A Job For Life (Awww Monday), Inspiring Quote of the Week, and Poetry Monday

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Happy New Year, everyone.  I pray you have a blessed and beautiful 2024.

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Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee at Comedy Plus.

Join us every Monday for Awww...Mondays.  Post a picture that makes you say Awww... and that's it.

Make sure you get the code from Sandee's site, linked above, and leave a link to your post so we can visit you.  What better way to start the week than with a smile!

Abby was sitting and waiting for me.

She promptly rolled over, begging for a tummy rub.

I didn't resist, and if you give a dog a tummy rub, you have a job for life!

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Sparks is the brainchild of Annie of McGuffy's Reader, who wanted us to post something positive and uplifting at the start of the week.  While she no longer blogs, i like to post an Inspiring Quote of the Week in her honor.     

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Poetry Monday was started by Diane at On The Alberta/Montana Border.

Today is her final poetry Monday for a while as she is taking a blog break (we hope not for long).

She has said Charlotte / Mother Owl and i may keep Poetry Monday going, and as always anyone else is more than welcome to join in and suggest topics.       

Charlotte has chosen the topics/themes for January:

8th Winner

15th Requirement

22nd Teacher

29th Flight

By the middle of this month, i hope to have February topics/themes posted.  If anyone has any in mind, and wants to join the fun, let us know!

This week the topic is The Future.

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Jeanne Louise Calment

122 years old was turning,

everyone wanted to talk to her

with questions that were burning.

She gave a couple of interviews

and about it was a good sport,

when asked how she saw her future,

her succinct reply was, "Short!"

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The future is now

taking each day as it comes

today's all we have

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I procrastinate too much,

it's always to my sorrow,

and i am going to work on it,

as soon as i'm up tomorrow.

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The future is a mystery

but let's go through the door

and work and pray and trust and hope

it's a good 2024.

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Today is:

Apple Gifting Day

Bad Hangover Day -- but only for some (she says, trying not to look too virtuous)

Black Nazarene Fiesta -- Philippines (through the 9th)

Bonza Bottler Day™

Buckle-Up Day -- the first US mandatory seat belt law went into effect in New York on this day in 1985

Carnival Day/Grand Parade of Troupes -- Saint Kitts and Nevis

Constitution Day  -- Italy

Daydreamers' Day -- take time out today to dream, on paper, what you want this year to hold

Day of the Establishment of the Slovak Republic -- Slovakia

Days of Volos -- Slavic Pagan Calendar (a time to be thankful to the god Volos for pets and farm animals; through the 6th)

Eighth Day of Christmas

Feast of the Circumcision of Christ -- Eastern Orthodox Church

Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus - Orthodox Christian; Lutheran

First-Foot Day -- make sure an auspicious or good person is the first to set foot in your home for the New Year

Foundation Days -- Taiwan (a/k/a Republic Day, celebrated through tomorrow)

Gantan-sai (New Years) -- Shinto

Get A Life Day -- now even the internet is urging you to use the New Year wisely

Grandfather Frost Day -- Russia; Ukraine (Ded Moroz; an equivalent of Santa Claus who visits on New Year's Day and delivers the gifts in person with his granddaughter, the Snow Maiden, and fighting off Baba Yaga the witch who tries to steal them; in some areas, he comes on "Old Christmas Day", in about a week)

Handsel Monday -- Scotland (traditionally a day to exchange small tokens of good luck with friends and neighbors; celebrated in rural areas on the Monday after Jan. 12, where they did not want to deviate from the OS/Julian Calendar)

Hangover Handicap Run -- Couer d'Alene, ID, US (an early morning run, saluting the night before by giving out beer can trophies)

Horan Enya -- Bungo Takada City, Japan (ceremony for safety at sea and large catches)

Independence Day -- Haiti(1804); Sudan

International Get Over It Month -- urging you to let the past go and move forward

Kaapse Klopse -- Cape Town, South Africa (Minstrel Carnival, with parties and parades through February; main parade tomorrow at midday)

Kalends of January -- Ancient Roman Calendar; also

     Agonalia (giving dates, figs, and honey to Janus, and gifts to family members)

     Day Sacred to Janus, Juno, and Jupiter

     Festival for Aesculapius (god of healing)

     Festival for Vedovus (god of the spirits of ancestors)

     Sacrifice to Fortuna Day (Sacrifice something to the goddess of Fortune so she will give you a good year.)

Kwanzaa, Day 7, Imani (faith)

Liberation Day -- Cuba (a/k/a Triumph of the Revolution)

London New Year's Day Parade -- London, England (one of the best New Year parties in the world)

Mary, Mother of God -- Catholic Christian (Feast of the Solemnity of Mary, Octave Day of Christmas)

Mummer's Parade -- Philadelphia, PA, US

National Bloody Mary Day -- um, didn't you get enough of that last night?!

