Awww Monday: Newest Family Member

Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.

Join us every Monday for Awww...Mondays.  Post a picture that makes you say Awww... and that it.

Make sure you get the code from Sandee's site, linked above, and leave a link to your post so we can visit you.  What better way to start the week than with a smile!

Little Girl has given me another granddog:

Bailey, an Australian cattle dog!

Today is:

Always Live Better Than Yesterday Day

Cotton Candy Day

Feast of St. Ignatius Loyola -- (Founder of the Jesuits, especially revered in Spain; Patron of retreats, soldiers, and the Society of Jesus which he founded; Basque country; Bilbao, Spain; Bizkaia, Spain; Gipuzkoa, Spain; Guipuscoa, Spain; Guipúzcoa, Spain; Spiritual Exercises (by Pope Pius XI); Vizcaya, Spain)

Hachinohe Sansha Taisai -- Hachinohe City, Japan (one of the most elaborate neputa festivals, through Aug. 4)

Jump for Jellybeans Day

Ka Hae Hawai'i Day -- Hawai'i (State Flag Day)

Lammas Eve / Lughnassad Eve

Lithasblot -- Norse harvest festival with a "blot", or offering, to the gods, celebrated through tomorrow

Loki and Sigyn's Day - Asatru / Norse Pagan (aka Devoted Couples Day)

Make Homemade Ice Cream and Invite the Neighbors Over Day -- summer's almost over, make the most of the days we have left!

Moby Dick Marathon -- aboard the last US wooden whaler, the Charles W. Morgan, Mystic Seaport, Mystic, CT, US (through tomorrow, from noon to noon, a marathon reading of Moby Dick in honor of Melville's birthday)

Mutts' Day -- because mutts deserve a day as much as purebreeds do!

National Raspberry Cake Day

St. Germanus' Day (Patron of Auxerre, France)

St. Joseph of Arimathea's Day -- Eastern Orthodox Church (Patron of funeral directors)

Tisha B'Av -- Judaism (begins at sundown, through tomorrow; fast in remembrance of the destruction of the First Temple in 586BCE and the Second Temple in 79AD)

Uncommon Instruments Day 

World Ranger Day -- the International Ranger Federation wants us to honor wildlife rangers around the world as they work to protect the world's natural and cultural treasures, and remember those killed in the line of duty 

Birthdays Today

Eric Lively, 1981

Dean Cain, 1966

J.K. Rowling, 1965

Jim Corr, 1964

Wesley Snipes, 1962

Bill Berry, 1958

Michael Biehn, 1956

Barry Van Dyke, 1951

Evonne Goolagong, 1951

Gary Lewis, 1946

Geraldine Chaplin, 1944

Susan Flannery, 1943

France Nuyen, 1939

Ted Cassidy, 1932

Don Murray, 1929

Curt Gowdy, 1919

Milton Friedman, 1912

Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Living Daylights(Film), 1987

"The Shadow"(Radio), 1930

Today in History

Mark Antony achieves a minor victory over Octavian's forces, but most of his army subsequently deserts, leading to his suicide, BC30

The oldest recorded eruption of Mt. Fuji, 781

Thessalonica falls to the Arabs, who destroy the city, 904

The Jews are expelled from Spain when the Alhambra Decree takes effect, 1492

On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus 

becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad, 1498

Aurangzeb is proclaimed Moghul emperor of India, 1658

The Treaty of Breda ends the Second Anglo-Dutch War, 1667

Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers, 1703

The U.S. Second Continental Congress passes a resolution that the services of Marquis de Lafayette  "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States," 1777

First U.S. patent is issued to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process, 1790

Christchurch, New Zealand is chartered as a city, 1856

The first narrow gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Australia, 1865

The radio mystery program The Shadow is aired for the first time, 1930

Archaeologists discover engraved gold and silver plates from King Darius in Persepolis, 1938

First ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio, 1954

At Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, the first All-Star Game tie in major league baseball history occurs when the game is stopped in the 9th inning because of rain, 1961

