On the Receiving End (Ten Things of Thankful)

(Because some people like Blogger and some like Wordpress, i am putting the same content at both.  If you would prefer to read this on the other site, it is linked above.) 

The other day i noticed a pattern.  For some reason, i have been on the receiving end of things.  Good things.  Things which i needed and for which i am thankful.

Toting them up, i have been the recipient of enough items for a whole post, and it does not even count the TV i mentioned last Saturday.

For years now, we've had trouble keeping silverware in this house.  The kids lose it, take it with them when they go, or it gets thrown away by accident, something happens, and our kitchen silverware drawer was almost always empty.  Little Girl gave us a whole new set.  Even if it starts to pull a disappearing act, i'm thankful to have it for now.

Ms. JAI gave me hand cream that smells delicious and makes my hands feel nice after work, and some music CDs she didn't want any more that Sweetie really enjoys.

Dr. D gave me books she did not want any more, my all time favorite things.

Ms. V gave me a set of sheets for Bigger Girl's bed.  They were too flowery for her son to use but are right up my daughter's alley.

Ms. B gave me towels.  This year, for some reason, several members of her family decided she needed new towels for Christmas.  She kept some, but decided she didn't need them all.  We haven't had new ones in a long time, and these are really good and should last a while.

Ms. G gave me cardboard cat scratchers that her cats ignored but our cats have decided are the best things on earth next to catnip.

Someone at church gave us a $25 gift card to Subway.  Sweetie and i will use it for a lunch date soon.

People sometimes donate items to the shelter that we cannot use there.  Many of these items are sold through a second hand shop that gives us a portion of the sales, but some of them are simply given to volunteers.  In the past week i was given three things i can use:  litter pan liners (because Tripod SissyCat has decided she wants to use newspapers instead of litter and i am using liners in her pan), a cat water fountain (because Link will not drink if the water is not moving, and running the water in the tub for him is getting expensive), and a big bag of the pricey diet cat food that prevents kidney trouble.

Have you been given something unexpected lately?  Do you have other things you could list for which you are thankful?  You don't have to have ten items to join Ms. Josie Two-Shoes and link up a list at Ten Things of Thankful.  The only thing needed is gratitude and the desire to share what makes you grateful with the rest of us.

Today is:

Afrma Fancy Rat and Mouse Annual Show -- Riverside, CA (don't laugh, rats and mice make great pets!)

Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show -- West Springfield, MA, US (8 1/2 acres of hobby train fun; through tomorrow)

Big Garden Birdwatch -- UK (sponsored by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; through Monday) 

Big Snow Day -- remembering the 15 inch snowflakes that fell on in Fort Keough, Montana, on this date in 1887

Brookfield Ice Harvest and Winter Carnival -- Brookfield, VT, US (demonstrating traditional ice harvesting using original equipment near the Brookfield Floating Bridge, one of only two such bridges still extant)

Chocolate Cake Day

Cordova Ice Worm Festival -- Cordova, AK, US (one of Alaska's zaniest festivals, and you have to be a bit zany to survive the winter here; through Sunday)

Day of Remembrance for Victims of Nazism -- Germany (anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz)

Day the Netjers of Heaven Receive Ra -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Eagle Days -- Little Platte Park, Smithville Lake, MO, US (learning about bald eagles in the environmental learning center, as well as eagle viewing over the lake and children's activities; through tomorrow)

Family Literacy Day -- Canada

Gasparilla Pirate Fest -- Tampa, FL (reenactment of the invasion of Tampa by pirates, this is the adult version of last weekend's celebration for kids)

Greater Springfield Garage Sale -- Springfield, MO, US (if you want to find it used, you can probably find it here at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds; through tomorrow)

Great Fruitcake Toss -- Manitou Springs, CO, US (what to do with leftover fruitcake?  toss, hurl, or launch it for fun and prizes)

Hoggetowne Medieval Faire -- Gainesville, FL, US (jousting, birds of prey, medieval arts, food, entertainment; through tomorrow, and again next weekend)

International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust

Iroquois Mid-Winter Ceremony -- Iroquois Native Americans (for the continuation of all life-sustaining things; a multi-day ceremony and feast that begins around this time of year)

Ka Moloka'i Makahiki -- Molokai, Hawaii (traditional ceremonial end of the harvest festival, a time of peace; still celebrated with ceremonies and sporting events)

Kumquat Festival -- Dade City, FL, US (because kumquats are not just funny, they are delicious!)

