Getting Closer, a Ten Things of Thankful Post

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First, an apology.  Due to the computer troubles i talk a bit about later in this post, my Feline Friday post yesterday, didn't.  Didn't post, that is, not until very late.  I'm quite frustrated with the situation and will try to watch and figure out what's going on.  I've also had people say they couldn't comment on my blog, and i can't figure that out, either.

December adventures continue, and Thankful Day is a great way to recount them.

Grandma loves her hospital bed in her bedroom, it sits her almost completely upright, which is what she wants.  The problem is the mattresses on those beds are so thin and light, and she shifts around so much, her mattress gets off kilter and one day she and the mattress all slid to the floor.

She wasn't hurt, in fact she was laughing the whole time, and Grandpa got her up.  He then used string to tie the mattress down.  I'm thankful he solved that problem, even if it does take me a little longer to make the bed now as i have to slip the strings off, then slide it back in once the fitted sheet is on.

I'm also thankful i found her booklight as it went missing during the episode.  It was caught in the springs of the bed itself, something gave me the idea to take the whole mattress off the bed, and there it was.

On the way back from NOLA that day the heavens opened up on us again, but it wasn't quite as bad or long lasting as the previous time, for which we are thankful.  Also we're thankful we got back safely, considering how some people seem to go even faster in the rain than they do when the weather is good.

There was a party for volunteers at the cat shelter Sunday evening, and i'm thankful i not only got to go, during one of the games i won a small bag of delicious coffee i would never have bought for myself.

While cleaning Carl's place on Monday, i stepped into the main house to use the hallway restroom (i do not use his toilet, i know Carl too well).  Afterwards, it wouldn't flush.

Have you ever had that awkward moment when you just don't know if the toilet in someone else's house is going to work?  Thankfully, i took the top off the tank and realized it was just the chain which had come loose, so i reattached it and flushed.  Crisis averted!

Kevin and Lenny's place got cleaned, and thankfully it seems to be a little less dirty every time we go.  I'm also thankful i was able to figure out how to clean the kitchen range better, the scrubbers i brought got the sticky spots off the floors, and when i went back the next morning my small jacket was still right where i had left it, tucked in the corner of the kitchen/break room.

Also, Slow-Moe got her yearly inspection and passed.  Hooray!

Tuesday was my day for errands, as Ms. S had to reschedule to that day and eventually had to cancel.  I was thankful to get the rest of the food for Thanksgiving ordered (with the help of the nice manager at the restaurant which is part of the same corporation as #2 Son works for).

Then i went searching for Angel Tree gifts.  (Angel Tree Ministries gets volunteers to shop for and deliver gifts to children on behalf of their incarcerated parents.)  Brother and Sister twins who love Mickey and Minnie were the children i chose, and over a week ago i'd gotten them Little People playsets with those characters, and two board books with the iconic mice, but something was missing.

It's very hard to find matching Mickey and Minnie anything this time of year.  I would find one or the other, but not both.  Then this past Tuesday, i said a prayer asking to be led to the right items and found the last Mickey and Minnie stuffies suitable to very young children in the store.

I'm thankful i was able to find the house (GPS sent me next door!) and got the gifts delivered.

Then i went home and put away cold groceries i'd also gotten, and thankfully noticed the freezer wasn't shutting.  Just as i'd taken care of that, i got a call from #1 Son.

His car was at Kevin and Lenny's, and they'd gotten it done a day early, and could i come get him and bring him to pick it up?

Of course i was thankful to be able to do so, although it tickled me mightily that he only lives two blocks from where the gifts were delivered only about 30 minutes before!

Wednesday morning at the shelter went fast, as so many cats have been adopted, we're thankful to see them going home for the holiday.

Ms. G had another boatload of work, but not quite so bad as last week and i'm thankful to report Angel cat, who had gotten sick again, is doing much, much better.

My old, slow computer decided to really start acting up badly on Thursday.  After deleting almost every app or anything else on it that could be deleted and turning it off and on, it seems to be working again, although there are some things it can no longer do for me.  I'm just thankful it's working at all at this point.

I'm thankful Bigger Girl flew in from Seattle and we'll see her on Saturday before she has to go back.

By Friday i am thankful i'd earned enough to get the rest of the "flat gifts" (money) for the children's Christmas cards and i found something suitable as edible gifts for the  neighbors.

Back at the shelter for the Friday evening shift, i'm thankful to say there have been even more adoptions and the caretaking went faster than ever.

Just a couple of days to go, i'm thankful the preparations seem to be going as scheduled.

