Where's that watch?

The mood in the house is mixed right now.

Grandma and Grandpa announced, last November, that they wanted to take as many of us as could make it to Walt Disney World this year at Mardi Gras.

Bigger Girl and #1 Son both had to bow out, she because she doesn't feel she can miss school, and he because he just started this job and you don't go into the boss at a new job and tell her/him you need a week off to go on vacation with your family, not when you are 23.

All the plans are set, hotel, who is driving (us), who is flying (Uncle J, Bryn and Dre, because no one wants to be in a car for that many hours with a 9-year-old), and all the other myriad details.

Everyone was looking forward to it.

Then the kink got thrown into the works.  Grandma, who has always had somewhat fragile health, got so sick last week she had to call Grandpa to come home early from a meeting and take her to the doctor right away.  She was on the verge of pneumonia and had pleurisy, and was put on a very strong antibiotic.

 

As she seemed to be recovering as fast as she got ill, the plans didn't change.  Then the antibiotic caused such bad side effects she had to get off it it.  By then, her lungs were clear, but since she didn't take the full course of medicine, she cannot be exposed to crowds or being outdoors a lot in the cold weather to make certain she doesn't relapse.

They are insistent that the rest of us will still go, and we will.  We are all sad and upset, though, that Grandma and Grandpa won't be with us.

This past week has seen me chasing my own tail to get ready, and today i am working at Ms. P's house, and tomorrow i am scheduled to deliver flowers for Valentine's Day, but only in the morning, as we leave in the afternoon.  So much has been crammed into this last week that i don't know whether, as Dolly Parton said in Steel Magnolias, "to wind my butt or scratch my watch!"

 

When we leave town, i have to think of everything, including how much cat litter to have in the house and to time my kombucha (fermented tea) brewing so it won't be over fermented by the time i get back.  As for the Valentine's Day deliveries, i am going to miss being able to earn the money for the full three days work, but at least i can get one morning in.

Yesterday we tried to get Little Girl her driver's license, since she now only has a permit and we thought it would be a good idea to do this before she helped drive.  She had early dismissal, so we went to the DMV.  They told us we now have to have an appointment to take the driving test.  You cannot call for an appointment, you have to fill out an application and get an appointment.  We did, and they had a same day testing available, at 2pm.  We left to have lunch and came back.  She passed, and then they said, "Where is her proof of school attendance?"  It seems you need that now.  Of course, by the time they told us, there wasn't anyone still at the school who could get it for us, so Sweetie has to take her back on Friday while i'm delivering flowers, but after he gets the oil changed in #2 Son's car and air in Bigger Girl's tires.

And now as subduedly excited as i am that we are getting to go, i think i need to find that watch to scratch. 

Today is:

Abraham Lincoln's Birthday -- US (with a wreath laying ceremony at the rebuilt cabin near where he was born)

American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting -- Chicago, IL, US (a five day meeting of top scientist; who knows what these people will come up with next, because science is amazing!)

Borrowed Days (through the 14th) -- Scottish Highlands (Gaelic Faoilteach, days supposedly borrowed from January, and if the weather is bad, the rest of the year will be good.)

Darwin Day -- International (birth anniversary)

Day Holy to Diana -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Desert Festival -- Jaisalmer, India (three days of local culture, contests, and fun)

Feast of the Incappucciati -- Gradoli, Italy (members of the Confraternity of Purgatory makes the rounds of the town gathering food for the souls in Purgatory, which is served at a banquet next week on Ash Wednesday)

Fettiger Donnerstag  -- Swabia, Germany ("greasy Thursday", so called because of the greasy Kuchli cakes and pastries made today to use during carnival before the Lent fast)

Gold Rush Days -- Wickenburg, AZ, US (celebrating the Old West; through Sunday)

Lost Penny Day -- in honor of pennies, the first US coin to commemorate a person; collect all those pennies you have hanging around and donate them to a good cause

Miami International Boat Show -- Miami, FL, US (biggest boat show in the US, and the main event for product introductions; through Monday)

Oglethorpe Day/Georgia Day -- Georgia, US (landing of General Oglethorpe at what is now Savannah in 1733)

Pick A New Love Song Day -- internet generated, and why?  Only bother if your old one has worn thin.

Plum Pudding Day -- shouldn't this be at Christmas? Ah, well, i don't set them, i just report them.

