Late For Their Own Funeral

Friday morning i figured out how to get Youngest Boy out of bed without a meltdown.  There are two steps.

Step one, don't wake him directly.  Wake the others, with him in earshot.

Step two, make a deal with him.  When i asked him, after waking the others and noticing his eyes were open, if he would please get up, he said he didn't want to get out of bed until his pancakes were ready.  So we made a deal:  when i tell him the food is ready, he will pop right up and come down to eat.  We did a pinky swear on it, and sure enough, when i called up that his plate was ready, he came down without a fuss.

If i end up staying here again to babysit overnight, he and i are going to agree the night before on what will be for breakfast, and that he will pop up and come eat when it is ready, and that i won't call him until it is.

They got to school without a hitch, and i came back to the house and finished cleaning and tidying and the last bits of laundry, dishes, etc.  Then it was a waiting game to see when Ms. P would be home, as i needed to get home to tidy up and repack because it's homecoming weekend at the uni.  That means a stay on campus for all of the festivities.

As i figured, Ms. P ended up being later than she thought.  Much later.  As i told her son, as much as i love her, she's the kind of person who will be late for her own funeral -- he had never heard that one before, but agreed when he finished laughing.  At noon i went to pick up Eldest Boy from his school, get him a lunch, and get him home.  At 2pm i headed out to get the two younger boys.  Then i crawled through "rush hour" traffic to get them back home.  We pulled in just as Ms. P was emptying her vehicle.

Because i was so much later than i expected, Bigger Girl picked up Little Girl from school and the two of them did the shelter -- i hated that they were stuck doing it, but sometimes it is what it is.

By the time i got home and we got packed, Grandpa was already up on the campus waiting for us.  It was a circus getting out of the house, but we finally made it, and checked in to the hotel, and got the stuff from Grandpa that he had brought us, and unloaded and ordered pizza for delivery.  

It's been a crazy couple of days, but at least i don't need to get up early tomorrow and cook -- i get to go down to the dining room and eat what someone else has prepared.  No, i won't let it spoil me.



Today is:

Armed Forces Day -- Romania

Blue Ridge Folklife Festival -- Blue Ridge Institute and Museum, Ferrum, VA, US (a large celebration of authentic folkways)

Constitution Day -- Lithuania

Day of the Basque Country -- Basque Country
    Dia del Pais Vasco -- PV, Spain

Emma Crawford Festival and Memorial Coffin Race -- Manitou Springs, CO, US (spooky fun for the whole family)

Feast of Forty Martyrs of England and Wales -- Roman Catholic

Forgiveness Day -- a day to reconcile or forgive, for your own peace of mind; sponsored by Positive Peaceful Partners and the Center of Unconditional Love

Gormanudr -- Old Icelandic Calendar (beginning of "Innards Month," after all the animals have been butchered and fresh innards figure predominantly in the menu, as the rest of the meat has been preserved for winter)

Hijra -- Islam (New Year, began last night at the first viewing of the new moon crescent)

Hogeye Festival -- Elgin, TX, US (Road Hog Car Show, crowning of King Hog and Queen Sowpreme, Cow Patty Bingo, and more!)

International Artist Day -- with a festival this weekend in White Rock, BC, Canada
 
London Bridge Days -- Lake Havasu City, AZ, US (come celebrate London Bridge, which was disassembled and moved here and put back together, with a parade and festivities; through tomorrow)

Make A Difference Day -- US (Whoopie Goldberg once said that if every American would donate 5 volunteer hours a week, it would be the equivalent of several million full time jobs; whether or not it's strictly accurate, volunteering is a great thing to do no matter where you live)

Munzipan Feast -- Fairy Calendar (a fairy delicacy, and you don't want to know how it's made)

National Greasy Foods Day

Pit Bull Awareness Day -- it's not the breed, it's the owner

Punk-for-a-Day Day -- internet generated; if you've always wanted to be a punk, try it out for a day

Republic Day -- Kazakhstan

Retrocession Day -- Taiwan

Romp in the Swamp Fun Walk -- Appleton, WI, US (plus hayrides, face painting, an outdoor movie, animal shows, a campfire with s'mores, and more)

Scared Silly: Halloween in Prospect Park -- Brooklyn, NY, US (hauntingly good fun all weekend)

Sourest Day -- as a balance, because we have so many days that emphasize sweet

Sts. Crispin and Crispian's Day (Patrons of cobblers/shoemakers, glovemakers, lace makers/lace workers, leather workers, saddle makers, tanners, weavers)

Texas Book Festival -- Austin, TX, US (one of the nation's most prestigious literary festivals, especially celebrating renowned Texas authors; through tomorrow)

Thanksgiving Day -- Grenada

World Beard and Moustache Championships -- Portland, OR, US (check out some of the former competitors here)

World Pasta Day -- as established by the first World Pasta Congress in 1995; a related website is here

Xterra Kapalua Trail Run -- Kapalua, Maui, HI, US (extreme trail runs of 5k and 10k; through tomorrow)


Birthdays Today:

Katy Perry, 1984
Midori, 1971
Tracy Nelson, 1963
Brian Kerwim, 1949
Jon Anderson, 1944
Anne Tyler, 1941
Helen Reddy, 1941
Bobby Knight, 1940
Marion Ross, 1936
Billy Barty, 1924
Minnie Pearl, 1912
Leo G. Carroll, 1892
Pablo Picasso, 1881
Georges Bizet, 1838
Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1800


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Victor/Victoria"(Musical), 1995
"Newhart"(TV), 1982
"Le Repetition"(Anouilh play), 1950
"The Time of Your Life"(Play), 1939


Today in History:

Seljuk Turks defeat the German crusaders under Conrad III at the Battle of Dorylaeum, 1147
Battle of Agincourt, in which the Welsh longbow defeats armored knights, 1415
Christopher Columbus, aboard the Santa Maria, lands at the Dominican Republic, 1492
Dutch sea-captain Dirk Hartog makes second recorded landfall by a European on Australian soil, at the later-named Dirk Hartog Island off the Western Australian coast, 1616
Governor Bradford of the US colony Plymouth disallows sport on Christmas Day, 1621
Wedding of future US President John Adams and Abigail Smith (the marriage lasted 54 years), 1764
Canadians and Mohawks defeat the Americans in the Battle of Chateauguay, 1813
Opening of the Erie Canal, 1825
Battle of Balaclava, memorialized as the "Charge of the Light Brigade", results in the deaths of 409 troops, 1854
The Toronto Stock Exchange is created, 1861
Traditionally understood date of the October Revolution in Russia, which corresponds to November 7 on the Gregorian Calendar, 1917
The Archbishop of Dubuque, Francis J. L. Beckman, denounces swing  music as "a degenerated musical system... turned loose to gnaw away at the moral fiber of young people", warning that it leads down a "primrose path to hell", 1938
Adlai Stevenson shows photos at the UN proving Soviet missiles are installed in Cuba, 1962
Uganda joins the United Nations, 1962
Nelson Mandela is sentenced to five years in prison, 1962
The United Nations seated the People's Republic of China and expelled the Republic of China, 1971
Proceedings on the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction conclude at The Hague, 1980
Three months after the end of the Ten-Day War, the last soldier of the Yugoslav People's Army leaves the territory of the Republic of Slovenia, 1991
Fidel Castro announces that transactions using the American Dollar will be banned in Cuba, 2004
Sony removed the original cassette Walkman from the market, 2010
Scientists announce that the completion of the nuclear genome study of a 24,000 year old Siberian boy's remains shows 2/3 of today's Native Americans are of Eastern Asia origin, and the others from Western Eurasia, 2013