Kittens (Feline Friday) and Friendly Fill-Ins

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Feline Friday was started by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude, and i'm going to believe it's because he likes cats.

He has handed hosting duties off to Sandee, of Comedy Plus, and it's simple to join, just follow the link to Sandee's page for the rules and the code.

Kittens!

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Friendly Fill-Ins are easy to do. There are four statements: the first two statements are provided by Ellen of 15AndMeowing, and the final two are offered by Lorianne The Menagerie Mom of Four-Legged Furballs. They try to make sure the statements will be fun to both answer and share. The linky will be posted at or about 12:00 AM on Friday. Please head over to one of their sites, link up, and share your thoughts!      

Here are this week's statements with my responses underlined:

1. This time of year, ___________________puts me in a Grinch like mood.

 

2. My favorite kind of Christmas cookie is ___________________.

 

3. _________ is my least favorite thing on my holiday to-do list.

 

4. Others might be surprised to know that I _________ for Christmas.

1. This time of year,   traffic  puts me in a Grinch like mood.  (Let's face it, every time of year, traffic puts me in a Grinch-like mood.)

 

2. My favorite kind of Christmas cookie is   vegan chocolate chip.

 

3. Any type of shopping  is my least favorite thing on my holiday to-do list.

 

4. Others might be surprised to know that I    generally end up not being able to go to church in person  for Christmas.  Most years now, i'm in NOLA and have to watch online.

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Today is:

Barbie and Barney Backlash Day -- if you need an explanation, you don't have kids; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Beethoven Day -- celebrate the anniversary of his birth by listening to one of his fine works

Bijoy Dibosh -- Bangladesh (Victory Day)

Day of Reconciliation -- South Africa

Day of the Republic -- Kazakhstan (Independence from the USSR in 1991)

Festival of Sapientia -- Ancient Roman Empire (personification of wisdom and knowledge)

Human Rights and Peace Day -- Kiribati

Icelandic Yuletide Lad of the Day, Pottasleiker -- Pot-licker, who tries to snatch unwashed pots and lick them clean

Man Will Never Fly Memorial Society Annual Meeting

National Chocolate Covered Anything Day

National Day/Independence Day -- Bahrain(1971)

Posadas Navidenas (Fiesta of the Virgin of the Lonely) -- Mexico (celebrated through the 24th, "pilgrims" go house to house seeking shelter to commemorate the search of Mary and Joseph for shelter in Bethlehem)

Simbang Gabi -- Philippines (Christmas festivals that last until Three Kings Day)

St. Adelaide's Day (Patron of abuse victims, brides, empresses, exiles, in-law problems, parenthood, parents of large families, princesses, prisoners, second marriages, step-parents, and widows)

Stupid Toy Day -- make sure you aren't giving any of those to any kids you buy for

Tea Party Day -- Boston, MA, US (anniversary of the 1773 Party)

Underdog Day -- the day to celebrate all the number two people who make the number ones what they are (as in Friday to Crusoe); day founded by by the late Peter Moeller, THE Chief Underdog

Vijay Diwas -- India (Victory Day)

Wan Kila Haeng Chat -- Thailand (National Sports Day)

Birthdays Today:

Michael McCary, 1971

Benjamin Bratt, 1963

William "Refrigerator" Perry, 1962

Jon Tenney, 1961

Alison La Placa, 1959

Billy Gibbons, 1949

Benny Andersson, 1946

Steven Bochco, 1943

Lesley Stahl, 1941

Liv Ullmann, 1939

Bruce N Ames, 1928

Arthur C. Clarke, 1917

Margaret Mead, 1901

Noel Coward, 1899

Wassily Kandinsky, 1866

George Santayana, 1863

Jane Austen, 1775

Ludwig von Beethoven, 1770

Catherine of Aragon, 1536

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"One Day At a Time"(TV), 1975

"Dragnet"(TV), 1951

"Me and My Girl"(Musical), 1937

Variety(Magazine, first issue), 1905

"From the New World"(Dvorak Symphony), 1893 (often called "New World Symphony")

Today in History:

An Lushan revolts against Chancellor Yang Guozhong at Fanyang, initiating the An Shi Rebellion during the Tang Dynasty of China, 755

Mount Vesuvious, Italy erupts, destroys 6 villages & kills 4,000, 1631

Oliver Cromwell sworn in as English Lord Protector, 1653

The last recorded eruption of Mount Fuji in Japan, 1707

A big tea party in Boston harbor -- Indians welcome -- is "celebrated" (Boston Tea Party), 1773

Fire burns over 600 buildings in NYC, 1835

In New Zealand, the Charlotte-Jane and the Randolph bring the first of the Canterbury Pilgrims to Lyttelton, 1850

The Kingdom of Nepal accepts its constitution, 1862

Antonín Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, From The New World is given its world première performance at Carnegie Hall, 1893

The first submarine with an internal combustion engine is demonstrated, 1897

The "Great White Fleet" sails from Hampton Downs on its round the world tour, 1907

The first credit union in the US is formed, in Manchester, New Hampshire, 1908

The first US postage stamp picturing an airplane, a 20-cent parcel post, is issued, 1912

Albert Einstein publishes his "General Theory of Relativity", 1915

The Haiyuan earthquake, magnitude 8.5, rocks the Gansu province in China, killing an estimated 200,000, 1920

Theodore Cole and Ralph Roe attempt to escape from the American federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay; neither is ever seen again, 1937

Thailand joins the United Nations, 1945

William Shockley, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain build the first practical point-contact transistor, 1947

Cleveland, Ohio becomes the first post-Depression era US city to default on its loans, owing $14,000,000 to local banks, 1978

An episode of Pokemon, "Denno Senshi Porygon", aired in Japan induces seizures in 685 Japanese children, 1997

George W. Bush signs the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 into law, 2003

The US National Institutes of Health places a moratorium on new studies using chimpanzees as research models when a report comes out showing that most of such research is scientifically unjustified, 2010

After years of receding, the Arctic Sea ice is shown to have rebounded in extent and volume, 2013

A five-day pollution red alert is declared in Beijing and 21 other Chinese cities is classified by officials as a “meteorological disaster”, 2016 

A nine-year-old girl who died of an asthma attack in 2013 becomes first person in the world to officially have air pollution listed as her cause of death, 2020