Crazy Train Christmas Countdown Ten Things of Thankful

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The crazy train pre-Christmas Thankful Day countdown continues.

Last Saturday's drive to and from NOLA was normal, no monsoon driving.  That's always a reason to be thankful.  The storm came well after i got home!

Sunday was the Christmas Cantata at church, which makes for complications with Becca.  Her mother, along with all the choir members, sings at both services.  Having her sit through both could be done, but not easily.

We thankfully decided we were going to go just in time for Sunday school and attend the late service, not the early one.

That became especially important when i got upstairs and found the bed needed changing.  I'm thankful we weren't in a rush and i was able to get all the linens washed and the water-resistant liners both washed and dried before we left.

We were thankful for a beautiful Cantata service.

Sunday evening was Pilgrimage, and i was thankful to be able to meet up with them well ahead and have Becca with me for that, as well.

Ms. D had called me ahead to let me know i couldn't go over there to clean on Monday as the electricity was going to be off while the electric company was replacing poles in our area.  (Our block was done on Sunday and we're thankful we weren't home.)

That meant i was thankful to have more time on Monday to get a lot of other things done before my meeting that evening.

I'm thankful the ladies' meeting was small and we had a lot of fun.

Tuesday i went to Ms. D's place.  I'm thankful we scheduled it for 10am, no need to get out the door exceptionally early like on other days.  I'm also thankful she gets on the computer while i work, so i could tackle those floors the way i wanted and get the buildup gone.

The cat shelter went well on Wednesday thankfully and i got to Ms. G's house just in time to unload three 30lbs. bags of bird seed to the wagon and get them to the back, then take the case of water and case of drinks in, then we went back to the club store for more.

Ms. G has had some shelves in the "cat room" (read, litter box room) which have been on the verge of collapse for some time.  She was worried it would happen when she wasn't at home and Angel cat was in there using the box, and Angel would get spooked and not want to go in there any more, necessary or not.

At the club store she picked out a new shelving unit of metal and wood which is probably a good 100lbs.  This was loaded on the flatbed cart by a nice, helpful worker, then i put four more bags of bird seed at 30lbs. each, three containers of cat litter at 42lbs. each, and a 22lbs. bag of cat food.

We were thankful a worker there loaded the vehicle for us and we hauled all this booty back to the house where i unloaded everything except the shelving unit which we dragged onto the dolly and got to the back deck.

I'm thankful for the green cart and the dolly.

Then came the real work, emptying the portion of the cat room where it would go, including the collapsing shelves, cleaning everything as we went and moving other things to make the new shelves fit.

We're thankful it was a beautiful day so we didn't have to worry about everything we hauled out of the room getting rained on, thankful we got everything important put back in the room, and after all that, i'm mostly thankful my back held out.  That was a lot of toting barges and lifting bales for one day.

While i've done Ms. SE's house by myself before, after a Wednesday like that i was very thankful for Sweetie's help, as her house was in a right state.  She had surgery two weeks ago and has been working from home since, and it took two dishwasher loads just to deal with dishes.

As worn as i was after those two days, i'm thankful i seem to still have it in me to do it.

Friday didn't hold much in the way of surprises, it was a usual cleaning of Ms. GA's house, a couple of errands, bill paying, and going to the shelter for the evening shift.  I'm thankful we had enough help to get everything done and a couple of adoptions, too.

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:

AKC/Royal Canin National Championships -- Orlando, FL, US (top dogs from around the world compete to see -- who really is top dog? through tomorrow)

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)

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)

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