Little Things Can Mean a Lot, a Ten Things of Thankful Post

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It's been busy, and i come into Thankful Day with a newfound appreciation of how many big and small blessings i have, as a few smaller things happened this week which made me grateful out of proportion to their size.

Sweetie loves spaghetti and meatballs.  He's very, very picky about meatballs.  If they don't have fennel, with that little hint of a licorice taste in the background, he'll eat them but not love them.

We found meatballs he loves, something he hasn't had since Romano's Macaroni Grill closed here many years ago.  (Yes, we can and do make them at home, but there's something special about going out for Italian, you understand?)  It's a tiny "hole in the wall" in the NOLA area, and i can assure everyone he will return.

Years ago, we belonged to a small group at church which met once a week all through the year, discussing the special Lent guides our pastor writes during Lent, and taking up other studies through the year.  This group no longer meets because of various reasons (death, moving, aging of some members) and i've missed it.

This week, i've joined a new group which meets at a time and place i can handle.  It will only meet for the Lent study, and it's a pastor and his wife, a widow who is a bit older than i am, and seven couples with children under 10.  It's going to be a good mix, new ideas with experience added for flavor, so to speak.

I didn't have Ms. JAI this week, but i stopped by anyway just to see how she's getting on.  I was thankful her daughter was there working on helping her pack things and get ready, although she was gone to pick out paint colors.  It looks like the purchase of the new condo will go through, it's just a matter of getting her over there, her family sorting everything she doesn't take with her, then selling the house.

An anole greeted me at one client's home, he was brown and trying to mix in with the brown of the chair, doing an excellent job.  He scooted out of reach, and later was bright green right there in the middle of the white floor.  I was thankful he let me slow walk toward him as i herded him to the back door and shooed him out.

Wednesday morning started with a car that wouldn't.  Start, that is.  GusGus would not crank, so i hopped in Slow-Moe and went to work.  Sweetie called Kevin and Lenny, and they had Joe come over in the truck to jump start it.  That worked, and it turned out GusGus needed a new battery.  I'm thankful we have a second car and as always, thankful for Kevin and Lenny and everyone who works for them.

While moving stuff into Slow-Moe that morning, i found my missing umbrella Sweetie said wasn't in the back seat.  I'm so thankful to find it, since it was a gift from Little Girl and it's my favorite, that i didn't even fuss that i've looked everywhere and it was right where i said it was all along.

Anyone who read my Six Sentence Story knows Wednesday was a tough day even beyond the car not starting, i'm just so very thankful the cat was found and rescued.

Ms. V and i had a nice, long chat after i cleaned her house, we were thankful for it as the last time we got to do it was before they were all sick, so at least a month.

Ms. GA had a large container with a locking lid she wasn't using and gave it to me.  It can be used as a trash can or for storing something like cat litter or dry kibble.  We aren't sure what purpose it will have here yet but it will be put to good use and i'm thankful for it.

I'm also thankful she shared some of the vegan "risotto" she made with me, her cooking is good and she has time to make things i don't.

The cat shelter is rather quiet right now, since kitten season has not quite ramped up to full speed.  We know it's going to get crazy, for now, we're thankful for a slower pace.

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:

Charter Day -- St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada (1881)

Courageous Follower Day -- because leaders have to have someone to lead, and it can take as much courage to follow a great leader as to be the leader

Feast of Ra in His Barge at Heliopolis -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Holy Experiment Day -- try something religious today

Hug a GI Day -- just don't get in trouble sneaking on base to do it

Iditarod Sled Dog Race - Last Great Race on Earth® begins -- Anchorage to Nome, AK, US (1,000 miles along the historic Iditarod Trail)

International Scrapbooking Industry Day -- can't find proof the industry actually set this day, but if you love scrapbooking, celebrate

March Dryads' Festival -- Fairy Calendar

March Forth - Do Something Day

National Grammar Day -- sponsored by The Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar on March 4th, which is both a date and an imperative

National Poundcake Day

St. Casimir's Day (Patron of bachelors, kings, princes, single laymen; Lithuania; Poland; against plague)

Tavern Day -- US (the first tavern in the US, a Puritan public house in Boston, MA, opened this date in 1634)

Toy Soldier Day -- Dr. Steel's Army, building a utopian playland and embarking on a worldwide mission of fun

Waltz Day -- some say National Waltz Day, and some Dance the Waltz Day, but no one says why this day; i say, waltz if you want to

Anniversaries Today:

