A Happy Last Week of the Year Ten Things of Thankful

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First and foremost, a blessed and beautiful Happy New Year to all!  It's a thankful thing to have been brought safely to the start of a new year.

We are all thankful that we were together at Christmas.  Grandma is thankful Grandpa knows where the breaker boxes are when someone forgets and blows the breaker by running too many appliances at once in the kitchen.

The day after Christmas brought a most lovely church service, our annual Christmas Hymn Sing.  A short message (this year, on how it's more blessed to give than to receive) and then members call out favorite carols and we sing our hearts out.  It's one of the most fun services we have, and i'm thankful we got to do it this year.

Monday brought a demonstration of the previous day's lesson, and i'm thankful to have been able to do it.  Ms. PA was out of milk for her lunchtime cake and milk, and i was thankful and happy to be able to run to the local store, only a few blocks away, and get her some.  Giving in the form of running an errand and buying a jug of milk made my day.

After i took care of my newest client on Tuesday, Sweetie and i made it to the laundromat, a very thankful thing as we hate to run out of clothes (and no one else likes it when we do, either).

On the way to the laundromat in Lunceford the Land Yacht, i was thankful to be able to drop off GusGus die Fledermaus to have the oil changed.

While at Kevin and Lenny's i made arrangements to drop off Talulah (Little Girl's car) on Thursday as it also needed oil and had a leaky tire.  Thankfully we have trustworthy mechanics who worked us in this week!

Ms. G only needed me for a short time on Wednesday, so i was able to get home and get some rest.  That afternoon, Red-headed Alec came over, i am thankful we were able to have a Christmas visit in our own time and way, and i wasn't exhausted from work.

We did drop Talulah off on Thursday morning for the oil change, and told them to let us know if it needed anything else.  Then we arrived at Ms. SE's house right on time.  Because the family had been gone most of the time since our last cleaning, Sweetie and i got it done early and we were thankful.

Lenny called while we were there and said Little Girl's two front tires were shot, so we had them replaced.  That's her Christmas gift and i'm thankful because now i don't have to worry that she is commuting a half hour up the highway to school every day with bald tires and burnt oil.

One thing i'd been missing all week is my favorite Bible.  You know the one, with all the notes in it, the bookmarks that show where you left off, all of that.  Thinking i'd left it in NOLA while there for Christmas, i was making do with my phone app, figuring i'd pick it up this weekend.

Then on Friday i got to prayer group and Mr. BA said, "You did realize you left your Bible here last Friday, right?"

No, i hadn't known where on Earth it was, just figuring i'd misplaced it at Grandma's house somehow.  It was a very thankful thing to get it back, and have a good prayer time that morning.

#2 Son came by to visit Friday evening, another thankful thing.  He told me of a harrowing experience, the kind mothers are thankful their children survive.  He and his girlfriend were driving on the highway when the truck in front of them, carrying small trees to be planted, lost a tree.  It grazed his car, leaving a scratch along the side of it, but thankfully he didn't lose control, it didn't hit them head on, and the tree itself bounced off the road and caused no further harm.

It's not often when you can really tell the officer that the tree jumped out on the road in front of you, and it actually happened, and they lived to tell the tale.

We're also thankful to have Coda here, she's been a joy and i believe she has chased every squirrel within 6 blocks over the last few days.  (She's thankful for that, i am sure the squirrels are not.)

It's been a happy, sad, beautiful, awful, amazing and even interesting year, you are all in my prayers for nothing but the best for the next 12 months.

