Plenty of People (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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It's the week of love and the day for thankful counting, so i am counting people i love!

There's my Sweetie first.  It's been almost 34 years, and while we jokingly say we've been together "forever," staying together forever is no joke.  That's one.

Grandma and Grandpa, i don't know what i would do without them.  Here are two and three.

My biological children may number only 5, and only 4 of those living, but i count a lot more than that as children of my heart -- #1 Son, Bigger Girl, Tori (in heaven), #2 Son, Little Girl, Daughter-in-Law Becky (married to #2 Son), Red-headed Alec (foster son), Sweet Sue (foster son's fiancee), Liam (foster grandson), Young Jacob, Friend Chris, and Tristan.  That actually comes to an even dozen of kids!

Uncle P (my brother) and Miss Eva (his wife).  Now i'm up to fifteen and sixteen.

Uncle J (my other brother), and his children Bryn and Dre.  Nineteen now. 

Brother-in-Law, The Mouth.  Yes, i'm including my Sweetie's twin who is sometimes a bit, shall we say, difficult to live with.  He is loved, even when he's being difficult and i have to bite my tongue.

It's Ten Things of Thankful, and so far i'm up to twenty!  At this point i will stop, because if i start counting cousins and co-workers and friends, you might get tired of reading it and i would get writer's cramp (or carpal tunnel syndrome).

Please join us and our gracious and wonderful hostess Kristi from ThankfulMe, write up your own list and link up to Ten Things of Thankful.  

Inlinkz Link Party

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Today is:

9-1-1 Day -- the first 911 call in North America was placed, demonstrating the new system, on this day in 1968

Akiyoshidai Yamayaki -- Akiyoshidai, Japan (dry grass on the mountain side is burned in this coming of spring ceremony; date subject to change)

Bonten Matsuri -- Miyoshi-jinja Shrine, Akita, Japan (two day festival to ask for good crops this year)

Desert Festival -- Jaisalmer, India (three days of local culture, contests, and fun)

Do a Grouch a Favor Day -- internet generated attempt to get us to either get the grouches on our side, or make us cynical

Galesburg Historical Society Chocolate Festival -- Galesburg, IL, US (home made and commercially made chocolates, all you can eat for the price of the low admission fee; through tomorrow)

Independence Day -- Lithuania (National Day/Restoration of Statehood)(1918)

Kyoto Protocol Day -- International (treaty on climate change; today is proposed as "Wear purple for Kyoto Day")

La Fiesta de Los Vaqueros and Tucson Rodeo -- Tucson, AZ, US (celebrating the Old West heritage; through Feb. 24)

Lemon Festival/Fete du Citron -- Menton, French Riviera (through Mar. 4)

National Almond Day

Nice Carnival -- Nice, France (dating back to the 14th century, this celebration is one of France's best; through Feb. 28)

Respectable Tales of Kelp-Koli -- Fairy Calendar (5 minutes only) 

Saidai-ji Eyo Hadaka Matsuri -- Saidai-ji, Okayama Prefecture, Japan (Spectacular and atmospheric Naked Festival, dating back to the 14th century, in which a Shinto man strips, is completely shaved, then runs through town while up to 10,000 loincloth-wearing [and sometimes drunk] men try to touch him while guard's throw cold water on them; they also battle for sacred wooden sticks [shingi] tossed into the air by priests.)

St. Juliana of Cumae's Day (Patron of the ill)

St. Onesimus' Day (runaway slave of Philemon, converted by Paul, of whom the Letter to Philemon was written)

Twin Cities' Krewe of Janus Mardi Gras Parade -- Monroe and West Monroe, LA, US (If you are looking for more family friendly fun than downtown NOLA, stick to parades is the smaller cities, like here!)

Birthdays Today:

Christopher Eccleston, 1964

John McEnroe, 1959

Ice T, 1959

LeVar Burton, 1957

James Ingram, 1956

William Katt, 1951

Richard Ford, 1944

Barry Primus, 1938

Sonny Bono, 1935

Vera-Ellen, 1921

Patty Andrews, 1920

Jimmy Wakely, 1914

Hugh Beaumont, 1909

Richard McDonald, 1909

George Kennan, 1904

Edgar Bergan, 1903

Robert Joseph Flaherty, 1884

Johann Strauss, 1866

Nichiren, 1222

Emperor Yingzong of China, 1032

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"What's My Line"(TV Game Show), 1950

"Le Voyageur Sans Baggage"(Anouilh Play), 1937

"The Marquise"(Coward Play), 1927

"Chung Sai Yat Po"(Publication; first Chinese daily newspaper in US), 1900

"Werther"(Massenet Opera), 1892

"Ladies' Home Journal"(Publication), 1883

"Orpheus"(Liszt Opera), 1854

"Elegy Written in a Country Church Yard"(First Publication), 1751

Today in History:

9th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet, 374

Pope Gregory the Great issues a decree saying that "God bless you" is the correct response to a sneeze, 600

English king Charles I accepts Triennial Act, requiring the king to assemble Parliament at least once every 3 years, 1641

The first known check (cheque) is written, for 400 English Pounds Sterling (currently on display at Westminster Abbey), 1659

Kentucky passes a law permitting women to attend school under certain conditions, 1838*

Weenen Massacre: Hundreds of Voortrekkers along the Blaukraans River, Natal are killed by Zulus, 1838

American Charles Wilkes discovers Shackleton Ice Shelf, Antarctica, 1840

The Battle of Sobraon ends the First Sikh War in India, 1846

Studebaker Brothers wagon company, precursor of the automobile manufacturer, is established, 1852

The French Government passes a law to set the A-note above middle C to a frequency of 435 Hz, in an attempt to standardize the pitch, 1859

The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks forms, 1868

The "Ladies Home Journal" begins publishing, 1883

The first Chinese daily newspaper in the US, Chung Sai Yat Po, begins publication in San Francisco, 1900

The first US Esperanto Club organizes in Boston, 1905

The first synagogue in 425 years opens in Madrid, Spain, 1917

Howard Carter unseals the burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, 1923

The first patent is issued for a tree, to James Markham for a peach tree, 1932

Wallace H. Carothers receives a United States patent for nylon, 1937

Canadians are granted Canadian citizenship after 80 years of being British subjects. Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King becomes the first Canadian citizen, 1947

Britain abolishes the death penalty, 1956

Fidel Castro becomes Premier of Cuba after dictator Fulgencio Batista was overthrown on January 1, 1959

In Haleyville, Alabama, the first 9-1-1 emergency telephone system goes into service, 1968

The first computer bulletin board system is created (CBBS in Chicago, Illinois), 1978

The trial of John Demjanjuk, accused of being a Nazi guard dubbed "Ivan the Terrible" in Treblinka extermination camp, starts in Jerusalem, 1987

The Kyoto Protocol comes into force, following its ratification by Russia, 2005

The last Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) is decommissioned by the United States Army, 2006

China announces it will relocate 9,000 people in Guizhou province, before completion of world's largest telescope (FAST), designed to look for extraterrestrial life, 2016