Flowers, Chocolates, and Appointments Kept, a Ten Things of Thankful Post

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After spending two evenings away from home this week besides my usual Friday evening volunteer job, I must say I am several days behind on blog reading and I'm thankful when my friends are patient as I try to catch up.

The fun never stops, though, and that means a crowded week.

Sunday morning was fluffy.  What does that mean?  It's my silly way of saying Sunday morning was a "clusterfluff," and if you don't know what that means, ask anyone who was in the US military.  The first alarm didn't go off, i thought the second one was the first one and was late for everything.  I'm thankful, though, it all worked anyway, Becca was only just coming down the stairs when i arrived, even though i hadn't reloaded my puppy treats, i had enough to give Mr. Cal, and no matter what, the morning worship service was beautiful. 

Sunday was also Mother's Day.  Sweetie and i had made plans, and we're thankful they worked out quite beautifully.  First, we had a dozen roses and a box of chocolate covered strawberries for Ms. JAI.  She'd told me to call her when i was on the way, and i did, her landline and her mobile, but she wasn't answering.  I knew what was happening, she was sitting in the dark by herself not feeling well and sad because none of her family had contacted her.

The moment church was over, Sweetie and i put our plans into action.  I was thankful we started by going to Ms. JAI's place and i was right about what she was doing.  She was shocked and thankful for the roses and strawberries and told me though she hadn't felt well enough to drive herself to church that morning, one of the ushers was going to pick her up for the evening service.

By the way, none of her five living children or 21 grands called, sent a gift, or acknowledged her on Mother's Day in any way.  I am so thankful the Good Lord put it on my heart, she's not perfect but she's their mom and it breaks my heart to see her neglected.

From there we drove to NOLA to see Grandma (my mom, my children's grandmother).  I'd told her when i was cleaning the day before she'd have some gifts delivered, but i didn't tell her i was delivering them myself.  When i knocked on her door and said, Special Delivery, and we walked in with a cookie bouquet and more of the chocolate covered strawberries i'd purchased, she was thrilled.  I'm so thankful we made the effort to get down there, she needed it.  I figured Grandpa would fuss as he hates to have me on the road, but he didn't, he thanked me.

I'm also thankful every one of my children called or texted her, and one had visited a few days before, two went two days after when they got into town.

The third triumph of the day was bringing an orchid to Ms. D, a few doors up the street.  Her children called, she and her sisters and nieces and nephews had talked, she'd been sent presents, but she was so glad to have company for a few minutes and she's thankful to have another orchid, hoping to have better luck with it than the last.

Monday evening was supposed to see me go to a meeting in another small town not far from here and then come back to stay at #2 Son and His Bride's apartment to take care of Jock while they spent a night out of town.  Then the forecast called for storms, and i realized i'd be lucky to get to the apartment before all the weather hit.

I was hurrying to pack a few things in the car when Mr. M from next door called over to me.

"You know how to install doorknobs, you did one for me a while back, and now I'm having trouble with the one on the back door, can you come look at it?"

Hurried as i was, i'm thankful i took the time to go over there as i was able to quickly get the knob put together so they wouldn't have a hole in the door with a storm coming.

His grandchildren talked to me the whole time, and when i left, they gave me hugs.  I was thankful for that, too.

I arrived to care for Jock in plenty of time to get in a good walk before the storms came through.  I'm thankful we didn't lose electricity, thankful the worst of it didn't last too long, thankful there's a ledge to stand under when the dog needs to go out and it's still drizzling, and though i was sad to miss the meeting, very thankful i wasn't on the road in the weather as there were small tornadoes and some straight line winds in the area i would have been driving through right on my way back.

Once i'd walked Jock in the morning, i was able to pack up and go home as his parents were going to be there in a couple of hours.  I was thankful to be able to go home and rest.

Ms. G was actually home for a few hours on Wednesday, so we're both thankful we knocked a few things off her to do list.

Wednesday evening there was a luau for ladies in our church "over a certain age," (or as i like to call it, old enough to know better) and it was a lot of fun.  I met new members and got to hear our pastor's wife talk about her new volunteer job.

It's always an adventure to go to Ms. SE's house and this week was no exception.  It seems they were planning for company, so she asked me to do a couple of extra things, and i'm thankful one of them worked.  There's a stain in the hallway bathroom tub i'd tried to Ring King before and it didn't help, so i fought it with Barkeeper's Friend and a rough scrubber.  It didn't go away, but it certainly looks much better and i'm thankful.

Mr. DE was home and working on projects for the guests, including the non-working ceiling fan.  I'm thankful something i said got him calling electrician friends and he finally figured out what part he needed to order.

I'm thankful, also, he worked on the leaky toilet and it doesn't leak any longer.  No more having to wash the bathroom rug over and over!

The big concern of the week was the generator.  The red light, the one you don't want, had come on and it said low battery.  We were thankful a call to a local place got us scheduled for a Friday visit.