The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy, 1970

Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover, 1971

NASA releases the famous Face on Mars photo, 1976

A rare, class F4 tornado rips through Edmonton, Alberta, killing 27 people and causing $330 million in damage, 1987

Georgia joins the United Nations, 1992

Fidel Castro hands over power temporarily to brother Raúl Castro, 2006

Operation Banner, the presence of the British Army in Northern Ireland, and the longest-running British Army operation ever, comes to an end, 2007

U.S. Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps wins a record 19th Olympic medal, with gold in the 4x200metres freestyle relay, 2012

Silly Sunday: Cleaning Up

Silly Sunday is hosted by Sandee, of Comedy Plus.

Silly Sunday is the place to come for weekly laughs.  The rules are simple, just have fun.

This is a great opportunity to get to know other bloggers and have a laugh or two in the process.

Here is how it works: Laugh and Link Up!

When i got to Grandma and Grandpa's house yesterday, Grandma said, "I want you to clean my house!  My cleaning lady didn't come this past week."

So i grabbed some of her cleaners and set to work.  Uncle P and Ms. Eva, the newlyweds, came over and helped.

After stripping the beds and getting the wash going, Grandma said something about guests, so i asked if we were cleaning for a party.

"Yes," she answered.  "The choir is coming over Monday evening."

That, of course, explained why she was so upset about the cleaning lady not coming.  Her house is clean now, even the inside of her toothbrush holder and the built in soap dishes over the tubs.  Her cleaning lady never gets those.

Clothile done be fussin' at Boudreaux.  Dey be expectin' comp'ny an' she want him to he'p clean.

"Why we don' jes' tell de comp'ny to wear dark clothes an' bring low expectations?" Boudreaux ax.

"Jes' tell de boss you need to he'p me clean!" Clothile say, so Boudreaux he call his boss.

"Pierre, I gots me a problem," Boudreaux say on de phone to de boss.

"What be wrong?" Pierre ax.

"Well, we be havin' comp'ny comin', an' Clothile be up in arms, an' she want me to be here tomorrow to pick up de couch so she can sweep under, an' he'p wit' de heavy cleanin' an' all dat," Boudraux say.

Pierre say, "I be sorry, Boudreaux, but we be short by two men tomorrow already, I cain't let you have de day off."

An' Boudreaux say, "Mais, boss, I knew I could count on you!"

Today is:

Dia del Amigo -- Paraguay

Father-in-Law Day -- unsponsored and unclaimed, but fathers-in-law deserve respect, too

Feast of the Throne -- Morocco; Western Sahara

Festival of Domhnach Chrom Dubh -- Ireland (Black Chrom's Sunday, associated with the god Lugh and connected to the festival of Lammas; also connected to John Barleycorn, the personification of the grain, who is killed by being harvested at this time; many honor St. Patrick's Fast by making a pilgrimage to Croagh Patrick, where he fasted until he overcame the pagan deity Crom Cruach [Crom of the Reek])

Festival of Fortuna Huiusque Diei -- Ancient Roman Calendar ("Fortune of the Present Day")

Friendship Day/International Day of Friendship -- UN

Herbal Ballooning -- Fairy Calendar

Heyannir month commences -- Icelandic Calendar (Harvest Month, literally translates "Hay Working")

Independence Day -- Vanuatu(1980)

Kronia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival of Kronos as god of the harvest)

Martyr's Day -- South Sudan

National Cheesecake Day

National Support Public Education Day -- Change.org wants this to be an official day for support of US public education systems

National Tree Day -- Australia

Paperback Day -- anniversary of the 1935 publication of Penguin #1, Arial, A Life of Shelley, by Andre Maurois in London, the first successful series of paperback books

Procession of the Penitents -- Veurne, Belgium (passion play dating back to the 15th century)

Sts. Abdon and Sennen's Day (Patrons of barrel makers and coopers; the ashes of ferns cut and burned on this day will keep away insects and unwanted guests)

Sumiyoshi Matsuri -- Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine, Osaka, Japan (Osaka's last major summer festival, through Aug. 1)