Hot Springs National Park is established, 1921

Vermont becomes the 14th US state, 1791

Birthdays Today:

Patsy Kensit, 1968

Jason Curtis Newsted, 1963

Stephen Weber, 1961

Patricia Heaton, 1958

Catherine O'Hara, 1954

Emilio Estefan, 1953

Kay Lenz, 1953

Chris Squire, 1948

Mary Wilson, 1944

Paula Prentiss, 1938

Miriam Makeba, 1932

Joan Greenwood, 1921

Charles Rudolph Walgreen, Jr., 1906

Knute Rockne, 1888

Garrett Morgan, 1877

Casimir Pulaski, 1747

Antonio Vivaldi, 1678

Prince Henry the Navigator, 1394

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"People Magazine"(Publication), 1974

"The Dick Cavett Show"(TV), 1968

"Nosferatu"(Horror Film), 1922

"Pénélope"(Fauré Opera), 1913

"Swan Lake"(Tchaikovsky Op. 20), 1876

Today in History:

Croatian Duke Trpimir I issued a statute, a document with the first known written mention of the Croats name in Croatian sources, 852

Ramathibodi becomes King of Siam, 1351

Christopher Columbus arrives back in Lisbon, Portugal, from his first voyage, 1493

Hernan Cortez arrives in Mexico in search of Aztec gold, 1519

The Massachusetts Bay Colony is granted a royal charter, 1629

John Flamsteed is appointed the first Astronomer Royal of England, 1675

France is divided into 83 départements, which cut across the former provinces in an attempt to dislodge regional loyalties based on noble ownership of land, 1790

The first Jewish member of the US Congress, Israel Jacobs of Pennsylvania, takes office, 1791

A Constitutional Act is introduced by the British House of Commons in London which envisages the separation of Canada into Lower Canada (Quebec) and Upper Canada (Ontario), 1791

In the first ever peaceful transfer of power between elected leaders in modern times, John Adams is sworn in as President of the United States, succeeding George Washington, 1797

In the Castle Hills Rebellion, in New South Wales, Australia, Irish convicts (some of whom had been involved in Ireland’s Battle of Vinegar Hill in 1798) lead the colony’s only significant convict uprising, 1804

Carlo Alberto di Savoia signs the Statuto Albertino that will later represent the first constitution of the Regno d'Italia, 1848

The day without a US president -- Zachary Taylor refuses to be sworn in on the Sabbath (Sunday), so there is, technically, no president on this day, 1849

The longest bridge in the Great Britain, the Forth Bridge (railway) (1,710 ft) in Scotland is opened, 1890

The great fire of Shanghai damages over 1,000 buildings, 1894

Victor Berger of Wisconsin becomes the first socialist congressman in the U.S., 1911

Jeannette Rankin of Montana becomes the first female member of the United States House of Representatives, 1917

Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia's renunciation of the throne is made public, and Tsar Nicholas II of Russia publicly issues his abdication manifesto, 1917

Frances Perkins becomes the United States Secretary of Labor, the first female member of the United States Cabinet, 1933

Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, announces the first successful kidney transplant, 1954

The S&P 500 stock market index is introduced, replacing the S&P 90, 1957

The United States Atomic Energy Commission announces that the first atomic power plant at McMurdo Station in Antarctica is in operation, 1962

The first Cray-1 supercomputer is shipped to the Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, 1976

Nationalist leader Robert Mugabe wins a sweeping election victory to become Zimbabwe's first black prime minister, 1980

Bertha Wilson is appointed the first woman to sit on the Supreme Court of Canada, 1983

The Soviet Vega 1 begins returning images of Comet Halley and the first images ever of its nucleus, 1986

The Supreme Court of the United States rules that federal laws banning on-the-job sexual harassment also apply when both parties are the same sex, 1998

No response is received in the final attempt to contact Pioneer 10 by the Deep Space Network, 2006

Approximately 30,000 voters take advantage of electronic voting in Estonia, the world's first nationwide voting where part of the votecasting is allowed in the form of remote electronic voting via the Internet, 2007

The Papal Conclave begins to select the successor of Pope Benedict XVI, 2013

The Italian government sets aside 2 million euros for repairs to the ancient city of Pompeii after damage caused by heavy rains highlights the general decay of this World Heritage site, 2014

Four tons of rocket debris crashes into the far side of the Moon, possibly the booster from China's Chang'e 5-T1 mission, in the first unintentional collision with the Moon, 2022