Meg (Awww Monday), Inspiring Quote of the Week, and Poetry Monday

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

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!

This is Meg.

Meg is a cute kitten, and in addition she has a happy story.  Last Wednesday, when i went to change the litter box in her kitty condo, she wouldn't get out of the litter box.  Some kittens do that on occasion, so i picked her up and set her on the rug of her condo.  She flopped, and i knew something was wrong.  When i picked her up to try to get her to stand, she couldn't use her back legs or stand at all.

That's when i ran with her to the medical/intake room and put her in a lined carrier of her own and put in an emergency call to shelter staff.  The staff member on duty, who was going to come in by 8am, said she'd come get her to the vet.

Meg had some kind of bacterial infection that was causing neurological symptoms.  She's now on two antibiotics and is walking and eating (making up for lost time on that front).  Two of her siblings in the same kitty condo had started limping and are on the same course of treatment.  All of them are expected to make a full recovery.

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

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

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

Poetry Monday was started by Diane at On The Alberta/Montana Border.  Jenny at Procrastinating Donkey is taking a break due to her husband's health.   Charlotte/Mother Owl always participates, too.  This week the theme is the Festive Card.                   

It is that special time of year

When you send a festive card.

It doesn't take all that much time

And isn't really hard.

It can bring others a lot of joy

To get some real live mail

That isn't just a piece of junk,

This brings a smile without fail.

First you open some junk mail you got

There should be free cards in one or two

That they just sent as a "gift"

Trying to get money from you.

Then go get your address book,

And i don't mean on your phone,

The one that has the number and street

Of everybody's home.

Clear a spot at the table,

Find a good working pen,

Maybe after everyone's bedtime

You can actually do it then.

Just write in "Merry Christmas"

And your name, that much will do,

Address it and then peel the stamp,

In no time you'll be through.

Oh, you forgot those relatives,

And the friends so far away?

Time to dig out more old cards,

So you can make their day.

Eventually it will get done,

Yes, i know, it's 4am,

But you don't want anybody

To think you forgot them.

After all, it's the special time of year

To send that festive card,

Don't forget that special trip to mail it all,

It's really not that hard!

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

Today is:

Bonifacio Day -- Philippines

Cider Monday -- celebrating the drink of the season, hot, spiced apple cider

Cities for Life Day -- commemorates the abolition of the death penalty in many countries

Clear Up The Clutter Day -- internet generated, and what!?! in one day!

Computer Security Day -- International (sponsored by The Association for Computer Security Day; often held by some organizations/companies on another day of the week if it falls on a weekend)

Cyber Monday -- another excuse to buy stuff, the traditional beginning of the online shopping season

Dia de la Abolicion del Ejercito -- Costa Rica (Miliary Abolition Day; yes, really, they abolished the military after the 1948 revolution, are one of Central America's oldest democracies, and has only the Police Guard forces)

Feast of Hecate, Goddess of the Crossroads -- Ancient Roman Calendar (also revered by the Greeks, Egyptians, and came from the Carians of the Bronze Age)

Guru Nanak Jayanti -- India; Nepal (celebration of the birth anniversary of Sikh Guru Nanak)

Ham and Roast Beef Night -- internet generated, but a good idea for a make your own sandwich dinner

Independence Day -- Barbados(1966); Yemen(1967)

National Day -- Benin

National Meth Awareness Day

National Mousse Day 

Perpetual Youth Day -- Dick Clark's birth anniversary

Provincial Anniversary Day -- Chatham Islands, New Zealand; Westland, New Zealand

Regina Mundi Day -- South Africa

Saint Andrew the Apostle's Day (Patron of anglers/fishermen, fish dealers/fish mongers, maidens, old maids/spinsters, single lay women, singers, women who wish to become mothers; Spanish armed forces; Achaia; Greece; Russia; Scotland; Amalfi, Italy; Antey-Saint-Andre, Italy; Berchtesgaden, Germany; Burgundy, France; Cartosio, Italy; Confienti, Italy; Constantinople, Turkey; Encinasola, Huelva, Spain; Grand Rapids, Michigan; Grongnardo, Italy; Lampertheim, Germany; Luqa, Malta; Patras, Greece; Plymouth, England; Samolaco, Italy; San Andreas, California; Victoria, British Columbia; against gout, sore throats) related observances:

     Argyle Day

     National Day -- Scotland

     Sfantul Andrei -- Romania

Stay Home Because You're Well Day -- sponsored by the Wellness Permission League -- if you get in trouble with the boss, make sure they will take the fall!

