Tucker (Awww Monday), Thought Provoking Quote of the Week, and Blessings (Poetry Monday)

(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.)

***********************************

Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee at 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!

Tucker is sometimes not sure about being at the shelter (his person died and the family couldn't take him).

He's a beautiful, big guy, though, and very friendly, and i think he will find a great home soon.

***********************************

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

***********************************

Delores and her friend Jenny are taking turns providing a theme for Poetry Monday, and i am trying my hand at participating.  This weeks theme is Blessings.       

Warm snuggles and wet diapers,

First giggle, first coo, urping up,

Roll over, learn to sit, crawl, walk, run, dart away,

So many baby blessings.

Tantrums and laughter,

Learn words, learn to share, soak learning in,

Bathtub toys and shape sorting and potty training,

So many toddler blessings.

Toothless grins and first school days,

Ride a bike, learn to swim, write crooked letters,

Track mud in the kitchen yelling "Whatcha got to eat!"

So many childhood blessings.

Eye rolls and big hugs and making the tean or not,

Battle acne, battle parents, battle self,

Listen to their music, it makes you feel you live in a zoo,

So many teenage blessings.

Choose a college and a major,

Change your mind, change it back, join a club,

Get a job, get a life, empty nesting,

So many young adult blessings.

Watch them marry and then have kids,

Watch them struggle, wish you could offer more help,

See them grow, see them learn, see them thrive,

So many adult child blessings.

Ages and stages and life long dreams,

Every one different but our heart is the same,

Wanting every good thing for every single day,

They bring us all their blessings.

***********************************

Today is:

Act Happy Week begins -- acting happy releases the body chemicals that aid health, mental and physical

Awkward Moments Day -- harness the power of humor in life's more uncomfortable situations

Asklepieia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival of Asklepios; date approximate)

Bindus Diena -- Ancient Latvain Calendar (believed to be the day bears woke from hibernation)

Birthday of Sparky the Fire Dog -- can't confirm the exact date, but Sparky became an official fire prevention mascot in March 1951 

Celtic Tree Month Fearn (Alder) begins

Cheikh Al Maarouf Day -- Comoros

Dia de Benito Juarez -- Mexico (una Fiestas Patrias)

Electric Razor Day -- Schick, Inc., marketed the first one today in 1931

Forgive Mom and Dad Day -- because we all make mistakes; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Goddess of Fertility Day -- a modern celebration of all goddesses of fertility

Grandparents' and Grandchildren's Day -- Michigan, US

Jacques de Molay's Day -- death anniversary of the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar

Men's and Soldiers Day -- Mongolia

National Anthem and Flag Day -- Aruba

National Biodiesel Day -- birth anniversary of Rudolph Diesel, who unveiled his engine at the World Fair in 1900

National Lacy Oatmeal Cookie Day

Oide Matsuri -- Hakui, Japan (horse-back archery; through the 23rd)

Sheelah's Day -- Ireland (probably Sheela Na Gig, goddess of fertility; celebrated the day after St. Patrick's Day by those who say she was either his wife or his mother)

Sheep and Goats (Separation) Day -- Fairy Calendar

St. Anselm of Lucca's Day (Patron of Mantua, Italy)

St. Edward the Martyr's Day

Supreme Sacrifice Day -- an internet generated holiday now used to honor those who have made a supreme sacrifice, all who have given their lives for others

Usajingu Reitaisai -- Japan (offerings to the Kami from the Imperial Household are shared in this very important festival)

Wellderly Day -- and the start of Wellderly Week, focusing on the health of the elderly

Anniversary Today:

Eddie Murphy marries Nicole Mitchell, 1993

Birthdays Today:

Alexei Yagudin, 1980

Dane Cook, 1972

Queen Latifah, 1970

Bonnie Blair, 1964

Vanessa Williams, 1963

Irene Cara, 1959

Brad Dourif, 1950

Kevin Dobson, 1944

Wilson Pickett, 1941

Charlie Pride, 1938

Sashi Kapoor, 1938

F.W. deKlerk, 1936

John Updike, 1932

George Plimpton, 1927

John Kander, 1927

Peter Graves, 1926

William H. Johnson, 1901

Edward Everett Horton, 1886

Rudolph Diesel, 1858

Grover Cleveland, 1837

John Caldwell Calhoun, 1782

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Do I Hear a Waltz?"(Musical), 1965

"Tovarich"(Musical), 1963

"Tales of Wells Fargo"(TV), 1957

"The new Babylon"(Silent Film), 1929

"Verklarte Nacht"(Schonberg, Op. 4), 1902

Today in History:

Crusaders kill 57 Jews in Bury St Edmonds England, 1190

German emperor Frederick II crowns himself king of Jerusalem, 1229

Kraków is ravaged by Mongols, 1241

According to legend, Tenochtitlan is founded on this date, 1325

John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton sells his part of New Jersey to the Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, 1673

Henry Wells and William Fargo form American Express in Buffalo, NY, 1850

Former Governor General Lord Stanley pledges to donate a silver challenge cup, later named after him, as an award for the best hockey team in Canada, 1893

Mohandas Gandhi is sentenced to six years in prison for civil disobedience (he served only 2 years), 1922

The first public celebration of Bat mitzvah, for the daughter of Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, is held in New York City, 1922

The Tri-State Tornado hits the Midwestern US states of Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana, killing 695 people, 1925

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Italy kills 26 and causes thousands to flee their homes, 1944

Cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov, leaving his spacecraft Voskhod 2 for 12 minutes, becomes the first person to walk in space, 1965

The U.S. Congress repeals the requirement for a gold reserve to back US currency, 1968

In Egypt, a 4,400-year-old mummy is found nearby the Pyramid of Cheops, 1989

White South Africans vote overwhelmingly in favour, in a national referendum, to end the racist policy of Apartheid, 1992

Bosnia's Bosniaks and Croats sign the Washington Agreement, ending warring between the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and establishing the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1994

British Sign Language is recognised as an official British language, 2003

For the first time, a woman served as imam, leading a public, mixed-gender, Muslim congregation in Jum'ah prayer and delivering the sermon, 2005

The Messenger spacecraft enters Mercury's orbit, 2011

Russia formally annexes Crimea, previously part of Ukraine. by signing the Treaty on Accession, 2014

A bushfire in Tathra, New South Wales, Australia, destroys over 70 buildings, 2018