Clue, Laundry and Parties, a Random and Happy Tuesday Post

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It's time once again for a random and happy Tuesday, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked and Sandee at Comedy Plus.  

Christmas week, i didn't go to Carl's on Monday.  After all, we were all otherwise occupied with Christmas.

Instead, i went on Tuesday.  Then i went back yesterday.

It looked about like that both times.

The only difference is Carl's brother, the NASA rocket scientist, worked on the lights.  (Mr. L, the chemist, can't do the handy husband stuff any longer because of his bad neck.  They get the younger son to do it.)

The place actually has working lights again, until they burn out, that is.  It's way past time for the fixtures to go, but that will take an electrician, and that's pricey, and as long as these work at least some of the time, well, frugality means you don't replace them quite yet.

The frugality doesn't extend to New Year's Eve parties.  Yesterday, i walked in to this in the laundry room.

It's just about everything that regularly belongs in the kitchen blocking the sink, dryer and washer.  Mr. D and Ms. S across the street told me all about the party when i was over there cleaning after Carl's.  It seems Mr. L and Ms. V threw quite the shindig, and she set out a huge spread.  There's a group of about a dozen neighbors, all in the same age range, all friends for over 30 years because they've been neighbors that long, and they look out for one another.

It warms my heart to hear about a neighborhood working like a neighborhood should.

I'll probably end up doing the last of the clean-up from the party when i go back to do the main house on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Carl had to tell me about the Clue marathon.  It seems his family passed the time over holidays by playing board games and his mom is a whiz.  He came close, but couldn't quite edge her out.

Carl specifically asked me not to throw out his artwork.  "I worked a long time on those."  

I reassured him i don't throw away stuff like that, just old receipts and trash and he seemed happy with that.  He went to take his nap with a lighter heart, although he wasn't in a rush.  The only time he seems to be in a rush is when he sees a bug, especially a spider.

Getting his room done was the usual, with the fun of sorting even more clothes now.  He still doesn't have a winter jacket, so he wears layers. And layers.  And layers.  And they all have to be washed.

I found one item hanging up in the closet with a glove in the pocket.  The question then becomes, did he put this away dirty with the glove in the pocket, or did he wash it and hang it up, and the glove was in the pocket through the whole wash and dry cycle?

I decided the dryer ball in the other pocket was the clue he had, indeed, washed and dried the garment.  It got rehung, and the glove went to its proper home, as did the dryer ball.

Attrition on said dryer balls continues.  From a high of 7, we are down to 5 (and sometimes 4 if one is AWOL in a pocket somewhere).  I keep waiting for him to buy another two pack.

Carl didn't have work yesterday, but amazingly, he only came in his room once.  It seems when he's distracted by the Rose Parade, he doesn't have as much interest in coming into his room for things.  I wonder if i can record it for next time.

How about some funnies.

I pray you all have a blessed and beautiful 2024!

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Today is:

Advent of Inanna -- Ancient Sumerian Calendar (date approximate; equivalent to Ishtar, Assur, Astarte, Isis, and others; a female warrior and fertility goddess)

Berchtoldstag -- Alsace; Liechtenstein; Switzerland (a celebration of the goddess Perchta, or Bertha, guardian of animals and member of the Wild Hunt) related observance

     St. Berchtolds' Day -- Liechtenstein Bank Holiday; Switzerland Regional Holiday (because of the close association of his name with Perchta,  Duke Berchtold V of Zähringen's founding of Bern, Switzerland, is commemorated today; while not an official saint of any church, his day has become a big festival for children)

Blacks and Whites Carnival -- Colombia (through the 7th; manic and messy tradition, includes people painting themselves black one day, white the next, with a Grand Parade at some point during the week)

Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy Day -- The Andrews Sisters recorded the song this day in 1941 (yes, before the US entered the war; it was for the movie "Buck Private" with Abbot and Costello)

Carnival Day/Last Lap -- Saint Kitts and Nevis

Dainichi-do Bugaku -- Kazuno, Japan (11 traditional bugaku dances at the shrine; dates back as far as 718)

Festival of Sleep Day -- begins this evening; celebrate by sleeping in tomorrow because it is assumed we could all use some extra z's after the holidays

