Thick and Fast, a Ten Things of Thankful Post

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Some weeks, the ups and downs come thick and fast.  There's always more Thankful Things than not, and i'm thankful for that, too.

Last Friday, Grandpa and Grandma were able to go out to lunch with a friend.  Grandma doesn't get out much, but she did that week and i am glad they had fun.

After she got home, though, something she'd eaten disagreed with her and she had an "upset tummy."  She wasn't sick, or in pain, but she had enough of an "upset tummy" that when i arrived Saturday, there was still more "upset" to be cleaned.

Above all, i'm thankful she could laugh about it, as we all did.

Sunday was Sweetie's birthday, and since he's a twin and they've always been together on their birthday, he and Brother-in-Law had a special meal.  I'm thankful for him, thankful they got to get out, and thankful i didn't have to get out (sometimes i just want to stay home!).

One thing i've been taught to do is hold plans loosely.  My hope was to run errands on Monday, and have Tuesday to do a lot of other things, especially around the house.

Monday, thankfully, went well in the errands department.  As a bonus, i got a text from Bigger Girl.  She's in England now and having a good time.

It was Tuesday morning when i got the call, one that has become all too familiar over the years.

"Mom, I'm okay, but I took a curve too fast in the rain and I hydroplaned the car and ran up on a curb, can you meet me at Kevin and Lenny's 'cause something's wrong with my car."

Poor #1 Son was using his Tuesday to go visit Grandma and Grandpa, and this happened.  He was not injured, just upset with himself for not paying better attention when driving in the rain.

The car was quite injured, in fact, it is toast and has already been scrapped.

We're very thankful i had plenty of time that morning to go get him, i was able to let him use Slow-Moe to go to NOLA so he got to go visit anyway, and best of all, he'd kept Bessy Low-Key, his old car, just in case anything happened.

When he got back from NOLA, he was able to transfer the license tag back on Bessy, get her insured, and he's still able to get to work and back.  He's thankful it was very simple, with the ability of any title/notary place to do Department of Motor Vehicle work now, you don't have to go stand in line for hours and hours waiting for an overworked, underpaid civil service worker to tell you that you don't have the right paperwork, come back tomorrow.

It is an unfortunate reality that all of us, individually and as organizations, have to deal with rising crime rates and increased risk these days.  I'm thankful our church held a women's seminar Tuesday evening, free of charge, on personal safety, and it was taught by a former police chief.

As i got off work Wednesday, #1 Son called me again.

"Mom, my phone is dying."

Because it's cheaper, the kids are still on the family plan we've all been on for years, they just pay me their share each month. This saves them money, but it also means they have to get me to go with them when they need a new phone.

He was using an iPhone 6 (that's not a typo, a six).  It wouldn't hold a charge for longer than a half hour and it was a problem.

Thankfully, i had time right then, he had time right then, the nice guy at the phone store found the perfect deal, and within two hours he had a much better phone for a reasonable price.

Mr. L, Carl's father, has some serious insomnia and pain, which means that some Thursdays when i go to clean the house, he has a very difficult time getting up and it can often mean i'm delayed in getting to clean the master bedroom/bathroom.  This week was one of his more difficult weeks, but i'm thankful that once he was able to get going, i was able to get the cleaning done rather quickly so i was only there about a half hour longer than usual.

Friday was icing on the cake.  When i arrived at the shelter that evening, i happened to be up front and answered the door for a very nice lady who wanted to donate some new toys for the cats.  She also had a question about training her own kitten that someone had given her.  We ended up talking, and she decided her new kitten needs a new friend to play with and keep him from chewing on her so much, and i am thankful i was able to put on my adoptions counselor hat and help her find the perfect one.

He was moving so fast, the photo is blurry!

This little guy is about the same age as the one she was given, and is playful as all get-out.  We're all thankful he's going to go make a new friend and have a wonderful home.

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:

Candies Day -- they have to be kidding -- this close to Halloween we need another candy day?!

