Redeeming Time

How to redeem a difficult Friday.

Get up 4am, face the dishes and howlingly hungry cats.  Get to Bible study by 6:15am.

Shop, run the stuff purchased home, go get oil changed in Humphrey the Honda.  Receive a text from Little Girl, run the stuff to her at school she needs.  Go get Sweetie from work.

Go back to the mechanic to wait for Jalopy to be finished.  Pay through the nose for transmission work.  Run to get Little Girl from school.

Go to the shelter to feed and water the cats and sweep rooms and get the trash out of the building.

Run back home to pick up a couple of things, go get pizzas.

Take pizzas to the church for rEcess, where the theme this night is camping out.

Playing in the tent.

A great place for flashlights and shadow puppets.

Have a great time, all is well.

Emmy's wheelchair now has a tray, so feeding  her is easier.

Leaves for leaf print painting.

Fun on the playground.

Chase Gracie Everywhere!

When Gracie arrives, try to give her a hug, and be amazed as she grabs your hand to shake it and says, clear as a ,bell, "It's great to see you!"  Be equally amazed as she plays well with two other children most of the night, and wants me near but won't let me help in the restroom.  She's so big now!

Come home and get to bed after 11pm.

Know it's worth it.

Today is

Anniversary of the 3rd Druk Gyalpo -- Bhutan

Apple Blossom Festival -- Gettysburg, PA, US (58th annual; through tomorrow)

Baby Day -- birth anniversary of Dr. Spock

Brothers and Sisters Day/Sibling Appreciation Day -- an internet generated holiday, not to be confused with National Siblings Day on April 10 each year

Cinco de Mayo Fiesta -- Portland, Oregon (the sister city to Guadalajara, Mexico, has a multicultural party; today, tomorrow, and Sunday)

Clun Green Man Festival -- Clun, Shropshire, England (spring festival ending with the Clun Green Man battling and defeating the Frost Queen to end winter and bring in spring, along with a May Fair; through the Monday Spring Bank Holiday) 

Cotton Pickin' Fair -- Gay, GA, US (a fabulous two days of Southern family fun)

Day of Osiris going forth from his mountain -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Door-Banging and Window-Tapping Conference -- Fairy Calendar (Gremlins)

Flag Day -- Poland

Free Comic Book Day -- check here for information, including a store locator

Galveston Historic Homes Tour -- Galveston, TX, US (Galveston Island’s great treasures of Victorian and post-Victorian architecture that are privately owned are opened for tours this weekend and next)

Herb Day -- an international celebration of herbs and all the flavor they add to our lives; try a new herb to season a dish today www.herbday.org/

Holiday of the Region of Madrid -- Madrid, Spain

Holland Tulip Time Festival -- Holland, MI, US (one of the best small town festivals in the US, with visitors from around the world; through next Saturday)

International Scurvy Awareness Day -- because yes, some people do still get this disease of Vitamin C deficiency

Join Hands Day -- uniting young people and adults to do community service projects 

Kansas Sampler Festival -- Liberal, KS, US (a living brochure of the state of Kansas, with over 100 communities, hiking trails, historic sites, off-the-beaten-track places, and more represented in one place, highlighting all the great things there are to do in the state of Kansas; through tomorrow)

King James Bible Day -- marking the publication in 1611 of the King James Version of the Bible

Low Country Shrimp Festival -- McClellanville, SC, US (seafood, arts, crafts, civic displays, entertainment, and the blessing of the fleet)

National Education Day -- Indonesia

National Play Your Ukulele Day -- just because it's fun!

National Scrapbooking Day -- begun by Creative Memories, now celebrated by scrapbookers everywhere, a good article about it here

National Travel and Tourism Week begins -- US (this year's theme:  Travel is _____________ )

National Truffles Day

Peddler's Village Strawberry Festival -- Lahaska, PA, US (strawberries in every form imaginable; through tomorrow)

Roberts Rules of Order Day -- birth anniversary of Henry M. Robert, author of the standard parliamentary guide Robert's Rules of Order

Rowdy Friends Day -- go look up the ones you haven't seen in a while

St. Athanasius the Great's Day

St. Zoe's Day

Teacher's Day -- Bhutan; Iran

Twelfth Day of Ridvan -- Baha'i

Towsontown Spring Festival -- Towson, MD, US (four stages of continual entertainment, food, art and photography exhibit, and more; through tomorrow)



Birthdays Today:

Sarah Hughes, 1985
Jenna Von Oy, 1977
David Beckham, 1975
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, 1972
Elizabeth Berridge, 1962
Christine Baranski, 1952
Larry Gatlin, 1949
Lesley Gore, 1946
David Suchet, 1946
Bianca Jagger, 1945
Engelbert Humperdinck, 1936
Roscoe Lee Browne, 1925
Theodore Bikel, 1924
Satyajit Ray, 1921
Dr. Benjamin Spock, 1903
Baron Von Richthofen, 1892
Hedda Hopper, 1885
Henry M. Robert, 1837


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Sunday in the Park with George"(Musical), 1984
"Peter and the Wolf"(Prokofiev Op. 67), 1936
"The Jack Benny Program"(Radio), 1932
Good Housekeeping(Magazine), 1885
"La Bottega del Caffe/The Coffee Shop"(Play), 1750
Authorized King James Version of the Bible(Publication date, by printer Robert Barker), 1611


Today in History:

Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, is arrested and imprisoned on charges of adultery, incest, treason and witchcraft, 1536
John Knox returns from exile to Scotland  to become the leader of the beginning Scottish Reformation, 1559
Mary, Queen of Scots, escapes from Loch Leven Castle, 1568
King Charles II of England grants a permanent charter to the Hudson's Bay Company to open up the fur trade in North America, 1670
William Herschel discovers 1st binary star, Xi Ursae Majoris, 1780
Charles Fremantle founds the Swan River Colony in Australia, 1829
Peruvian defenders fight off Spanish fleet at the Battle of Callao, 1866
Good Housekeeping magazine goes on sale for the first time, 1885
Cree and Assiniboine  warriors win the Battle of Cut Knife, their largest victory over Canadian forces during the North-West Rebellion, 1885
The Congo Free State is established by King Léopold II of Belgium, 1885
Hannibal W Goodwin patents celluloid photographic film, 1887
General Motors  acquires the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware, 1918
Pearl S. Buck is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for The Good Earth, 1938
The world's first ever jet airliner, the De Havilland Comet 1, makes its maiden flight, from London to Johannesburg, 1952
Tennessee Williams is awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 1955
The British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 departs on her maiden voyage to New York City, 1969
The 1986 World Exposition in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, opens, 1986
The European Central Bank is founded in Brussels in order to define and execute the European Union's monetary policy, 1998
President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military, 2000
Cyclone Nargis makes landfall in Myanmar killing over 130,000 people and leaving millions of people homeless, 2008
Conservationists determine poachers killed the last known rhinoceroses in Mozambique; these poachers worked with game rangers responsible for protecting them, 2013