Thankfulness Post

It worked last week, so i want to try again to post ten things for which i am thankful.

Heating pads top the list right now, specifically the ones i find at CVS that are the lowest priced models without the auto shut off feature.  That auto shut off probably saves some people a world of trouble, but when you need it to stay on all night, it's nice to not have to get up every two hours and turn it back on.  My sore muscles are thankful to soak in the heat at this moment.

Pepe is sitting in my lap right now, keeping it warm.  He is a source of fun and snuggles and even a laugh when he asks to go out, takes one disgusted look at the rain, and runs right back to the front door.  He got his heartworm test this week, and it was negative, hooray!

This week i had a breakthrough with two of the critters at places where i clean, and i'm thankful and honored.  One was Choco the dog, who was rescued from a severe abuse situation.  She let me pet her head, and allowed me to take her outside, neither of which she would have done just a month ago.  The other is Puff the semi-feral kitten, who has decided since i give treats i may now give him a scritch once in a while.

The plans for a short get-away next month are moving along nicely, and i'm very thankful for that.  It means double work in the days before i leave, but it's worth it.

We had a showcase of all the volunteer opportunities at church last Sunday, and some people signed up for rEcess, including volunteering to bring meals!  That means we have enough people to expand and accept more special needs kids into the program, and that we will be able to continue to provide the meal for the volunteers so they don't have to figure out how to have dinner and still get there on time.

The temperatures are staying down right now, and i'm thankful because the longer it stays cool to cold, the longer we get to go without having to turn on the A/C.  (This is probably one i will mention every week until the inevitable swamp heat takes over.)

A friend mentioned avocado toast a while back, and i'm thankful i gave it a try.  It fits all the criterion for food for me, it's cheap, quick, and easy.

This week i overheard one lady whose house i clean when she was on the phone.  She said, "My friend is here cleaning my house."  That's nice, i'm thankful she thinks of me as a friend, since i think of her that way, too.

SissyCat, a/k/a Tripod, went missing for a couple of hours yesterday.  Sweetie was frantic, and i kept telling him that all she had done was pull on her cloak of invisibility (all cats are born with one), that she would show up when she was ready.  She did, and i'm thankful.

Bigger Girl is very busy these days with study and tutoring, so i'm very thankful she took time to just sit and talk to me for a while.

That's it, ten things of thankful.  Write your own, link up, and celebrate gratitude.


Today is:

Celtic Tree Month Nuin (Ash) begins

Clean Out Your Cubby Holes Day -- internet generated, but if you have any cubby holes, give them a look today, make sure nothing is in there you don't want to see

Cold Day in Hell -- snow fell in the Sahara today in 1979

Day of Spenta Armaiti -- Zoroastrian (goddess of earth and fertility, especially celebrated by women; originally on Esfand 5th, which corresponds to 24 February, but is now celebrated on the 18th for reasons i can't figure out)

Festival of Women -- Persian (traditional, it has been kept even among those who are no longer Zoroastrian)

Fly-By for Fairies and Elves -- Fairy Calendar

Independence Day -- Gambia(1965)

La Fiesta de Los Vaqueros and Tucson Rodeo -- Tucson, AZ, US (celebrating the Old West heritage; through Feb. 26)

National Battery Day -- probably created by the battery manufacturers, but they won't claim it

National Crab Stuffed Flounder Day

Pluto Day/Solar System Day -- the planet/planetoid was discovered on this day in 1930, and then considered to "complete" the solar system

Rastraya Prajatantra Dibas -- Nepal (Democracy Day)

Rites of Tacita -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of silence, rites to keep people from speaking out in anger)

Saidai-ji Eyo Hadaka Matsuri -- Saidai-ji, Okayama Prefecture, Japan (Spectacular and atmospheric Naked Festival, dating back to the 14th century, in which a Shinto man strips, is completely shaved, then runs through town while up to 10,000 loincloth-wearing [and sometimes drunk] men try to touch him while guard's throw cold water on them; they also battle for sacred wooden sticks [shingi] tossed into the air by priests.)

St. Bernadette of Lourdes' Day (in France; the remainder of the church celebrates her on 16 April)

St. Fra Angelico's Day (Patron of artists)

Tanigumi Odori -- Tanigumi-mura, Gifu Prefecture, Japan (dance festival)

Thumb Appreciation Day -- your first digit does more than just get mashed when you use a hammer and hit the space bar on your keyboard; take time to appreciate the complexity that is your thumb.