Valencia Fair Battle of the Flowers -- Valencia, spain (conclusion and highlight of the Valencia Fair, with a parade and thousands of carnations thrown from floats, making a magical carpet of petals for all to enjoy)

Anniversaries Today

Zara Anne Elizabeth Phillips, granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II, marries Michael Tindall, 2011

Birthdays Today

Hope Solo, 1981

Jaime Pressly, 1977

Misty May-Treanor, 1977

Hilary Swank, 1974

Tom Green, 1971

Simon Baker, 1969

Vivica A. Fox, 1964

Lisa Kudrow, 1963

Alton Brown, 1962

Laurence Fishburne, 1961

Kate Bush, 1958

Delta Burke, 1956

Ken Olin, 1954

Jean Reno, 1948

Arnold Schwarzenegger, 1947

William Atherton, 1947

David Sanborn, 1945

Paul Anka, 1941

Peter Bogdanovich, 1939

Buddy Guy, 1936

Allan Huber “Bud” Selig, 1934

Edd "Kookie" Byrnes, 1933

Thomas Sowell, 1930

Sid Krofft, 1929

Christine McGuire, 1926

Henry W. Bloch, 1922

Henry Spencer Moore, 1898

Casey Stengel, 1891

Henry Ford, 1863

Thorstein Bunde Veblen, 1857

Georg Wilhelm von Siemens, 1855

Emily Bronte, 1818

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Santa Barbara"(TV), 1984

"Death Valley Days"(Radio), 1930

Today in History

City of Baghdad is founded, 762

The First Defenestration of Prague, 1419

Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras during his fourth voyage, 1502

At Ticonderoga (now Crown Point, New York), Samuel de Champlain shoots and kills two Iroquois chiefs, which set the tone for French-Iroquois relations for the next one hundred years, 1608

In Jamestown, Virginia, the first European style representative assembly in the Americas, the House of Burgesses, convenes for the first time, 1619

An earthquake in Naples, Italy kills 10,000 people, 1629

Baltimore, Maryland is founded, 1729

Bartolomeo Rastrelli presents the newly-built Catherine Palace to Empress Elizabeth and her courtiers, 1756

First ascent of Grand Combin, one of the highest summits in the Alps,1859

Chief Pocatello of the Shoshone tribe signs the Treaty of Box Elder, agreeing to stop the harassment of emigrant trails in southern Idaho and northern Utah, 1863

In Montevideo, Uruguay wins the first Football World Cup, 1930

Premiere of Walt Disney's Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon short to use Technicolor and the first Academy Award winning cartoon short, 1932

A joint resolution of the U.S. Congress is signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, authorizing In God We Trust as the U.S. national motto, 1956

US President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Social Security Act of 1965 into law, establishing Medicare and Medicaid, 1965

David Scott and James Irwin on Apollo Lunar Module module, Falcon, land with first Lunar Rover on the moon, 1971

Six Royal Canadian Army Cadets are killed and fifty-four injured in an accidental grenade blast at CFB Valcartier Cadet Camp, 1974

Jimmy Hoffa disappears, 1975

In Mexico, the last 'old style' Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the assembly line, 2003
Israel and Palestinian officials agree to resume negotiations for a peace agreement, 2013

The Shape of Things

This week, the shape of things has come to mind in composing my list of thankfuls.

Round standard analog clock faces make me thankful that i taught my children to read standard clocks, and that i have standard clocks here.  At my annual check-up every year, one thing my doctor has me do is draw a clock with the hands pointing to three o'clock.  (One sign of dementia/Alzheimers is you can't remember how to properly draw a clock.)  When i asked him what he would do with a young patient who had never had to bother learning an analog clock face, and he showed me a pair of interlocking pentagons that are an alternative.  My children should be able to use the standard clock face.

Cylinders full of cold liquid make me grateful on hot summer days.  It's especially nice when the liquid is pineapple-coconut juice Grandma bought me.

The rectangular shapes of windows make me thankful for the light they let in, and the view they afford.

