Quite a Good Week, a Ten Things of Thankful A to Z Post

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It's been quite a week, but i feel that way every time Thankful Day rolls around.

Last Saturday Ms. A texted to say Becca's big brother was in town and she wasn't singing.  They'd all planned to go to church and sit together so they wouldn't need me to come take her to church.

As much as i missed my worship buddy, i was grateful to sleep in a little.

It also gave me a chuckle for which i am thankful when Mr. J texted to ask why i wasn't at their house.  When i told him, he said, "I guess I need to talk to my wife more often..."

They are a wonderful couple and talk all of the time, but sometimes the plans get crossed.

I was thankful to enjoy seeing all the animals in the petting area after the service, watch the balloon artist and face painters, and watch the children hunting for eggs.

Monday was a very long day and i'm thankful i got started extra early.  Carl's went well, and i was able to get to Ms. D early.

I was thankful her daughter from San Antonio was there, we had a good chat as i cleaned.

Ms. JAI was on a tear about something which had dropped behind her dryer.  I pulled out all the stuff she stores next to it, pulled it out, and was thankful to find the stuff behind it (and clean the dust!).

Capping off the evening, my friend EK had texted me the previous Friday asking if i could teach the lesson at Monday night's meeting.  Yikes!  And thankfully, yes.  It all worked out, i was thankful to ride out to EK's place with a friend (it's a haul from here) and thankful the lesson went well, also thankful for the good food and good fellowship we shared.

Babysitting on Tuesday started very early, it's always a delight for which i am thankful.  My daughter-in-law was almost done with work when it was time for me to leave for my long awaited eye doctor consultation.

I'm thankful to have this new doctor.  He said my right eye is not healed and put me on eye drops to combat the inflammation.  I have an appointment in 3 weeks to have my eyes dilated so he can tell me for sure what the right eye still needs, and we can discuss removing the cataract in the left eye.

He also said i still have only a little astigmatism and my right eye is 20/30 without correction, i'm very thankful as it could be much worse.

Daughter-in-law harvested her first strawberry from her plant and we fed it to little Annie, and she loved it, another thankful.

Wednesday i had the fun of helping Ms. G plant tomatoes.  I'm thankful and i'd forgotten it's fun to play in the dirt and get plants in the ground.

Ms. G has a hypograt, she's glad the vacuum still works, even if it needs cleaning out again.

We had one of the easiest days ever at Ms. SE's house this week, and i'm thankful we caught Emmie dog before she could totally run away.

This past week our church had a very special service on Thursday and Ms. A was participating.  It's a very moving service, but not for the young and not for Becca, it would give her nightmares (it centers around the Crucifixion).  I was thankful to be able to take care of  her Wednesday evening for the rehearsal and Thursday for the service, leaving Ms. A and Mr. J free to do what they needed at church.

By Friday morning i was tired but game for our prayer group, which would start an hour late and not be at the church.  Ms GA and Mr. BA host at their home and serve breakfast, and after i was going to stay and do the cleaning.

When we were done with breakfast and prayer, Ms. GA told me to go home and take the day off!  I was very thankful, i haven't had a paid day off in years.

The cat shelter had plenty of volunteer help with cleaning cages and the big thankful is Jax got adopted!  (Some of you might remember the trash dumping suspect.)  He's very friendly but gets overstimulate d sometimes and his new person is very quiet and calm and just the right person to keep Jax on an even keel.

Please write up your own list and link up to Ten Things of Thankful, where Clark and his co-hosts always have a warm welcome waiting.   

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Click here to enter

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Today is Cat Lady Day!  If you are a Cat Lady, don't be afraid to say so.

Thanks to Barb Kowalik and The Cat Blogosphere for the event badge.         

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Today is:

Bendideia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (festival for Bendis; date approximate)

Dutch-American Friendship Day -- anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Netherlands and the US, America's oldest continuously peaceful diplomatic relations

Holy Saturday -- Christian (a/k/a Black Saturday, Holy Saturday, Easter Saturday, or Easter Eve)

Holy Saturday -- Orthodox Christian

Husband Appreciation Day

Independence Declaration Day -- Venezuela

John Parker Day -- many US States (anniversary of the Battle of Lexington and Concord, where Parker said “Stand your ground.  Don't fire unless fired upon; but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here.”)

"Just Pray No" Worldwide Weekend of Prayer and Fasting -- people around the world pray for healing for those who are addicted to drugs, through tomorrow   

King Mswati III Birthday -- Swaziland

Landing of the 33 Patriots Day -- Uruguay

Make a Quilt Day -- obviously begun by someone who has no idea how long the process really takes!  Not associated with National Quilting Day or Project Linus' Make a Blanket Day 

National Amaretto Day

National Auctioneers Day -- recognizing the contribution of auctioneers to American commerce    

National Cat Lady Day -- and don't say "Cat Lady" like it's a bad thing!

