Full Days

Our church is a busy place.  The very talented people there sometimes stage shows just to draw visitors in, and for months now they have been working on their latest production.  Last night was the first performance, tonight will be the second, and then there's a Sunday afternoon matinee.

Since my Brother-in-law, The Mouth, comes to dinner on most Saturday evenings, i was considering going to the Friday show.  Then Miss Audrey called to ask if i could help with child care both nights.

As i opened my big mouth to say yes, because i'm a pushover, she clinched the deal by saying it was a paid gig.  Done.

So, Friday began with getting Sweetie and #2 Son out the door in time for me to get to the church for Bible study and prayer at 6:30 am.  Back home for all that needs doing at home, then to pick up Little Girl and go to the shelter to do feeding and medication duty.

The shelter is quite an adventure these days.  They are preparing for the big fund raiser this weekend, a garage sale of huge proportion that has eaten half the building.  Right now, there are 16 cats on medications for upper respiratory infections, too.  It's barely controlled chaos.

At home, i fed kittens and got out the door just barely in time to fight traffic and get to the church.  It was all made worth while when Gracie showed up.  Her mother had brought a friend to see the show.

There were 8 of us, and it was just enough for the number of kids.  The two teens took some of the older kids to the gym, the younger kids we divided into babies in one room, two through 6-year-olds in the other.  Everyone got time on the playground, and Gracie loved that i chased her and Steve up and down the equipment, and i'd never seen her laugh so hard as she did when i went down the slide right behind her.

Because i got to see her with children who don't all come to rEcess, i was able to really note how she is growing in maturity and vocabulary by leaps and bounds.  She greeted me by name when she came in, and gave me a huge hug, which she's never done before.  She has enough words now to usually tell you what she wants, at least, and she's starting to learn to play with the other children.

One of the other girls decided to put on the play princess dress, and got the other teacher in there, Miss Pearl, to pretend to be the wicked stepmother to her Cinderella.  The "Stepmother" got into character very well, so well, in fact, that she rather scared Gracie!  In one moment of pure genius, that i could never reproduce but have to try, the "Stepmother" very harshly asked Cinderella, "Where is my coffee, Cinderella!"  To which the girl simply looked up and said, "You drank it already."  We were all speechless!

We did have a bit of difficulty with one sibling pair who just wouldn't stop running.  They are a brother and sister who are a handful by themselves.  He kept sneaking is water cups over to the toy area and leaving it where it would spill, inside a toy where it would tumble out when the toy was picked up or moved.  Other than those two. whom we know to watch out for, it was a fun evening.

The best part, though, was when Gracie's mother came to get her.  She said, "Isn't her vocabulary growing?  Tonight, at dinner, for the first time, she told me 'I love you, mommy!'"

Hearing that is worth the chaos that today will continue to bring.  Cooking for Brother-in-Law, The Mouth, at least showing up at the shelter garage sale, helping at the church during the special clean-up time they are having, and babysitting again tonight.  By the time i'm done with Sunday School tomorrow, i think i will be done in, but in a good way.


Today is:

As Young As You Feel Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, which encourages you to stop acting your chronological age and go act peppy!

Banned in Boston Day -- see history for 1630 for explanation of why today

Coq Au Vin Day

Daylight Saving Time begins -- Iran

Día de la Abolición de la Esclavitud (Emancipation Day) -- Puerto Rico

International Goof-off Day -- sponsored by Monica A. Dufour and A.C. Vierow, who think everyone needs a special day each year to goof off.

International Day of the Seal -- drawing attention to a disappearing species

Laser Day -- the first patent on a laser was granted this day in 1960 to Arthur Schawlow and Charles Townes

Maple Syrup Saturday -- Appleton, WI, US (please note that, starting now, almost every Saturday has a maple syrup festival or demonstration somewhere in Canada or the US where maple syrup is produced)

National Bavarian Crepes Day

National Sing-Out Day -- begun by an anonymous person who must love singing; and yes, i promise, i won't sing where anyone has to listen to me

St. Darerca's Day (reportedly the sister of St. Patrick; Patron of Valentia Island, Ireland)

World Day for Water -- UN


Anniversary Today:

The Tuskegee Airmen are activated, 1941


Birthdays Today:

Cristen Powell, 1979
Reese Witherspoon, 1976
Elvis Stojko, 1972
Matthew Modine, 1959
Stephanie Mills, 1957
Lena Olin, 1955
Bob Costas, 1952
Andrew Lloyd Webber, 1948
James Patterson, 1947
George Benson, 1943
Bruno Ganz, 1941
Marvin Yagoda, 1938
M. Emmet Walsh, 1935
J.P. McCarthy, 1933
William Shatner, 1931
Pat Robertson, 1930
Stephen Sondheim, 1930
Allen Neuharth, 1924
Marcel Marceau, 1923
Karl Malden, 1912
Louis L'Amour, 1908
Chico Marx, 1887


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Conversations with My Father"(Play), 1992
"Brighton Beach Memoirs"(Play), 1983
"All You Need is Cash"(TV movie), 1978
"I Can Get It For You Wholesale"(Musical), 1962
"Mr. Wonderful"(Musical), 1956
"This Year of Grace"(Musical), 1928
"El maleficio de la mariposa/The Butterfly's Evil Spell"(Play), 1920


Today in History:

Hugo de Groot escapes imprisonment in Loevenstein Castle in a book case, 1621
The Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony sign a peace treaty with Massasoit of the Wampanoags, 1621
Algonquian Indians kill 347 English settlers around Jamestown, Virginia, a third of the colony's population, 1622
Massachusetts Bay Colony outlaws the possession of cards, dice, and gaming tables, 1630
Joseph Priestly invents carbonated water (seltzer), 1733
The Parliament of Great Britain passes the Stamp Act, which introduced a tax to be levied directly on its American colonies, 1765
The Emerald Buddha is moved with great ceremony to its current place in Wat Phra Kaew, Thailand, 1784
The three protecting powers (Britain, France and Russia) establish the borders of Greece, 1829
Cornstarch is patented by Orlando Jones, 1841
Slavery is abolished in Puerto Rico, 1873
The Edmunds Act adopted by US to suppress polygamy in the territories (especially aimed at the Mormons), 1882
August and Louis Lumiere privately screen the first "motion picture" ever made, of workers leaving their factory three days earlier, 1895
World's first airline, St Petersburg Tampa Airboat Line, begins, 1914
The Arab League is founded when a charter is adopted in Cairo, Egypt, 1945
Arthur Leonard Schawlow and Charles Hard Townes receive the first patent for a laser, 1960
Karl Wallenda of The Flying Wallendas dies after falling off a tight-rope between two hotels in San Juan, Puerto Rico, 1978
The Intel Corporation ships the first Pentium chips, 1993
Cosmonaut Valeriy Polyakov returns after setting a record for 438 days in space, 1995
The Comet Hale-Bopp has its closest approach to earth, 1997
Tara Lipinski, age 14 years and 10 months, becomes the youngest women's World Figure Skating Champion, 1997
ETA, the armed Basque separatist group, declares a permanent ceasefire, 2006
Mount Redoubt, a volcano in Alaska began erupting after a prolonged period of unrest, 2009