So, about these last two days.

Most weeks i do not work consecutive days.  Since i am a janitor/housekeeper with some health considerations, it's better that i space out my work.  That's because when i work, i really, really get into detail.

One of my female clients was amazed that i cleaned the insides of her make-up cases, and one gentleman was quite surprised that i commented that if he had me back the next week, i would do more to tackle the atrocious state of his baseboards.  Being older and single, he didn't even know he had baseboards, much less that they needed attention.

This past week, though, i ended up working two days in a row.  Most of that time was spent cleaning carpets with a large, heavy machine.  Pour in three gallons of hot tap water and the cleaner formula, clean a small area of carpet, empty the dirty water tank, start again.

In some areas where children had been using markers on the carpets, i also had to stain treat, and clean the area multiple times for it to even fade them at all.  Then there was the upholstery cleaning there, too.  Kids are hard on upholstery, and one ottoman i simply had to declare a lost cause.

Hauling water to and from the machine, over and over, and even carrying the machine up and down stairs, as well as doing the regular cleaning at one of the houses, did my back in for the time being.

After the second house, where i only did carpets in the morning and the regular cleaning in the afternoon, as well as the laundry, i went and did the shelter caretaker shift alone, as the girls were both busy, but through miscommunication each thought the other would be helping me.

Today, after the funeral i will attend this morning, i am coming home to give my back some TLC.

It better recover quickly, i'm in the nursery for 3 1/2 hours at church tomorrow.



Today is:

Betty Boop Day -- she debuted in "Dizzy Dishes" on this day in 1930

Book Lover's Day -- internet generated, but if you love books, go sit under a shady tree with a cool drink and indulge!

Bud Billiken Parade -- Chicago, IL, US (second largest parade in the US, as well as the oldest and largest African-American parade in the US, begun in 1929)

Celebrate Your Lakes Day -- of unknown origin but worth celebrating

Clean Out the Kitchen Cupboards Day -- because someone, somewhere, thought it would be a good day to remind us to get rid of the junk in there we haven't seen since last year

Coupeville Arts and Crafts Festival -- Coupeville, WA, US (one of the longest-running arts festivals in the Pacific Northwest, with only the best artisans, lots of entertainment, and proceeds donated to the community; through tomorrow)

Crater Lake Rim Runs and Marathon -- Crater Lake National Park, OR, US (one of the toughest and most spectacular runs ever, around the deepest lake in the US)

Dag der Inheemsen -- Suriname (Indigenous People's Day)

Elvis Week -- Memphis, TN, US (ten days of celebrating The King)

Ferry Fair Day -- South Queensferry, Edinburgh, Scotland (centuries old fair, the biggest day of the modern festival that was originally a way for farmers to find labour for harvest, but is now just for fun)

Festival for Sol -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Goblin Ugly Contest -- Fairy Calendar

Independence Day / National Day -- Singapore(1965)

International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples -- UN

Jesse Owens Day -- the day he became the first American to win 4 gold medals

Leadville Trail 100 Bike Race -- Leadville, CO, US (100 miles of off-road bike racing over Colorado's high peaks)

Nagasaki Day / Moment of Silence -- Japan

National Garage Sale Day -- US (the goal, according to C. Daniel Rhodes, is to turn the nation into a giant shopping mall on the second Saturday of August each year)

National Hand Holding Day -- sponsored by Adrienne Sioux Koopersmith of Chicago

National Rice Pudding Day

National Women's Day -- South Africa

Quad City Air Show -- Davenport, IA, US (large family aviation weekend; through tomorrow)

Remembrance for Radbod, King of the Frisians -- Asatru/Norse Pagan

Sister Teresa Benedicta of the Cross' Day (born Edith Stein, killed at Auschwitz; Co-Patron of Europe; Patron of converts, martyrs, those who have lost their parents, World Youth Day)

Smokey the Bear Day -- Smokey first appeared on a U.S. Forest Service poster on this day in 1944

Streetscene -- Covington, VA, US (car show, open to all types of vehicles; come show off your ride!)

Veep Day -- US (commemoration of the day in 1974 Richard Nixon's resignation let Gerald Ford succeed to the presidency)

Watermelon Festival -- Rush Springs, OK, US (fun all day and free watermelon for all)

Women's Day -- South Africa

Yosakoi Matsuri -- Kochi City, Japan (over 100 groups come up with their own Bon dance and costume and have dance competions in the streets, through the 12th)


Anniversaries Today:

Coronation of Albert II of Belgium, 1993


Birthdays Today:

Audrey Tautou,1976
Eric Bana, 1968
Gillian Anderson, 1968
Delon Sanders, 1967
Hoda Kotb, 1964
Whitney Houston, 1963
Michael Kors, 1959
Amanda Bearse, 1958
Melanie Griffith, 1957
Sam Elliot, 1944
David Steinberg, 1942
Robert Joseph (Bob) Cousy, 1928
P.L. Travers, 1899
Joseph Locke, 1805
Amedeo Avogadro, 1776
John Dryden, 1631
Izaak Walton, 1593


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Béatrice et Bénédict (Beatrice and Benedick)"(Berlioz Opera Comique), 1862
Walden(Thoreau, publication date), 1854


Today in History:

Battle of Pharsalus, in which Julius Caesar defeated Pompey, who fled to Egypt, BC 40
Bulgaria is founded as a Khanate on the south bank of the Danube after defeating the Byzantine armies of Emperor Constantine IV south of the Danube delta, 681
Start of construction of the Tower of Pisa, 1173*
Sistine Chapel opens, 1483
First horses arrive in Hawai'i, 1803
The Webster-Ashburton Treaty is signed, establishing the United States-Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains, 1842
Thoreau's Walden is published, 1854
Thomas Edison receives a patent for a two-way telegraph, 1892
Betty Boop makes her debut in the cartoon, Dizzy Dishes, 1930
Mahatma Gandhi is arrested in Bombay by British forces, launching the Quit India Movement, 1942
The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring Smokey Bear for the first time, 1944
Singapore is expelled from Malaysia and becomes the first and only country to date to gain independence unwillingly, 1965
Richard Nixon becomes the first President of the United States to resign from office, 1974
Wayne Gretzky is traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings in one of the most controversial player transactions in ice hockey history, 1988
The Liberal Democratic Party of Japan loses a 38-year hold on national leadership, 1993
Tensions escalate between North and South Korea, when South Korea claims North Korea fired over 100 rounds of artillery into the Sea of Japan, 2010
David Rudisha of Kenya becomes the first athlete at the 2012 Summer Olympics to set a new world track record and secures the 800m gold medal, 2012

*completed two hundred years later