National Garlic Day

National Hanging Out Day -- Project Laundry List and other organizations promote bringing back the clothesline to save energy and the planet!

Oklahoma City Bombing Commemoration Day

Okoshi Daiko Festival -- Furukawa, Japan (today, hundreds of men in loincloths fight to touch a wooden frame supporting a huge taiko drum as it is carried through the streets, and tomorrow is an elegant parade with lion dancers and traditional music)

Primrose Day -- UK (anniversary of the death of Disraeli)

St. AElfheah's Day (Patron of kidnap victims; Greenwich and Solihull, England)

St. Expeditus of Melintine's Day (Patron of merchants, navigators; for expeditious and prompt solutions; against procrastination)

St. Leo IX's Day

Teach Your Daughter to Volunteer Day -- encouraging awareness of volunteerism, but the original sponsor of the day is no longer online

Anniversaries Today:

Grace Kelly marries Ranier III of Monaco, 1956

Cheyney University is founded as The Institute for Colored Youth, 1837

Marie Antoinette marries Louis XVI by Proxy Marriage, 1770

Birthdays Today:

Maria Sharapova, 1987

Hayden Christensen, 1981

Kate Hudson, 1979

James Franco, 1978

Luis Miguel Basteri, 1970

Ashley Judd, 1968

Al Unser, Jr., 1962

Tony Plana, 1954

Paloma Picasso, 1949

Tim Curry, 1946

Alan Price, 1942

Elinor Donahue, 1937

Dudley Moore, 1935

Jayne Mansfield, 1933

Dick Sargent, 1930

Hugh O'Brian, 1925

Eliot Ness, 1903

Lucretia Rudolph-Garfield, 1832

David Ricardo, 1772

Roger Sherman, 1721

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope"(Musical revue), 1972

"A Tree Grows in Brooklyn"(Musical), 1951

"Carousel"(Musical), 1945

"Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder/Mother Courage and Her Children"(Play), 1941

"National Barn Dance"(Radio), 1924

"The Bing Boys are Here"(Musical revue), 1919

"Revizor/The Government Inspector"(Comedy), 1836

"Iphigenia in Aulis,"(Opera), 1774

Today in History:

Sir Francis Drake sails to Cadiz and sinks the Spanish Fleet, 1587

Because he has no male heirs, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI issues the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713, assuring Habsburg lands and the Austrian throne would go to his daughter, Maria Theresa, 1713

Captain James Cook sights Australia, 1770

John Adams secures Dutch recognition of the United States, and his home in The Hague becomes the first American Embassy, 1782

Venezuela achieves home rule, 1810

The Treaty of London establishes Belgium as a kingdom and Luxembourg as a Grand Duchy, 1839

Charles Duryea claims to have taken the first automobile built in the US for a spin, 1892

The first Boston Marathon is won by John McDermott of NY in 2:55:10, 1897

Leslie Irvin of the United States makes the first successful voluntary free-fall parachute  jump, 1919

The 125th and final fascicle of the Oxford English Dictionary is published, 1928

Burma (now Myanmar) joins the United Nations, 1948

The Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba ends in success for the defenders, 1961

Sierra Leone becomes a republic, 1971

India's first satellite, Aryabhata, is launched, 1975

The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA, is bombed, killing 168, 1995

The German Bundestag returns to Berlin, the first German parliamentary body to meet there since the Reichstag was dissolved in 1945, 1999

His Eminence Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is elected the 265th Pope of the Catholic Church, taking the name Benedict XVI, 2005

Fidel Castro resigns from the Communist Party of Cuba's central committee after 45 years, 2011

A shipwreck that may have drowned up to 900 North African migrants traveling to Europe has prompted the European Union to meet in order to develop a plan to fund and organize rescues while reducing human trafficking incidents, 2015

US Senator Tammy Duckworth, the first US Senator to give birth while holding that office, is the first parent to bring a baby into the US Senate a day after the Senate votes to allow babies on the chamber's floor, 2018 

King Mswati III changes the name of Swaziland to eSwatini, or “land of the Swati”, 2018

New Zealand and Australia open a travel bubble between the two countries after more than a year of border closures, 2021

NASA successfully flies its drone helicopter Ingenuity on Mars, making it the first powered aircraft to fly on another world, 2021

The first of seven stages of the world's largest-ever election begins in India, which by June 1 will cover 968 million eligible voters, 2024