File Under Miscellaneous (Ten Things of Thankful)

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We have had some of the most beautiful days lately, so beautiful that they are my first thankful for the week. 

Thursday was rainy, and i am thankful for that, too, because it highlights how good the rest of the week is!

Sweetie has been working at least 2-3 days a week with The Big Boss, and we are very thankful.

Grandma's housekeeper was out this week, and Ms. GF ended up not being available on Wednesday, so i am thankful we were able to go clean the house for them.

While down there, we went to the Ford place and got the remaining months of the car warranty transferred to my name.  GusGus has a factory warranty, a thankful in and of itself, and if we are able to buy another extension, that will be a double blessing.

Little Girl got all of her paperwork problems with school sorted out and we are thankful she has started her classes and all is well.

She also made another trip to help a friend move, and i am thankful she didn't try to drive home after a long, stressful day of moving furniture.  She very wisely and safely waited and got a good night's sleep first.

Mr. BA had me help him with two things.  First was moving a table, and flipping the carpet under it.  It was a heavy table, and the carpet, in spite of my vacuuming it every week, was very dirty underneath.  Sweeping and vacuuming and mopping the floors under a big carpet, plus having to move all the very heavy furniture off and back onto it, make me thankful i don't have to do that often.

Second was the weeding, and i am very thankful that i don't do it for a living!

While at the shelter yesterday evening, two cats were adopted.  We will probably reach at least 100 adoptions this month, a great start to the year.

As a bonus, i am going back to Grandma and Grandpa's today just to take Grandma shopping and do something fun with her.  My last three visits have been mostly for cleaning and other things, so it will be nice to simply enjoy their company.

Please write up your own list and link up to Ten Things of Thankful, where Kristi and her co-hosts always have a warm welcome waiting.    

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Today is:

Afrma Fancy Rat and Mouse Annual Show -- Riverside, CA (don't laugh, rats and mice make great pets!)

Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show -- West Springfield, MA, US (8 1/2 acres of hobby train fun; through tomorrow)

A Room of One's Own Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays, for all of those who just want a space to call their own; on the birth anniversary of Virginia Woolf

Around the World in 72 Days -- this date in 1890, Nellie Bly broke the fictional Phileas Fogg's record and went around the world in 72 days, 6 hours, 11 minutes and 14 seconds

Big Garden Birdwatch -- UK (sponsored by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds; through Monday)  

Big Rock Day -- discovery of the Cullinan diamond (3,106 carets) this day in 1905

Brookfield Ice Harvest and Winter Carnival -- Brookfield, VT, US (demonstrating traditional ice harvesting using original equipment near the Brookfield Floating Bridge, one of only two such bridges still extant)

Conversion of St. Paul -- Christian

    Observe the Weather Day -- a beautiful St. Paul's Conversion day means a prosperous year, precipitation means an expensive year, clouds mean much loss of livestock, and wind means war looms in the year ahead

Cordova IceWorm Festival -- Cordova, AK, US (one of Alaska's zaniest festivals, and you have to be a bit zany to survive the winter here, this year's theme is "Peace, Love, and Iceworm"; through Saturday)

Dydd Santes Dwynwen -- Wales (For St. Dwynwen, Patron of lovers, especially Welsh lovers, and sick animals; the Welsh Valentines Day)

Feriae Sementivae -- Ancient Roman Calendar (a Feast of Spring, asking protection for seeds sown in the fall, and those to be sown in spring)

Festival of Constructive Energy -- another internet generated day with no explanations

Gasparilla Pirate Fest -- Tampa, FL (reenactment of the invasion of Tampa by pirates, this is the adult version of last weekend's celebration for kids)

G. F. Betico Croes Day -- Aruba

Greater Springfield Garage Sale -- Springfield, MO, US (if you want to find it used, you can probably find it here at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds; through tomorrow)

Great Fruitcake Toss -- Manitou Springs, CO, US (what to do with leftover fruitcake?  toss, hurl, or launch it for fun and prizes)

Ice Fest -- Ligonier, PA, US (ice sculpture contest and lots of family fun; through tomorrow)

IV Nurse Day -- US (sponsored by the Infusion Nurses Society)    

January 25 Revolution Day -- Egypt

Ka Moloka'i Makahiki -- Molokai, Hawaii (traditional ceremonial end of the harvest festival, a time of peace; still celebrated with ceremonies and sporting events)

KidFilm Festival -- Dallas, TX (international children's film festival; through tomorrow)

Kumquat Festival -- Dade City, FL, US (because kumquats are not just funny, they are delicious!)

