Saturday, February 6, 2021

For the Love of February, a Ten Things of Thankful Post

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We made it to the first Thankful Day of February!  That's a thankful thing in itself, February is a short month with a lot to celebrate.


Groundhog Day/Candlemas here was clear and beautiful.  That's supposed to mean winter will come roaring back, and it has.  We're thankful for every day we don't have to use the air conditioners, although we will also be thankful when the temperatures are a bit more toward the middle ranges.


Coda and Lulu had a fun time last Saturday.  Sweetie and i got the bright idea to shut the hall doors, so they played up and down the hall and into the bedrooms, and left the living room area alone until they had mostly tuckered themselves out.  We're thankful they had fun, and i'm going to use that idea again today.


Yes, Little Girl did her January duty last weekend, and while everyone was there the powers-that-be told them, "By the way, we moved your February duty to next weekend, we'll see you again Friday."


She and her cohorts (and all of their employers) are not so happy about the sudden change of schedule, but it's an ill wind that blows no one any good, and it means i get Coda two weeks in a row, a thankful for me.


Last Saturday, Grandpa told me to order food delivered, and no one but me wanted anything, so i got to try a new place.  Hooray for Indian food, so many good vegetarian and vegan options, and it's spicy and delicious to boot.  It's also not something anyone else there would have eaten, so i didn't have to share!


Sunday, while Coda was still here, i called Ms. S and asked her if she wanted a visit from a dog.  She was game, so i brought Coda over and she spent about 45 minutes sitting with Ms. S and getting petted and loved on.  Ms. S still misses her dog, so having Coda play therapy dog for a bit was a blessing for her.


It makes me thankful Little Girl raised that dog to be friendly and loving to everyone.


Brother-in-Law has been worried about his taxes.  He always gets a refund, and is antsy to get his done and filed the moment he gets a W-2.  Telling him the IRS won't accept it before February 12 does no good, he fusses and fumes and still wants it done yesterday.


His taxes are done, and i'm thankful.  Of course, the IRS won't start processing anything for another week, but i got on TurboTax and got it all entered and processed and i am thankful he'll leave me alone about it now!


Our Zoom meeting on Tuesday with the Ladies' Circle from church went very well.  We are all thankful for the technology that allows us to still meet together and enjoy discussing our lives and the book we are studying.  (This year, for any who wants to know, it's Identity Theft: Reclaiming the Truth of Our Identity in Christ.)


Thursday at Ms. V's house, for once, went like clockwork.  For the first time in weeks, i managed to get done early and got to come home and have a feets up time, a big thankful.


Yesterday was dreary and drippy and drizzly, so when Mr. BA had me cleaning the spare refrigerator and helping him cook gumbo for the men's gumbo contest at church today, i was thankful for indoor work.


The shelter continues to do pretty well, considering our Covid times.  Cats are getting adopted regularly, including one last night while i was there.


Someone there got the bright idea to invent a new volunteer position, Kitty Counselor.  We now have volunteers who come in solely to spend time socializing some of our less friendly adult cats, the ones that have a more difficult time finding homes.  We're thankful it's helping, the staff are noticing that many formerly stand-offish cats are allowing themselves to be petted now.


That about wraps up another week!



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



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Today is:


Aldus Day -- death anniversary of Aldus Manutius, inventor of italics


Bob Marley Day / Reggae Day -- Jamaica (birth anniversary)


Gamelia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (anniversary celebration of the marriage of Zeus and Hera; date approximate)


International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation -- United Nations


Lame Duck Day -- US, on the anniversary of the passage of the 20th Amendment to the US Constitution; a day to recognize those whose tenure is running out


National Chopsticks Day


Oto Matsuri -- Shingu, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan (fire festival)


Pay-A-Compliment Day


Rubik-Cube Muddling Championships -- Fairy Calendar


Sami National Day -- Finland, Norway, Russian, and Sweden


St. Dorothy of Caesarea's Day (Patron of brewers, brides, florists, gardeners, midwives, newlyweds; Pescia, Italy)


St. Peter Baptist's Day (Patron of Caceres, Philippines; Japan)


Waitangi Day -- Maori, New Zealand and Niue (treaty with Britain, 1840; also considered National Day)



Anniversaries Today:


Accession of Queen Elizabeth II, 1952 (upon the death of her father, George VI)

Massachusetts becomes the 6th US State, 1788

The College of William and Mary in Virginia is founded by royal charter, 1693



Birthdays Today:


Axl Rose, 1962

Barry Miller, 1958

Kathy Najimy, 1957

Robert Townsend, 1957

Natalie Cole, 1950

Bob Marley, 1945

Michael Tucker, 1944

Fabian, 1943

Gayle Hunnicutt, 1943

Gigi Perreau, 1941

Tom Brokaw, 1940

Mike Farrell, 1939

Francois Truffant, 1932

Rip Torn, 1931

Mamie Van Doren, 1931

Zsa Zsa Gabor, 1919

Mary Leakey, 1913

Ronald Reagan, 1911

Babe Ruth, 1895

Aaron Burr, 1756

Nicolaus II Bernoulli, 1695

Chongzhen, Emperor of China, 1611

Christopher Marlowe, 1564



Debuting/Premiering Today:


