Love to Give, and Sunday Selections

Just because Sandee at Comedy Plus is no longer hosting an official Silly Sunday doesn't mean i'm going to stop posting Cajun jokes about Boudreaux, his family and friends. 

Yesterday i had a lovely day to enjoy, and i got to do one of my favorite things besides nap and read.  It was time for our annual end-of-the-year donations online, where we give to a few charities we particularly like and want to support.  Sweetie and i don't always have much to give, but it brings me joy to throw in our "two mites," so to speak.  You really don't have to be wealthy to make a difference, as little amounts do add up.

One day, de teacher done give de chil'ren to write "What I Would Do With A Million Dollars."

Tee Boudreaux bring up de paper, an' it be blank.  De teacher say, "Tee!  You din't do de essay what I tell you!  You done turn in a blank paper, you din't do nothin'!"

An' Tee say, "Mais, but dat be what I would do if I had me a million dollar, nothin'!"

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Sunday Selections was started as a way for bloggers to use photos that might otherwise just languish in their files.  It has been hosted by River at Drifting Through Life but she is taking a blog break for now.  Elephant's Child is keeping the meme warm for her.

A few pictures i just wanted to post somewhere:

Someone has a sense of humor!

A shirt i saw and liked very much.

Abigail, who lost a back leg, has her own way of sitting on the stairs.

Today is:

Check Your Smoke Alarms Day

Fairy Eve's Year News -- Fairy Calendar

Feast of Sharaf (Honor) -- Baha'i

International Solidarity Day -- Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis worldwide

Kwanzaa, Day 6, Kuumba (Creativity)

Leap Second Adjustment Day -- if a second needs to be added or subtracted to coordinate the atomic and astronimical time, it will be done today, buy the International Earth Rotation Service of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures at Paris, France

Make Up Your Mind Day/Procrastinator's Day -- you have to make up your mind

National Champagne Day

New Year's Eve -- a selection of related observances

     Allendale Tar Barrel Burning/Baal Fire Festival -- Allendale, England (locals burn out the old year by carrying burning tar barrels on their heads, then use them to light one huge bonfire)

     Feast of Father Time -- because he ultimately overcomes us all

     Festival of Yemaya -- Yoruba/Santeria (celebration of the mother of the sun and

moon)

     Fire and Ice New Year's Eve Celebration -- Anchorage, AK (fire jugglers, ice

carvers, fireworks, and more)

     First Night -- a non-alcoholic alternative to New Year's Eve

     Fravartigan -- Parsi Zoroastrian (celebration to honor the dead through the night)

     Gamlarskvold -- Icelandic traditions; cows gain human speech, seals take on

human form, the dead rise, and Elves move house

          obtain gold from the Elves by sitting at a crossroads and waiting for them to pass

          Housewives greet the Elves by reciting the rhyme of protection

              Let those who want to, arrive

              Let those who want to, leave

              Let those who want to, Stay

              Without harm to me or mine

         Light a bonfire, and "blow out the year" with fireworks 

     Harvest Day Celebrations -- Benin (celebration of the end of harvest season at the

turn of the year)

     Hogmanay Day -- Scotland (Auld Year's Night)

     Japanese Observances (a few, at least)

          Joya no Kane -- Japan (ringing out the old year with temple bells; Buddhists believe humans are born with 108 worldly desires which are removed when the bells are rung 108 times)

         Namahge -- Oga Peninsula, Japan (devil appearing holiday; young men dress as demons and run through the town warning children to behave during the coming year)

         Okera Matsuri -- Yasaka Shrine, Kyoto, Japan (Sacred Fire Rite)

         Omisoka Day -- Japan (the second most important day on the Japanese Calendar; tomorrow is the most important)

     Noche de Pedimento -- Oaxaca, Mexico (Night of the Petition)

     Ritual for Iemanja -- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (seaside rituals for the goddess of the sea and carnal pleasure, followed by a swinging party in the city and on the beaches overnight)

     Samoan Fire Dance -- Samoa

     Swinging the Fireballs -- Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, Scotland

     Universal Hour of Peace -- begins at 11:30pm your local time, welcome the New Year with peace

     Watch Night -- Christian

     World Peace Meditation Day (International observance of one hour beginning 12:00 PM GMT, focusing thought and energy on peace.)