Lunar New Year/Chinese New Year/Lhosar/Seol-Nal/Tet -- celebrations throughout Asia of the year of the Rat, some before and some after this "official" Western date, some for up to a month; Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist celebrations

    Sonam Lhosar -- Nepal (Tamang New Year)

Luanda City Day -- Luanda City, Angola

Macintosh Computer Day -- debuted this day in 1984

National Irish Coffee Day

National Seed Swap Day -- find or set one up in your area, so you can expand your garden, and help others expand theirs

National Voters' Day -- India

Old Disting -- Norse Calendar (date approximate; a market day held at the same time as a sacrifice to the female powers.)

Orange City Blue Spring Manatee Festival -- Orange City, FL, US (learn about the manatee and have fun doing it; through tomorrow)

Robert Burns' Night -- Scotland; Newfoundland (celebrated with a Burns' Supper and reciting poetry)

    Dinner Party Day -- for Bobby Burns, of course

Sounkyo Ice Festival -- Hokkaido, Japan (snow and ice sculptures that are almost too good to be true, through March 20)

St. Ananias of Damascus' Day (Saint who baptized St. Paul)

Traditional Day of Offering -- Bhutan (first day of 12th month of Tibetan calendar)

Wakakusa Yamayaki -- Nara, Japan (Grass Burning on Mt. Wakakusayama, and fireworks; an annual New Year tradition)

Winter-een-mas -- a holiday for gamers, begun by Tim Buckley; through the 31st

Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts and Humanities -- Eatonville, FL, US (celebrating Hurston's work, hometown, and cultural contributions, and the contributions of all Africa-descended people; through the 28th)

Anniversaries Today:

Henry VIII marries Anne Boleyn, 1533 (secret wedding)

Moscow University is established, to coincide with St. Tatiana's Day, 1755

Birthdays Today:

Alicia Keys, 1981

Ana Ortiz, 1971

China Kantner, 1971

Dinah Manoff, 1958

Leigh Taylr-Young, 1945

Etta James, 1938

Corazon Aquino, 1933

Dean Jones, 1931

Edwin Newman, 1919

Florence Mills, 1896

Virginia Woolf, 1882

William Somerset Maugham, 1874

Robert Burns, 1759

Robert Boyle, 1627 (O.S. date)

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Rent"(Musical), 1996

"M*A*S*H*"(Film), 1970

"One Hundred and One Dalmatians"(Cartoon film), 1961

"Metamorphosen, Study for 23 Solo Strings"(Strauss composition), 1946

"The Guiding Light"(Radio), 1937

"R.U.R./Rossum's Universal Robots"(Play), 1921 (the word "robot" enters the world lexicon)

"Wedding March"(Mendelssohn, Op. 61), 1858

"La Cenerentola"(Rossini Opera), 1817

Today in History:

Founding of Sao Paulo, Brazil, 1554

Battle of Mikatagahara, in Japan; Takeda Shingen defeats Tokugawa Ieyasu, 1573

The Treaty of Utrecht marks the beginning of the Dutch Republic, 1579

Eliakam Spooner of Vermont patents the first seeding machine in the US, 1799

The first US engineering college opens, Rensselaer Polytechnic, Troy, NY, 1825

Sojourner Truth addresses the First Black Women's Rights Convention, in Akron, Ohio, 1851

Mendelssohn's "Wedding March" is first played, at the wedding of Queen Victoria's daughter Princess Victoria, to crown prince of Prussia, 1858

The soda fountain is patented by Gustavus Dows, 1870

Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company, 1881

Bilu, a Russian Zionist organization, forms, 1882

Nellie Bly beats Phileas Fogg's time around world by 8 days (72 days), 1890

The first US transcontinental telephone call is made when Alexander Graham Bell in NY calls Thomas Watson in SF, 1915

The League of Nations is founded, 1919

The 1924 Winter Olympics opens in Chamonix, France (in the French Alps), inaugurating the Winter Olympic Games, 1924

At the Hollywood Athletic Club the first Emmy Awards are presented, 1949

The first scheduled transcontinental flight in the US takes place, an American Airlines flight from California to New York, 1959

The Clementine space probe launches, 1994

Russia almost launches a nuclear attack after it mistakes Black Brant XII, a Norwegian research rocket, for a US Trident missile, 1995

During a historic visit to Cuba, Pope John Paul II demands the release of political prisoners and political reforms while condemning US attempts to isolate the country, 1998

Three independent observing campaigns announce the discovery of OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb through gravitational microlensing, the first cool rocky/icy extrasolar planet around a main-sequence star, 2006

Tropical cyclone Oswald makes landfall in Queensland, Australia, causing mass flooding, 2013

A British rowing team becomes the first female crew and the first crew of four to cross the Pacific, from San Francisco, California to Cairns, Australia in 257 days, 2016