Another Wild Ride, a Ten Things of Thankful Post

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It's Thankful Day and i'm writing this at almost 9pm Friday evening, and i just got home.

Boy, howdy, there's a lot for which to be thankful, including that i'm finally home!

Last Sunday, Becca's father Mr. J told me he's running an experiment.  They're trying to give her the morning medication a bit later and watch for signs of sleepiness after.  If they can figure out what medicine is making her sleep most of the day and thus wake so often at night, they can get it changed up, or maybe move that medicine to later in the day.  Thankfully i was able to watch her closely, and yes, something in that morning dose makes her loopy and causes her to fall asleep as soon as we get in the car to go to church.  We're hopeful the doctor can make the change soon, they need some rest.

Then there was Stu.  Some might remember my story about him.  With just a couple of hours work, i'm thankful we were able to make a good dent in making his living room look like a living room again.  In addition, i was able to give him a ride to get groceries so he didn't have to try to lug everything home on the bus.     

Ms. D from Tuesday needed her two other sets of mini blinds hung up, so Sweetie and i packed some tools and headed up the street to her house.  We'd done the center window, as the blinds over it had fallen apart and were gone, and they posed no trouble.  We thought the ones on either side would be easy, too.

Not so.  It seems there's a metal plate over the two outer windows that isn't over the middle one, and we don't have a metal drill.  Thankfully we didn't need one, as i subbed out shorter screws that held just fine and we were able to get them up and working, then have a long, enjoyable visit with Ms. D.

Wednesday was errand day with Ms. G.  She mentioned she had her carpets cleaned, and it's a process that doesn't use much water so everything is dry almost right away.  Thankfully she gave me the name of the manager of the place that does it, i'm going to share it with Mr. J, as he is in charge of the church buildings and maintenance and he's been talking about looking for a way to clean some carpets that he doesn't want staying wet long.

Then there was Thursday.  At zero dark thirty my phone went off.  It was Brother-in-Law.  He managed to shred a tire, and no, he does not have a spare.  Sweetie picked him up and took him to his work and got the key from him.  We had to call for a tow truck, and call, and call, and get put off, and put off.  We were starting to wonder how late we'd be for work when Mr. Lenny came through for us.  Calling to inform him of the situation and that we'd be sending the car in when we could, he mentioned his favorite towing company.

We called them, and the nice gentleman told us someone would be there within 15 minutes!  Every other company had a wait time of several hours.  We're thankful the car was towed, the tire replaced, and a spare procured.

We're thankful we got to work only about 15 minutes later than usual.  We're also thankful it was the easiest cleaning of Ms. SE's house we've ever had, the children have been away at summer camp so no toys, very few clothes to fold, and not much mess anywhere.

Thursday evening, #1 Son called and asked if Sweetie could meet him the next morning at Kevin and Lenny's so they could fix his brakes and Sweetie could take hime to work.

Meanwhile, i was to have my usual morning routine, plus going to visit Ms. PA.

It went like clockwork, until Ms. D called.  She had a security light that wouldn't go off, could one of us come look at the instructions and see if we could get it turned off?

This was while i was on my way to visit Ms. PA.  Sweetie went over there and couldn't do anything with it, so the plan was for me to stop by after i went and picked up the key to #1 Son's car, because it was repaired by then and he wasn't getting off work until after the shop closed.

Thankfully, work went well that morning, i had a delightful visit with Ms. PA, picking up the key was easy, and i went to see Ms. D.  The light is wired in, and the motion sensor that makes it come on has malfunctioned.  She has called an electrician to come and replace it.

The shelter was very calm, and by this time i was fading so i was thankful for that.

If crazy is going to define the week, there will always be something more.  #1 Son called me to come pick him up from work and go get his car.  That went well, but once he got the car on the road, something was horribly wrong with it.  He called me and said he was turning around, could i come get him?

When he got back to Kevin and Lenny's, his brakes were almost on fire.  We're thankful he made it back, and Sweetie was glad to lend him Lunceford the Land Yacht for the weekend.

Thankfully we have an extra car to lend.

Today is #1 Son's birthday, and i'm thankful for him and thankful we're able to step in and help when needed.

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:

Atomic Bomb Day -- the first experimental bomb was set off today in 1945

Canada's Parks Day -- Canada (showcasing Canada's beautiful parks and historic sites, it's worth traveling to a park near you!)

Closet Space Appreciation Day -- if you have some, enjoy (we have tiny closets!)

Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel; related observances (many noting her relationship to Carmen, ancient goddess of healing and midwifery)

     Fiesta of the Virgin of Carmen -- Santurtzi, Basque Region, Spain

     Lady of Carmen Day -- Chile 

     La Madonna della Carmine -- Naples, Italy (all of Italy, actually, but especially here)

     Virgen Del Carmen -- Cetano, Puerto Rico

Fresh Spinach Day -- yippee!

Ice Cream Cone Day -- this is one of the many days people say the confection was invented, so why not?

LaPaz Day -- Bolivia

Manu'a Cession Day -- American Samoa

National Corn Fritters Day

National Personal Chef Day -- some websites say Feb. 24, but since i'm not going to have one, you may celebrate it whichever you choose

National Woodie Wagon Day -- paying homage today to this great American symbol of freedom and the casual lifestyle

Parking Meter Day -- the first parking meter was installed on this day in 1935 in Oklahoma City, OK

Petal-Hopping for Non-Starters Day -- Fairy Calendar

St. Eustathius' Day

Talk to a Telemarketer Day -- only if i can mess with his/her mind in some way!

Toss Away the "Could Haves" and "Should Haves" Day -- write down all the "could have" and "should have" things in your life, then toss them in the trash! Resolve from this day to live in the present, not the past.

Anniversary Today:

Michael J. Fox marries Tracy Pollan, 1988

Birthdays Today

Mark Indelicato, 1994

Jayma Mays, 1979

Corey Feldman, 1971

Larry Sanger, 1968

Barry Sanders, 1968

Will Ferrell, 1967

Phoebe Cates, 1963

Michael Flatley, 1958

Stewart Copeland, 1952

Ruben Blades, 1948

Pinchas Zukerman, 1948

Bess Myerson, 1924

Ginger Rogers, 1911

"Miss Frances" Horwich, 1907

Barbara Stanwyck, 1907

Orville Reddenbacker, 1907

Roald Amundsen, 1872

Ida B. Wells, 1862

Mary Baker Eddy, 1821

Sir Joshua Reynolds, 1723

Andrea del Sarto, 1486

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Golden Horseshoe Revue"(Disneyland show), 1955

The Catcher in the Rye(Publication date), 1951

"Das Entfuhrung aus dem Serail"(Opera, Mozart K. 384), 1782

Today in History

The Islamic Calendar begins, 622

East-West Schism between the Eastern and Western Christian churches begin, 1054

The first banknotes in Europe are issued by the Swedish bank Stockholms Banco, 1661

Manchu Qing Dynasty naval forces under traitorous commander Shi Lang defeat the Kingdom of Tungning in the Battle of Penghu near the Pescadores Islands, 1683

Father Junipero Serra founds California's first mission, Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Over the following decades, it evolves into the city of San Diego, 1769

First performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera The Abduction from the Seraglio, 1782

The city of La Paz, in what is today Bolivia, declares its independence from the Spanish Crown, 1809

Emily Stowe becomes the first female physician licensed to practice medicine in Canada, 1880

The world's first parking meter is installed in the Oklahoma capital, Oklahoma City, 1935

The world's first nuclear weapon, the "atom bomb," is detonated in New Mexico, 1945

The storming of the cockpit of the Miss Macao passenger seaplane, operated by a subsidiary of the Cathay Pacific Airways, marks the first aircraft hijacking of a commercial plane, 1948

J.D. Salinger novel The Catcher in the Rye published by Little, Brown and Company, 1951

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closes its very last "Big Tent" show in Pittsburgh, due to changing economics all subsequent circus shows will be held in arenas, 1956

USS George Washington (SSBN-598) a modified Skipjack class submarine successfully test fires the first Ballistic missile while submerged, 1960

The Mont Blanc Tunnel linking France and Italy opens, 1965

Apollo 11, the first manned space mission to land on the Moon, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, 1969

Mahathir bin Mohamad becomes Malaysia's 4th Prime Minister; he will be in office 22 years, Asia's longest-serving political leader, 1981

Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 collides with Jupiter (impacts continue until July 22), 1994

John F. Kennedy, Jr., piloting a Piper Saratoga aircraft, dies in a plane mishap over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Martha's Vineyard, along with his wife Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and sister-in-law Lauren Bessette, 1999

Chicago's Millennium Park is opened to the public, 2004

The funeral for the final heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Otto von Habsburg, occurs in Vienna, attended by monarchs and members of the political elite, 2011

NASA's Dawn space probe enters orbit around the protoplanet Vesta, 2011

Scientists reveal the first close-up pictures of Pluto, sent by the New Horizons probe, 2015

The BBC announces that the first ever female Doctor Who will be played by Jodie Whittaker, 2017

Scientists at the Carnegie Institute for Science announce the discovery of 12 more moons orbiting Jupiter, bringing the total of Jupiter’s known moons to 79, 2018