Birthday Fun and Funnies, a Random and Happy Tuesday Post

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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.  http://stacyuncorked.com

Yesterday was Carl's birthday.  Since i had been warned ahead that he was taking the day off work, i had set up with his mother, Ms. V, to go over at 10am instead of 6:30am.  If he does not have work or an appointment, he's not going to get up early.

When i did arrive, he greeted me at the door with his shirt on backwards, and wearing his pink socks.  He'd just had a shower, and was waiting for IHoP to deliver the breakfast he'd ordered.  It was a breakfast sandwich and pancakes with birthday sprinkles.  He orders from there often enough that they know him well, they sent extra syrup.

It was hard to get a pic, he was ready to eat!  They also sent icing.

While he ate, i started in his room, and at the end of four hours effort between us, his room was clean, he had his clothes ready for the next three days of work, his sandwiches and snacks were made and packed, and we'd put everything back in his now repaired car that belonged there.

Before i left, we (Brother-in-Law, Sweetie and i) were invited back for 6pm to have cake and ice cream.  He was still trying to figure out what kind of cake he wanted when i left, and i planted the bug in his and his parents' ears to just get an ice cream cake from Baskin and Robbins.  With his communication issues and with it being so very hard for him to make decisions, that would be easy, just one purchase.

Promptly at 6pm, we pulled up along with his friends Pete and Laura (other special needs adults who, like him, can drive and hold jobs, but not live on their own).  Carl was still eating his supper, finishing up with buttered broccoli, a favorite.  His parents had set up for a social distancing party in the back yard, with a festive blue tablecloth over the wrought iron table and chairs set up far enough apart to be safe.

They'd decided on an ice cream pie from Baskin and Robbins, and when we arrived they were still gathering the bowls, spoons, and cups.  We all made our way outside, and once Carl was ready (he kept excusing himself to the restroom, a sure sign he is nervous) we attempted to light the candles.

Talk about a comedy of errors!  There were fans set up out there to keep us cool(er), and no matter how we tried or where we went in the back yard, the wind kept blowing out the matches before we could even get a candle lit.  Finally i grabbed the pie and went just inside the back door with it, along with Pete, and between us we got the candles going (they were the sparkling kind, too).

After singing what was probably the worst rendition of Happy Birthday ever -- of the 8 people there, only 4 were on key, and i was not one of them -- Carl grabbed one of his birthday cards and used it to try to fan the candle flames out.  Now that they were lit, however, they proved very stubborn and we all giggled as his mom and i grabbed plates to wave over them before finally extinguishing them all.  Pulling them off the pie before it could melt more, i ran them inside and doused them with water, then disposed of them.

The pie was delicious, it's not something i usually indulge in, but i could not say no, Carl was too invested in this.  We ate and talked and the whole pie was demolished.  Then it was time for gifts.

Ours was a bit of a joke gift.  Taking the last little bit of cash i had on hand (it was the end of the month, after all), i wrapped it in plastic wrap and put it between two slices of bread, then put that in a sandwich bag.  On the outside of the sandwich bag, i had a note taped that said, "Don't let our joke go over your head, for your gift, we gave you..." and on the inside, with the money and tucked inside the slices, the word "Bread!"  All of this was wrapped in tissue paper since i didn't have any gift wrap on hand.  All three of us signed the card that was taped to the outside.

Carl may not have gotten the joke very well, although he enjoyed the present, but his parents thought it was funny.  Pete and Laura had given him an iTunes gift card, which is his favorite.

It doesn't take long to stay an hour, and that was about how long we were there, maybe a bit more.  A good, and sweet, time was had by all, and we left just as the mosquitoes were starting to buzz around.

As usual, i will end my random post with some of what Grandma forwards to me.

First how about a few more "What is this?" puzzles:

                    Card shark.

 

                           iPods

                     Gator-Aide

Now the funnies:

Fridge magnet!

An original blonde.

What will I be when I grow up?

Have a blessed and beautiful Tuesday, everyone!

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Today is:

Bahti Meskerem -- Eritrea (Revolution Day)

Bonnat Pig Fair -- Bonnat, France

Building and Code Staff Appreciation Day

Chicken Boy's Day -- the mascot of the now defunct restaurant by that name, the 22 foot statue of a boy with a chicken's head was saved from destruction and is now a pop icon in L.A. on Route 66

Constitution Day/National Day -- Slovakia

Day of Knowledge -- Estonia (an official Flag Day); Russia

Disaster Prevention Day/Kanto Earthquake Memorial Day -- Japan

Ecclesiastical Year begins -- Orthodox Christian

Festival of Juno Regina and Jupiter Liber -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Hassaku Oshi-tsuki -- Tsuma, Oki Island, Japan (bull sumo, with bulls pushing each other out of the ring)

