Sunday, December 31, 2023

I Like Doing Those (Cajun Joke), Sunday Selections and Sunday Selfie

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Just because Sandee of Comedy Plus is no longer hosting a Silly Sunday blog hop, do not expect me to quit telling Cajun jokes, especially as it has now become a habit.


The day before my "procedure" (colonoscopy), the doctor's office called with the usual list of questions and instructions and reminders.  I reassured them i was being good and fasting and had the instructions for using the prep solutions and etc.


Boudreaux done be plannin' have de colonoscopy an' dey be tellin' him what he kin espect an' 'bout how he goin' be put asleep fo' a while, an' den dey ax him lots o' questioning 'bout hims medical history.  Den dey git to, "How's your breathing, eating and sleeping?"


An' he say, "Dey be my t'ree fav'rite t'ings, in dat order!"



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Sunday Selections was started as a way for bloggers to use photos that might otherwise just languish in their files.  The rules have been relaxed, and it is now simply a showcase for your photos, new or old, good or bad, although nothing rude, please.  It was hosted by River, who still participates, and is now hosted by Elephant's Child.        


A few last Christmas photos before we bid the decorations good-bye for another year, some blurry flowers (the camellias are blooming and i'll try to get more photos next time), and one day we actually had colorful skies.

























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This week, Link Linker the Stinker wants to join the Kitties Blue at The Cat On My Head for their Sunday Selfies Blog Hop.   https://thecatonmyhead.com


After asking to pose, Link took a long time deciding where to sit, then when he did, he kept moving and raising his paws.  By the time i snapped the photo, he had his, "Would you hurry, I'm getting tired of waiting" face on.






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Today is:


Check Your Smoke Alarms Day


Feast of Sharaf (Honor) -- Baha'i


International Solidarity Day -- Azerbaijan and Azerbaijanis worldwide


Kwanzaa, Day 6, Kuumba (Creativity)


Leap Second Adjustment Day -- if a second needs to be added or subtracted to coordinate the atomic and astronomical time, it will be done today, by the International Earth Rotation Service of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures at Paris, France


Make Up Your Mind Day/Procrastinator's Day -- you have to make up your mind


National Champagne Day


New Year's Eve -- a selection of related observances

     Allendale Tar Barrel Burning/Baal Fire Festival -- Allendale, England (locals burn out the old year by carrying burning tar barrels on their heads, then use them to light one huge bonfire)

     Feast of Father Time -- because he ultimately overcomes us all

     Festival of Yemaya -- Yoruba/Santeria (celebration of the mother of the sun and moon)

     Fire and Ice New Year's Eve Celebration -- Anchorage, AK (fire jugglers, ice carvers, fireworks, and more)

     First Night -- a non-alcoholic alternative to New Year's Eve

     Fravartigan -- Parsi Zoroastrian (celebration to honor the dead through the night)

     Gamlarskvold -- Icelandic traditions; cows gain human speech, seals take on human form, the dead rise, and Elves move house

                obtain gold from the Elves by sitting at a crossroads and waiting for them to pass

                Housewives greet the Elves by reciting the rhyme of protection

                        Let those who want to, arrive

                        Let those who want to, leave

                        Let those who want to, Stay

                        Without harm to me or mine

                Light a bonfire, and "blow out the year" with fireworks 

     Harvest Day Celebrations -- Benin (celebration of the end of harvest season at the turn of the year)

     Hogmanay Day -- Scotland (Auld Year's Night)

     Japanese Observances (a few, at least)

          Joya no Kane -- Japan (ringing out the old year with temple bells; Buddhists believe humans are born with 108 worldly desires which are removed when the bells are rung 108 times)

          Namahge -- Oga Peninsula, Japan (devil appearing holiday; young men dress as demons and run through the town warning children to behave during the coming year)

          Okera Matsuri -- Yasaka Shrine, Kyoto, Japan (Sacred Fire Rite)

          Omisoka Day -- Japan (the second most important day on the Japanese Calendar; tomorrow is the most important)

     Noche de Pedimento -- Oaxaca, Mexico (Night of the Petition)

     Ritual for Iemanja -- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (seaside rituals for the goddess of the sea and carnal pleasure, followed by a swinging party in the city and on the beaches overnight)

     Samoan Fire Dance -- Samoa

     Swinging the Fireballs -- Stonehaven, Kincardineshire, Scotland

     Universal Hour of Peace -- begins at 11:30pm your local time, welcome the New Year with peace

     Watch Night -- Christian

     World Peace Meditation Day (International observance of one hour beginning 12:00 PM GMT, focusing thought and energy on peace.)