Coronation Day -- Cambodia (anniversary of King Norodom Sihamony, in 2004)

Cumhuriyet Bayrami -- North Cyprus; Turkey (Republic Day)(1923)

Fall Back Night -- all areas that end Daylight Saving Time tomorrow; set your clock back one hour before you go to bed and change the batteries in your smoke alarms/carbon monoxide detectors (Aland Islands; Albania; Andorra; Antarctica (Troll Station); Austria; Belgium; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Bulgaria; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; Faroe Islands; Finland; France; Germany; Gibraltar; Greece; Greenland; Guernsey; Hungary; Ireland; Isle of Man; Israel; Italy; Jersey; Kosovo; Latvia; Lebanon; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Macedonia; Malta; Mexico; Moldova; Monaco; Montenegro; Morocco; Netherlands; North Macedonia; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Romania; San Marino; Serbia; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; Ukraine; United Kingdom; Vatican City[Holy See])

     Note:  This does not apply to the United States, we have one more week of "summer time" left

Forgiveness Day -- a day to reconcile or forgive, for your own peace of mind; sponsored by Positive Peaceful Partners and the Center of Unconditional Love 

Haute Dog Howl'oween Parade -- Long Beach, CA, US (dress up your dog and have a howling good time)

Hermit Day / Hide From Everyone Day -- internet generated, for those who would rather have a peaceful day today than celebrate the other holidays listed; look up how to be a hermit on wikihow

Internet Day -- it's predecessor went live today, see Today in History for detail

Laugh Suddenly For No Reason A Lot Today Day (And end up either getting yourself and everyone around you in a good mood, or yourself being observed at the hospital in a padded room.)

Naming Day -- Tanzania

National Cat Day -- US (with the goal of getting 10,000 cats adopted from shelters today)

National Disgusting Little Pumpkin-Shaped Candies Day

National Oatmeal Day

Pit Bull Awareness Day -- it's not the breed, it's the owner   

Second Fiddle of the Month -- Fairy Calendar (a very poorly attended event -- who wants to play second fiddle?)

St. Mary of Edessa's Day (Patron against sexual temptation)

World Psoriasis Day  

Birthdays Today:

Gabrielle Union, 1972

Winona Ryder, 1971

Joely Fisher, 1965

Randy Jackson, 1961

Finona Hughes, 1960

Kate Jackson, 1948

Richard Dreyfuss, 1947

Melba Moore, 1945

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, 1938

Dominick Dunne, 1925

Bill Mauldin, 1921

Fanny Brice, 1891

Charles Hercules Ebbets, 1858

Daniel Decatur Emmet, 1815

James Boswell, 1740 (wrote the biography of Samuel Johnson)

Edmund Halley, 1656 (O.S. Date) (yes, that Halley, found the comet)

Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Internet, 1969 (the first connection between computers that would become the Internet someday was made on this date when bits of data flowed between computers at UCLA and Stanford Research Institute; this grew into ARPANET, and is now the Internet we know and yell at.)

"Let's Face It"(Musical), 1941

"Don Giovanni"(Mozart K. 527), 1787

Today in History:

Cyrus the Great entered the city of Babylon, BC539

First trial for witchcraft in Paris, 1390

Sir Walter Raleigh, adventurer, writer, and courtier, is beheaded, 1618

A severe earthquake shakes New England, 1727

Mozart's opera Don Giovanni receives its first performance in Prague, 1787

The first Ohio River steamboat leaves Pittsburgh for New Orleans, 1811

Queen Victoria grants Cecil Rhodes rights to Zambezia, 1889

The first intercity trucking service, from Colorado City to Snyder, Texas, begins running, 1904

Turkey declares its independence as the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, 1923

Israeli forces invade the Sinai Peninsula and push Egyptian forces back toward the Suez Canal, 1956

Cassius Clay wins his first professional fight, 1960

Syria exits from the United Arab Republic, 1961

Montreal's World Fair, Expo 67, closes with over 50 million visitors, 1967

The American Galileo spacecraft makes its closest approach to 951 Gaspra, becoming the first probe to visit an asteroid, 1991

In South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission presents its report, which condemns both sides for committing atrocities, 1998

Space Shuttle Discovery blasts off on STS-95 with 77-year old John Glenn on board, making him the oldest person to go into space, 1998

In Rome, European heads of state sign the Treaty and Final Act establishing the first European Constitution, 2004

The 3G wireless transmitters at Mt. Everest make coverage available to the summit, 2010

Random House and Penguin merge to become Penguin Random House, the largest publisher in the world, 2012

Turkey opens the first underwater rail tunnel linking Europe to Asia, 2013

China ends its one child policy after 35 years, 2015

New research is published indicating that the cacao tree was not first cultivated in central America, but in Ecuador by the Maya Chinchipe culture about 5,000 years ago, 2019