"Masque of Kings"(Play), 1936

"Rhenisch"(Schumann's 3rd Symphony), 1851



Today in History:


The United States signs its first treaty, in which France recognizes the US and promises aid, 1778

New Jersey issues the first US railroad charter to John Stevens, 1815

Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founds Singapore, 1819

The first 86 African American immigrants sponsored by the American Colonization Society started a settlement in present-day Liberia, 1820

Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, establishing New Zealand as a British colony, 1840

Harper's Weekly publishes the first picture of Uncle Sam with chin whiskers, 1869

The international arbitration court at The Hague is created when the Netherlands' Senate ratifies an 1899 peace conference decree, 1900

The Young Women's Hebrew Association organizes in NYC, 1902

The "Monopoly" board game goes on sale for the first time, 1935

Turkey holds its first election in which women can vote, 1935

K Elizabeth Ohi becomes the first Japanese-US female lawyer, 1937

Elizabeth II becomes the first Queen regnant of the United Kingdom and several other realms since Queen Victoria, upon the death of her father, George VI, 1952

Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments files the first patent for an integrated circuit, 1959

Justice Mary Gaudron is appointed to the High Court of Australia, the first woman to be appointed, 1987

The Round Table Talks start in Poland, thus marking the beginning of overthrow of communism in Eastern Europe, 1989

Russia captures Grozny, Chechnya, forcing the separatist Chechen Republic of Ichkeria government into exile, 2000

A magnitude 8.0 earthquake causes significant damage to villages along the coast of the Solomon Islands, 2013

Qatar Airways achieves the longest-ever commercial flight in service when its B777 aircraft lands in Auckland after a 16 hour and 23 minutes flight from Doha, 2017

SpaceX launches Falcon Heavy, the world's most powerful rocket, 2018

According to research from RMIT University in Australia, honeybees are able to add and substract and understand the concept of zero, the first invertebrates shown to demonstrate this capacity, 2019

US astronaut Christina Koch completes the longest continuous spaceflight by a female astronaut after 328 days on the International Space Station, landing in Kazakhstan, 2020

17 comments:

  1. A lovely list of thankfuls. I'm also thankful for days I don't need to use the air conditioner and thankful too that Lola, after three and a half years, now "talks" to me occasionally and allows me to hold her for a few minutes.

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  2. I am very glad that you got some feets up time - something I am pretty sure you rarely get enough of.
    And a big, big hooray for Indian food. Also for Middle Eastern food which is also kind to vegetarian/vegans.

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  3. Ummm, should you really be helping him with the *men's* gumbo contest???

    Tell you what - I'll come visit and you can use me as an excuse to order all the Indian food you want! (Altho' I might need to try at least a little of that gumbo, too...) ;-p

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  4. That's a nice list of thankfuls and I'm glad some kitties are getting social lessons!

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  5. Oh wow! Your thankfuls are awesome ~ you help so many people and glad you got some time to put your feet up ~

    Moment by moment,

    A ShutterBug Explores,
    aka (A Creative Harbor)

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  6. Same here, winter comes back with a vengeance this weekend.
    Stay warm and safe!

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  7. I'm thankful I've enough food (which includes lots of fresh fruit and bars of Cherry Ripes) to last me through until the end of the week. A once a week shop is enough for me! :)

    Take good care, messymimi. :)

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  8. What a lot of thankfuls, but like Jz I wondered whether it was OK to help somebody in a gumbo competition.
    Thank you so much for thankfuls, lists and positivity!

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  9. So many good things, Mimi! So many good things! Doggins visits, zoom meetings with sisters (love the sound of that book, BTW) and gumbo? Sounds like a prefect winter week!
    Just an FYI:, Karen from Baking in a Tornado is joining us again on Monday for Poetry Monday! Looking forward to what you both will contribute!

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  10. Wonderful thankfuls. I think it is great that COda spread some joy.

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  11. I am always in awe of how busy your weeks are, I mostly stay in, at least until it's my turn to get the shot.
    See you on Monday for Poetry Monday!

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  12. A great list, Mimi. Having a "kitty counselor" sounds like a good idea. I have known of teens who have volunteered at shelters and have provided that kind of service. It was a win win, especially if they were not able to have cats in their own homes.
    Having a runway for the dogs sounds like the perfect answer. Good for Coda providing such a sweet service for Ms S. Another win win.

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  13. A wonderful thankful list. I love Indian food too. So nice of you to share Coda with Mrs S. I am sure Coda and Mrs S enjoyed each other's company. With the tax report done, now both your brother in law and you get to enjoy some peace. Good that everyone is happy, you get some feet up time and kitties get some nice volunteers to make friends with them. Have a happy weekend.

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  14. Like the Grat about shutting the hallway doors for the dogs to have a place to play...when Ola was a puppy, like every other young dog, she never tired of playing fetch... as it turns out we discovered the greatest distance in the house was from the far wall of the living room and (if the door was open) the bedroom at the end of the hall.
    lol she'd run full-on down the hall, we're hear her coming to a stop (up against a wall or dresser) and gallop back to the living room.
    She was a perfect dog.
    have a good week

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  15. You can have alllll my Indian food. Tried it once. Not for me. I would love a day I could turn my a/c on! This below freezing thing is for the birds! I don't like gumbo, either, because I only like my okra fried. Can you tell I'm a picky eater?!

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