No Resolution Day / Ditch the Resolutions Day -- if you don't want to, you don't have to!


Restoration Day -- Geneva, Switzerland


Seventh Day of Christmas


St. Sylvester's Day (Patron of Feroleto Antico, Italy; Poggio Catino, Italy) related observances

     Saint Sylvester's Day Celebrations-- Belgium, Germany, France and Switzerland

     Silvesterklause -- Urnäsch, Switzerland


St. Zoticus of Constantinople's Day (Patron of the poor; often titled Feeder of Orphans)


You're All Done Day -- sponsored by something i haven't been able to pin down online called The Long Haul Committee (and it's more like "all done in" if you are like me!)



Anniversaries Today:


Gregory Peck marries Veronique Passani, 1955

Rocky Marciano marries Barbara Cousins, 1950

Bette Davis marries Arthur Farnsworth, 1940



Birthdays Today:


Joe McIntyre, 1972

Nicholas Sparks, 1965

Val Kilmer, 1959

Bebe Neuwirth, 1958

James Remar, 1953

Donna Summer, 1948

Tim Matheson, 1947

Barbara Carrera, 1945

Diane Halfin von Furstenberg, 1945

John Denver, 1943

Ben Kingsley, 1943

Andy Summers, 1942

Sarah Miles, 1941

Anthony Hopkins, 1937

Odetta, 1930

Simon Wiesenthal, 1908

George C. Marshall, 1880

Henri Matisse, 1869



Debuting/Premiering Today:


The London Eye(World's Largest Ferris Wheel), 1999

"Lost in Yonkers"(Play), 1990

"Pirates of Penzance"(Comic Opera), 1879



Today in History:


80,000 Vandals, Alans and Suebians attack the Rhine at Mainz, crossing into and beginning the invasion of Gallia, 406

Byzantine General Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily, defeating the Ostrogothic garrison of Syracuse, and ending his consulship for the year, 535

Ch'an monk Ho-tse Shen-hui interred in a stupa built in China, 765

James I of Aragon the Conqueror enters Medina Mayurqa (now known as Palma, Spain) thus consummating the Christian conquest of the island of Majorca, 1229

100,000 Jews expelled from Sicily, 1492

The British East India Company chartered, 1600

The first Huguenots depart France to Cape of Good Hope, 1687

A window tax is imposed in England, causing many shopkeepers to brick up their windows to avoid the tax, 1695

Rhode Island establishes wage & price controls to curb inflation: Limit is 70 cents a day for carpenters, 42 cents for tailors, 1776

Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa as new capital of Canada, 1857

The cornerstone is laid for Honolulu, Hawai'i's Iolani Palace, the only royal palace in the US, 1879

Edison gives 1st public demonstration of his incandescent lamp, 1879

Ellis Island (NYC) opens as a US immigration depot, 1890

Brooklyn's last day as a city, it incorporates into NYC (1/1/1898), 1897

Boers & British army sign peace treaty, 1902

The first New Year's Eve celebration is held in Times Square, then known as Longacre Square, in New York, New York, 1904

For the first time a ball drops at Times Square to signal the new year, 1907

The last San Francisco firehorses are retired, 1921

The chimes of Big Ben are broadcast on radio for the first time by the BBC, 1923

Dr R N Harger's "drunkometer," the first breath test, is introduced in Indiana, 1938

The farthing coin ceases to be legal tender in the United Kingdom, 1960

The Central African Federation officially collapses and splits into Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia, 1963

The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government, 1983

All official Soviet Union institutions have ceased operations by this date and the Soviet Union is officially dissolved, 1991

Czechoslovakia is peacefully dissolved in what is dubbed by media as the Velvet Divorce, resulting in the creation of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, 1992

This date is skipped altogether in Kiribati as the Phoenix Islands and Line Islands change time zones, 1994

The European Exchange Rate Mechanism freezes the values of the legacy currencies in the Eurozone, and establishes the value of the euro currency, 1998

The United States Government hands control of the Panama Canal (as well all the adjacent land to the canal known as the Panama Canal Zone) to Panama, 1999