No Resolution Day / Ditch the Resolutions Day -- if you don't want to, you don't have to!

Restoration Day -- Geneva, Switzerland

Seventh Day of Christmas

St. Sylvester's Day (Patron of Feroleto Antico, Italy; Poggio Catino, Italy) related observances

     Saint Sylvester's Day Celebrations-- Belgium, Germany, France and Switzerland

     Silvesterklause -- Urnäsch, Switzerland

St. Zoticus of Constantinople's Day (Patron of the poor; often titled Feeder of Orphans)

You're All Done Day -- sponsored by something i haven't been able to pin down online called The Long Haul Committee (and it's more like "all done in" if you are like me!)

Anniversaries Today:

Gregory Peck marries Veronique Passani, 1955

Rocky Marciano marries Barbara Cousins, 1950

Bette Davis marries Arthur Farnsworth, 1940

Birthdays Today:

Joe McIntyre, 1972

Nicholas Sparks, 1965

Val Kilmer, 1959

Bebe Neuwirth, 1958

James Remar, 1953

Donna Summer, 1948

Tim Matheson, 1947

Barbara Carrera, 1945

Diane Halfin von Furstenberg, 1945

John Denver, 1943

Ben Kingsley, 1943

Andy Summers, 1942

Sarah Miles, 1941

Anthony Hopkins, 1937

Odetta, 1930

Simon Wiesenthal, 1908

George C. Marshall, 1880

Henri Matisse, 1869

Debuting/Premiering Today:

The London Eye(World's Largest Ferris Wheel), 1999

"Lost in Yonkers"(Play), 1990

"Pirates of Penzance"(Comic Opera), 1879

Today in History:

80,000 Vandals, Alans and Suebians attack the Rhine at Mainz, crossing into and beginning the invasion of Gallia, 406

Byzantine General Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily, defeating the Ostrogothic garrison of Syracuse, and ending his consulship for the year, 535

Ch'an monk Ho-tse Shen-hui is interred in a stupa built in China, 765

James I of Aragon the Conqueror enters Medina Mayurqa (now known as Palma, Spain) thus consummating the Christian conquest of the island of Majorca, 1229

100,000 Jews are expelled from Sicily, 1492

The British East India Company chartered, 1600

The first Huguenots depart France to Cape of Good Hope, 1687

A window tax is imposed in England, causing many shopkeepers to brick up their windows to avoid the tax, 1695

Rhode Island establishes wage & price controls to curb inflation: Limit is 70 cents a day for carpenters, 42 cents for tailors, 1776

Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa as new capital of Canada, 1857

The cornerstone is laid for Honolulu, Hawai'i's Iolani Palace, the only royal palace in the US, 1879

Edison gives 1st public demonstration of his incandescent lamp, 1879

Ellis Island (NYC) opens as a US immigration depot, 1890

Brooklyn's last day as a city, it incorporates into NYC (1/1/1898), 1897

The Boers & British army sign a peace treaty, 1902

The first New Year's Eve celebration is held in Times Square, then known as Longacre Square, in New York, New York, 1904

For the first time a ball drops at Times Square to signal the new year, 1907

The last San Francisco firehorses are retired, 1921

The chimes of Big Ben are broadcast on radio for the first time by the BBC, 1923

Dr R N Harger's "drunkometer," the first breath test, is introduced in Indiana, 1938

The farthing coin ceases to be legal tender in the United Kingdom, 1960

The Central African Federation officially collapses and splits into Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia, 1963

The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government, 1983

All official Soviet Union institutions have ceased operations by this date and the Soviet Union is officially dissolved, 1991

Czechoslovakia is peacefully dissolved in what is dubbed by media as the Velvet Divorce, resulting in the creation of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, 1992

