harvest preserved!

Chulalongokorn Day -- Thailand (Rama V Day)

Commemoration of the Paris Peace Agreements of 1991 -- Cambodia

Day of the Macedonian Revolutionary Struggle -- Republic of Macedonia

Dia Nacional de la Aviacion -- Mexico (National Aviation Day)

Festival of Forgotten Gods -- so we don't offend anybody, i guess?

Festival of Selket and Ceremony of Thoth -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Finding of King Look Under Your Mattress Jubilee -- Fairy Calendar

Liberation Day -- Libya

Lung Health Day -- US (on the Wednesday of Respiratory Health Week; some sites to explore about lung health www.lungusa.org/ and www.aarc.org/)

Medical Assistants Recognition Day -- US (American Association of Medical Assistants)

National Boston Cream Pie Day

National Day / Republic Day -- Hungary

National Mole Day -- US Chemists; from 6:02AM to 6:02PM, in honor of Avogadro's Number, 2012 theme, "Molar Eclipse"

St. John of Capistrano's Day (Patron of judges, jurists, military chaplains)
     Swallows Depart San Juan Capistrano Day -- after today, in spite of what you think, the natives will tell you that bird is not a swallow

TV Talk Show Host Day -- the way some of them behave, do they deserve a day? Well, I guess everyone is good for something, even if only for being a bad example!  This one is for the birth anniversary of Johnny Carson, who certainly deserves recognition

Ueno Tenjin Matsuri -- Mie, Japan (festival and parade of oni gyoretsu -- demons or ogres -- dating back to the 16th century and said to halt plague, dispel illness, and ward off bad luck; through the 25th)

Yambilee Festival -- Opelousas, LA, US (a sweet festival, all about the nutrient packed sweet potato; through Sunday)


Birthdays Today:

Al Leiter, 1965
Randy Pausch, 1960
Nancy Grace, 1959
"Weird" Al Yankovic, 1959
Martin Luther King III, 1957
Dwight Yoakam, 1956
Michael Crichton, 1942
Pele' 1940
Johnny Carson, 1925
Frank Rizzo, 1920
Gummo Marx, 1893


Today in History:

According to the calculations of Archbishop James Ussher and based on the Bible, Creation begins, BC4004
Second Battle of Philippi, Brutus defeated by Octavian and Marc Antony, Brutus commits suicide, BC42
The Jews of Barbados are forbidden from engaging in retail trade, 1668
A revolt is held in Haarlem after a public ban on smoking, 1690
First Jewish prayer books printed in the US, 1760
The Continental Congress approves a resolution barring blacks from the army, 1775
Failed coup against the Emperor Napoleon, 1812
The first plastic surgery is performed, in England, 1814
72 Senators are summoned by Royal Proclamation to serve as the first members of the Canadian Senate, 1867
The New Orleans Mint reopens as an assay office, 1876
The First National Horseshoe Throwing Championship is held in Kellerton, Iowa, 1915
The first North American transcontinental air service begins between New York City and Los Angeles, California, 1929
Husband and wife Dr. Carl Cori & Dr. Gerty Cori are awarded joint Nobel Prizes, 1947
An underground earthquake traps 174 miners in the No. 2 colliery at Springhill, Nova Scotia, the deepest coal mine in North America at the time; only 100 were rescued, 1958
A United Nations sanctioned cease-fire officially ends the Yom Kippur War between Israel and Syria, 1973
Emperor Akihito becomes the first Emperor of Japan to stand on Chinese soil, 1992
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat reach a "land for peace" agreement, 1998
Apple unveils the iPod, 2001