Make those rectangles three-dimensional and i am reminded of our garbage and recycling bins.  There are some places where trash pick-up is expensive, or complicated, or even non-existent.  We get the standard garbage can picked up from in front of our house twice a week, a recycle bin picked up once a week, yard waste and other trash picked up once a week, and we can even throw away up to 4 tires and one white goods item (refrigerator/washer/dryer/dishwasher/etc.) each year at no extra charge, picked up where we can pile up yard waste.  When i imagine what would happen around here if i had to haul my own stuff to the dump, i am beyond thankful that we have such a great service here for a low monthly fee collected with the water bill.

Flower shapes in many colors and varieties make me grateful for the beauty and joy they add to my life.

Cat shapes of all sizes make me happy and frustrate me and keep me on my toes, and i am so thankful i have cats in my life.

When some of the men in my life look at automobiles, they see makes, models and years.  When i look, all i can identify are the shapes: sedan, SUV, minivan, big van, truck, sports car.  No matter the shape, though, i am very thankful for our vehicles that get us where we need to go.

The shape and size of a vase matters, especially when Sweetie accidentally knocks one off a shelf when we are cleaning a house.  Finding one of the same size and shape and near the same color and design, and having Ms. GA be perfectly happy with it is nearly a miracle, especially since it was at a place that only sells to retailers and they knew Sweetie was desperate and one person in line used his license to let us buy it.  You know i am thankful they still make that shape vase and over the moon grateful to the person who was willing to help and the cashier who looked the other way as he did.

Tube shapes full of insecticide might seem a strange thing to be thankful for, until you live down where the ugh! bugs run rampant (some called them palmetto bugs and i don't like to say their name).  Trust me when i say that i am thankful for #1 Son finding a product online that comes in a tube and kills those suckers within 20 minutes.

Finally, i am thankful for houses of every shape and design and variety that i clean to make a living.

The final shape of things is that i am very, very thankful for the shapes in my life, and the shape my life is in.

Get your own thankfulness muscles in shape by coming up with a list of thankful things and linking up to Ten Things of Thankful.  No one will count and fuss if you don't list ten, any amount of gratitude is acceptable and celebrated.

Today is:

Carousel Day -- Johnson City, NY, US (Kids won't want to miss all the fun at this family event, and grown-ups, come be a kid again for a day!)

Cheese Sacrifice Purchase Day (Buy your cheese that will be sacrificed on Cheese Sacrifice Day, and no, I never have found out why there is a Cheese Sacrifice Day anyway or to whom you are supposed to sacrifice it.)*

Chicken Wings Day -- Buffalo, NY, US (they want it to be a national day, and maybe someday it will be)

Cowes Week begins -- Cowes, Isle of Wight, UK (the largest, longest-running and most prestigious international sailing regatta in the world; through August 5)

Feast of St. Martha, Virgin, Dragon Charmer, Sister of Lazarus (Patron of butlers, cooks, dieticians, domestic servants, homemakers, hotel keepers, housemaids, housewives, inkeepers, laundry workers, maids, manservants, servants, servers, single laywomen, travellers; Villajoyosa, Spain, which village she saved on her feast day by sending a flash flood to wash away the Moorish invaders in 1538)

Fiesta de Santa Maria Ribarteme (a/k/a Festival of Near Death Experiences) -- As Neves, Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain (festival of Mary in which those who have come back from near death are carried to the shrine in open coffins, or walk there clad in shrouds)

Hanover Dutch Festival -- Hanover, PA, US (celebrating the area and it's heritage)

International Tiger Day

NASA Day -- marking the day President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act into law, creating NASA

National Anthem Day -- Romania

National Dance Day -- US (begun by Nigel Lythgoe, now a congressionally recognized day to encourage dance education and physical fitness, so go out and bust a move on a Saturday night, but don't bust you, please)

National Lasagna Day

National Thai Language Day -- Thailand (Wan Phasa Thai Haeng Chat)