Twin Cities' Krewe of Janus Mardi Gras Parade -- Monroe and West Monroe, LA, US (If you are looking for more family friendly fun than downtown NOLA, stick to parades is the smaller cities, like here!)



Anniversaries Today:

Tommy Lee marries Pamela Andersn, 1995
Ohio State University is chartered as the first US land-grant college, 1804


Birthdays Today:

Jillian Michaels, 1974
Molly Ringwald, 1968
Dr. Dre, 1965
Matt Dillon, 1964
Vanna White, 1957
John Travolta, 1954
Juice Newton, 1952
John Hughes, 1950
Cybill Shedherd, 1950
Andrea Dromm, 1941
Aldo Ceccato, 1934
Yoko Ono, 1933
Milos Forman, 1932
Toni Morrison, 1931
Gahan Wilson, 1930
George Kennedy, 1925
Helen Gurley Brown, 1922
Bill Cullen, 1920
Jack Palance, 1920
Hans Asperger, 1906
Enzo Ferrari, 1898
George "The Gipper" Gipp, 1895
Wendell Lewis Willkie, 1892
Boris Pasternak, 1890
Nikos Kazantzakis, 1883
Sholem Aleichem, 1859
Louis Comfort Tiffany, 1848
Ernst Mach, 1838
George Peabody, 1795
Count Alessandro Volta, 1745
Uesugi Kenshin, 1530 (Japanese samurai and warlord)
Mary I Tudor, 1516
Saint Jadwiga of Poland, 1374


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Roots: Next Generations"(TV Miniseries), 1979
"Any Wednesday"(Play), 1964
"The Telephone, or L'Amour à trois"(Comic Opera), 1947
Trouw(Publication, Dutch Resistance newspaper), 1943
"Simple Simon"(Musical), 1930
"Cities Service Concerts"(Radio), 1925
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn(Publication date), 1885
The Pilgrim's Progress(Publication date), 1678


Today in History:

Origin of the Kali Yuga Epoch ("age of vice" or Dark Age) of the Hindu/Buddhist calendars, BC3102
Jerusalem is taken by Emperor Frederik II, 1229
Amda Seyon I, Emperor of Ethiopia, begins his campaigns in the southern Muslim regions, 1332
Henry Tudor (Henry VIII) created Prince of Wales, 1503
Zeeland falls to Dutch rebels, 1574
John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress is published, 1678
Fort Saint Lewis, Texas, is founded by Frenchmen under LaSalle at Matagorda Bay, the basis for France's claim to Texas, 1685
Quakers conduct their first formal protest of slavery in Germantown, Pennsylvania, 1688
The premiere of George Frideric Handel's oratorio, "Samson" takes place in London, 1743
Trinidad is surrendered to a British fleet under the command of Sir Ralph Abercrombie, 1797
The Detroit Boat Club (still in existence) forms, 1839
The first continuous filibuster in the US Senate begins, lasts until March 11, 1841
The first regular steamboat service to California begins, 1849
A direct telegraph link between Britain and New Zealand is established, 1876
Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is published, 1885
The Cave of Winds at Niagara Falls goes almost dry for the first time in 50 years, 1896
Winston Churchill makes his first speech in the British House of Commons, 1901
H. Cecil Booth patents a dust removing suction cleaner, 1901
The first official flight with air mail takes place in Allahabad, British India, when Henri Pequet delivers 6,500 letters to Naini (a distance of about 10K), 1911
The US and Canada begin formal diplomatic relations, with the appointment of Vincent Massey as the first Canadian ambassador to the US, 1927
The first Academy Awards are announced, 1929
While studying photographs taken in January, Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto, 1930
The first Church of Scientology is established in Los Angeles, California, 1954
The Space Shuttle Enterprise test vehicle is carried on its maiden "flight" on top of a Boeing 747, 1977
Snow falls in the Sahara Desert in southern Algeria for the only time in recorded history, 1979
Dan Jansen skates world record 1000m (1:12.43), 1994
Pope Benedict XVI announces seven new saints - including American saint Kateri Tekakwitha - and appoints 22 new cardinals, 2012