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:

Apple Gifting Day

Bad Hangover Day -- but only for some (she says, trying not to look too virtuous)

Birth of Moonhopper -- Fairy Calendar

Black Nazarene Fiesta -- Philippines (through the 9th)

Bonza Bottler Day™

Buckle-Up Day -- the first US mandatory seat belt law went into effect in New York on this day in 1985

Carnival Day/Grand Parade of Troupes -- Saint Kitts and Nevis

Constitution Day  -- Italy

Daydreamers' Day -- take time out today to dream, on paper, what you want this year to hold

Day of the Establishment of the Slovak Republic -- Slovakia

Days of Volos -- Slavic Pagan Calendar (a time to be thankful to the god Volos for pets and farm animals; through the 6th)

Eighth Day of Christmas

Feast of the Circumcision of Christ -- Eastern Orthodox Church

Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus - Orthodox Christian; Lutheran

First-Foot Day -- make sure an auspicious or good person is the first to set foot in your home for the New Year

Foundation Days -- Taiwan (a/k/a Republic Day, celebrated through tomorrow)

Gantan-sai (New Year's Day) -- Shinto

Get A Life Day -- now even the internet is urging you to use the New Year wisely

Grandfather Frost Day -- Russia; Ukraine (Ded Moroz; an equivalent of Santa Claus who visits on New Year's Day and delivers the gifts in person with his granddaughter, the Snow Maiden, and fighting off Baba Yaga the witch who tries to steal them; in some areas, he comes on "Old Christmas Day", in about a week)

Hangover Handicap Run -- Couer d'Alene, ID, US (an early morning run, saluting the night before by giving out beer can trophies)

Horan Enya -- Bungo Takada City, Japan (ceremony for safety at sea and large catches)

Independence Day -- Haiti(1804); Sudan

International Get Over It Month -- urging you to let the past go and move forward

Kaapse Klopse -- Cape Town, South Africa (Minstrel Carnival, with parties and parades through February; main parade tomorrow at midday)

Kalends of January -- Ancient Roman Calendar; also

     Agonalia (giving dates, figs, and honey to Janus, and gifts to family members)

     Day Sacred to Janus, Juno, and Jupiter

     Festival for Aesculapius (god of healing)

     Festival for Vedovus (god of the spirits of ancestors)

     Sacrifice to Fortuna Day (Sacrifice something to the goddess of Fortune so she will give you a good year.)

Kwanzaa, Day 7, Imani (faith)

Liberation Day -- Cuba (a/k/a Triumph of the Revolution)

London New Year's Day Parade -- London, England (one of the best New Year parties in the world)

Mary, Mother of God -- Catholic Christian (Feast of the Solemnity of Mary, Octave Day of Christmas)

Mummer's Parade -- Philadelphia, PA, US

National Bloody Mary Day -- um, didn't you get enough of that last night?!

National Tree Planting Day -- Tanzania

New Year's Day

New Year's Dishonor List Day -- Lake Superior State University announces the misused and overused words from the previous year which should be banished from the Queen's English

Polar Swim Day / Polar Bear Swim / Polar Bear Plunge -- various locations throughout Canada, Netherlands, and US

Restoration Day of the Independent Czech State -- Czech Republic

Sacrifices to the Wind Gods -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)

Scout's Day -- Burma (celebration of Boy Scouts and Girl Guides in Burma)

Shogatsu -- Japan (New Year, most important holiday of the year)

Shusho-e Matsuri -- Buddhists in Japan go to temple on the first day of the year for a special ceremony

Snake Eyes Day -- no, i won't, it's too obvious

Sovereignty Day -- Iraq

St. Basil's Day / Basil the Great -- Eastern Orthodox (Patron of education, exorcisms, hospital administrators, Liturgists, monks, reformers, and of Russia and Cappadocia; bringer of gifts and inspector of livestock in Greece)

St. Clarus' Day  (Patron of tailors)

St. Zedislava Berka's Day  (Patron of difficult marriages, people ridiculed for piety)

Tewa Turtle Dance -- Tewa Native Americans (celebration of life and the first Creation; through the 4th)

Tournament of Roses Parade -- Pasadena, CA, US

Vienna New Year's Concert -- Vienna, Austria

Z Day -- for all the people whose names begin with Z and always have to wait to be last; sponsored by Tom Zager