"Paddle for Perthes" Disease Awareness Day -- to promote awareness of the children's condition called Legg-Calve-Perthes disease 

Photograph Your Children When They're Not Looking Day -- get a good, candid shot to enjoy

Quilt Exhibition -- Billings Farm, Woodstock, VT, US (a juried show, demonstrations and other activities; through Sept. 17)

Rain Day Festival -- Waynesburg, Pennsylvania (yes, it has rained at 114 out of the 143 observances of this festival on this date) 

Runic Half-Month Thorn begins (defense)

St. Lazarus' Day -- date given in the Martyrologium Romanum; celebrated on Lazarus Saturday by most Eastern Churches and on Dec. 17 in most Western Churches

St. Olaf's (Olav) Day (Norway's Viking king; pPtron of carvers, difficult marriages, kings; Norway)related observances

     Olavsokadagur -- Faroe Islands (opening of Logting, or Parliament; a National Day, on the Feast Day of St. Olav)

     Oslok Eve -- Norway (celebrating the valiant death of their hero on this evening at the battle at Stiklestadt in 1030)

     sometimes associated with Thor's Day among the Norse and Thunor of the Anglo-Saxons

Sumidagawa River Fireworks Festival -- Tokyo, Japan (one of Japan's largest fireworks festivals, held almost every year since 1733, making it also one of the world's oldest continuously held fireworks displays)

Taylor Horse Fest -- Taylor, ND, US (big enough to be fun, small enough to get you lots of time with the stars of the show, the horses! through tomorrow)

Territory Day -- Wallis and Futuna

*"A cheese may disappoint. It may be dull, it may be naive, it may be oversophisticated. Yet it remains cheese, milk's leap toward immortality." Clifton Fadiman

Anniversaries Today

Andy Taylor marries Tracey Wilson, 1982

Charles, Prince of Wales, marries Lady Diana Spencer, 1981

Mary, Queen of Scots, marries Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, 1565

Birthdays Today

Danger Mouse, 1977

Josh Radnor, 1974

Wanya Morris, 1973

Wil Wheaton, 1972

Julian McMahon, 1968

Martina McBride, 1966

Alexandra Paul, 1963

Patty Scialfa, 1956

Ken Burns, 1953

Tim Gunn, 1953

Marilyn Quayle, 1949

David Warner, 1941

Peter Jennings, 1938

Elizabeth Dole, 1936

Paul Taylor, 1930

Chester Bomar Himes, 1909

Melvin Belli, 1907

Clara Bow, 1905

Dag Hammarskjold, 1905

Stanley Kunitz, 1905

Benito Mussolini, 1883

Newton Booth Tarkington, 1869

Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt, 1861

Alexis de Tocqueville, 1805

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Friday Night Videos"(TV), 1983

Help(Film), 1965

"Steamboat Willie"(Animated short, first appearance of Mickey Mouse), 1928

Today in History

King Olaf II fights and dies trying to regain his Norwegian throne from the Danes, 1030

James VI is crowned King of Scotland at Stirling, 1567

English naval forces under command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake defeat the Spanish Armada off the coast of Gravelines, France, 1588

John Graves Simcoe decides to build a fort and settlement at Toronto, having sailed into the bay there, 1793

Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, 1836

In Tipperary, an unsuccessful nationalist revolt against British rule is put down by police, 1848

The First Hague Convention is signed, 1899

Sir Robert Baden Powell sets up the Brownsea Island Scout camp in Poole Harbour on the south coast of England; this is regarded as the foundation of the Scouting movement, 1907

The International Atomic Energy Agency is established, 1957

British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President of France François Mitterrand sign the agreement to build a tunnel under the English Channel, 1987

The film Cry Freedom is seized by South African authorities, 1988

Astronomers announce the discovery of Eris, the largest dwarf planet in the solar system, 2005

South Sudan becomes the 54th member of the African Union, 2011

Scientists reveal new research identifying a mechanism by which Earth-warming carbon is pulled deep into the Southern Ocean, and locked away, and scientists claim this process may be threatened by climate change, 2012