Throw Out Your Leftovers Day -- if you've had it since Thanksgiving, and haven't frozen it or eaten it yet, get rid of it

Whisp and Thread Fair -- Fairy Calendar

Anniversaries Today:

Lucille Ball marries Desi Arnaz, 1940

Birthdays Today:

Elisha Cuthbert, 1982

Clay Aiken, 1978

Jessalyn Gilsig, 1971

Sandra Oh, 1970

Amy Ryan, 1969

Ben Stiller, 1965

Bo Jackson, 1962

Colin Mochrie, 1957

Billy Idol, 1955

Shuggie Otis, 1953

Mandy Patinkin, 1952

David Mamet, 1947

Noel Paul Stookey, 1937

Ridley Scott, 1937

Abbie Hoffman, 1936

G. Gordon Liddy, 1930

Dick Clark, 1929

Joan Ganz Cooney, 1929

Robert Guillaume, 1927

Richard Crenna, 1926

Shirley Chisholm, 1924

Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., 1923

Gordon Parks, 1912

Winston Churchill, 1874

L(ucy) M(aude) Montgomery, 1874 (Anne of Green Gables)

Mark Twain, 1835

Oliver Winchester, 1810

Jonathan Swift, 1667

Philip Sydney, 1554

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Thriller"(Michael Jackson Album), 1982

"The Wall"(Pink Floyd album), 1979

Brian's Song(TV movie), 1971

"Bwana Devil"(Film, first 3-D movie), 1952

The Joy of Cooking(Publication date), 1931

"Le Cid"(Opera), 1885

Today in History:

Amsterdam bans assembly of heretics, 1523

Death count by plague in Venice is officially set at 16,000, 1630

Beijing earthquake causes 100,000+ deaths, 1731

Britain signs agreement recognizing US independence, 1782

Peter Leopold Joseph of Habsburg-Lorraine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, promulgates a penal reform making his country the first state to abolish the death penalty. November 30is therefore commemorated by 300 cities around the world as Cities for Life Day, 1786

Spain cedes her claims to Louisiana Territory to France, 1803

First ground is broken at Allenburg for the building of the original Welland Canal, 1824

First Welland Canal opens for a trial run, 5 years to the day from the ground breaking, 1829

Work begins on the first US underwater highway tunnel, in Chicago, 1866

The first international soccer football game is held, in Glasgow; Scotland-England 0-0, 1872

The first commercially successful AC electric power plant opens, Buffalo, NY, 1886

A German engineer patents front-wheel drive for automobiles, 1900

American Old West: Second-in-command of Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch gang, Kid Curry Logan, is sentenced to 20 years imprisonment with hard labor, 1902

Pike Place Market is dedicated in Seattle, Washington, 1907

The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park London destroyed by fire, 1936

Baseball's Negro National League disbands, two years after major league baseball integrated, 1948

In Sylacauga, Alabama, United States, the Hodges Meteorite crashes through a roof and hits a woman taking an afternoon nap in the only documented case of a human being hit by a rock from space, 1954

Exxon and Mobil sign a $73.7 billion USD agreement to merge, thus creating Exxon-Mobil, the world's largest company, 1998

Longtime Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings of Salt Lake City, Utah finally loses, leaving him with US$2,520,700, television's biggest game show winnings, 2004

John Sentamu becomes the first black archbishop in the Church of England with his enthronement as the 97th Archbishop of York, 2005

The first human face transplant takes place in France, 2005

Enzo di Fabrizio, physics professor at Magna Graecia University in Catanzaro, Italy, successfully takes the first photograph of DNA, 2012

UNESCO adds Belgian beer to its Cultural Heritage List, 2016

Two Chinese scientists make it to the Guinness Book of World Records by recording the world's longest lasting rainbow - 8 hrs 58 min in Taipei's Yangmingshan mountain range, 2017