It Takes Some Doing to Get Out of Town, a Ten Things of Thankful Post

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And we're off!  Not my usual off, where i'm just a bit on the odd side, that's different.  If all has gone according to schedule, we are off for vacation.

Not before noting our Thankful Things, of course.

Getting to this stage is never easy.

Last weekend, Sweetie and i went and gave Grandma and Grandpa's house a thorough cleaning, taking Jock the pup with us, since we were dogsitting.  While there, we also got to see Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience.  There are several versions of this show around the world, if you get the chance to see any of them, do it!

We're thankful for opportunities with grand-pups and grand experiences.

Sunday we had a little bit of an incident.  We had a special event that evening, our church and our partner church got together for a praise and worship night, with a small reception after.

The incident was not a major one, just a little one.  Becca got upset with me because i would not let her eat a piece of cantaloupe that fell on the floor in the church kitchen. Instead i got her a fresh piece, but though she ate it, she refused the water i offered and was, shall we say, a bit "stompy" in her walk, like a child who is just not happy with you, stomping away.

Thankfully, an extra fruit cup of her own put her to rights.  Also, it was a fabulous time led by the combined choirs.

Since this is get ready for vacation week, there has to be a "problem du jour" just about each day, and Monday it was Brother-in-Law.  His insurance payment had gone up, he'd forgotten it would, and oops!  He needed cash to bring his account back up, and he needed it yesterday, on the same morning Sweetie had an ENT appointment.

It all worked out, ENT was seen, money was procured (which we were going to give him for watching the house anyway), and i am thankful i managed, after two days of trying to figure out what was what, to link his bank account to ours for transfers (same bank).  Any time in the future this kind of thing happens, it's going to be a snap.

The ladies' circle groups i belong to are having their final meetings about this year's book discussion, and two of them were this week.  Monday after work i was thankful to get to go see Ms. PA.

We couldn't get the Zoom meeting up and running, so she and i just visited.  She's very weak and bedbound now, so every visit is precious, especially when she tells me stories passed on to her by Mr. Jack from when he was in the war.

Tuesday morning i had the second circle meeting, this one in person, so i got up and was doing my morning routine when Sweetie came in and said, "I have to get back to the ENT, my ear is bleeding."

It was, just a little, so he went straight to the office.  Wouldn't you know it, his ENT was off that day, but a partner saw him and we're thankful the man knew just what to do.  All is well.

(For any who might not know, my Sweetie had surgery on both ears that makes it necessary for a doctor to debride them every two months, and sometimes there's a bit of bleeding after that needs to be cauterized.)

Thankfully, the Tuesday meeting went well, too, we are looking forward to next year.]

Wednesday saw something new, Ms. G actually sent me to do her shopping at Club Store all by myself while she attended her Zoom meeting.  More and more she seems to trust my judgment on some things, and i'm thankful.

When her meeting was over and i'd put the shopping away, reloaded the fridge with drinks, taken out the trash and recycle, refilled the birdseed bin, cleaned the cat boxes (including Buddy's misses) and was about to do other things, Ms. G said, "Let's go play!"

We jumped in her car and went out to a place in the country where a man who is as stooped and bent and wizened as the wisest old elf grows fresh produce right on his acres, and sells them on a table under an umbrella by the tree -- weigh it yourself, the price is on the board, put the money in the coffee can.  He had the most beautiful tomatoes!  That's tomato sandwiches for 3 days, yum.

In order to get out of town on Saturday, everything at the end of the week gets crammed together.  That meant Thursday had me doing Ms. V and Ms. GA.  Thankfully, Ms. V and Mr. L got up early (for them, 9am is very early) so i could get to Ms. GA by 1:30.  Another thankful, Sweetie came to help with Ms. GA's place, so i wasn't there too late.  That was important so i could save some energy for Friday.

Friday always starts early, but this week it wasn't so i could get to prayer meeting but to NOLA to clean and do the shopping.  The trip down was fine, and Grandpa had a bedside grab bar for me to help assemble for Grandma, then we went to shop.

We were thankful to get back to the house just before the rain kicked in for real.  It was a gullywasher and poured solidly for a couple of hours while i cleaned and did laundry.

It slowed enough for me to load the car early, and i was thankful for that and for only spotty rain on the road home.  Slamming into town, i got unloaded and then we started rounding up the cats to get them to the boarding place.

The Charismatic Enigma SissyCat lived up to her reputation and hid as soon as she noted anything was afoot.  We were thankful Sweetie found her on top of the file cabinet (tall people are a blessing!) in his storage box.  All four sang me the song of their people on the drive, but i was just thankful i got the car barely unloaded before that rain we'd had in NOLA caught me again here.

Thankfully, too, i remembered everything, bag of food, treats, catnip, Dansig's insulin and syringes.  They are checked in and tucked up and they'll be just fine on their own little vacation while we have ours.  It's nice not to have to worry about them.