The official opening of Taipei 101, the tallest skyscraper at that time in the world, 2004

Italy's ban of plastic bags goes into effect, 2010

A ship abandoned by human traffickers who deliberately set it on a collision course with the Italian coast is brought to shore safely by the Italian Coast Guard with 900 Syrian refugees on board, 2014

A ban on the ivory trade in China comes into effect, 2017

WHO grants the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine emergency authorization, paving the way for worldwide distribution, 2020

Saturday, December 30, 2023

Gearing Up and a PSA, a Ten Things of Thankful Post

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It's time to gear up for another Thankful Day and, thankfully, another year.


I'm thankful i have my wall calendar, my "diary" calendar, and my work calendar in house so i can start using them right away.


This last week was eventful.  My first chore Saturday morning was to get some things the other stores i'd tried off and on through the previous week didn't have.  I went to MallMart the moment it opened and managed to score every single item on my list!  At one point, i was standing in front of a cold case saying, please, if possible, Lord let there be one more... and a lady in a uniform standing behind me said, "Look down, honey."


I barely heard her, but for some reason i knelt down and peeked at the back of the shelf, and there it was.  Later, a worker in a uniform passed behind me in another aisle and said, "See, I told you you'd find it."  When i turned, no one was there.


Two other items i needed were the last or second-to-last in the store, and were at the very back of a seemingly empty shelf.


I'm thankful for minor miracles.


Bigger Girl flew into town for a quick 84 hours of seeing as many friends and relatives as she possibly could in that time.  Saturday morning after MallMart i picked her up on the way to NOLA and Little Girl and her boyfriend came, and we all had a wonderful visit and talk with Grandma and Grandpa and cousins and i got to see Coda dog and Lulu dog was ecstatic to see her friend and it was a bit wild.


I'm thankful for the fun, and i got to take Bigger Girl to the house to see her father.


I'm also thankful she's agreed she's not coming in for holidays next time, but picking a long week when her work is slow and coming for a proper visit which will be much better for both her health (she was exhausted by the end) and for all of us getting to spend time with her.


Christmas has been come so much easier since Grandma agreed to allow us to get most of the food from restaurants that cater to holiday tables.  I'm thankful we had #1 Son with us, thankful we had plenty of food to bring, thankful we got to NOLA and back on Christmas safely, and thankful she talked me through making the family recipes she still insists we use.


Grandma was also able to go to church for the Christmas Eve service, but that proved too much after her excitement Saturday and she went to bed before we even served the Christmas dinner.  I'm thankful she got rested up and is feeling much better now.


Ms. JAI has been alone so much, especially on holidays, i've worried about her, so i made her 3 plates of our Christmas leftovers as i was packing everything up and i was thankful to be able to take it to her on Christmas Day.  While there, i was especially thankful to find her granddaughter and grandson-in-law had come in town to be with her!


Tuesday was supposed to be catch-up day, the day to do Carl's place, Ms. D's place, and Ms. JAI's place, since we were all otherwise occupied on Monday.


I'm thankful i was able to do Carl's, thankful Ms. JAI cancelled again because her granddaughter stayed for 3 days (!) and not at all thankful Ms. D got the flu, although i am thankful she's better.  It seems she had a rough Christmas, 3 of her sisters and her niece came into town and all five of them got sick enough to be in the hospital, then her daughter came to take care of her and got it, too!


The cat shelter is always a blessing to go to, we're all thankful there have been lots of adoptions.


Ms. G had us hopping from project to project, i'm thankful she's staying home more and getting her own projects done.


Ms. SE's place is always an adventure and this week was no exception.  I'm thankful we got there very early, got it done, and thankful Sweetie was willing to come with me after to clean Ms. GA's place.


It's not often i have to do two on Thursday, but this week i had plans to be otherwise occupied Friday morning.


I'm thankful Thursday went well, even if it tired me out, and Friday, i'm thankful my colonoscopy was totally clear and normal this time.  To borrow a quote from a M*A*S*H episode, i'm clean as a whistle, inside and out!


As i told the doctor yesterday before the procedure, i'm thankful to be having this test now, and not finding out something is seriously wrong much later, when it's too late to do anything.


Here's my PSA, go get your tests, whatever the doctor recommends.  Brushing your teeth may not be fun, but it's better than losing your teeth.  Preventive medicine may not be fun, but it's better than the alternatives.



