Calling Art Linkletter

For the past two days i've been cleaning a house besides my own, for pay.  That's what i do, i'm a janitor/housekeeper/babysitter/diaper changer/nose wiper/kitten feeder.

The wonderful family is in a bind.  They are losing the house, and i am trying to help get it cleaned up and work with the mother to pack things away, give things away, and sell stuff so it can be put on the market before it gets taken by the bank.   (Note:  a friend of the family introduced me to them, and is the one offering to pay me for the work.  There's no way i'd take a penny from this family, and if i'd known them before and knew they were in this bind, i'd be doing it without pay.)

Anyway, at the end of the second long day, i got two reminders that kids still say the craziest things.  Both came at a perfect time, when a good laugh helped.

The first was from the youngest son of the family i'm working for, Marty.  Their mother had run in to grab them and take them to swim with a friend so i could finish sorting clothes and making the last bed with fresh linens.  They went rushing around grabbing towels and bags and water bottles and swim suits and i kept closing the door behind them as they ran in and out, telling them what my father used to say.  "Don't forget to close the door, we aren't trying to air condition the whole neighborhood!" he would call out, all summer long.

As they finally headed out the door, Marty ran up to me and said, "Um, cleaning lady, you need to go shut the window in my room because my brother left it open and I don't have time to go close it and I know you don't like open doors and windows 'cause the conditioned air gets out and my mom wants me in the car right now!"  With that he dashed out, leaving me to laugh and head up to close the wide open window, out of which "conditioned air" was indeed escaping at a rapid velocity.

The second occurrence was in a text message from Little Girl that evening.  As i was pulling into the driveway after prayer meeting, i heard the familiar chirp of the phone, put the car in park and checked to see what was up.  Little Girl's message read, "How do you cook fried okra?"

Laughing so hard i could barely stagger into the house, i threw my arms around her and said, You fry it in oil!


Today is

Alexandra Rose Day -- anniversary of the tradition started by Queen Alexandra on this day in 1912, in which roses and rose emblems were sold in London and the UK, with the money going to smaller charities that are not usually in the national spotlight; also by tradition, the Lord Mayor of London bought the first rose
     Alexandra Rose Charities still exists, but uses other forms of fundraising and now supports healthy eating initiatives among lower income mothers and children

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

Festival of the Tarasque -- Tarascon, France (celebration of the legend of the dragon tamed by St. Martha; through June 30)

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

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 Bomb Pop Day -- on the Thursday in June right before US Independence Day, to kick off the celebration with the original red, white, and blue bomb pops

National Canoe Day -- Canada

National Chocolate Pudding Day

National Handshake Day -- sponsored by professional development companies on the last Thursday in June

Oregon Bach Festival -- University of Oregon, Eugene, OR, US (international gathering of musicians, master classes and performances, and family events so even the youngest music fans can fall in love with the works of J.S. Bach; through July 13)

Saint Ignace Auto Show -- St. Ignace, MI, US (parade, cruise night, and swap meet; through Saturday)

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)

Telluride Wine Festival -- Telluride, CO, US (meet winemakers, celebrity chefs, experts and authors for an unparalleled educational and epicurean experience; through Sunday)

Watermelon Thump with World Champion Seed Spitting Contest -- Luling, TX, US (fun for all, and lots of juicy watermelon, bring lots of wet wipes, enjoy the music and food and crafts, too; through Sunday)

Ziua Tricolorului -- Romania (Flag Day)


Birthdays Today:

Jennette McCurdy, 1992
Jason Schwartzman, 1980
Derek Jeter, 1974
Gretchen Wilson, 1973
Chris O'Donnell, 1970
Paul Thomas Anderson, 1970
Sean P. Hayes, 1970
Harriet Wheeler, 1963
Greg LeMond, 1961
Chris Isaak, 1956
Claudio Abbado, 1933
Eleanor Parker, 1922
Charlotte Zolotow, 1915
"Babe" Didrikson Zaharias, 1914
Colonel Tom Parker, 1909
Peter Lorre, 1904
Pearl S. Buck, 1892
Sir Robert Laird Borden, 1854
Lord Kelvin, 1824
Abner Doubleday, 1819
Arthur Middleton, 1742


Debuting/Premiering Today:

For Your Eyes Only(Film), 1981
"A Hard Day's Night"(Album, US version, release), 1964
"The Valkyrie"(Opera, WWV 86B), 1870


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
Wangdue Phodrang Dzong, the four thousand year-old ridge-top monastery in Bhutan catches fire and is destroyed; no relics were lost in the fire because the monastery was under renovation, 2012


*It is still the tallest in the Western Hemisphere