From there it was a wet drive to the cat shelter, where there were new volunteers waiting!  We're thankful for them, and i trained them to do what i do on my shift, and they'll do it next week so my shift partner doesn't have to get it all done by herself.

The evening was spent preparing and packing and getting ready to go in the truck we have again borrowed from a friend.

We're thankful for the friend as well as for vacation.  If i fall behind on blog reading, i'll catch up, but right now, we're busy driving to the Gulf Coast with half the country!

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:

Arrephoria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (ceremony for the two girls chosen to weave the new robe for Athena's Statue and care for her sacred olive tree during the next year; date approximate)

Birthday of Cheng Huang -- Taiwan (the gods that are city guardians are celebrated with a procession of actors on stilts doing dragon and lion dances on this 13th day of the fifth moon)

California Artichoke Festival -- Castroville, CA, US (lots of fun in the Artichoke Capital of the World; through tomorrow)

Corn on the Cob Day

Fandens Fodselsdag(The Devil's Birthday) -- Denmark (traditional date when contracts between masters and servants expired, making them free to renew or renegotiate or sever ties; it was also considered The Devil's Birthday because taxes and rents came due!)

Guan Sheng Di Jun Dan -- Taoism (Heavenly Sage Guan Di's Birthday [god of war])

Holiday of the Happy Gnomes -- Fairy Calendar (grumpy Gnomes are not allowed to attend this holiday!)

Hug Holiday -- some internet sites have this one, and since hugs are good for mental health, indulge!

King Kamehameha Day -- Hawaii, US

National German Chocolate Cake Day

Queen's Birthday -- Tuvalu

Rites of Matralia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (honoring of Mater Matua, goddess of dawn and childbirth, by women who had been married once) related observance:

     Day Sacred to Fortuna Virgo (Fortune the Virgin, the day marriage robes of girls were dedicated to this goddess)

Sovereign's Day/Queen's Birthday -- Pitcairn Island

St. Barnabas the Apostle's Day (Patron of Antioch; Cyprus; Marbelia, Costa del Sol, Spain; Marino, Italy; invoked as a peacemaker; against hailstorms) a/k/a Barnaby Bright Day or Long Barnaby*

World Wide Knit in Public Day -- better living through stitching together!   

*Under the Julian calendar, June 11, St. Barnabas' Day, was the longest day of the year --

Barnaby Bright, Barnaby Bright,

The longest day

And the shortest night

Anniversaries Today:

Henry VIII marries Catherine of Aragon, 1509

Birthdays Today:

Shia LeBeouf, 1986

Joshua Jackson, 1978

Caroline Quentin, 1961

Dr. Mehmet Oz, 1960

Hugh Laurie, 1959

Joe Montana, 1956

Peter Bergman, 1953

Adrienne Barbeau, 1945

Jackie Stewart, 1939

Chad Everett, 1936

Prince Henrik of Denmark, 1934

Gene Wilder, 1933

William Clark Styron, Jr., 1925

Vince Lombardi, 1913

Jacques Cousteau, 1910

Jeannette Pickering Rankin, 1880

Richard Georg Strauss, 1864

John Constable, 1776

Ben Jonson, 1572

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"American Idol"(TV), 2002

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial(Film), 1982

"Main Street Electrical Parade"(Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida), 1977

"Rock 'n' Roll Music"(Beatles' UK album release), 1976

A Day at the Races(Marx Brothers film), 1937

Today in History:

Troy is sacked and burned, according to calculations by Eratosthenes, BC1184

Philip II recognizes the rights and privileges of the local nobles and chieftains in the Philippines, which paves way to the creation of the Principalía, 1594

The Continental Congress appoints Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston to the Committee of Five to draft a declaration of independence, 1776

Russian  explorer Gerasim Izmailov reaches Alaska, 1788

The first American stove patent is granted to Robert Haeterick, 1793

The Limelight Department, one of the world's first film studios, is officially established in Melbourne, Australia, 1892

New Zealand annexes the Cook Islands, 1901

Sir Barton wins the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first horse to win the Triple Crown, 1919

Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin become the only prisoners to escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island, 1962

Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington become the first women to receive the rank of general in the U.S. Army, 1970

Cassini-Huygens makes its closest flyby of the Saturn moon Phoebe, 200

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper makes an official apology to Canada's First Nations for residential school abuse that isolated native children from their homes, families, and cultures for a century, 2008

Ancient Korean royal books looted by French troops in 1866 are returned to South Korea; 1,000 officials and locals celebrate the return of the 297-volume 'Oegyujanggak' books, 2011

Winds in southwestern Western Australia of up to 140km/h batter the area and leave more than 170,000 homes without power, 2012

Japan passes a law that will allow Emperor Akihito to abdicate, 2017

“The New York Times” reveals that the fire on the back lot of Universal Studios in Los Angels eleven years earlier had destroyed over 500,000 original master recordings, including many by Chuck Berry, Louis Armstrong, and Ella Fitzgerald, 2019

A US lobsterman survives being swallowed by a humpback whale off the coast of Provincetown, Massachusetts, 2021