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.   https://iwantbacksies.blogspot.com/

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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Today is:

Birthday of the Queen Silvia -- Sweden (an official flag day)

Children's Day -- South Sudan; Sudan

Day of Acca Larentia -- Ancient Rome, Republic and Empire (earth goddess and protectress who raised Romulus and Remus)

Festivus -- For the Rest of Us!  (The holiday introduced on the episode of Seinfeld that aired 12/18/97; have some meatloaf, decorate with an unadorned aluminum pole, have a "Feats of Strength" contest and an "Airing of Grievances"!)

Humanlight Celebration -- celebration of tolerance, compassion, empathy, honesty, free inquiry, reason, and rationality secularseasons.org

Icelandic Yuletide Lad of the Day, Ketkrokur -- Meat-hook, who will lower a hook down the chimney and snatch a bit of meat if he can, especially if you are cooking lamb for St. Porlakur(Thorlac)

Igler Bergweihnacht -- Igls, Austria (charming nativity parade starring the children of this small town near Innsbruck)

Learn Metric Day -- US (passage of the Metric Conversion Act of 1875)

National Pfefferneusse Day -- don't forget the Puderzucker!

Noche de Rabanos (Night of the Radishes) -- Oaxaca, Mexico (part of the lead up to Christmas, bring out your best carved radish!)

Popcorn Popping Day -- so you can string it on the tree, of course

Porlaksmessa, Feast of St. Thorlaker/Thorlac -- Iceland (Patron saint, though never officially recognized by the Holy See)

Roots Day -- as you gather with family during the season, don't forget to sit with elder relatives and learn about your family's past

Secret of the Unhewn Stone -- Celtic Calendar (Only day on their calendar not governed by a tree month)

St. John of Kanti's Day (Patron of Lithuania, Poland)

St. Servulus' Day (Patron of the disabled/physically challenged; against paralysis)

St. Victoria's Day (Patron of Anticoli Corrado, Italy)

Two Days To Go Day

Victory Day -- Egypt (a/k/a Suez Victory Day)

Anniversary Today:

Establishment of the US Federal Reserve System, 1913

Birthdays Today:

Corey Haim, 1971

Carla Bruni, 1967

Eddie Vedder, 1964

Carol Ann Duffy, 1955

Susan Lucci, 1946

Harry Shearer, 1943

Akihito, 1933

Robert Bly, 1926

Gerald O'Loughlin, 1921

Jose Greco, 1918

Madame C.J. Walker, 1867

Connie Mack, 1862

Harriet Monroe, 1860

Joseph Smith, Jr., 1805

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Hoffmeyer's Legacy(Film; 1st with Keystone Kops), 1912

Today in History:

Byzantine-Arab Wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops stormed the city of Aleppo, recovering the tattered tunic of John the Baptist, 962

St Philip of Moscow martyred by Ivan the Terrible, 1569

Giovanni Cassini discovers Rhea, a satellite of Saturn, 1672

John Flamsteed observes Uranus without realizing it's undiscovered, 1690

The Continental Congress negotiates a war loan of $181,500 from France, 1776

Benedict Arnold court-martialed for improper conduct, 1779

"A Visit from St Nicholas" by C. Clement Moore is published in the Troy (NY) Sentinel (Now usually titled " 'Twas the Night Before Christmas"), 1823

The opera Hänsel und Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck is first performed, 1893

The first all-steel passenger railroad coach completed, in Altoona, Pa, 1907

The first hospital ship built to move wounded naval personnel is launched, 1919

Alice H Parker patents gas heating furnace, 1919

Discovery of the first modern coelacanth in South Africa, 1938

The transistor is first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories, 1947

Dedication of Tokyo Tower, the world's highest self-supporting iron tower, 1958

The North Tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan, New York City is topped out at 1,368 feet (417 m), making it the tallest building in the world, 1970

A 6.5 magnitude earthquake strikes the Nicaraguan capital of Managua killing more than 10,000, 1972

The 16 survivors of the Andes flight disaster are rescued after 73 days, having survived by cannibalism, 1972

Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California becoming the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world without aerial or ground refueling, 1986

In a referendum, 88% of Slovenia's population vote for independence from Yugoslavia, 1990

An 8.1 magnitude earthquake hits Macquarie Island in the Southern Ocean, 2004

Volcanic activity alerts are issued in Chile and Argentina, in areas near the Copahue volcano, after it started to spew ash, 2012

The United Nations Security Council adopts a landmark resolution demanding a halt to all Israeli settlement in Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, 2016

The top leadership of the Miss America Organization resigned amid a scandal over emails in which pageant officials had ridiculed past winners, 2018