A Christmas Eve Ten Things of Thankful

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A blessed and beautiful Merry Christmas Eve to all who celebrate!

For any who don't, it's Thankful Day which is a blessing itself.

Bigger Girl came with me to NOLA last Saturday, and Grandma spent more time out of bed and with her in the art room than she has since she fell last March.

Last Sunday was Becca's birthday!  When we got to church, i whispered to everyone who greeted her and they all wished her a happy day, the choir brought her up right before the service to sing to her, and her family celebrated with a "parade," some friends let her ride a "float" attached to the back of their truck in the neighborhood and friends and neighbors had been told in advance what time so they came out and waved to her!

I got my Angel Tree gift delivered (a ministry that gives gifts to children in the name of their incarcerated parent).

Tuesday was a day off to catch up and make sure everything was ready for Christmas.

Ms. G and i got 200+ blankets from a ministry team and loaded them up for Ms. Cybil to distribute to people who will need them in this cold, and Ms. G gave three of them to Fred (whom we were glad to find alive and well).   

Ms. G and i got her plants into the shop to protect them from the cold, and found the heated water bowls for the feral cats and the birds.

Mr. DE loaned us the Tahoe, and his wife, Ms. SE, told us, "If it overheats, just add water to the radiator."  I'm glad i remembered that, and realized if we left it with nothing but water in it for the freezing weather, we'd be returning a Tahoe with a cracked engine block!  Kevin and Lenny's shop came through and got the water drained and antifreeze put it in.

We're especially thankful for the loan of the Tahoe as Sweetie will be running errands on Christmas Eve while i'm in NOLA and Lunceford the Land Yacht seems to have gasped his last.

Kevin and Lenny also came through and have Slow-Moe running again!  When i went to pick it up, Mr. Kevin said, "You aren't driving that out of town yet, are you?  You need to run it a while, make sure it's okay first."  He didn't know Mr. Lenny had already told me to take the loaner for the weekend whether mine was fixed or not, since no one else was going to use it and they were all worried about me being safe in the freezing weather this weekend.

Finally, a happy ending for Angel, the cat i featured yesterday for Feline Friday.  She was brought to our shelter by her owners a while back when they ended up in a terrible living situation where they couldn't keep their beloved pet.  They had been visiting her twice a week, very sad at having to let her go.   

The day after i took those pictures, a family member helped them get into a stable housing situation where they could have a pet again.  They came the very next day and readopted Angel themselves and took her home for Christmas!

It's Christmas Eve!  I pray the Lord Jesus bless you and keep you now and always.

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:

Adam the Patriarch & Eve the Matriarch's Day -- Catholic Christian (Adam, Patron of gardeners and tailors; Eve, Patron of tailors)

Aofangadagskvold -- Iceland (arrival of the 13th and final Yule Lad)

     Icelandic Yuletide Lad of the Day, Kertasnikir -- Candle-beggar, who, as children did before light bulbs, wants the treat of a precious candle, and will steal one if he can

Bonfires on the Levee -- Louisiana, US (began among the Cajuns, now a big celebration for everyone, lighting the way for Papa Noel)

Calendas -- Oaxaca, Mexico

Celtic Tree Month Beth (Birch) commences

Christmas Eve

Constitution Day -- Transdniestra

Declaration of Christmas Peace -- Old Great Square of Turku, Finland's official Christmas City

Feast of the Seven Fishes (La Vigilia) -- Italy (traditional serving of seven kinds of seafood at dinner)

Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols -- King's College Chapel, Cambridge University, Cambridge, England (special Christmas Eve performance by the Choir of King's College held since 1918)

Independence Day -- Libya(1951)

Kolada -- Asatru/Slavic Pagan Calendar (various celebrations of the gods until Dec. 31)

Last Minute Shoppers Day

Mistletoe Time -- traditional day on which to hang the mistletoe

Modresnach -- Germanic/Scandinavian/Anglo-Saxon Odinist festival celebrating midwinter and motherhood (date approximate)

National Egg Nog Day

Noche Buena -- Spain and Spanish speaking countries

Remember to Read the Instructions First Night -- when assembling the kids' toys, of course

Silent Night, Holy Night Celebrations -- Austria (in honor of the hymn's composition in 1818)

St. Trasilla's Day (Patron of single laywomen)

Tolling the Devil's Knell -- All Saints Parish Church, Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England (the church bell tolls once for each year since the birth of Christ, signaling when the Devil's demise was heralded)

T'owd 'oss -- Richmond, North Yorkshire, England (A tradition of dressing in hunting clothes and blowing the hunting horns on Christmas Eve.)

Utter Day -- Fairy Calendar (Every word uttered by the fairy folk becomes a physical object he/she must wear for the rest of the day.)

Yap Constitution Day -- Micronesia (regional)

Zerowork Season begins -- seriously, unless you work in retail, how much work really gets done between now and New Year's Eve at your office?

Birthdays Today:

Ryan Seacrest, 1974

Stephanie Meyer, 1973

Ricky Martin, 1971

Diedrich Bader, 45, 1966

Anil Kapoor, 1959

Mary Higgins Clark, 1929

Ava Gardner, 1922

Howard Hughes, 1905

Johnny Gruelle, 1880

Matthew Arnold, 1822

James Prescott Joule, 1818

Kit Carson, 1809

Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Aristocats(Disney animated film), 1970

"Amahl and the Night Visitors"(Opera, first performance and the first opera ever televised), 1951

"The Perry Como Show"(TV), 1948

"Aida"(Opera), 1871

Today in History:

The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is dedicated for the second time after being destroyed by earthquakes, 563

Thomas Wolsey is appointed English Lord Chancellor, 1515

Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is "discovered" by James Cook, 1777

"Silent Night" is composed by Franz Joseph Gruber; it is first sung the next day, 1818

The Eggnog Riot at the United States Military Academy begins that night, wrapping up the following morning, 1826

Fire devastates the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., destroys 35,000 volumes, 1851

Henry Ford completes his first useful gas motor, 1893

Irving Fisher patents an archiving system with index cards, 1912

The first radio transmission of NCRV in Netherlands, 1924

NORAD Tracks Santa for the first time in what will become an annual Christmas Eve tradition, 1955

Shooting begins on "The Cage" the pilot for the Star Trek series, 1964

The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so, 1968

Cyclone Tracy devastates Darwin, Australia, 1974

The first European Ariane rocket is launched, 1979

For the first time since the death f Lenin, the bells of St. Basil's Cathedral, on Red Square in Moscow, ring to celebrate Christmas, 1990

The Spanish police thwart an attempt by ETA to detonate 50 kg of explosives at 3:55 p.m. inside Madrid's busy Chamartín Station, 2003

A video of SpaceX's latest test (on December 17) of the company's Grasshopper rocket with vertical takeoff and vertical landing, is released; the rocket rose 131 feet, hovered and landed safely on the landing pad, 2012