Randomly Happy Tuesday

(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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It's time once again for a Random and Happy Tuesday, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked and Sandee at Comedy Plus.  

Dr. D was in a huge dither yesterday.  One of the attorneys for one of her cases had asked her to prepare a document for him, and she’d spent all day Sunday working on it, only to have her computer erase it before she could save it.

We spent almost two hours, but we got it reconstructed and sent, and i again realized that if you keep playing with the computer, you can figured out how to do just about anything you need to, even if you don’t quite know how. 

She is also enjoying her new phone, now that she knows how to turn it on and open it.

Little Girl is preparing to move out again.  It’s been wonderful having her at home since her previous lease ran out.  She’s getting a bit antsy, though.  Once you are out on your own, it’s not easy going back home.  

Bigger Girl arrived safely in Amsterdam, and sent Grandma a text telling her so when i was at her house this Saturday.  Let's see, i am paying extra for her to be able to call and text us from another country, and she sends her "I've arrived safely" messages to Grandma and not me?  Guess i know where i am in the pecking order, and i am glad i have enough of a sense of humor not to mind a bit!

July is a long month, and long months make for being busy at the homeless ministry on the last Sunday.  Everyone is out or almost out of food and money with two or three days left in the month.  We usually have about 200 people, this weekend we had 300.  

Because of some extra donations, we were able to give everyone a hot meal, a bag with sandwiches, cookies and a drink, and a box with the equivalent of three meals.  All of the food is ready to eat, utensils included.  It made my day to know everyone got plenty.

Speaking of food:

Sweetie wrenched his knee and was finally hurting badly enough to see a doctor.  (Except for his eye and ear docs, he doesn't go unless he's desperate.)  A cortisone shot has been administered, and i am hoping it works fast.

Have a great Tuesday, everyone!

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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

South Mountain Fair -- Arendtsville, PA, US (celebrating agriculture, arts, crafts, and industry; through Saturday)

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

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

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

“Biscuts” Finds a Home (Awww Monday) and Inspiring Quote of the Week

(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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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's 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!

This week's Awww is a story as well as photos.

There's a cat at the shelter named Hibiscus, but i call her "Biscuits" because she is the color of raw biscuit dough and she's at least two biscuits shy of a Pillsbury tube.

No, I do not want to turn around for a picture!

She does not like women very much, she adores men.  She is overweight, but we've had her on a diet.  She has the run of the shelter most of the time to get her some exercise, and she likes to try to scoop fallen kitten food from under the kitten cages, so while the diet is helping, she really needs to be where she has only her food.  

The problem has been that Biscuits is the perfect cat if you have always wanted to have an abusive relationship with your cat.  She always didn't mean to play nice then turn around and bite or claw you, and she always promises it will never happen again.

Anyway, there's this cute young couple that adore her, biting, clawing, and all.  They have been coming to visit her for months, but they couldn't have pets where they lived.

Don't you speak cat!  My posture is telling you to go away!

Then Biscuits caught a break.  Their lease was coming up, and somehow (we all wonder how, NOT!) she still hasn't been adopted.  We will hold a cat at the shelter for up to seven days before you have to pick it up.  Exactly seven days before their new lease, at an apartment that allows pets, they came in and made it official.

Hibiscus has a home!!!  They come for her this Wednesday, August 1, their move-in day.

Had to go down the hall where she couldn't see me to get any cooperation.

After they adopted her, they petted and kissed on her and she swatted them both and they laughed.  They are going to be perfect for each other.

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Sparks, the brainchild of Annie of McGuffy's Reader, is on hiatus, so here's an Inspiring Quote of the Week in her honor.

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

Friendship Day/International Day of Friendship -- UN

Herbal Ballooning -- Fairy Calendar

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

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

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)

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

Marriage "Encounter" (Cajun Joke) and Sunday Selections

(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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Just because Sandee of Comedy Plus is no longer hosting a Silly Sunday blog hop, don't expect me to quit telling Cajun jokes.

This whole weekend has been about Sweetie and me reminiscing and enjoying our anniversary weekend, as we have dubbed it.

We are trying to keep the magic alive, after all.

Boudreaux an' Clothile done decide to keep de magic alive in marriage, you gots to go on a marriage retreat, so dey decide to go to de church one call de "Marriage Encounter".  Dey pack up an' go fo' de weekend.

At de retreat, one o' de speakers say, "Gentlemen, you need to show your wife that you are paying attention to her, that you know her likes and dislikes.  For example, what's her favorite flower?"

An' Boudreaux say, "Oh, I know dat!  My Clothile be de bes' at bakin', she do it all de time!  Mais cher, it be White Lily All Purpose, right?"

An' Clothile say, "Mais oui, an' I t'ink you should also know dat de reason I bake so much be because punchin' you husband be frowned on!"

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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 is now hosted by River at Drifting Through Life.  

Last weekend, a butterfly very graciously consented to pose for me for a bit:

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Today is:

Badminton World Championships -- Nanjing, China (through Sunday)

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)

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)

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])

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)

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

International Tiger Day

Mi'kmaq Pilgrimage to St. Anne Mission -- Mi'kmaq First Nations of Canada and Maine 

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

National Anthem Day -- Romania

National Lasagna Day

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

National Tree Day -- Australia

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

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

Rain Day Festival -- Waynesburg, Pennsylvania (yes, it has rained at 113 out of the 140 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; Patron 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

Territory Day -- Wallis and Futuna

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)

*"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