This date is skipped altogether in Kiribati as the Phoenix Islands and Line Islands change time zones, 1994

The European Exchange Rate Mechanism freezes the values of the legacy currencies in the Eurozone, and establishes the value of the euro currency, 1998

The United States Government hands control of the Panama Canal (as well all the adjacent land to the canal known as the Panama Canal Zone) to Panama, 1999

The official opening of Taipei 101, the tallest skyscraper at that time in the world, 2004

Italy's ban of plastic bags goes into effect, 2010

A ship abandoned by human traffickers who deliberately set it on a collision course with the Italian coast is brought to shore safely by the Italian Coast Guard with 900 Syrian refugees on board, 2014

Ten Things of Thankful

Ah, Saturday!  The day i count my blessings and list my gratitudes and thankfuls and actually post them.

This past week was full to bursting, and i am very thankful i got through it and everything seems to have gotten done.

It included going to NOLA to clean Grandma’s house since her housekeeper had the week off, and i’m grateful we got there and back safely, especially as that was the third job of that day.

The headaches from my injury are not as bad the last day or so, and i am glad that there’s less dizziness when i am bending over.

Sweetie’s back “went out” yesterday morning, and i am thankful the chiropractor’s office was still open and the chiropractor and the massage therapist took care of the problem.

He and i finally had a chance to drive through the neighborhood and look at the Christmas lights, hooray!  It’s something i miss when i don’t get to do it.

The cat shelter work was very easy this week, there have been so many adoptions we are running out of cats!  Of course there will be more cats coming in, especially when kitten season starts in about 3 months, but for now we are enjoying an almost empty shelter.

Last night, after i finally got home, i decided to forego a shower and took a long, hot, relaxing soak in the tub.  It was delightful and every time i do it i wonder why i don’t do it more often, and i am thankful we have a tub so that i have the option.

Someone donated some food to the shelter that they could not use, and it is just what my cats need (diet food).  Volunteers are allowed to take any donated items the shelter can’t use, and i am thankful for one and a half bags of the pricey stuff that doesn’t seem to be helping my critters lose much weight.  (The vet wanted them on it, and i agreed to give it one year to see if it helps.  The only cat that has visibly lost weight is Little Girlie, and she’s the only one that didn’t need to lose it!)

Today is my day off that i’ve been hoping to get.  If you are reading this in the morning, i may still be asleep.  If you are reading it in the afternoon, i may be taking a nap.  No matter when you are reading it, i am probably lounging and doing whatever i want, much of it online or with my nose in a book, grateful for a day to relax.

2017 was a mixed year, and i am thankful for all it brought.  Every good thing brought joy, and every not so good thing brought growth (or should have).

If you have things about the past week or the past year for which you are thankful, tot them up and post them and link up with our hostess Ms. Josie Two Shoes over at Ten Things of Thankful.  

May 2018 bring you many blessings, so many you have a hard time counting.

Today is:

Araw ni Rizal -- Philippines (commemoration of the martyrdom of Dr. Jose Rizal in 1896, as well as all victims of the Spanish government during their rule of the Philippines)

Bacon Day -- for those tired of the same old winter holidays, see www.baconday.worldbreak.com

Day of the Declaration of Slovakia as an Independent Eccliesiatic Province -- Slovakia

Fairy Frequent Fliers' Awards

Falling Needles Family Fest Day -- gather the family, watch the needles fall from the tree, and have a party; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Feast of the Holy Family -- Catholic Christian

Festival of Enormous Changes At the Last Minute -- internet generated, and i'm not sure i'm up to it 

Kwanzaa, Day 5, Nia(Purpose)

Lhosar -- Gurung People of Nepal (sometimes called the Tamu People; Losar is celebrated by the rest of Nepal in February or March)

National Bicarbonate of Soda Day -- shouldn't this be on Jan. 1, to help us get over the indigestion from the night before?