Genshi-sai (First Beginning Ceremony) -- Imperial Palace and various shrines, Japan (a dance and musical art performed to round out the New Year's celebration)

Happy Mew Year for Cats Day -- because felines must have a day to celebrate the New Year, and they cannot share; sponsored on behalf of felines everywhere by Wellcat Holidays

Jour des Aieux -- Haiti (Founder's Day, sometimes translated Ancestry Day)

Kaapse Klopse -- Cape Town, South Africa (Minstrel Carnival; through January and most of February, but the main parade is today)

Kakizome -- Japan ("first writing", a day to do the first calligraphy written at the beginning of the New Year; often a resolution or poetry asking for a good year)

National Cream Puff Day

National Motivation and Inspiration Day -- US

National Science Fiction Day -- Asimov's birth anniversary

Ninth Day of Christmas

Nyilo -- Bhutan (Winter Solstice)

Positive Postcard Day -- some people now say you should fight the post-holiday let-down by sending someone an uplifting postcard; the original project said to have positive postcards to yourself, with instructions here

Run It Up the Flagpole and See if Anyone Salutes It Day -- try something new today, in the spirit of the new year

Second Day of New Year -- also a holiday in many countries

"Someday We'll Laugh About This" Week begins -- to remind us to keep our perspective; sponsored by The Humor Project

St. Adelard's Day (Patron of gardeners; against fever, typhoid)

St. Basil's Day/Basil the Great -- Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches (yes, the Eastern Churches celebrated him yesterday; Patron of hospital administrators, reformers; Cappadocia; Russia)

St. Macarius' Day (Patron of confectioners, cooks, pastry chefs)

Takai Commision Holiday -- Niue

Victory Day -- Cuba

Anniversaries Today:

Georgia becomes the 4th US State, 1788

Birthdays Today:

Kate Bosworth, 1983

Taye Diggs, 1972

Christy Turlington, 1969

Cuba Gooding, Jr. 1968

Tia Carrere, 1967

Gabrielle Carteris, 1961

Alan Beckwith, 1952

Wendy Phillips, 1952

Christopher Durang, 1949

Dennis Hastert, 1942

Jim Bakker, 1939

Roger Miller, 1936

Isaac Asimov, 1920

Sally Rand, 1904

Barry Goldwater, 1902

Martha Carey Thomas, 1857

James Wolfe, 1727

Today in History:

The Alamanni cross the frozen Rhine River in large numbers, invading the Roman Empire, 366

Emperor Joseph II orders Jews of Galicia Austria to adopt family names, 1235

Spain recaptures Granada from the Moors (Granada Day), 1492

The first American revolutionary flag is displayed, 1776

The British Institution of Civil Engineers is founded, 1881

"The Liberator", and abolitionist newspaper, begins publishing in Boston, 1831

The British reestablish rule in the Falklands, 1833

The first US wire suspension bridge for general traffic opens in Pennsylvania, 1842

Because of anti-monopoly laws, Standard Oil is organized as a trust, 1882

Alice Sanger becomes the first female White House staffer, 1890

A record 19'2" alligator is shot in Louisiana by E. A. McIlhenny, 1890

Pres. T Roosevelt shuts down post office in Indianola Miss, for refusing to accept its appointed postmistress because she was black, 1903

The American anarcho-syndicalist union known as the Industrial Workers of the World forms, 1905

The Canadian branch of the Royal Mint opens in Ottawa, 1908

Lithuania gains independence, 1919

The US & Canada agree to preserve Niagara Falls, 1929

Luna 1, the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun, is launched by the U.S.S.R., 1959

Stardust successfully flies past Comet Wild 2, collecting samples that are returned to Earth, 2004

Mauritius bans the use of plastic bags, 2013

The WHO reveals it will classify gaming addiction as a mental health condition in its next Classification of Diseases, 2018

After India passes a law requiring women be allowed access to all shrines equally with men, two women enter Sabarimala shrine in Kerala State, sparking protests, 2019

Buffalo Bills player Damar Hamlin collapses in cardiac arrest and is revived by CPR on the field in televised NFL game against the Bengals in Cincinnati, 2023