Visits and More, a Ten Things of Thankful Post

 ***********************************

Although Jock's visit here is over, there's lots of blessings to count this week.

First was having him here, second was i have been able to teach him to sit when cars come by, instead of lunging to try to chase them.  We worked on it a lot and i'm thankful we had much success (although not perfect, of course).

I was also able to teach him to catch treats when i throw them, like Coda does, and i'm thankful he's so smart and caught on very fast.

I'm thankful #2 Son and His Bride are back in town, and Jock is thankful too, i'm sure.

With this past weekend being the long Memorial Day holiday weekend, our church only has one service instead of 3, as many people are out of town.

Including Becca and her family, which i found out only after i got up at my usual time and went over to the house!  I laughed and laughed when i realized they were gone for the weekend, because i knew what had happened, Mr. J thought Ms. A had told me, and she thought he had told me, with the result that i got to go back home for an extra hour before making my way to the church.  An hour for which i was thankful as i got to catch up on a couple of things.

I'm thankful they got away to see the grandbaby's christening.

Ms. JAI asked me to come again this week, and i was thankful to be able to do so.  She's still most unsettled, but i know it's going to get better.

Ms. D had a hair appointment, so she just told me to "fold the sheets and then do whatever needs doing and I'll be back."

I'm thankful what i decided to do was, among other things, clean the toaster.  I got enough crumbs and pieces out of there to make half a piece of bread!  People don't realize what a fire hazard that can be.

Tuesday was part one of my annual check-up, the get half the blood drawn out of you, get weighed and an EKG and a hearing screening and a vision screening and a BMI and go take a "whiz quiz".  Part two is in a few weeks when i have the actual visit and exam with Dr. BowTie.

I'm thankful part one is over, and thankful my insurance allows me to get such a thorough work-up every year.

After the appointment, i went to the hospital part of the building to make my appointments for a mammogram and a DEXA scan.  When i went in, the nice lady told me i couldn't make the appointment with her, i had to call.

When i called, the nice lady told me to go back and tell the lady at the appointment desk she had to take my doctor's order and put in in the computer and then call back later to make the appointment.

Talk about a comedy of errors, i was thankful they finally called me back later and i have an appointment for next Tuesday.

While at the hospital, i'm thankful i ran into a friend i hadn't seen in a while.  Her husband is in the hospital, so i'm very glad to know about it, i'm going to pray for him a lot and keep up through another mutual friend.

Our church ladies' group met for the last time this Wednesday, and i'm thankful i took the day off and went, it was a delightful luncheon and i got to visit some ladies i don't see often.

I was also thankful to find out the granddaughter of our hostess has a son at the same special needs home where Carl has been accepted and his mother wants to try to move Carl to a higher spot on the waiting list.  Ms. V and Ms. RJ will be able to carpool when they want to go get their boys for holidays and bring them home!

Well, i partly took the day off, i figured i'd be able to do the shelter and still get to lunch, right?

I'm thankful i made it, as the shelter is now crowded with kittens.  Messy kittens.  Fun kittens for which i'm thankful, but messy.  At the end, i was thankful to call it an enjoyable but hectic morning.

Ms. SE's boys are out of school, and i'm thankful when we were over there cleaning, they occupied themselves nicely and stayed in the parts of the house we'd already cleaned.  They will be gone a lot for the summer, but i'm thankful the time they were in the house some of the morning, they did well and the younger one even asked permission to put his folded clothes away!

You have to be thankful for a kid who enjoys helping around the house, and he does, he even vacuums and sweeps between our visits.  He's 10!

Ms. G informed me she was going to be out of town and asked if i could come do critter care.  I was thankful to say yes, since i'd missed cleaning her house Wednesday for the luncheon i could do something for her this week.

On Friday evenings at the shelter, i do cages and Ms. Maria does rooms.  She had told me she'd be out of town this week, i'm thankful i got both rooms and cages done, while the usual busyness of a Friday evening swirled around me.

All in all, it's been a good week

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.   

