Complimentary

Rory Bore at Ink Interrupted hosts the Tuesday Coffee Chat, and this week she asks the question, What is the best compliment you've received         lately?

There hasn't been much in the compliment department           lately.

This past Sunday was the "gender reveal" party for Red-headed Alec and his fiancee, Sweet Sue.  (It's a boy, for those who are wondering, and since they are both red-heads, he will likely be another.  It's a good thing we love our gingers.)  At the party, i splashed a bit of water out of my cup playing too vigorously with one of the many children in attendance, and she ran to get a towel from her mother to clean it.  When asked by her mother who had spilled the water, she said, "The girl with the gray hair!"  Yes, i'm short, and that description amused me, but i don't really consider it a compliment.  Especially when her cousin, about an hour later, asked my age.  When i told him that i'm 53, he said, "I thought you were at least 63!"  Kids!

Yet i still had to laugh, especially when the mother of the first girl said, "Everyone shorter than me is a kid and needs to go play outside for a while."  When i looked at her with a grin, she stepped back and said, "You know who I mean, all you children, out!"

These interactions occurred about two hours after Sweetie and i were cleaning the church.  While throwing away donut boxes, we discussed who has the best donuts in town with Chester, one of the sextons.  He noted that he finds Krispy Kreme donuts to be too sweet, and my darling husband answered with, "Well, I could use a little sweet in my life!"

Thanks a lot, honey.

It's a good thing i have a sense of humor.

The closest thing to a compliment i can think of in the past several weeks is when i was helping a friend clean her house so it can be appraised.  When i asked her what she wanted done first, she said, "Well, you're the professional, you tell me where we should start."

It's nice to be thought of as a professional, even if all i am is a janitor/housekeeper.

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And now, a bit of random news from around here, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked.  

#2 Son and Daughter-in-Law Becky left Pepe the Chihuahua, my grand-dog, here for me to dog-sit for the week.  (They, along with Little Girl, Uncle J, Bryn, and Dre are having their week on vacation, compliments of Grandpa; our week is next week.)  

They left him with no leash, no carrier, none of his supplements nor his heartworm preventive, and no instructions on how much to feed him.  Upon opening the bag of very expensive grain-free dog food, i realized he must need half a cup a day because the half cup measure that i've been missing for months was inside there.  

Yes, they can keep it.  The things we do for the grand-dog, right?

Pepe has been very good, running from the cats, refusing to eat unless i feed him outdoors away from the felines and hold the food in my hand, trying to run after the other dogs in the neighborhood (most of which could eat him in two bites), and doing his business in the back hall just like when he lived here before.  There's nothing like coming back to a familiar place and picking up all the old, familiar habits, is there?

Our window A/C units are working well so far.  Of course, it's been cloudy or raining every day since forever.  If we ever get some hot, sunny weather, we will have a real test for them.  If.

When i came back from visiting Grandma and Grandpa in NOLA this past Saturday, i got into the Jalopy to find that her driver's side rear turn signal was burned out.  The plan was to go get that taken care of today, before taking the other three cats that haven't had their yearly checkup (and Pepe) to the vet.  Somehow, though, i was driving past Kevin and Lenny's place about a half hour before closing yesterday, and i decided to pull in.  There wasn't a customer in the place, and the guys were sitting in the back, bored.  It took under ten minutes, and now i have one thing off the plate for today, which is good.

The cats that are going to the vet today are the three that go nuts and won't take medicine, Mikey, EnigmaSissy, and Link.  None of us are looking forward to it.

That's about all the news right now, i hope all of you are having a beautiful Tuesday!

Today is:

Bonza Bottler Day™

Children's Day -- North Korea

D-Day -- 73rd Anniversary

Drive-In Movie Day*

Helicopter Day -- the first one was tested in Berlin on this day in 1936

Hyun Choong Il -- South Korea (Memorial Day)

Judgement Day -- Fairy Calendar (Petal Hats)

National Applesauce Cake Day

Nationaldagen -- Sweden (National Day)

National Gardening Exercise Day -- because gardening is good for the body and soul

National Huntington's Disease Awareness Day -- US

National Yo-Yo Day -- Donald F. Duncan, Sr.'s, birth anniversary; go get out your old Duncan and see if you still remember how to go around the world (but not near Great Aunt Mabel's antique lamp she left you, please)

Russian Language Day -- UN

Stevenson Depot Days -- Stevenson, AL, US (bringing back the days when the Iron Horse of the Rails was king of transportation; through Sunday)

St. Norbert of Xanten's Day (Patron of peace; Bohemia; Madgeburg, Germany; against birth complications)

Teachers' Day -- Bolivia

Birthdays Today:

Staci Keanan, 1975

Max Casella, 1967

Paul Giamatti, 1967

Ena, 1966

Amanda Pays, 1959

Bjorn Borg, 1956

Kenny G, 1956

Sandra Bernhard, 1955

Harvey Fierstein, 1954

Harvey Fierstein, 1952

Robert Englund, 1947

Gary U.S. Bonds, 1939

Marian Wright Edelman, 1939

Billy Whitelaw, 1932

Thomas Mann, 1875

Robert Falcon Scott, 1868

Alexander Pushkin, 1799

Nathan Hale, 1755

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"20/20"(TV), 1978

"Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust"(Album release), 1972

"(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction"(Song release), 1965

Today in History:

Twenty-four wagonloads of Talmudic books are burned in Paris, 1242

The Qing Dynasty Manchu forces led by the Shunzhi Emperor capture Beijing during the collapse of the Ming Dynasty; the Manchus would rule China until 1912 when the Republic of China is established, 1644

The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, England, opens as the world's first university  museum, 1683

A devastating fire destroys one-third of Moscow, including 18,000 homes, 1752

Napoleon's brother, Joseph Bonaparte is crowned King of Spain, 1808

The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) is founded in London, 1844

More than 100,000 inhabitants of Bombay are killed as a cyclone in the Arabian Sea pushes huge waves into the harbour, 1882

The eruption of Novarupta in Alaska begins, the second largest volcanic eruption of the 20th century, 1912

The Chrysler Corporation  is founded by Walter Percy Chrysler, 1925

*The first drive-in theater opens, in Camden, New Jersey, United States, 1933

A new Instrument of Government is promulgated making Sweden a parliamentary monarchy, 1974

Mongolia  holds its first direct presidential elections, 1993

A near-Earth asteroid estimated at 10 meters diameter explodes over the Mediterranean Sea between Greece and Libya with an estimated force slightly greater than the Nagasaki nuclear bomb, 2002

Tamil is established as a Classical Language in India, 2004

In east London, archeologists find remains of the Curtain Theatre, which opened in 1577 and was where some of Shakespeare's plays were performed, 2012

A solar plane, called The Solar Impulse, lands in Morocco after completing the world's first intercontinental flight powered by the Sun, 2012