Oh, The Places We Go (Ten Things of Thankful)

It's time again to join up with Ms. Josie, the hostess of Ten Things of Thankful, and remember that we have blessings galore. 

It's been a busy week, and i've been a lot of places.  Sweetie has been a lot of places, too.  While i do hate the fact that we seem to spend lifetimes in our vehicles, i am thankful that these places exist for us to go to them, and have goods or services we need when we get there.

One stop was the Post Office, to mail a book to a friend.  Many and loud are the complaints people have about post offices, but i have no complaints.  Not only was i served with a smile, there was almost no wait, and the very nice lady behind the counter pointed me toward a cheaper option that would get the book there just as well as the more expensive one.  Score one for the Post Office!

This past weekend, the home team played football here and Little Girl was unable to procure the programs for the game.  (Each of the children has a collection of programs from many seasons.).  Sweetie called someone at the university that he knew when he worked there, and he went to the media services office where they gave him several programs for free!  It isn't always easy with the traffic to get to the university and i'm sorry he had to make a special trip, yet i am grateful they have a media services department and are willing to help out in cases like this.

There's something to be said for Big Box Stores.  Fuss about them all you want, when you absolutely have to have something in a hurry and in a large quantity, they are fabulous.  While i don't always like the long lines, either, this week one of them proved invaluable.

There's also even more to be said for the MomAndPop Store near here.  It's convenient, has our favorite sandwich bread at a great price, and gives Sweetie someplace to go when he just wants to get out of the house and run an errand.  Sometimes i am most thankful to have an errand to send him on.

Hair salons are not always the first place i think of when i think of services for which i am thankful.  When it comes to hair cutting, however, if you want me to do it, you probably just don't care how you look, so i am glad they exist and there's a great one near here that does an excellent job.  (Not for me, for family.  My hair has not been cut since 1994.)

Don't like going to the bank?  Our bank is a credit union, and they make it easy to like being there.  When i get paid with checks, which is often, it's so nice to see a smiling face that's willing to deposit it for me, no problems.

Pet stores, especially those with decently priced leashes, are great places.  Since i have grand-dogs that visit so regularly, and that are not brought with leashes or collars or anything else, i am grateful i was able to get what i needed at a local store.

On that topic of pets, there are pet shelters that are great to visit, and volunteer at, also.  If you don't believe me, find one in your area and check it out, i think you will realize it feels great to help our animal friends.

Coffee shops are lovely to visit when you just need a bit of time away from the house.  It's not too expensive to get a simple cup of coffee, mostly what i am buying when i go is time to use the internet and breathe a different atmosphere.

Convenience stores and their attached gas pumps may not be glamorous, but i am grateful we have several nearby.  It would be worse to have to be on the road so much and have to travel a long distance for fuel.

Then there is my favorite place to go every week, and that is to church.  It's refreshing to my spirit and brings me much joy.

Do you have places you go, whether often or on occasion, for which you are very thankful?  Places that provide goods and services you need, even if they aren't very glamorous?  Share them, or any other list of thankfuls, in the comments here, or better yet on your blog, then link up with Ten Things of Thankful.  It's a feel good exercise you won't regret.

Today is:

Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta -- Albuquerque, NM, US ("Where Dreams Take Flight" for 9 days of fun)

Apple Butter Festival -- Berkeley Springs, WV, US (simmering spicy apple butter in copper kettles in the town square, plus lots more; through tomorrow)

Bathtub Day -- can't confirm this one, but it's as good a day as any to be glad you have one!

Blessing of the Fishing Fleet -- Jetty #2, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town, South Africa (a festival, and Portuguese food, and a blessing tomorrow from the local Catholic Archbishop)

BOL Foundation Day -- Laos

Chowder Days/Chowderfest -- Mystic Seaport, Mystic, CT, US (a beautiful, and delicious, riverfront festival featuring seven kinds of New England Chowders; through Monday)

Cohocton Fall Foliage Festival -- Cohocton, NY, US (with the world famous tree-sitting contest; through tomorrow)

Feast Day of Ma'at -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Fell's Point Fun Festival -- Baltimore, MD, US (a festival in Baltimore's original seaport; through tomorrow)

Festival of the Deerk Toes -- Fairy Calendar (celebrating the toes on a fairy's "deerk", for which there is no human equivalent)

Harvest Celebration -- Billings Farm, Woodstock, VT, US ('tis the season, especially for apple cider and lots of pumpkins; through tomorrow)

If At First You Don't Succeed Day -- in honor of Frank Sinatra, whose CBS-TV musical variety show debuted on this day in 1950; it and the other two shows that followed didn't succeed, but he never gave up and had a great carreer

Inter-American Water Day -- begun in 1992 by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Inter-American Association of Sanitary and Environmental Engineering (AIDIS) and the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association (CWWA) 

International Frugal Fun Day -- created by Shel Horowitz, author of The Penny-Pinching Hedonist; some of his ideas for how to celebrate are here 

Issaquah Salmon Days Festival -- Issaquah, WA, US (celebrates the return of the spawning salmon to the hatchery; through tomorrow)

