Snuggle and Keep Warm Time (Feline Friday) and Friendly Fill-Ins

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Feline Friday was started by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude, and i'm going to believe it's because he likes cats.

He has handed hosting duties off to Sandee, of Comedy Plus, and it's simple to join, just follow the link to Sandee's page for the rules and the code.

It's gotten cold (by our standards) and the cats, including Horizon, are spending a lot of time like this:

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Friendly Fill-Ins are easy to do. There are four statements: the first two statements are provided by Ellen of 15AndMeowing, and the final two are offered by Lorianne The Menagerie Mom of Four-Legged Furballs. They try to make sure the statements will be fun to both answer and share. The linky will be posted at or about 12:00 AM on Friday. Please head over to one of their sites, link up, and share your thoughts!      

Here are this week's statements with my responses underlined:

1. My holiday plans include _______________________.

2. I can’t wait to see _________________ open  his/her gift from me.

3. All I want for Christmas is _________.

4. _________ is the best way to spread holiday cheer.

1. My holiday plans include lots of cleaning and cooking at Grandma's house.

2. I can’t wait to see Grandma open his/her gift from me.  (That is, if i can pull off the gift i want to give her.  Almost there!  Will update later if i manage it.)

3. All I want for Christmas is a better car that won't need to be repaired so often.  (Of course, peace on earth would be fantastic, but i'm trying to be slightly more realistic.)

4. Smiling is the best way to spread holiday cheer.

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Today is:

50 Ways To Leave Your Lover Day -- marking the debut of the song, think of 50 ways to stay with the one you love, and do one!

BPT Remembrance Day -- try to remember what breakfast was like BPT (before Pop-Tarts)

Cathode Ray Day -- the kinescope (cathode ray tube) was patented by Vladimir Zworykin on this day in 1938

Dot Your I's With Smileys Day -- a great internet generated idea, if you are a 9-year-old girl

Fete des Cafres -- Reunion (Abolition Day)

Go Caroling Day -- if you have the voice for it, enjoy

Icelandic Yuletide Lad of the Day, Bjugnakraekir -- Sausage-pilferer, who will steal any kind of sausage you don't manage to hide from him

International Human Solidarity Day -- UN

Louisiana Purchase Day -- US

Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment Day -- Macau

Mudd Day -- for Samuel Mudd, the doctor who accidentally treated a disguised John Wilkes Boothe after he assassinated Lincoln; don't hang your head in shame if your name is Mudd!  Today is your day.

National Fried Shrimp Day

National Sangria Day (If you still aren't ready for Christmas, you might need it.)

Old St. Thomas' Eve -- St. Thomas, whose feast is now in July, was formerly on Dec. 21, and the evening before used for prognostication; related observance

    Tammasmass E'en -- Orkney Islands, UK (from tonight until Yule, no work was undertaken or amusements enjoyed after sunset; all alemaking for the Yule celebrations had to be done by this day

Snowflake-Riding Championships -- Fairy Calendar (no Goblins allowed!)

St. Dominic of Silos' Day (Patron of captives, pregnant women, prisoners, and shepherds; against hydrophobia, insects, mad dogs, and rabies)

Try to Remember Where You Hid The Christmas Gifts Day -- it's getting close, and you don't want to have to go out at the last minute and buy more; sponsored by "Marlar in the Morning," QFL-101 Radio, Rockford, Illinois

Underdog Day -- the day to celebrate all the number two people who make the number ones what they are (as in Friday to Crusoe); day founded by by the late Peter Moeller, THE Chief Underdog

Anniversary Today:

Donald Trump weds Marla Maples, 1993

Montgomery Bus Boycott ends, 1956

Birthdays Today:

Jonah Hill, 1983

David Cook, 1982

Billy Bragg, 1957

Jenny Agutter, 1952

Uri Geller, 1946

Peter Criss, 1945

William Julius Wilson, 1935

John Hillerman, 1932

David Levine, 1926

George Roy Hill, 1922

Irene Dunne, 1898

Susanne K. Langer, 1895

Robert Gordon Menzies, 1894

Hazel Virginia Hotchkiss Wightman, 1886

Wesley Branch Rickey, 1881

Harvey Firestone, 1868

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"The Sunshine Boys"(Play), 1972

"The Dating Game"(TV), 1965

It's a Wonderful Life(Film), 1946

Today in History:

Vespasian enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor, 69

Richard the Lionheart is captured in Vienna, 1192

Suleiman the Magnificent accepts the surrender of the surviving Knights of Rhodes, who are allowed to evacuate. They eventually settle on Malta and become known as the Knights of Malta, 1522

Peter the Great orders the Russian New Year changed from Sept 1 to Jan 1, 1699

The Louisiana Purchase is formally transferred from France to US for $27M, 1803

The international cantilever railway bridge opens at Niagara Falls, 1883

North America's longest railway, at 50,000km, the Canadian National Railways, is established, 1919

The first international dogsled mail leaves Minot, Maine for Montreal, Quebec, 1928

The cathode-ray tube is patented by Russian immigrant Vladimir Zworykin, 1938

Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom, 1955

Djibouti and Vietnam join the United Nations, 1977

NeXT merges with Apple Computer, starting the path to Mac OS X, 1996

US District Court Judge John E. Jones III rules against mandating the teaching of "intelligent design" in his ruling of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District, 2005

Queen Elizabeth II becomes the oldest ever monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, 7 months and 29 days, 2007

Intercontinental Exchange purchases the New York Stock Exchange, the largest in the world, for USD $8 billion, 2012

Britain agrees to help Syria destroy over 165 tons of chemical weapons; the stockpile includes substances that could be used to make highly toxic nerve agents, 2013