Some Days Make the Week, a Ten Things of Thankful Post

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There are some weeks where the good, the bad, the better and the worst just all happen at once.

There are some days like that, too, and Wednesday was such a day.

Let’s start at the beginning.  Last Saturday, i got to take Coda with us to NOLA, and it was wonderful.  Everyone involved is thankful when i can do that.

Sunday, i called Red-headed Alec and asked him if he was ready to schedule that eye exam i promised him, it’s going to be his birthday gift this year.  He had forgotten and was trying to figure out how he was going to both get new tires for his car and get glasses.  He was thrilled to come over and we got online to schedule his exam when we could both be there.  He’s thankful and i’m thankful i can do it for him.

Monday, Tuesday and Thursday are the kind of days where i’m thankful for normal, quiet, long days of the usual work load.

Then there’s a Wednesday thrown in for good measure.

To back up, #1 Son has been driving Bessy Low-Key, which used to be Bigger Girl’s car.  Bigger Girl tries but she’s one of those people who shouldn’t be driving, and her former car shows it.  He’s been looking for a good used car, but who can find one of those these days for a reasonable price?

Out of the blue, Uncle D, a good friend of the family, asked Grandpa, “Do you know anyone who could use a good car?  My wife is not going to be allowed to drive any longer, and I want to find someone who really needs a good used car at a good price.”

Um, yes!  Plans were made, the car was taken to the shop and given some minor work and pronounced good, and Sweetie was to drive #1 Son to NOLA in my car.  Grandpa would then drive #1 Son to meet with Uncle D, transact the business portion of the arrangement, take Uncle D to lunch, and #1 Son would make his own way back home with his new wheels.

We’re thankful GusGus, my car, is able to make the trip.  We’re thankful for Uncle D, thankful Sweetie didn’t have work that day, and especially thankful #1 Son has a better vehicle.

Meanwhile, same Wednesday, i took Lunceford the Land Yacht (Sweetie’s car) to work to find that it had a low tire.  Not only am i thankful i saw it, i’m thankful i was able to get to Kevin and Lenny's before it went totally flat, thankful we always get the tire warranty and repairs are free, thankful Kevin and Lenny offer rides to work, thankful my boss Ms. G was understanding about me being late, and thankful she gave me a ride back to Kevin and Lenny's to get the car when i was done with work.

Same Wednesday, when i do finally get to work, Ms. G asks, "Do you want a juicer?  Someone got it as a wedding gift and never used it, it's still in the box."

Sure, i said, i have made do with a blender for years and i've wanted a good juicer ever since my old Champion juicer died the death.

She pointed me to a box, and there, big as life, a Champion juicer.  If you've not heard of it, it's the juicer everyone who juices veggies wants as it extracts the most juice and the most nutrients.  Now i'm thankful to have a gold standard juicer once again.

Just as she and i were talking about the juicer, i got the call from Ms. S's son telling me she had died that morning.

Talk about up and down on one day!

Thursday Ms. S's son called me again and asked me if i would be willing to be a reader at the service at the Episcopal church she attended here in town.  Not only was i honored, i was thankful to be able to give an unqualified yes as it is on Monday and Carl's mother, Ms. V, was very understanding that i need this coming Monday off.  It's a beautiful blessing and thankful thing that i have great employers.

Friday morning at prayer group, the one where i met Ms. S all those years ago, we all grieved together and i'm thankful to have friends who understand and miss her like i do.

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:

Armed Forces Day -- Mexico

Birthday of Minerva -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Birth Anniversary of Shivaji -- Maharashtra, India

Chaoflux -- Discordianism

Chief Leschi Day -- US, especially Washington State (Native American chief wrongly executed for murder on this date in 1958; fully exonerated 2004)

Cracker Jacks Prize Day -- the first prizes were added to the boxes of caramel popcorn this date in 1913

Flag Day -- Turkmenistan

Fly-By for Goblins and others -- Fairy Calendar

National Chocolate Mint Day (because every day needs chocolate in some form)

Prajatantra Diwas -- Nepal (Democracy Day, celebrating the overthrow of the Rana Dynasty in 1951)

Scout - Guide Week -- Canada (Scouts Canada and Girl Guides of Canada plan and hold special activities; through the 25th)

Solar System Day -- birth anniversary of Copernicus

St. Conrad of Piacenza's Day -- (Patron against hernias)

Straw Wrapper Appreciation Day -- an internet spread holiday to remind you of how much fun it was as a kid to blow the wrappers off the straws

Temporary Insanity Day -- anniversary of the first time someone successfully pleaded temporary insanity in a court of law; Daniel Stickles, in 1859

Vassil Levski Day -- Bulgaria (Bulgaria's "Apostle of Freedom")

Anniversary Today:

Knights of Pythias founded, 1864

Birthdays Today:

Haylie Duff, 1985

Andrew Shue, 1967

Benicio Del Toro, 1967

Justine Bateman, 1966

Jonathan Lethem, 1964

Seal, 1963

Prince Andrew, Duke of York, 1960

Ray Winstone, 1957

Jeff Daniels, 1955

Margaux Hemingway, 1955

Amy Tan, 1952

Stephen Nichols, 1951

Lou Christie, 1943

Smokey Robinson, 1940

Lee Marvin, 1924

Merle Oberon, 1911 (some sources say Feb. 18)

Willam III of the Netherlands, 1817 

David Garrick, 1717

Nicolas Copernicus, 1473

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"A Woman of Independent Means"(TV Miniseries), 1995

"Crazy For You"(Musical), 1992

"Eastenders"(TV), 1985

"Rumours"(Album release), 1977

"The Feminine Mystique"(Publication date), 1963

"Picnic"(Inge Play), 1953

"Alexander's Feast"(HWV 75), 1736

Today in History:

Emperor Lucius Septimius Severus' defeats beats Clodius Albinus at Lyon, 197

Emperor Constantius II shuts down all pagan temples, 356

The second Medieval Iconoclastic Controversy ends as a council in Constantinople formally reinstates veneration of icons in the churches, 842

Jews of Tyrnau, Hungary (then Trnava, Czech) are expelled, 1539

The Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina explodes in the most violent eruption in the recorded history of South America, 1600

Britain and the Netherlands sign the Peace of Westminster, and New Amsterdam formally becomes New York, 1674

British explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands, and claims them in the name of King George III, 1819

The first practical coal burning locomotive in the US makes a trial run, in Pennsylvania, 1831

Tin-type camera is patented by Hamilton Smith of Gambier, Ohio, 1856

Daniel E. Sickles is acquitted of the murder of his wife's lover, Phillip Barton Key (son of Francis Scott Key), on the grounds of temporary insanity, the first time this defense is successfully used, 1859

Tsar Alexander II abolishes serfdom in Russia, 1861

Thomas Edison patents the gramophone (phonograph), 1878

Kansas becomes the first US state to prohibit all alcoholic beverages, 1881

WK Kellog and Charles Bolin found the Battle Creek Toasted Corn Flake Co., 1906

The first prize is inserted into a Cracker Jack box, 1913

Ed Wynn becomes the first talent to sign as a regular radio entertainer, 1922

Ezra Pound is awarded the first Bollingen Prize for poetry, 1949

Bill Keane's "Family Circus" comic strip makes its debut, 1960

Artificial heart recipient William J. Schroeder becomes the first such patient to leave hospital, 1985

The Soviet Union launches its Mir spacecraft, 1986

NASA's Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system, 2002

NASA loses communication with the International Space Station's for three hours as a result of updating the station's command and control software, 2013