Kentucky Apple Festival -- Paintsville, KY (apples, music, arts and crafts, antique cars, rides, food, and fun; through tomorrow)

Knox County Scenic Drive -- Knox County, IL, US (drive through up to 100 miles of scenic rural Spoon River Valley, with attractions at every stop; this weekend and next)

Lepanto Day -- Greece

Marching Band Festival -- Blinn College, Brenham, TX, US (if you love marching bands, this is the place to be; 42nd annual, 36 high school bands participating, 3,500+ musicians, and a special performance by the Blinn College Buccaneer Band as well)

Morro Bay Harbor Festival -- Morro Bay, CA, US (a working waterfront at play; through tomorrow)

Nagasaki Kunchi -- Nagasaki, Japan (harvest festival, through the 9th)

National Apple Harvest Festival -- Gettysburg, PA, US (this weekend and next)

National Flower Day -- US (anniversary of President Reagan signing the bill, in 1986, that made the rose the US National Flower)

National Frappe Day

Nones of October -- Ancient Roman Calendar; other observances

    Festival of Juno Cutitis and Jupiter Fulgor

    Victoria, Lady of Victories Day a/k/a Pallas Athena -- also celebrated by the Ancient Greeks

Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary -- Catholic Christian

Oyster Festival -- Chincoteague Island, VA, US (oysters served almost every way imaginable, all you can eat!)

Sedona Arts Festival -- Sedona, AZ, US (celebration of visual, performing, and culinary arts, with proceeds going to student art programs and scholarships; through tomorrow)

Shaker Village Harvest Festival -- Sabbathday Lake Shaker Village, New Gloucester, ME, US (with free demonstrations and paid workshops and events)

Spoon River Valley Scenic Drive -- Fulton County, IL, US (15 villages participate in arts and crafts, antiques, collectibles, demonstrations, and showing off the beauty of the fall foliage; through tomorrow and again next Saturday and Sunday)

St. Justina of Padua's Day (Patron of Padua, Italy; Santa Giustina, Italy)

Try To Start An Argument Over Which Is the Best Muppet Day -- Kermit, hands down (argue below, if you wish)(Possibly started by the International Association of People without a Life)

Vermont Apple Festival -- Springfield, VT, US (family fun, farm animals, food, farmer's market, crafts, and apples; a true family oriented event held at Riverside Middle School)

Woofstock -- Wichita, KS, US (celebrate peace, love and pets; bring your pup and participate as all proceeds go to the Kansas Humane Society)

World Card Making Day -- Paper Crafts Magazine started it all in 2006 and suggests you have fun and make a card or two or three on the first Saturday of October each year

You Matter To Me Day -- because the phrase "you matter to me" can make a profound difference in someone's life 

Anniversaries Today:

Larry King married Julie Alexander, 1989

Dow Jones makes the first report, in the Wall Street Journal, of an average of the prices of 12 industrial stocks, 1896

Birthdays Today:

Toni Braxton, 1967

Simon Cowell, 1959

Michael W. Smith, 1957

Yo-Yo Ma, 1955

Vladimir Putin, 1952

John Cougar Mellencamp, 1951

Joy Behar, 1943

Charles Dutoit, 1936

Thomas Keneally, 1935

Amiri Baraka, 1934

Bishop Desmond Tutu, 1931

Al Martino, 1927

R. D. Laing, 1927

June Allyson, 1917

Vaughn Monroe, 1911

Andy Devine, 1905

Niels Bohr, 1885

Thomas J. Wise, 1859

James Whitcomb Riley, 1849

Caesar Rodney, 1728(O.S. date)

Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Independent(Newspaper, first issue), 1986

"Cats"(Musical), 1982

"Route 66"(TV), 1960

"Your Hit Parade"(TV), 1950

"One Touch of Venus"(Musical), 1943

"Eve of St. Mark"(Play), 1942

Today in History:

The epoch of the modern Hebrew calendar (Proleptic Julian calendar), BC3761

The first public burning of books in Louvain, Netherlands, 1520

Ralph Wedgewood patents carbon paper in London, 1806

The first chartered railway in the US, the Granite Railway, begins operations, 1826

Spain abolishes slavery in Cuba, 1886

Henry Ford institutes the moving assembly line, 1913

Georgia Tech defeats Cumberland college in the infamous 222-0 football game, 1916

160 consecutive days of 100*F+ temperatures begin at Marble Bar, Australia, 1924

Beat poet Allen Ginsberg reads his poem "Howl" for the first time at a poetry reading in San Francisco, 1955

U.S.S.R. probe Luna 3 transmits first ever photographs of the far side of the moon, 1959

Nigeria joins the United Nations, 1960

Oman joins the United Nations, 1971

Cats opens on Broadway and begins a run of nearly 18 years, 1982 

The Great Flood of 1993 ends at St. Louis, Missouri, 103 days after it began, 1993

Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming, is found tied to a fence after being savagely beaten, 1998

The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan begins, 2001

A Southampton University research fellow discovers a long lost Antonio Vivaldi flute concerto at the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh, 2010