Thursday night there were more storms, and once again we held our breath but our electricity did not go out but for a few seconds.  The service guy came as i was finishing up at Ms. GA's Friday and i was able to get home while he was still there.  He replaced the battery, tested it, showed me the oil and filter are okay, and we have a working generator again, along with a service contract and because this generator hooks to our home wifi, the company can monitor the generator for us and will know when it needs anything!

Friday was also #2 Son and His Bride's wedding anniversary, i was thankful to have a small gift for them.

It's kitten season and the shelter is blooming with them, and we're thankful most are getting adopted almost as soon as they come in.

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:

 Apollon Day -- Ancient Roman Calendar (god of music, poetry, sunlight)

Armed Forces Day -- US (honoring those currently serving in the US military)

Astronomy Day 2025 / Spring Astronomy Day -- Saturday at or before the first quarter moon between mid-April and mid-May 

     sponsored by The Astronomical League; find out what your local astronomy society is doing today, and go enjoy

Battle of Las Piedras Day -- Uruguay

Flag and University Day -- Haiti

HIV Vaccine Awareness Day/World AIDS Vaccine Day    

I Love Reese's Day -- as voted in by lovers of the candy a few years ago   

International Museum Day -- International Council of Museums (ICOM)   

National Cheese Souffle Day

National Learn To Swim Day -- US (with summer just around the corner, remember that drowning is the second-leading cause of unintentional injury-related death for children ages one to 14, so please, learn to swim and teach your kids!) 

National Pike Festival -- Fayette County, Pennsylvania, US (through the 20th)

No Dirty Dishes Day -- spread around the internet by a mom who needed the break, possibly; go ahead, break out the paper plates just on this day

Restoration of Somaliland Sovereignty Day -- Somaliland Region, Somalia

Revival, Unity, and Poetry of Magtymguly Day -- Turkmenistan

St. Eric's Day (Patron of Sweden)

St. Theodotus' Day (Patron of hotel keepers and innkeepers)

Visit Your Relatives Day -- if they are great, go have fun; if awful, go remind yourself why you moved so far away!

World Goodwill Day -- commemorates the opening meeting of 26 nations in the First Hague Peace Conference, 1899

Anniversaries Today:

Henry II of England marries Eleanor of Aquitaine, 1152

Birthdays Today:

Tina Fey, 1970

Jari Kurri, 1960

Chow Yun-Fat, 1955

Rick Wakeman, 1954

George Strait, 1952

James Stephens, 1951

Tom Udall, 1948

Reggie Jackson, 1946

Brooks Robinson, 1937

Dwayne Hickman, 1934

Robert Morse, 1931

Pernell Roberts, 1930

Pope John Paul II, 1920

Margot Fonteyn, 1919

Perry Como, 1912

Big Joe Turner, 1911

Meredith Willson, 1902

Frank Capra, 1897

Wilhelm Steinitz, 1836

Omar Khayyam, 1048

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Le roi malgré lui / King in Spite of Himself"(Opera), 1887

Today in History:

The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars in the Battle of Antioch, 1268

Vasco da Gama reaches the port of Calicut, India, 1498

Playwright Thomas Kyd's accusations of heresy (under torture) lead to an arrest warrant for Christopher Marlowe, 1593

John Winthrop takes the oath of office and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts, 1631

Rhode Island passes North America's first anti-slavery law, 1652

Fire destroys a large part of Montreal, Quebec, 1763

The first United Empire Loyalists reach Parrtown, Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada after leaving the United States, 1783

Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French by the French Senate, 1804

The destruction of Saturdays forever after:  Edwin Budding of England signs an agreement for manufacture of his invention, lawn mower, 1830

The Disruption in Edinburgh of the Free Church of Scotland from the Church of Scotland, 1843

The United States Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that separate but equal is constitutional, 1896

A mass panic on Khodynka Field in Moscow during the festivities of the coronation  of Russian Tsar Nicholas II results in the deaths of 1,389 people, 1896

Bram Stoker's Dracula is published, 1897

The Earth  passes through the tail of Comet Halley, 1910

Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier, 1953

Under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon, 1974

Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, United States, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage, 1980

In France, a modified TGV train achieves a new rail world speed record of 515.3km/h (357.2 mph), 1990

Photos from the Hubble Space Telescope confirm the existence of two additional moons, Nix and Hydra, around Pluto, 2005

A landmark bill passes in Nepal curbing the power of the monarchy and making it a secular country, 2009

Italian officials announce that many of the country's public assets will be sold in an effort to reduce the country's debt; plans to sell part of the nation's air traffic control and postal services have already been approved, 2014

WHO member states agree to set up an inquiry into the global response to the pandemic, including looking at the WHO itself, 2020

Harrison Ford is presented with an honorary Palme d'Or lifetime achievement award at the Cannes Film Festival, 2023