Thankful Hits Home, a Ten Things of Thankful Post

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The Thankful Things really hit home during Thanksgiving week this year.

Now, where to start?

We'd arranged for #1 Son to use GusGus Die Fledermaus while his car was in the shop (yes, we name our cars, please don't judge), and he got the good news on Friday his car was ready.

He used a different mechanic from our usual shop, as this was specialty work and his best friend in the world works at another shop and even brought him the keys once it was done and helped him go get it after work.

We're thankful it worked well for a couple of days, better than since he'd bought it (used), and when he was on the phone with his friend when the check engine light popped on, we're very thankful the mechanic friend pitched a huge fit and told #1 Son to bring it in Monday, they were going to make it right, there's no way they aren't going to stand behind their work.

Meanwhile, we're also thankful while all of our cars are old and have seen better days, we're able to share them and all get where we need to be somehow, and will continue to do so until #1 Son's car gets fully and finally repaired.

In other car news, we took Daughter-in-Law's car to NOLA for Thanksgiving, and we're thankful when the low tire light came on it still got us to a gas station with an air pump.  All the tires were a little low, but one especially, and we're thankful airing it up it held and still seems to be holding.

Now, on to #2 Son.  He, Daughter-in-Law and our Little Annie were thankful for a safe trip up to their property in Arkansas and once there, when it turned out Annie had a fever, thankful for the nearest city (about 45 minutes away) with a hospital and an emergency room.

We're thankful when the check engine light came on in #2 Son's car, the one mechanic in the small town nearest where the property is (25 minute drive away) was able to get to it on Wednesday, tell him what the code was, get the part, and help #2 Son install it.

We're thankful he and the mechanic were also able to patch the two flat tires they ended up getting while there.  I'm thankful #2 Son now has a tire patch kit as well, and knows how to do it himself.

I'm thankful Ms. D left the house on Monday after i got there to clean as she had an appointment and i was able to get in and do stuff she often tells me, "Ah, let's not do that this time."  I'm very thankful i was able to dig a huge amount of burnt toast and crumbs out of her toaster, it was a fire hazard!

Because our usual Thursday clients would be preempted by a celebration on that day, i'm thankful we got to both Ms. SE and Ms. GA on Tuesday, and once again thankful we can still pull off two big cleanings in one day.

We're also thankful Ms. SE and Mr. DE are still "riding herd" on their boys and making them tidy and clean their rooms and pick up after themselves, it makes the work go much faster when we can just clean and don't have to dig the room out first.

I'm also thankful Ms. GA explained to Mr. BA he needs to let us get into his office to clean first, not wait until we've done the whole house and are ready to leave, then say, "I'm leaving, you can get in to do my office now!"

Ms. G always has something up her sleeve and this week was no different.  I'm thankful we were able to try to trap an escaped cat.  We're sad it has not worked so far, and disappointed someone removed the trap and put it elsewhere, but i'm thankful the cat rescue community in this area is very responsive and will continue to put up flyers and follow leads and we'll keep looking.

My big thankful of the week is Grandma's response to our non-traditional Thanksgiving.  Because the mouse chewed the dishwasher hose, filled the kitchen with water, and made a whole kitchen rebuild necessary, right now there are no appliances hooked up (although they are there), no countertops (although the rebuilt cabinets have been installed), and no sink, so cooking was just not possible.

Grandma really wanted her full Thanksgiving dinner, but we're all thankful we got take-out from a Chinese restaurant which was open, thankful we were together, thankful Bigger Girl called Grandma on the phone and spoke to all of us, and thankful we should have a functioning kitchen by Christmas when Grandma has been promised "all the things" which go into a proper feast, at least in her mind.

Friday morning i was thankful prayer group got together for breakfast and i arrived home just in time to hand of GusGus Die Fledermaus to #1 Son so he could get to work on time.

As for the cat shelter, it was closed Thursday and Friday, but Ms. M and i showed up as usual Friday evening and along with the one paid worker assigned for the evening, we got every cat fed and watered and the worker got all the meds distributed and all cats in isolation fed and watered, we hauled all the garbage out, and everything was secured for the night.

