"Mom, what would you say if I joined the National Guard?"   Little Girl has had some plan afoot for a while, spending a lot of extra time at school working on some plan or other, and i wondered what was up.

My first question would be, what are you goals and how would this help you reach them, and my second would be, are you sure this is how you want to do it, i answered.

"My goal would be to go in to get trained as a medic, which would make it easier for me to get into nursing school," she explained.  "They would pay my tuition for that, too, and I could go to the local nursing school and get a BSN."

So you are mostly doing it as a way to earn your own schooling? i asked.

"That's part of it.  I also like the idea of being already trained as a medic when I get to school.  It's something I really think I would enjoy, and if it does turn out I don't like being in the medical field, I can find out pretty fast."

There is that, i noted. 

"What I would like to do is to have you sign me in now, so that I could go straight for my six months' training right after I graduate in May, and then I could start college for nursing the following January."

You really are pushing this, aren't you? i asked.  Are you certain this is what you want?

"Yes, because I know Grandpa would pay for my school, but I really want to try to earn my own way.  Plus, after nursing school, if it's paid for this way, and I do decide to go to medical school, he would have my college money to help me with that."

If you are certain this is what you want, and you think it would be a good way for you to get your education and training, i certainly won't hold you back, i told her.

"Thanks, mom.  My recruiter/counselor has saved a spot for me to be trained as a medic, but I have to sign in within a week or I lose it and have to wait for another to come up, so I'll bring the papers home Monday."

There's nothing quite like coming home in this house, you never know what you will hear next.  National Guard, whodathunkit?

Today is:

Children's Day -- India

Chinggis Khan's (Genghis Khan) Birthday -- Mongolia 

Day of the Colombian Woman -- Colombia

Deepavali/Diwali(Festival of Lights) -- Hindu; Jain; Sikh (fifth day of the festival)
     Bhai Tika -- ritual where sisters honor brothers for the protection they give
     Gyan Panchami -- Jain (celebration of knowledge and education)

Equorum Probatio -- Ancient Roman Empire (official cavalry parade of the equites)

International Girls Day -- for info, see confidencecoalition.org

Leftover Trading Day -- internet generated; trade your leftovers for the much more interesting ones in your neighbor's fridge

Loosen up, Lighten Up Day -- to remind us of the benefits of joy and laughter, begun by Stephanie West Allen of Denver, CO, US

The Lord Mayor's Show -- London, England (originally "The Lord Mayor's Day," according to the official website this show has marched, floated, trotted, and occasionally fought through almost 800 years of London history, making it one of the oldest civic pageants in the world)

National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week -- US (remembering those who have little or nothing during the upcoming holiday celebrations, and making time to share our bounty with them; through the 22nd)
     co-sponsors National Coalition for the Homeless and National Student Campaign Against Hunger & Homelessness 

National Spicy Guacamole Day -- as opposed to National Guacamole Day back in September 

National Pickle Day/Pickle Appreciation Day

National Teddy Bear Day -- US (anniversary of the day in 1902 that Theodore Roosevelt refused to shoot a cornered and tied bear, because it was unsportsmanlike)

Operating Room Nurse Day -- US, but feel free to celebrate those dedicated nurses around the world

Readjustment Movement's Day -- Guinea-Bissau

Spirit of NSA Day -- members of the National Speakers Association are encouraged to focus on giving back and mentoring 

St. Dubricus' Day (the saint who crowned King Arthur)

St. Lawrence O'Toole's Day (Patron of the Archdiocese of Dublin, Ireland)

Works Getting Into Championships -- Fairy Calendar (Gremlins)

World Diabetes Day -- UN (learn more about diabetes here)


Anniversaries Today:

Princess Anne of the UK marries Captain Mark Phillips, 1973


Birthdays Today:

Joseph "Run" Simmons, 1964
Laura San Giacomo, 1962
D.B. Sweeney, 1961
Condoleezza Rice, 1954
Yanni, 1954
Prince Charles, 1948
King Hussein of Jordan, 1935
McLean Stevenson, 1929
Boutros Boutros-Ghali, 1922
Brian Keith, 1921
Veronica Lake, 1919
Barbara Hutton, 1912
Rosemary DeCamp, 1910
Joseph McCarthy, 1909
Harrison Salisbury, 1908
William Steig, 1907
Louise Brooks, 1906
Dick Powell, 1904
Aaron Copland, 1900
Mamie Dowd Eisenhower, 1896
Jawaharlal Nehru, 1889
Claude Monet, 1840
Robert Fulton, 1765


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Black or White"(Music video), 1991
"Murphy Brown"(TV), 1988
"Good Evening"(Revue), 1973
"Der Tapfere Soldat/The Chocolate Soldier"(Operetta), 1908
"The Girl of the Golden West"(Play), 1905


Today in History:

Conquistadors from Spain under the leadership of Francisco Pizarro arrive in Cajamarca, Inca empire, 1533
Samuel Pepys reports on the first blood transfusion (between dogs), 1666
Loius Timothee is hired in Philadelphia to be the first professional librarian in the US, 1732
Captain George Vancouver is the first Englishman to enter San Francisco Bay, 1792
John Mason debuts the first horse-drawn streetcar in NYC, with a route between Prince and 14th on 4th Ave., 1832
Herman Melville publishes "Moby Dick", 1851
The St. Andrews Golf Club, in Yonkers, NY, opens with 6 holes, 1888
New York World reporter Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cochrane) began her attempt to surpass fictitious journey of Jules Verne's Phileas Fogg by traveling around world in less than 80 days; She succeeded, finishing the trip in January in 72 days and 6 hours, 1889
Albert Einstein presents his quantum theory of light, 1908
The first airplane flight from the deck of a ship takes place in Norfolk, Virginia, 1910
The BBC begins radio service in the United Kingdom, 1922
The first regular UK singles chart published by the New Musical Express, 1952
NASA launches Apollo 12, the second manned mission to the surface of the Moon, 1969
After German reunification, the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Poland sign a treaty confirming the Oder-Neisse line as the border between Germany and Poland, 1990
The last direct-current electrical distribution system in the United States is shut down in New York City by Con Edison, 2007
Scientists discovery the closest known rogue planet to Earth, about 100 light years away, 2012