No, I Won't (Awww Monday), Inspiring Quote of the Week, and Poetry Monday

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Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee at Comedy Plus.

Join us every Monday for Awww...Mondays.  Post a picture that makes you say Awww... and that's it.

Make sure you get the code from Sandee's site, linked above, and leave a link to your post so we can visit you.  What better way to start the week than with a smile!

Mr. Cal, please look at the camera.

Well, maybe next time.

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Sparks is the brainchild of Annie of McGuffy's Reader, who wanted us to post something positive and uplifting at the start of the week.  While she no longer blogs, i like to post an Inspiring Quote of the Week in her honor.     

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Poetry Monday was started by Diane at On The Alberta/Montana Border.  Jenny at Procrastinating Donkey is on a blog semi-break and her poetry is sorely missed, we hope she comes back soon.   Charlotte/Mother Owl participates, and now Karen at Baking in a Tornado is jumping in at least once a month, too.  Anyone else is welcome to join in the fun, just let Diane know!

This week the theme is Giving Thanks.                         

Our house has structural damage,

still i give thanks i'm indoors.

When cats leave me stepping in "presents,"

that's when i'm grateful to have floors.

Our cars are old, sometimes cranky,

still i give thanks not having to walk.

When the sunroof gets leaky,

that's when i'm grateful for caulk.

Our work can leave us weary,

still i give thanks to be employed.

When the days are crazy busy,

that's when i'm grateful for fun enjoyed.

Our meals aren't exactly fancy,

still i give thanks to have food to eat.

When i'm finished cooking my dinner,

that's when i'm grateful for a seat.

Our bank accounts aren't bursting,

still i'm thankful to be able to share.

When i look for reasons to be thankful,

that's when i find many and to spare!

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Today is:

Armed Forces Day -- Bangladesh

False Confessions Day -- internet generated, and not for the faint of heart

Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin -- Eastern and Roman Catholic Christian (those following the Gregorian Calendar)

Festival of Madonna della Salute -- Venice, Italy

Furniture Memory Day -- an internet generated test of your memory; see if you remember where you got each piece of furniture you own, how much it cost, and how its most precious scratch came to be; you are also encouraged to dust if you want to

General Framework Agreement Day -- RS, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Gerard d'Aboville Day -- marking the day, in 1991, he arrived in Ilwaco, WA, US, after departing Japan 4 months earlier in a rowboat!

Gingerbread Day

Icelandic Calendar Month Ylir (Whiner) begins -- named after the whining winter winds

Learn When To Start Thawing the Turkey Day -- US (USDA "Let's Talk Turkey" hotline 800-535-4555; Butterball "Turkey Talk-Line" 800-323-4848)

National Military Families Recognition Day -- US (by Presidential Proclamation in 1993, the Monday before Thanksgiving Day) 

National Stuffing Day -- various dates given on many sites, so if you enjoy stuffing, celebrate them all

No Music Day (click here for the explanation)

Revolution Day -- Mexico (obs.)

St. Gelasius' Day

Ugly Day -- Fairy Calendar

World Hello Day -- recognizing the importance of communication in world peace, say hello to people you don't usually greet today 

World Television Day -- UN

Anniversaries Today:

South Carolina becomes the 12 US State, 1789

Birthdays Today:

Tasha Schwikert, 1984

Ken Griffey, Jr., 1969

Troy Aikman, 1966

Bjork, 1965

Nicollette Sheridan, 1963

Cherry Jones, 1956

Cynthia Rhodes, 1956

Lorna Luft, 1952

Goldie Hawn, 1945

Harold Ramis, 1944

Marcy Carsey, 1944

Tweety Bird, 1942

Juliet Mills, 1941

Marlo Thomas, 1938

James DePreist, 1936

Laurence Luckinbill, 1934

Joseph Campanella, 1927

Stan Musial, 1920

Coleman Hawkins, 1904

Rene Magritte, 1898

Hetty Green, 1834

William Beaumont, 1785

Josiah Bartlett, 1729

Voltaire, 1694

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"I'm Gonna Make You Love Me"(Single release), 1968

"A Tale of Two Kitties"(Warner cartoon, debut of Tweety Bird), 1942

"The Relapse, or, Virtue in Danger"(Vanbrugh play), 1696

Today in History:

Judas Maccabaeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family, restores the Temple in Jerusalem; this is the event commemorated each year by the festival of Hanukkah, BC164

The Pilgrims, aboard the Mayflower, reach what is now called Provincetown Harbor, Massachusetts, and sign the Mayflower Compact, 1620

Richard Johnson, a free black, is granted 550 acres in Virginia, 1654

In Paris, Jean-François Pilâtre de Rozier and François Laurent, Marquis d'Arlandes, make the first untethered hot air balloon flight, 1783

Colonel Napoléon Bonaparte is promoted to full general and appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the French Republic, 1791

First Jewish Reform congregation in US forms, Charleston, SC, 1824

Moses F Gale patents a cigar lighter, 1871

Tom Edison announces his "talking machine" invention (phonograph), 1877

Rebecca Latimer Felton of Georgia takes the oath of office, becoming the first female United States Senator, 1922

First commercial crossing of Pacific by plane (China Clipper), 1935

The Alcan Highway is completed, 1942*

The British Natural History Museum announces that the "Piltdown Man" skull is a hoax, 1953

The first permanent ARPANET link is established between UCLA and SRI, 1969

Gerard d'Aboville completes his four-month solo journey to row across the Pacific Ocean, 1991

The Dayton Peace Agreement is initialed at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base, near Dayton, Ohio, ending three and a half years of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1995

NATO invites Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia to become members, 2002

Iran's President Ahmadinejad rejects the country's successful family planning program and tells Iranian girls they should marry at 16, 2010

The three most senior surviving members of Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime are charged with genocide and crimes against humanity, 2011

For the second time in four months, New Zealand's Mount Tongariro volcano, on the North Island, erupts, 2012

The Alabama parole board grants posthumous pardons to three members of the Scottsboro boys, 2013

Mt Agung on the Indonesian island of Bali begins erupting, 2017

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a measles epidemic has so far killed over 5,000 people in this year, making it the world's largest and fastest moving epidemic, 2019

*Not opened to general vehicular traffic until the next year.