Listen to Classical Music During Lunch Day -- in honor of Mozart

Mozart Day

National Seed Swap Day -- find or set one up in your area, so you can expand your garden, and help others expand theirs

National Storytelling Week -- UK (the Society for Storytelling encourages you to celebrate one of the most ancient art forms)  

Orange City Blue Spring Manatee Festival -- Orange City, FL, US (learn about the manatee and have fun doing it; through tomorrow)

Polar Bear Festival/Polar Bear Jump -- Seward, AK, US (lots of fun, if you want to freeze!)

Punch the Clock Day -- internet generated, and no reason for it given; this has to be one of the more baffling ones

St. Angela Merici's Day (Founder of the Sisters of the Order of St. Ursula; Patron of the disabled and ill; against bodily ills and the death of parents)

St. Devota's Day (Patron of Corsica; Monaco)

Swamp Buggy Races -- Naples, Florida (the world famous swamp buggy races; through tomorrow)

Thomas Crapper Day -- death date, in 1910, of the perfector of the flush toilet mechanism

Wakakusa Yamayaki -- Nara, Japan (Grass Burning on Mt. Wakakusayama, and fireworks; an annual New Year tradition)

Anniversaries Today:

Founding of the National Geographic Society, 1888

The first sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta, is founded at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, 1870

The University of Georgia is chartered, the first state university in the US, 1785

Birthdays Today:

Julie Foudy, 1971

Jennifer LB Leese, 1970

Patton Oswalt, 1969

Alan Cumming, 1965

Bridget Fonda,1964

Cris Collinsworth, 1959

Mimi Rogers, 1956

Mikhail Baryshnikov, 1948

Nick Mason, 1944

Mairead Corrigan, 1944

James Cromwell, 1942

Troy Donahue, 1936

Donna Reed, 1921

David Seville, 1919

Skitch Henderson, 1918

Hyman George Rickover, 1900

Jerome Kern, 1885

Samuel Gompers, 1850

Lewis Carroll (Charles Dodgson), 1832

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, 1756

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Laverne and Shirley"(TV), 1976

Tarzan of the Apes(Film), 1918

Today in History:

Trajan becomes Roman Emperor, 98

The Rashidun Caliphate ends with the death of Ali, 661

Song Dynasty General Yue Fei is wrongfully executed, 1142

Dante Alighieri becomes a Florentine political exile, 1302

The trial of Guy Fawkes and other conspirators begins, ending with their execution on January 31, 1606

The first American lime kiln begins operation in Providence, Rhode Island, 1662

Mustafa II becomes the Ottoman sultan in Instanbul, 1695

Czar Peter the Great sets the first Russian state budget, 1710

Abdication of Stanislas, the last king of Poland, 1736

The US Congress approves the opening of Indian Territory for settlement, which led to the forced relocation of Native Americans on the "Trail of Tears," 1825

Manitoba and the Northwest Territories are incorporated, 1870

Thomas Edison is granted a patent for the electric incandescent lamp, 1880

The National Geographic Society is organized, in Washington, D.C., 1888

"Tarzan of the Apes," the first Tarzan movie, premiers, 1918

The Harlem Globetrotters play their first game, 1927

Apollo 1 – Astronauts Gus Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee are killed in a fire during a test of their spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center, 1967

More than sixty nations sign the Outer Space Treaty banning nuclear weapons in space, 1967

Through cooperation between the U.S. and Canadian governments, six American diplomats secretly escape hostilities in Iran in the culmination of the Canadian caper, 1980

The pilot shaft of the Seikan Tunnel, the world's longest sub-aqueous tunnel (53.85 km) between the Japanese islands of Honshu and Hokkaido, breaks through, 1983

American-born sumo wrestler Akebono Taro becomes the first foreigner to be promoted to the sport's highest rank of yokozuna, 1993

Germany first observes International Holocaust Remembrance Day, 1996

Western Union delivers it's final telegram, 2006

Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, unveils a new invention, a tablet PC called the iPad, at a press conference in San Francisco, 2010

Tunisia’s President Moncef Marzouki and the head of the National Assembly signed a new constitution, enshrining one of its last steps toward full democracy after a 2011 uprising that inspired the Arab Spring, 2014