No Interruptions Day -- let people finish up what needs to get done before the New Year at work, and silence the devices at home that keep us from spending uninterrupted time with family   

Sixth Day of Christmas

St. Ruggero of Canne's Day (Barletta, Italy)

Anniversary Today:

The Arroyo Seco Parkway, California's first freeway, opens, 1940

Rutherford B. Hayes (19th US President) marries Lucy Ware Webb, 1852

Birthdays Today:

LeBron James, 1984

Kristin Kreuk, 1982

Eliza Dushku, 1980

Laila Ali, 1977

Tiger Woods, 1975

Sean Hannity, 1961

Tracey Ullman, 1959

Matt Lauer, 1957

Meredith Vieira, 1953

Patti Smith, 1946

Davy Jones, 1945

Concetta Tomei, 1945

Michael Nesmith, 1942

James Burrows, 1940

Del Shannon, 1939

Joseph Bologna, 1938

Noel Paul Stookey, 1937

Sandy Koufax, 1935

Russ Tamblyn, 1935

Bo Diddley, 1928

Jack Lord, 1920

Bert Parks, 1914

Stephen Leacock, 1869

Simon Guggenheim, 1867

Rudyard Kipling, 1865

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Let's Make a Deal"(TV), 1963

"The Roy Rogers Show"(TV), 1951

"Kiss Me, Kate"(Musical), 1948

Today in History:

Hugh Capet, King of the Franks, crowns his son Robert the Pious king and co-ruler, 987

A Muslim mob storms the royal palace in Granada, crucifies Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela and massacres most of the Jewish population of the city, 1066

Tokyo is hit by an earthquake, about 37,000 die, 1703

The first coffee is planted in Hawaii (Kona), 1817

Gyula, Count Andrássy, of Hungary, issues the Andrassy Note, calling for Christian-Muslim religious freedoms, 1875

Gilbert & Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance," premieres, 1879

The American Political Science Association founded at New Orleans, 1903

Iran becomes a constitutional monarchy, 1906

The All India Muslim League is founded in Dacca, East Bengal, British India Empire, which later laid down the foundations of Pakistan, 1906

Lincoln's Inn in London admits its first female bar student, 1919

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is formed, 1922

Japan dedicates the first subway in the Orient (route under 2 miles long), 1927

The Cole Porter Broadway musical, Kiss Me, Kate (1,077 performances), opens at the New Century Theatre and becomes the first show to win the Best Musical Tony Award, 1948

In the 39th game of his 3rd NHL season Wayne Gretzky scores 5 goals giving him 50 on the year setting a new NHL record , 1981

Israel and the Vatican establish diplomatic relations, 1993

Tropical Storm Zeta forms in the open Atlantic Ocean, tying the record for the latest tropical cyclone ever to form in the North Atlantic basin, 2005

The last roll of Kodachrome film is developed by Dwayne's Photo, the only remaining Kodachrome processor at the time, concluding the film's 74-year run as a photography icon, 2009

The opening of Line 6 of the Beijing subway makes it the longest metro network in the world at 442km, 2012

Bed Hogs (Feline Friday) and Friendly Fill-Ins

Feline Friday was started by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude, and i'm going to believe it's because he likes cats.

He has handed hosting duties off to Sandee, of Comedy Plus, and it's simple to join, just follow the link to Sandee's page for the rules and the code. 

On these cold days, Horizon and Tripod SissyCat like to stay in bed most of the time.

Horizon loves his daddy's blanket.

Tripod SissyCat has her own pillow at the foot of the bed.

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Friendly Fill-Ins are easy to do. There are four statements: the first two statements are provided by Ellen of 15AndMeowing, and the final two are offered by McGuffy Ann Morris of McGuffy's Reader. They try to make sure the statements will be fun to both answer and share. The linky will be posted at or about 12:00 AM on Friday. Please head over to one of their sites, link up, and share your thoughts! 

