A Busy, Heart-full Week, a Ten Things of Thankful Post

 ***********************************

The weather this week has been beautiful, and that has helped during this busy week tremendously, and i am very thankful.

Ms. G was out of town, which means extra money and extra work.  Starting last Saturday, i went to her house morning and evening in addition to my regular work.  Her very sick, elderly cat, Buddy, actually let me pet him for ten minutes at one point, and he purred and purred.  He's never let me do more than hold out my hand for him to sniff before.  He's really a love.

Jock dog came with us Saturday, and i'm thankful we brought him because Grandma wanted to visit with him.  Lulu was not happy, she wouldn't stop barking at him, so i'm thankful we can put her in Grandpa's office so she'll settle down when she gets that way.

Saturday afternoon, after i got back in town, i had to stop at the MallMart to get one item, which i hate doing at any time, but especially that time of day at that store).  When i saw that every check stand, self checkout and otherwise, had a huge line, and there was no one at the Pharmacy counter, i went over and begged the nice lady to let me check out my one item there, and i had exact change!  She was very gracious (they usually are if they aren't busy).

(If you must know, it was a bag of prunes.  As i noted to the nice lady checking me out, my Brother-in-law has been eating my prunes, and i eat several each day, and as i am now afraid of what will happen if i stop, i have no choice when i run out unexpectedly but to get more.  You know you are getting old when the biggest thing you and your Brother-in-law fight over is who ate all the prunes!)

Monday morning i got a text from #2 Son about picking up Jock very late on Monday.  Their flight was delayed and i told him to come whenever they felt up to it.  He came right at bedtime and looked worse for wear, he'd let himself get dehydrated and was not feeling well.  Thankfully, a good night's sleep and plenty of fluids had him feeling better by Tuesday afternoon.

Tuesday was the highlight of my week, we started our church ladies' circle meetings again.  We're thankful to be studying the book Name Above All Names by two powerhouse preachers, Sinclair Ferguson and Alistair Begg.  Ms. Sally, who used to host us at her home, has opened her apartment for us to start meeting there, two new members have joined us, Ms. V is still our teacher, and the discussions are going to be lively.  It's that kind of book.

That night was my "white night" (that is, almost no sleep).  The cat shelter was full, the catios at the other place where i am a temporary helper were full, and Ms. G had a special assignment for me.  She wanted the house she's preparing for sale to be cleaned.

Empty houses where workers have been tromping through are a bear to clean, so i'm thankful i had enough adrenaline and prayer to get me through what ended up being a 12-hour day.

By comparison, Ms. V's house was easy on Thursday.  There was no need to do Ms. G first, as i went to Ms. V and got started, left to go across the highway and took care of Ms. G's place after daylight, and then went back.

Friday morning i woke up with one of those light-hurts-the-eyes headaches, i'm thankful i was still able to do everything.  From prayer group i went to Ms. G's for the last time, then Sweetie and i did Ms. GA's house.

On the way out, i called Ms. PA's daughter-in-law to find out if i could go visit.  Ms. PA has been moved to the hospice, which is only about a mile from where we live, so i went to see her.

While her d-i-l said she might not know me or even know i was there, i am 100% certain she knew.  Not only could i see it in her eyes, as i spoke to her she wept a couple of times.  Not just tears, weeping, the kind where the person knows what you're saying at it's bringing tears.

First i was able to tell her now much she means to me, how glad i am she let me start cleaning her house and become her friend.  I told her that i can just see her husband, Mr. Jack, in heaven now with her mom and dad and friends who went on before, and they're getting her coming home party ready.

She loves cake, and i talked about how they're having to order extra for her party.  Then i talked about how much Jesus loves her and how happy He's going to be when she's there.

She has missed her own home since she had to move out, and i talked to her about how the new Heaven and new Earth will have everything we've ever loved, in their most perfect form.  Your house, and everything in it that you loved, is going to be there for you to enjoy, i told her.

Pulling out my Bible, i read to her, the parable of the Prodigal Son among others, telling her that Jesus runs to us just like that father did in the story.

Even though my voice would elicit a "Julie Andrews you ain't!" comment, i sang Jesus Loves Me.

It was a sweet, precious time and i'm so glad i was able to go.  When i left, i told her that if she goes to that coming home party before i get to see her again on this side, she better save me some of her cake.

Once i left there, i went to Kevin and Lenny's so they could check the pressure in my tires and we could talk about the sound module that's going out in my car.

There was a brief nap, then on to the cat shelter, where i noted that there must have been some adoptions because some cages were empty.

"No," the adoption coordinator told me, "mostly we've just moved cats around, I wish there had been more adoptions."

Be careful what you wish for, there were 3 in the next half hour, including the two ninja escape cats i featured for Feline Friday.  A mom and her four kids came in specifically to adopt both of them!