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:

Banquet for Monkeys / Monkey Buffet Festival -- Khmer Ruins of Lop Buri, Thailand (about 3,000 monkeys are served lunch while humans get to watch in what some describe as a riot but without the police; through tomorrow) 

Dita e Clirimit -- Albania (Liberation Day)

Electronic Greetings Day -- sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Festival of Saturnia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (for the Sons of Saturn; Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto)

Guadalajara International Book Fair -- Guadalajara, Mexico (through Dec. 7)

International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People -- UN

National Chocolates Day -- yes, another one

National Lemon Creme Pie Day

National Unity Day -- Vanuatu

Small Business Saturday -- encouraging everyone to patronize local businesses for your holiday shopping

St. Andrew's Eve -- in many traditions, a night to foretell the future, especially whom you will marry

St. Saturnius of Toulouse's Day (Patron of Toulouse, France)

Square Dance Day -- internet generated, and fun to do, but here's some information about square dancing   

William Tubman's Birthday -- Liberia (it's longest serving President)

Anniversaries Today:

Erwin Rommel marries Lucie "Lu" Mollin, 1916

Birthdays Today:

Jon Knight, 1968

Don Cheadle, 1964

Andrew McCarthy, 1962

Kim Delaney, 1961

Cathy Moriarty, 1960

Jeff Fahey, 1956

Howie Mandel, 1955

Joel Coen, 1954

Garry Shandling, 1949

Petra Kelly, 1947

Chuck Mangione, 1940

Peter Bergman, 1939

John Mayall, 1933

Jacques Rene Chirac, 1932

Diane Ladd, 1932

Vin Scully, 1927

Madeline L'Engle, 1918

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., 1908

C.S. Lewis, 1898

Busby Berkeley, 1895

Nellie Tayloe Ross, 1876

Louisa May Alcott, 1832

Wendell Phillips, 1811

Christian Doppler, 1803

Charles Thomson, 1729

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Tatort"(TV), 1970

"I Want to Hold Your Hand"(Beatles single release), 1963

"Bells Are Ringing"(Musical), 1956

"Kukla, Fran, and Ollie"(TV), 1948

"Gay Divorce"(Musical), 1932

Today in History:

Jews of Augsburg, Germany, are massacred, 1349 (Sometimes, it seems, the more things change...)

King Philip II devalues Spanish currency, 1596 (See above...)

Sir James Jay invents invisible ink, 1775

San Jose, California, is founded as el Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe, 1777

Dessalines & Christophe declare St Domingue (Haiti) independent, 1803

First Italian opera in US, "Barber of Seville" premieres (NYC), 1825

Thomas Edison demonstrates hand-cranked phonograph, 1877

The first motorcycle race ever is held in Surrey, England; the distance was one mile and the winner was Charles Jarrot in a time of 2 minutes, 8 seconds, 1897

The first US patent for inventing the traffic lights system is issued to Ernest Sirrine. 1910

Fire destroys most of the buildings on Santa Catalina Island, California, 1915

Howard Carter opens the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun to the public, 1922

Richard Byrd becomes the first person to fly over the South Pole, 1929

The first surgery (on a human) to correct blue baby syndrome is performed by Alfred Blalock and Vivien Thomas, 1944

The United Nations General Assembly votes to partition Palestine, 1947

Mercury-Atlas 5 Mission – Enos, a chimpanzee, is launched into space, orbits earth twice, and is successfully recovered after splashdown, 1961

Canadian Space Agency launches the satellite Alouette 2, 1965

Nolan Bushnell (co-founder of Atari) releases Pong (the first commercially successful video game) in Andy Capp’s Tavern in Sunnyvale, California, 1972

The United Nations General Assembly passes a resolution stating that Soviet Union forces should withdraw from Afghanistan, 1983

The Czechoslovakian Parliament votes to end Communist rule, 1989

The United Nations Security Council passes two resolutions to restore international peace and security if Iraq did not withdraw its forces from Kuwait and free all foreign hostages by the following January 15, 1990

A 7.4 magnitude earthquake occurs off the northern coast of Martinique, 2007

Pablo Picasso's electrician reveals 271 previously unknown works he claims were gifts from the artist, 2010

NASA announces its space probe MESSENGER has almost certainly found water ice buried beneath the surface of the north pole of Mercury, 2012

Tens of thousands Indian farmers protest the agrarian crisis at parliament in Delhi, 2018

Singapore's parliament repeals the British-era law in Section 377A, decriminalizing gay sex, while introducing amendments to protect the current definition of marriage, 2022

Footage of the Vangunu rat, a rare giant rat about half a meter (1.5 feet) long, is captured for the first time on the island of Vangunu, Solomon Islands, 2023