Anniversary Today:

Establishment of Bryce Canyon National Monument, UT, US, 1923

Ellis Island opens, 1892

Birthdays Today:

James McAvoy, 1979

Verne "Mini-Me" Troyer, 1969

Michael Imperioli, 1966

Kathleen Casey, 1946

Don Novello, 1943

Helmut Jahn, 1940

Frank Langella, 1940

B. Kliban, 1935

J. D. Salinger, 1919

Hank Greenberg, 1911

Barry Goldwater, 1909

Xavier Cugat, 1900

J. Edgar Hoover, 1895

E.M. Forster, 1879

Betsy Ross, 1752(O.S.)

"Mad Anthony" Wayne, 1745(O.S.)

Paul Revere, 1735

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Profiles in Courage(publication date), 1956

"Modern Times"(Film), 1936

Traveler's Checks(first issued by the London Exchange Banking Company), 1772

Today in History:

The Julian Calendar takes effect for the first time, BC45

Origin of the Christian Era, 1

The last gladiator competition in Rome, 404

Muhammad sets out toward Mecca with his army, 630

Jews of Sicily are no longer required to attend conversionist services, 1430

Portuguese navigators become the first Europeans to see the Guanabara Bay, which they thought was the mouth of a river and first called Rio de Janeiro (River of January), 1502

Scotland begins its numbered year on January 1 instead of March 25, 1600

German astronomer Simon Marius first sees Jupiter's moons (he did not report them, though, Galileo did, on July 10 of the same year), 1610

Samuel Pepys makes his first diary entry, 1660

The first traveler's cheques go on sale in London, for use in 90 European cities, 1772

The Irish Parliament votes to join the Kingdom of Great Britain, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1801

The dwarf planet Ceres is discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi, 1801

Emperor Gia Long orders all bronze wares of the Tay San Dynasty to be collected and melted into nine cannons for the Royal Citadel in Hue, Vietnam, 1803

Haiti gains independence from France (National Day), 1804

Import of slaves into the US is banned, 1808

The first homestead under the Homestead Act claimed, near Beatrice, Nebraska, 1863

Japan begins using the Gregorian Calendar, 1873

England's Queen Victoria proclaimed empress of India, 1877

Twenty-five nations adopt Sanford Fleming's proposal for Standard Time and Time Zones, 1885

The first Tournament of Roses is held, 1900

The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia, 1901

Vancouver, BC starts driving on the right side of road, 1922

Turkey adopts the Gregorian calendar: December 18, 1926 (Julian), is immediately followed by January 1, 1927 (Gregorian), 1927

Emperor Hirohito of Japan announces he is not a god, 1946

The European Community is established, 1958

United States Navy SEALs established, 1962

The Internet's Domain Name System is created, 1985

The first British mobile phone call is made by Ernie Wise to Vodafone, 1985

A single market within the European Community is introduced, 1993

The North American Free Trade Agreement comes into effect 1994

The World Trade Organization goes into effect, 1995

The European Central Bank is established, 1998

The Euro currency is introduced in 11 countries, 1999

Euro banknotes and coins become legal tender in twelve of the European Union's member states, 2002

Taiwan officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Chinese Taipei, 2002

The Open Skies mutual surveillance treaty officially comes into force, 2002

Sydney, Australia swelters through its hottest New Years Day on record. The thermometer peaked at 45 °C (113 °F), sparking bushfires and power outages, 2006

Bulgaria and Romania officially join the European Union. Also, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Irish become official languages of the European Union, 2007

Malta and Cyprus officially adopt the Euro currency and become the fourteenth and fifteenth Eurozone countries, 2008

Estonia officially adopts the Euro currency and becomes the seventeenth Eurozone country, 2011

Portuguese politician and diplomat Antonio Guterres becomes United Nations Secretary General, replacing South Korean Ban Ki-Moon, 2017 

Qatar withdraws from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) after 57 years of membership, 2019