It's been a crazy busy week and today i go to NOLA and will be spending the night.  Another adventure awaits, thankfully.

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.   

***********************************

Today is:

America's Day For Kids -- sponsored by the Boys & Girls Clubs of America

Arba'in-e Hosseini -- Iran (40th day after Ashura)

Birthday of Crown Prince Tupouto'a 'Ulukalala -- Tonga

Citizenship Day -- US

Eleven Days of Global Unity -- Day 7, Women (sponsored by We, the World) 

Feast of Hathor -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Feast of the Ingathering -- UK traditional (also called Harvest Home; in Scotland, Kirn; in northern England, Mell-Supper.  Celebrations will be held in rural areas for the next few weekends, celebrating the end of the harvest.)

Fundacion de Melilla -- ML, Spain

Idaho Spud Day 2022 -- Idaho, US, wants the 3rd Saturday of September as a day to celebrate their favorite crop

International Country Music Day

International Eat An Apple Day -- a celebration of the fruit of the season, on the third Saturday of every September

National Apple Dumpling Day

National Gymnastics Day -- US (sponsored by USA Gymnastics)      

National Heroes Day -- Angola

Niketeria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)

Operation Market Garden Remembrance -- Netherlands

Responsible Dog Ownership Day -- originally sponsored by the AKC, but i can no longer find info about it on their website  

Return of Kelp-Koli Celebration -- Fairy Calendar (under duress, of course)

Stigmata of St. Francis' Day

St. Hildegard von Bingen's Day (author of treatises on natural healing and the first musical composer whose biography is known)

St. Lambert's Day (Patron of Middelaar, Netherlands)

Time's Up Day -- created by Wellcat Holidays; time's up on holding that grudge, you need to make amends with people today, since you aren't guaranteed a tomorrow

VFW Ladies Auxiliary Day -- anniversary of founding in 1914

Anniversary Today:

The Constitution of the United States is signed, 1787

American Professional Football League (later the NFL) founded (a/k/a the Swallowing Up of Weekends), 1920

Birthdays Today:

Chuck Liddell, 1969

Kyle Chandler, 1965

Rita Rudner, 1956

Cassandra "Elvira" Peterson, 1951

John Ritter, 1948

David H. Souter, 1974

Ken Kesey, 1935

Maureen Conolly, 1934

Anne Bancroft, 1931

Roddy McDowall, 1928

George Blanda, 1927

Hank Williams Sr., 1923

Chaim Herzog, 1918

Warren E. Burger, 1907

Jerry Colonna, 1904

John Willard Marriot, 1900

Andrew "Rube" Foster, 1879

Baron Friedrich Von Steuben, 1730

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Home Improvement"(TV), 1991

"Head of the Class"(TV), 1986

"M*A*S*H"(TV), 1972

"McMillan and Wife"(TV), 1971

"Mission: Impossible"(TV), 1966

"Bewitched"(TV), 1964

"The Fugitive"(TV), 1963

"Car 54 Where are You?"(TV), 1961

"Outward Bound"(Play), 1923

Today in History:

The Battle of Thermopylae, fought between 300 Spartans, led by their king, Leonidas, and the Achaemenid Empire begins, BC480

Arabs conquer Alexandria, and destroy its library for the last time, 642

Netherland sailors discover Mauritus, 1598

Massachusetts Bay Colony gets a new charter, 1691

Presidio of San Francisco is founded in New Spain, 1776

US Constitution is adopted by the Philadelphia convention, 1787

Sprinkler system for extinguishing fires is patented by Phillip W. Pratt, 1872

The Wright Flyer flown by Orville Wright, with Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge as passenger, crashes killing Selfridge, who becomes the first airplane fatality, 1908

The first transcontinental airplane flight, from New York to Pasadena, is completed after 82 hours 4 minutes, 1911

The Okeechobee Hurricane strikes southeastern Florida, killing upwards 

of 2,500 people, the third deadliest natural disaster in United States history, behind the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 and the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, 1928

The Canadian steamship SS Noronic burns in Toronto Harbour with the loss of over 118 lives, 1949

Television is first broadcast in Australia, 1956

Malaysia joins the United Nations, 1957

Bangladesh, Grenada and Guinea-Bissau join the United Nations, 1974

The first Space Shuttle, Enterprise, is unveiled by NASA, 1976

The Camp David Accords are signed by Israel and Egypt, 1978

Vanessa Williams becomes the first black Miss America, 1983

Estonia, North Korea, South Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, the Marshall Islands and Micronesia join the United Nations, 1991

The first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the Internet, 1991

Fourpeaked Mountain in Alaska erupts, marking the first eruption for the long-dormant volcano in at least 10,000 years, 2006

A drill finally reaches the 33 Chilean miners trapped after the Aug. 5 Copiapo mining accident, 2010 

In an attempt to curb child marriages, Indonesia raises the legal marriage age of females to 19, the same as males, 2019