My fill-ins for the statements are underlined:

1. On New Year's Eve, I                             .

2. One goal I have for 2018 is                        .

3. In 2017, I accomplished                    .

4. I                 in 2017.

1. On New Year's Eve, i generally lie low and listen to all the people setting off fireworks in the neighborhood.

2. One goal i have for 2018 is to save up enough to get some repairs to the house done.

3. In 2017, i accomplished one important thing in my business, i managed to mostly replace the clients i'd lost.  (It's one thing about the janitorial business,  you lose clients and you have to work to get others, that's just a part of how it goes.)

4. I bottle raised kittens and rehomed dogs in 2017.

Today is:

Constitution Day -- Ireland

Enjoying ESP Day -- internet generated, and it means eating, sleeping, and partying!

Fifth Day of Christmas

Illegal Pants Day -- commemorates Emma Snodgrass' arrest in Boston in 1852 for wearing pants

Kwanzaa, Day 4, Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)

National Chocolate Again Day -- because someone, somewhere, believes it can't be chocolate something-or-other day often enough

National Independence Day -- Mongolia(1911, from the Qing Dynasty)

Paternoster Row Day -- in memoriam of the famous area destroyed by the Blitz this date and tomorrow in 1940

Pepper Pot Day -- Pepper Pot Soup was invented today in 1777 at Valley Forge for the army to have something warm to eat

Sacrifice to Zeus Horios -- Ancient Greek Calendar (sacrifice in the deme of Erichia; date approximate)

St. Gabriel's Day -- Ethiopia

St. Thomas of Canterbury's Day (Thomas a Becket, Patron of clergy, secular clergy; Exeter College, Oxford, England; Portsmouth, England)

St. Trophimus of Arles' Day (Patron of children; Arles, France; against drought)

Tick Tock Day -- end of the year is getting closer, stop putting off your dreams! sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Yodel in the Shower Day -- internet generated, and i promise not to tell if you do

Anniversaries Today:

J. Paul Getty, Jr., weds Victoria Holdsworth, 1994

Texas becomes the 28th US State, 1845

Birthdays Today:

Jude Law, 1972

Andy Wachowski, 1967

Bryan "Dexter" Holland, 1966

Patricia Clarkson, 1959

Paula Poundstone, 1959

Ed Autry, 1954

John Polito, 1950

Ted Danson, 1947

Marianne Faithfull, 1946

Jon Voight, 1938

Mary Tyler Moore, 1936

Thomas Edwin Jarriel, 1934

Klaus Fuchs, 1911

Billy Mitchell, 1879

Pablo Cassals, 1876

William Gladstone, 1809

Andrew Johnson, 1808

Charles Goodyear, 1800

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Thunderball(Film, UK release), 1965

"The Andersonville Trial"(Play), 1959

The Adventures of Kathlyn(Film, first movie serial), 1913

Today in History:

Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently becomes a saint and martyr in the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church, 1170

The first nautical almanac in US published by Samuel Stearns, Boston, 1782

Gas lights are installed at White House, during the Polk administration, 1848

The first Young Men's Christian Association chapter in the US opens, in Boston, 1851

Emma Snodgrass is arrested in Boston for wearing pants, 1852

The first telegraph ticker used by a brokerage house, Groesbeck & Co, NY, 1867

The Wounded Knee Massacre takes place, 1890

Edison patents "transmission of signals electrically" (radio), 1891

Mongolia gains independence from the Qing dynasty, 1911

The first movie serial, "Adventures of Kathlyn," premieres in Chicago, 1913

Fred P Newton completes longest swim ever (1826 miles), when he swam in the Mississippi River from Ford Dam, Minn, to New Orleans, 1930

Physicist Richard Feynman gives a speech entitled "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom", which is regarded as the birth of nanotechnology, 1959

Filming began on Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey in England, 1965

Riots break-out after Hong Kong decides to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese refugees, 1989

Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Union sign a peace accord ending a 36-year civil war, 1996

Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed over 1 million lives, 1998

The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct, 2003

The New England Patriots become the first NFL team to end a season with a perfect 16-0 record, 2007

The Ebola epidemic in Guinea, which killed about 2,500 over the course of two years, is declared over by the WHO, 2015