Dilemma

"Mom, I've got a problem," Bigger Girl said when she came downstairs the other morning.

What's up? i asked.

"Well, you remember my friend Sam?" she continued.

Yes, i remember, she's the third "Sam" we know.  Very friendly, always smiling.

"Not these days as much.  She's thinking of moving out with her boyfriend, because her home situation is getting so bad, and he hit her the other day."

She must not move out with him, i noted.  And she needs to call the police.

"Well, she can't call the police, she hit him back.  All of her friends have her on suicide watch now, and we just don't know what to do.  She can't continue to live at home, her mom is threatening not to drive her to work any more if she doesn't turn over more of her paycheck every month, and will throw her out if she loses her job, too.  So she's talking about moving in with her boyfriend just so she'll have a place.

"I've told her to just go couch surfing for a week or so until she can find a roommate, but other than that, what can we do?"

Couch surfing is fine in theory, i said, but that's a lot to ask of friends, she'd have to coordinate with them to get her to work and school.  Her best bet would be to find a roomie, someone else who's in college and just wants someone to split the rent, as fast as possible.  And it would need to be where she could take the bus to the college and her work.

"Yeah, that would be best, and I'll talk to her about it, and do you mind if I invite her to spend a night here?  At least that's one night where I wouldn't have to worry about her."

Sure you can.  And while you are at it, let her practice driving while you are in the neighborhood.  The faster she can get a license, the easier her life will be.

"Thanks mom!"

Other people's kids bring home a stray puppy that "followed me home!"  My kids bring home stray people, and there's no way i can say no.




Today is:

Anne Bradstreet Day -- Massachusetts, US (by Proclamation of the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to honor Anne Bradstreet, America’s first poet, who is also recognized as the first published woman poet in the English language)

Cherokee Strip Day -- Oklahoma, US (anniversary of the last land run, in 1893, which opened Native American land to white settlers)

Collect Rocks Day -- i guess it means besides all the ones in my head

Eleven Days of Global Unity -- Day 6, Children & Youth (sponsored by We, the World)

Festival for Ra, Osiris, and Horus -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Get Ready Day -- US (help your community, workplace, or school to get ready for disasters or emergencies)

Independence Day -- Malaysia(1963); Mexico(1910); Nicaragua; Papua New Guinea(1975)

International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer -- UN (commemorates the signing, in 1987, of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer)

Kentucky Bourbon Festival -- Bardstown, KY, US (self explanatory; through Sunday)

Martyrs' Day -- Libya

Mayflower Day -- the ship left England on this day in 1620

National Cinnamon Raisin Bread Day

National Guacamole Day -- ideas to celebrate

National Heroes' Day -- St. Kitts and Nevis

National Play-Doh Day -- unofficial; get some anyway and be a kid again for a little while

National Teaching Assistants' Day -- UK https://www.teachingpersonnel.com/go/candidates/national-ta-day/

Opening of Parliament -- Netherlands (holiday in The Hague)related observance
     Prinsjesdag -- Netherlands  (technically translates "Prince's Day;" the day Parliament opens and the reigning sovereign, now King William-Alexander, gives the Speech from the Throne and the Minister of Finance proposes next year's budget)

Owain Glyndwr Day -- Wales

St. Cornelius' Day (Patron of cattle, domestic animals, earache sufferers, epileptics; Kornelimunster, Germany;against earache, epilepsy, fever, twitching )

St. Cyprian of Carthage's Day (Patron of Algeria, North Africa)

St. Euphemia's Day (Patron of Rovinj, Croatia)

St. Ludmilla's Day (Grandmother of St. "Good King" Winceslaus; Patron of converts, duchesses, widows; Bohemia; Czech Republic; against in-law problems)

Stay Away From Seattle Day -- yes, really

Stepfamily Day -- US and others who choose to recognize it  (Founded in 1977 by Christy Borgeld; if you have stepfamily you love, celebrate it wherever you live)

Working Parents Day -- internet generated, enjoy if you are a working parent or have a working parent you want to thank


Birthdays Today:

Nick Jonas, 1992
Sabrina Bryan, 1984
Alexis Bledel, 1982
Amy Poehler, 1971
Marc Anthony, 1968
Molly Shannon, 1964
Richard Marx, 1963
Jennifer Tilly, 1961
Orel Leonard Hershiser IV, 1958
David Copperfield, 1956
Mickey Rourke, 1956
Robin Yount, 1955
Mark McEwen, 1954
Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 1950
Susan Ruttan, 1950
Ed Begley, Jr., 1949
Elgin Gay Baylor, 1934
Anne Francis, 1932
Peter Falk, 1927
B.B. King, 1925
Lauren Bacall, 1924
Janice Page, 1923
Allen Funt, 1914
James Cash Penney, 1875
Francis Parkman, 1823
Anthony Panizzi, 1797
Hildegard of Bingen, 1098


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Frasier"(TV), 1993
"Miami Vice"(TV), 1984
"Logan's Run"(TV), 1977
"Bridget Loves Bernie"(TV), 1972 (first mixed marriage portrayed on television)
"Mannix"(TV), 1967
"Shindig"(TV), 1964
"The Outer Limits"(TV), 1963
"Broadway"(Play), 1926


Today in History:

The Massachusetts village of Shawmut changes its name to Boston, 1630
Handel's "The Messiah" premiers in Dublin, 1741
The Great Seal of the United States is used for the first time, 1782
Russians set fire to Moscow shortly after midnight – the city burns down completely days later, 1812
Slavery is abolished in all French Territories, 1848
The Cherokee Strip, in Oklahoma, is opened, making land available to white settlers, 1893
Roald Amundsen discovers the magnetic south pole, 1906
William Durant, carriage-maker, founds General Motors Corp., 1908
Juan Perón is deposed in Argentina, 1955
Malaysia is formed, 1963
Cape Verde, Mozambique and Sao Tome and Principe join the United Nations, 1975
Shavarsh Karapetyan saves 20 people from the trolleybus that had fallen into Erevan reservoir, 1976
An earthquake measuring 7.5-7.9 on the Richter scale hits the city of Tabas, Iran killing about 25,000 people, 1978
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines join the United Nations, 1980
The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion, 1987
The Pound Sterling is forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by currency speculators and is forced to devalue against the German mark, 1992
Mexico celebrates its 200th anniversary of independence, 2010
Denmark elects its first female Prime Minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, 2011
NASA scientists announce the discovery of a circumbinary planet - a planet the orbits two stars instead of one, 2011
The National Zoo in Washington, D.C., announces a successful artificial insemination as Mei Xiang gives birth to her second giant panda cub, 2012
The brain-eating amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, is found in tap water near New Orleans, the first time ever detected in the U.S. water supply, 2013