National Tree Planting Day -- Tanzania

New Year's Day

New Year's Dishonor List Day -- Lake Superior State University announces the misused and overused words from the previous year which should be banished from the King's English

Polar Swim Day / Polar Bear Swim / Polar Bear Plunge -- various locations throughout Canada, Netherlands, and US

Restoration Day of the Independent Czech State -- Czech Republic

Sacrifices to the Wind Gods -- Ancient Greek Calendar (date approximate)

Scout's Day -- Burma (celebration of Boy Scouts and Girl Guides in Burma)

Shogatsu -- Japan (New Year, most important holiday of the year)

Shusho-e Matsuri -- Buddists in Japan go to temple on the first day of the year for a special ceremony

Snake Eyes Day -- no, i won't, it's too obvious

Sovereignty Day -- Iraq

St. Basil's Day / Basil the Great -- Eastern Orthodox (Patron of education, exorcisms, hospital administrators, Liturgists, monks, reformers, and of Russia and Cappadocia; bringer of gifts and inspector of livestock in Greece)

St. Clarus' Day  (Patron of tailors)

St. Zedislava Berka's Day  (Patron of difficult marriages, people ridiculed for piety)

Tewa Turtle Dance -- Tewa Native Americans (celebration of life and the first Creation; through the 4th)

"Thank G-d It's Monday" Day

Tournament of Roses Parade -- Pasadena, CA, US

Vienna New Year's Concert -- Vienna, Austria

Z Day -- for all the people whose names begin with Z and always have to wait to be last; sponsored by Tom Zager

Anniversary Today:

Establishment of Bryce Canyon National Monument, UT, US, 1923

Ellis Island opens, 1892

Birthdays Today:

James McAvoy, 1979

Verne "Mini-Me" Troyer, 1969

Michael Imperioli, 1966

Kathleen Casey, 1946

Don Novello, 1943

Helmut Jahn, 1940

Frank Langella, 1940

B. Kliban, 1935

J. D. Salinger, 1919

Hank Greenberg, 1911

Barry Goldwater, 1909

Xavier Cugat, 1900

J. Edgar Hoover, 1895

E.M. Forster, 1879

Betsy Ross, 1752(O.S.)

"Mad Anthony" Wayne, 1745(O.S.)

Paul Revere, 1735

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Profiles in Courage(publication date), 1956

"Modern Times"(Film), 1936

Traveler's Checks(first issued by the London Exchange Banking Company), 1772

Today in History:

The Julian Calendar takes effect for the first time, BC45

Origin of the Christian Era, 1

The last gladiator competition in Rome, 404

Muhammad sets out toward Mecca with his army, 630

Jews of Sicily are no longer required to attend conversionist services, 1430

Portuguese navigators become the first Europeans to see the Guanabara Bay, which they thought was the mouth of a river and first called Rio de Janeiro (River of January), 1502

Scotland begins its numbered year on January 1 instead of March 25, 1600

German astronomer Simon Marius first sees Jupiter's moons (he did not report them, though, Galileo did, on July 10 of the same year), 1610

Samuel Pepys makes his first diary entry, 1660

The first traveler's cheques go on sale in London, for use in 90 European cities, 1772

The Irish Parliament votes to join the Kingdom of Great Britain, forming the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1801

The dwarf planet Ceres is discovered by Giuseppe Piazzi, 1801

Emperor Gia Long orders all bronze wares of the Tay San Dynasty to be collected and melted into nine cannons for the Royal Citadel in Hue, Vietnam, 1803

Haiti gains independence from France (National Day), 1804

Import of slaves into the US is banned, 1808

The first homestead under the Homestead Act claimed, near Beatrice, Nebraska, 1863

Japan begins using the Gregorian Calendar, 1873

England's Queen Victoria proclaimed empress of India, 1877

Twenty-five nations adopt Sanford Fleming's proposal for Standard Time and Time Zones, 1885

The first Tournament of Roses is held, 1900

The British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia federate as the Commonwealth of Australia, 1901

Vancouver, BC starts driving on the right side of road, 1922

Turkey adopts the Gregorian calendar: December 18, 1926 (Julian), is immediately followed by January 1, 1927 (Gregorian), 1927

Emperor Hirohito of Japan announces he is not a god, 1946

The European Community is established, 1958

United States Navy SEALs established, 1962

The Internet's Domain Name System is created, 1985

The first British mobile phone call is made by Ernie Wise to Vodafone, 1985

A single market within the European Community is introduced, 1993

The North American Free Trade Agreement comes into effect 1994

The World Trade Organization goes into effect, 1995

The European Central Bank is established, 1998

The Euro currency is introduced in 11 countries, 1999

Euro banknotes and coins become legal tender in twelve of the European Union's member states, 2002

Taiwan officially joins the World Trade Organization, as Chinese Taipei, 2002

The Open Skies mutual surveillance treaty officially comes into force, 2002

Sydney, Australia swelters through its hottest New Years Day on record. The thermometer peaked at 45 °C (113 °F), sparking bushfires and power outages, 2006

Bulgaria and Romania officially join the European Union. Also, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Irish become official languages of the European Union, 2007

Malta and Cyprus officially adopt the Euro currency and become the fourteenth and fifteenth Eurozone countries, 2008

Estonia officially adopts the Euro currency and becomes the seventeenth eurozone country, 2011

Portuguese politician and diplomat Antonio Guterres becomes United Nations Secretary General, replacing South Korean Ban Ki-Moon, 2017 

Qatar withdraws from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) after 57 years of membership, 2019 

The African Continental Free Trade Area, signed by 54 countries, comes into effect, with full implementation expected to take years, 2021

A state funeral is held in Cape Town, South Africa, for Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 2022

Croatia adopts the euro and joins the Schengen Area, 2023