***********************************

Today is:

Broken Dolls Day -- Japan (all broken dolls are taken by their children to monks for burial)

Callynteria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (a service of atonement and cleaning Athena's temple; date approximate)

Chimborazo Day -- to publicize that while Mt. Everest may be the highest, the top of Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador is the furthest from the center of the earth

Drawing Day/Pencil Day -- used to be sponsored on the first Saturday with the motto "Drop Everything and Draw", but even though no longer promoted by any specific group, you can still enjoy some time drawing today

Dr. Charles Drew Day -- honoring the man who made blood transfusions possible

Festival to Bellona -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of war)

Great American Campout Month -- sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation, and remember that Happy Campers Protect Wildlife   

Impersonate Authority Day -- at your own risk, i will not bail you out just because i noted an internet holiday and you decided to celebrate it ;)

International Tabletop Day -- encouraging people to play games on a table, not online, face to face; formerly sponsored by Geek and Sundry  

Jack Jouett Day -- Virginia (the "Paul Revere" of his day and place, rode to warn Governor Thomas Jefferson that the British were coming, 1781)

Kuramae Jinja Matsuri -- Kuramae Jinja Shrine, Tokyo, Japan (a big two-day celebration held every other year at one of the shrines where Sumo originated)

Mabo Day -- Australia

Martyr's Day -- Uganda

National Chocolate Macaroon Day

National Egg Day

National Family Recreation Day -- US (seems to have been started by the community of Arvada, CO, US, wanting families to enjoy the great outdoors together)

National Health and Fitness Day -- Canada 

National Trails Day -- US (be safe out there, if you want help becoming a hiker there's info from the American Hiking Society)    

Opium Suppression Movement Day -- Taiwan

Pull Your Pants Up Day -- internet generated, various dates given, and some are trying to make it a national movement; to encourage young men to pull up their pants for 24 hours and see if they enjoy having both hands free

Repeat Day -- i said, "repeat day" (no, i don't know who comes up with this stuff, sometimes; if i do, i try to place the blame appropriately)

St. Clotilde's Day (Patron of adopted children, brides, disappointing children, exiles, parenthood, parents of large families, queens, widows; against the death of children)

St. Kevin of Glendaulough's Day (Patron of blackbirds; Dublin, Ireland; Glendaulough, Ireland; Ireland)

Worst Day in the Fairy Year -- Fairy Calendar (must be nice to know when your worst day will be)

Anniversaries Today:

U.S. Air Force Academy first graduating class, 1959

The Duke of Windsor marries Wallis Simpson, 1937

Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo founded, 17

Birthdays Today:

Lalaine, 1987

Rafael Nadal, 1986

Anderson Cooper, 1967

Charles Hart, 1961

Scott Valentine, 1958

Deniece Williams, 1951

Suzi Quatro, 1950

Curtis Mayfield, 1942

Larry McMurtry, 1936

Norman Brinker, 1931

Raul Castro, 1931

Chuck Barris, 1929

Colleen Dewhurst, 1926

Allen Ginsberg, 1926

Tony Curtis, 1925

Leo Gorcey, 1917

Josephine Baker, 1906

Dr. Charles Drew, 1904

Ransom E. Olds, 1864

Jefferson Davis, 1808

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Dragnet"(Radio), 1951

“Casey at the Bat”(Publication date), 1888

Today in History:

French scholar Peter Abelard is found guilty of heresy, 1140

Hernando De Soto claims Florida for Spain, 1539 

Construction of the oldest stone church in French North America, Notre-Dame-des-Anges, begins at Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, 1620

Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo is founded in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, 1770

President John Adams moves to Washington, D.C., to live in a tavern (the White House wasn't ready), 1800

In Humen, China, Lin Tse-hsü destroys 1.2 million kg of opium confiscated from British merchants, which prompts the First Opium War, 1839

In the last military engagement fought on Canadian soil, Cree leader Big Bear escapes the North West Mounted Police, 1885

The poem "Casey at the Bat", by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, is published in the San Francisco Examiner, 1888

The coast to coast Canadian Pacific Railway is completed, 1889

One thousand unemployed Canadian workers board freight cars in Vancouver, British Columbia, beginning a protest trek to Ottawa, Ontario, 1935

Launch of Gemini 4, the first multi-day space mission by a NASA crew, which included the first space walk by an American, 1965

A blowout at the Ixtoc I oil well in the southern Gulf of Mexico causes at least 3,000,000 barrels of oil to be spilled into the waters, the worst oil spill ever recorded, 1979

SkyDome is officially opened in Toronto, Ontario, 1989

Aboriginal Land Rights are granted in Australia in Mabo v Queensland (1988), a case brought by Eddie Mabo, 1992

USS Carter Hall engages pirates after they board the Danish ship Danica White off the coast of Somalia, 2007

A pageant on London's River Thames marks the highpoint of a series of events celebrating The Diamond Jubilee of Elizabeth II, 2012

Three of the most extremely well-preserved and most complete triceratops specimens ever found are unearthed in Wyoming, 2013

The Amazing world of Dr Seuss Museum opens in Springfield, Massachusetts, 2017

Guatemala's Fuego volcano erupts, causing widespread death and destruction, 2018

NASA launches 128 baby squid and 5,000 microscopic animals, to study effects of spaceflight, to the International Space Station aboard Space X's Falcon 9 rocket, 2021