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.  



 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


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Today is:


Araw ni Rizal -- Philippines (commemoration of the martyrdom of Dr. Jose Rizal in 1896, as well as all victims of the Spanish government during their rule of the Philippines)


Bacon Day -- for those tired of the same old winter holidays, celebrate bacon!


Day of the Declaration of Slovakia as an Independent Ecclesiastic Province -- Slovakia


Falling Needles Family Fest Day -- gather the family, watch the needles fall from the tree, and have a party; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays


Feast of the Holy Family -- Catholic Christian


Festival of Enormous Changes At the Last Minute -- internet generated, and i'm not sure i'm up to it


Kwanzaa, Day 5, Nia(Purpose)


Lhosar -- Gurung People of Nepal (sometimes called the Tamu People; Losar is celebrated by the rest of Nepal in February or March)


National Bicarbonate of Soda Day -- shouldn't this be on Jan. 1, to help us get over the indigestion from the night before?


No Interruptions Day -- let people finish up what needs to get done before the New Year at work, and silence the devices at home that keep us from spending uninterrupted time with family 


Sixth Day of Christmas


St. Ruggero of Canne's Day (Barletta, Italy)



Anniversary Today:


The Arroyo Seco Parkway, California's first freeway, opens, 1940

Rutherford B. Hayes (19th US President) marries Lucy Ware Webb, 1852



Birthdays Today:


LeBron James, 1984

Kristin Kreuk, 1982

Eliza Dushku, 1980

Laila Ali, 1977

Tiger Woods, 1975

Sean Hannity, 1961

Tracey Ullman, 1959

Matt Lauer, 1957

Meredith Vieira, 1953

Patti Smith, 1946

Davy Jones, 1945

Concetta Tomei, 1945

Michael Nesmith, 1942

James Burrows, 1940

Del Shannon, 1939

Joseph Bologna, 1938

Noel Paul Stookey, 1937

Sandy Koufax, 1935

Russ Tamblyn, 1935

Bo Diddley, 1928

Jack Lord, 1920

Bert Parks, 1914

Stephen Leacock, 1869

Simon Guggenheim, 1867

Rudyard Kipling, 1865



Debuting/Premiering Today:


"Let's Make a Deal"(TV), 1963

"The Roy Rogers Show"(TV), 1951

"Kiss Me, Kate"(Musical), 1948



Today in History:


Hugh Capet, King of the Franks, crowns his son Robert the Pious king and co-ruler, 987

A Muslim mob storms the royal palace in Granada, crucifies Jewish vizier Joseph ibn Naghrela and massacres most of the Jewish population of the city, 1066

Tokyo is hit by an earthquake, about 37,000 die, 1703

The first coffee is planted in Hawaii (Kona), 1817

Gyula, Count Andrássy, of Hungary, issues the Andrassy Note, calling for Christian-Muslim religious freedoms, 1875

Gilbert & Sullivan's "Pirates of Penzance," premieres, 1879

The American Political Science Association founded at New Orleans, 1903

Iran becomes a constitutional monarchy, 1906

The All India Muslim League is founded in Dacca, East Bengal, British India Empire, which later laid down the foundations of Pakistan, 1906

Lincoln's Inn in London admits its first female bar student, 1919

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics is formed, 1922

Japan dedicates the first subway in the Orient (route under 2 miles long), 1927

The Cole Porter Broadway musical, Kiss Me, Kate (1,077 performances), opens at the New Century Theatre and becomes the first show to win the Best Musical Tony Award, 1948

In the 39th game of his 3rd NHL season Wayne Gretzky scores 5 goals giving him 50 on the year setting a new NHL record, 1981

Israel and the Vatican establish diplomatic relations, 1993

Tropical Storm Zeta forms in the open Atlantic Ocean, tying the record for the latest tropical cyclone ever to form in the North Atlantic basin, 2005

The last roll of Kodachrome film is developed by Dwayne's Photo, the only remaining Kodachrome processor at the time, concluding the film's 74-year run as a photography icon, 2009

The opening of Line 6 of the Beijing subway makes it the longest metro network in the world at 442km, 2012

San Antonio assistant Becky Hammon becomes first female to coach an NBA team after Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is ejected in a game against the LA Lakers, 2020