Share and Share Alike (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 here.)

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Is there anything that can happen for which there is no silver lining?

Well, yes, there are a few things, we all know that, the devastating things that tear a world apart for a person, or for many people.  (Moment of silence for ten slain and ten injured in Texas, please.)

Most events, even bad ones, do not fall into that category.

That’s why, when i found myself getting just a little bit too blue about the Jalopy, i decided this isn’t a life shattering event and i need to find reasons to be thankful.

Lunceford the Land Yacht and Jalopy

Here’s my list of reasons to be thankful, even when a car needs a major repair so you and your spouse have to share.

We have a second car to share.  What a blessing!

It’s a car that needs fixing, not a marriage.

It’s a car that needs repair, not a family member facing serious illness.

We are working more closely together to coordinate where we have to be and how we are going to get there.

Other people who have always expected one or the other of us to show up at the drop of a hat are having to either wait for a turn or come get one of us,  or make other arrangements.

We are taking turns driving each other around, meaning each of us gets a chance to feel a bit pampered in the passenger seat as the other deals with traffic.

Also we are getting more practice at being respectful of each other’s driving.  (Most of the time, the only time we drive together is on Sunday to church, when there’s little traffic, or on long distance trips.)

He’s starting to appreciate how many hours she works, and how long she spends in traffic getting there.

She’s starting to appreciate more how many errands he can and is willing to run while she’s at work, instead of feeling like she has to do them all herself.

The mechanic will get started on it next week, so it’s not like this will be forever.

Some things are small stuff, and when you look through the lens of gratitude, a broken down Jalopy is small stuff.   Of course, i am also going to be very thankful when she is up and running again, but that’s a different post.

Get some practice looking for the good things in your life.  Make a list of things for which you are thankful and link them up at Ten Things of Thankful.  Josie Two Shoes is our hostess, and we are not picky about it having to be ten.  The point is to share the good things that are happening, brightening everyone’s days as we celebrate together.





An InLinkz Link-up




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Today is:

All Wright Housewalk -- Oak Park, IL, US (formerly called Wright Plus, The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust’s annual house walk features rare interior tours of privately owned homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and his contemporaries in the historic community of Oak Park)

Armed Forces Day -- US (honoring those currently serving in the US military)

Boy's Club Day -- founding in 1906

Celebrate Your Elected Officials Day 2018 -- unless you don't like them, then get to work electing better ones; if you know of a good one, take time today to thank her/him

Cheung Chau Bun Festival -- Cheung Chau Island, Hong Kong (one of Hong Kong's liveliest and most coloorful festivals, coincides with Buddha's Birthday celebration, with the procession on the final day; celebration through the 23rd)

Circus Day -- the four Ringling Brothers opened their first circus on this day in 1884

Dance to Mark the Third of January -- Fairy Calendar (Third of January is when the Founding Fairy Fathers and Mothers arrived in what is now called Fairyland [no one knows where they lived before, or what lived in Fairyland before], so it is one of their most important days; no one knows why it is celebrated in May, either)

Do Dah Day -- Rhodes and Caldwell Parks, Birmingham, Alabama (fun while fundraising for local animal charities)

Greek Genocide Remembrance Day -- Greece

Iris Festival -- Greeneville, Tennessee, US (the community's major festival of the year, featuring artists, craftsmen, merchants, food vendors and entertainers from across the country; through tomorrow)

May Ray Day -- to celebrate being able to go out into the sun's rays as summer nears

Morel Mushroom Festival -- Muscoda, WI, US (the "Morel Mushroom Capital of Wisconsin" celebrates the end of the peak morel season in style, with everything including an antique tractor pull, Fireman's Steak Feed, and even a parade; through tomorrow)

National Asian & Pacific Islander HIV/AIDS Awareness Day -- US (information at Banyan Tree Project)    

National Devil's Food Cake Day

National Learn To Swim Day -- US (with summer just around the corner, remember that drowning is the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children ages one to 14, so please, learn to swim and teach your kids!)    