Indra Jatra -- Kathmandu Valley, Nepal (the biggest religious street festival in Kathmandu, celebrating of the founding of Kathmandu, with several days of chariot processions, masked dances, and tableau; today is the municipal day off for the festival)

Mustaqillik Kuni -- Uzbekistan (Independence Day, 1991) 

National Cherry Popover Day

National No Rhyme (Nor Reason) Day -- the day to celebrate the amazing words in the English language that do not rhyme with any other words

Nutt Day -- for Emma M. Nutt, the first female telephone operator

Oyster Season begins

Partridge's Day -- patridge hunting season begins in UK

Presidential Message Day -- Mexico

Random Acts of Kindness Day -- New Zealand

Save the Koala Month -- anyone can help by "adopting" one   

Sing A Silly Song in Bed Day -- now, this one has no real rhyme or reason

Sneeze-Wobbling Festival -- Fairy Calendar

St. Fiacre's Day -- Ireland and France (the rest of the church celebrates this Patron of gardeners on August 30)

St. Gideon the Judge's Day (Patron of Saint-Gedeon-de-Beauce, Canada)

St. Giles' Day (Patron of the beggars, blacksmiths, breast feeding, cancer patients, disabled/handicapped people, epileptics, forests, hermits, horses, lepers, mentally ill people, noctiphobics, paupers and the poor, rams, spur makers, woods; Edinburgh, Scotland; Toifa, Italy; against breast cancer, epilepsy, fear of the night, insanity, leprosy, mental illness, noctiphobia, sterility)

St. Simeon Stylites' Day -- Eastern Orthodox Christian

Teacher's Day -- Singapore

Wattle Day -- Australia

Anniversary Today:

Benjamin Franklin marries Deborah Read, 1730

Birthdays Today:

Timothy Duane "Tim" Hardaway, 1966

Gloria Estefan, 1957

Dr. Phil McGraw, 1950

Barry Gibb, 1946

Lily Tomlin, 1939

Alan Dershowitz, 1938

Don Stroud, 1937

Seiji Ozawa, 1935

Conway Twitty, 1933

"Boxcar" Willie, 1931

Rocky Marciano, 1923

Yvonne DeCarlo, 1922

Vittorio Gassman, 1922

Walter Philip Reuther, 1907

Edgar Rice Burroughts, 1875

Englebert Humperdinck. 1854 (composer, esp of opera Hansel and Gretel)

Johann Pachelbel, 1653

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Art Linkletter's House Party"(TV), 1952

"Androcles and the Lion"(Play), 1913

Today in History:

Rabbi Moses Ben Nachman establishes a Jewish community in Jerusalem, 1267

Adi Granth, now known as Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of Sikhs, was first installed at Harmandir Sahib, 1601

The first yacht race is held, between England's King Charles I and his brother James, 1661

Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa forms in California, 1772

Juno, one of the largest main belt asteroids, is discovered by German astronomer Karl Ludwig Harding, 1804

Narcissa Whitman, one of the first white women to settle west of the 

Rocky Mountains, arrives at Walla Walla, Washington, 1836

The first Pullman sleeping car is put into service, 1859

The Solar Superstorm/Carrington Event: a huge solar sunspot and solar flare storm that disrupted telegraphy and allowed the Aurora Borealis to be seen as far south as the Caribbean occurs, 1859

Joseph Lister performs the first antiseptic surgery, 1865

Robert T. Freeman becomes the first African American to graduate from the Harvard Dental School, 1867

The first underground rapid transit system in North America, the Boston Subway, opens, 1897

One of the first science fiction films ever, A Trip To The Moon, opens in France, 1902

Alberta and Saskatchewan become the 8th and 9th Canadian provinces, 1905

Martha, the last passenger pigeon, dies at the Cincinnati Zoo, 1914

The United States, Australia and New Zealand sign a mutual defense pact, called the ANZUS Treaty, 1951

In Reykjavík, Iceland, American Bobby Fischer beats Russian Boris Spassky and becomes the world chess champion, 1972

Canada adopts the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as part of its Constitution, 1982

A joint French-American expedition locates the wreckage of the RMS Titanic, 1985

Luxembourg becomes the first nation to complete the transition to all digital tv broadcasting, 2006

After four Israeli settlers are shot at the Israeli settlement Beit Hagai, the Palestinian Authority arrested 250 members of Hamas, 2010

To avoid further fighting, Libya's Transitional Council extends the deadline to surrender for tribal leaders in Sirte, 2011

U.S. National Park officials notify 3,100 recent visitors of an outbreak of Hantavirus sourced to tent cabins in Yosemite National Park, 2012

In southwestern China, at least four people are killed by a 5.9-magnitude earthquake, 2013

Stock markets around the world fall after China reports a low value for its purchasing managers' index, suggesting that the nation's economy is slowing, 2015

Hurricane Dorian makes landfall on Elbow Cay in the Abaco Islands, northern Bahamas, as a category five storm with winds of 180mph (285km/h), 2019