Powamu Festival -- Pueblo/Hopi Native Americans (8 day sacred Bean Dance and purification ceremonies; date approximate)

Red Hand Day -- UN (Drawing attention to the plight of child soldiers.)

Runic Half Month of Sigel (Sun) begins

Sacrifice to Dionysos -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)

St. Julian the Hospitaler (Patron of boatmen, carnival/circus workers, childless people, clowns, ferrymen, fiddlers, hospitality, hotel keepers/innkeepers, jugglers, knights, pilgrims, repentant murderers, shepherds, travellers, wandering musicians; to obtain lodging while travelling; San Giljan, Malta)

Union Day -- Myanmar

Youth Day -- Venezuela


Anniversaries Today:

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is founded, 1909
Michigan State University is founded, 1855
Maria Therese Habsburg marries Emperor Francios I, 1736


Birthdays Today:

Jennifer Stone, 1993
Christina Ricci, 1980
Jesse Spencer, 1979
Naseem Hamed, 1974
Josh Brolin, 1968
Chyna Phillips, 1968
Arsenio Hall, 1955
Joanna Kerns, 1953
Michael McDonald, 1952
Simon MacCorkindale, 1952
Steve Hackett, 1950
Cliff De Young, 1947
Maud Adams, 1945
Ray Manzarek, 1939
Judy Blume, 1938
Joe Don Baker, 1936
Bill Russell, 1934
Arlen Specter, 1930
Joe Garagiola, 1926
Franco Zeffirelli, 1923
Dom DiMaggio, 1917
Lorne Greene, 1915
Ted Mack, 1904
Roy Harris, 1898
Omar Bradley, 1893
Anna Pavlova, 1881
John Llewellyn Lewis, 1880
John Graham Chambers, 1843
Charles Darwin, 1809
Abraham Lincoln, 1809
Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams, 1775
Cotton Mather, 1663
John Winthrop the Younger, 1606
John Winthrop the Elder, 1588
Kujo Yoritsune, Japanese shogun, 1218


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Child's Play"(Play), 1970
Dracula(Film), 1931
"Rhapsody In Blue", 1924
"Beggar on Horseback"(Play), 1924
"Fruen Fra Havet(The Lady from the Sea)"(Ibsen Play), 1889


Today in History:

Vasco da Gama sets sail from Lisbon, Portugal, on his second voyage to India, 1502
Santiago, Chile, is founded by Pedro de Valdivia, 1541
A year after claiming the throne of England for nine days, Lady Jane Grey is beheaded for treason, 1554
The Onderlinge van 1719 u.a., the oldest existing life insurance company in the Netherlands is founded, 1719
Englishman James Oglethorpe founds Georgia, the 13th colony of the Thirteen Colonies, and its first city at Savannah, 1733
The first US fugitive slave law, requiring the return of runaway slaves, is passed, 1793
The Teatro di San Carlo, the oldest working opera house in Europe, is destroyed by fire, 1816
The Creek Indian treaty is signed, requiring the tribes to turn over all of their land in Georgia to the government and migrate west by Sept. 1 the following year, 1825
Ecuador annexes the Galapagos Islands, 1832
Official proclamation sets April 15 as last day of grace for US silver coins to circulate in Canada, 1870
The US Congress abolishes bimetallism and authorizes $1 and $3 gold coins, 1873
King David Kalakaua of the Sandwich Islands/Hawaii becomes the first king to visit the US, 1874
The first news dispatch by telephone takes place, between Boston and Salem, Massachusetts, 1877
News of the Battle of Isandlwana, the single greatest defeat for the British Army at the hands of a native army, reaches London, 1879
The New York to Paris auto race, via Alaska and Siberia, begins; George Schuster wins after 88 days behind the wheel, 1908
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) forms, 1909
The last Ch'ing (Manchu) emperor of China, Hsuan T'ung, abdicates, 1912
A meteor creates an impact crater in Sikhote-Alin, in the Soviet Union, 1947
U.S.S.R. launches Venera 1 towards Venus, 1961
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1970, is exiled from the Soviet Union, 1974
Carmen Lawrence becomes the first female Premier in Australian history when she becomes Premier of Western Australia, 1990
NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touchdown in the "saddle" region of 433 Eros becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid, 2001
The city of San Francisco, California begins issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples in response to a directive from Mayor Gavin Newsom, 2004