New England's Dark Day*

Peddler's Village Strawberry Festival -- Lahaska, PA, US (strawberries in every form imaginable; through tomorrow)

Plant Something Day -- because it's fun, and summer is coming so you can!

Praia Municipal Day -- Praia, Cape Verde

Preakness Stakes-- Pimlico Race Course, Baltimore, MD, US (141st annual; the second jewel in horseracing's Triple Crown)

Shavuot -- Judaism (Feast of Weeks; begins at sundown, through sundown on May 21)

Skerpla Month begins -- Traditional Icelandic Calendar (Sharpness)

St. Dunstan of Canterbury's Day (Patron of armourers, blacksmiths, blind people, gold workers and smiths, jewellers, lighthouse keepers, locksmiths, musicians, silver workers and smiths, swordsmiths; Charlottetown, PEI, Canada)

St. Peter Celestine's Day (Patron of bookbinders; Aquila, Italy)

Wisconsin Dells Automotion -- Noah's Ark Waterpark, Wisconsin Dells, WI, US (showcase of more than 1,000 classic cars, music, food, and family fun; through tomorrow)

Youth and Sports Day / Commemoration of Atatürk -- North Cyprus; Turkey

Anniversary Today:

Eric Clapton marries Pattie Boyd, 1979

Birthdays Today:

Rachel Appleton, 1992

Jordon Pruitt, 1991

Eric Lloyd, 1986

Kevin Garnett, 1976

Kyle Eastwood, 1968

Grace Jones, 1952

Joey Ramone, 1951

Archie Manning, 1949

Andre the Giant, 1946

Pete Townshend, 1945

Nora Ephron, 1941

James Fox, 1939

Francis R. Scobee, 1939

David Hartman, 1937

James Lehrer, 1934

Malcolm X, 1925

Ho Chi Minh, 1890

Nancy Astor, 1879

Johns Hopkins, 1762

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith(Film), 2005

Smokey and the Bandit,(Film), 1977

"Room Service"(Play), 1937

Gone With The Wind(Publication date), 1936

"L'heure espagnole / How They Keep Time in Spain"(Ravel comédie musicale), 1911

Today in History:

Jacques Cartier sets sail on his second voyage to North America, 1535

Anne Boleyn is beheaded, 1536

Queen Elizabeth I orders the arrest of Mary, Queen of Scots, 1568

French forces under the duc d'Enghien decisively defeat Spanish forces at the Battle of Rocroi, marking the symbolic end of Spain as a dominant land power, 1643

The Long Parliament declares England a Commonwealth, and England remains a republic for the next 11 years, 1649

King George II of Great Britain grants the Ohio Company a charter of land around the forks of the Ohio River, 1749

*A combination of thick smoke and heavy cloud cover causes complete darkness to fall on Eastern Canada and the New England area of the United States at 10:30 A.M, 1780

Napoleon Bonaparte founds the Légion d'Honneur, 1802

Mexico ratifies the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo thus ending the Mexican-American War and ceding California, Nevada, Utah and parts of four other modern-day U.S. states to the United States for $15 million USD, 1848

Jan Matzeliger begins the first mechanized shoe production, 1885

Oscar Wilde is released from Reading Gaol, 1897

White women win the right to vote in South Africa, 1930

Margaret Mitchell's Gone With The Wind is published, 1936

Churchill and Roosevelt set May 1, 1944 as their goal date for D-Day (it had to be delayed over a month because of weather), 1943

The Soviet Venera 1 becomes the first man-made object to fly-by another planet by passing Venus, 1961

Croatians vote for independence, 1991

The Sierra Gorda Biosphere, the most ecologically diverse region in Mexico, is established as a result of grassroots efforts, 1997

Hundreds of Albert Einstein's scientific papers, personal letters and humanist essays were make available on the Internet. Einstein had given the papers to the Hebrew Universtiy of Jerusalem in his will, 2003

A rare 19th century torpedo is discovered off the coast of California by the US Navy dolphins, 2013