Days and Nights Are Staying Busy, a Ten Things of Thankful Post for the A to Z Challenge

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Both the days and nights (well, evenings at least) have been full this week, and i am thankful.

We've also had rain, in fits and starts and spurts and even one short deluge, all of it needed and the plants/lawns are very thankful.

The week started out just a bit cooler because of the rain, and i'm always thankful for any day i don't have to turn on an A/C unit.

Palm Sunday morning turned out ideal in every way, sunny, breezy and delightful.  We had our walk along the boulevard before and then after the Sunday service, a feast together as a church.  Since i don't each crawfish and Becca does, but she cannot peel them, i peeled and she ate and a good time was had by all.

The evening was spent with our little Annie, and this week we did get to visit Ms. D, who has been on medicine and is doing much better.  We're all thankful she's getting well.

Monday was back to the usual busy and again, even though we had a spurt of rain in the morning, by the time i got to Ms. D's place it was lovely and she had me work outdoors, cleaning the laundry room, vacuuming all the winter door mats and storing them in said laundry room, and sweeping the carport.  I was thankful it was cool and shady and she still let me come in to clean her toaster and a few other things.  She's awful about leaving her toaster full of crumbs and i'm concerned about fire hazards so i'm very thankful she lets me clean it every time i work for her.

Most days i am a homebody once i get home from work, spending my evenings meandering from one thing to the next in my own nest.  This week was different, i was thankful our bank has the interactive teller machines open until 7pm, so after work i was able to wait for traffic to ease then go to the bank to deposit Bigger Girl's birthday check from Grandpa.

Our little Annie and i are thankful Tuesday's spot of rain waited until during her two hour nap (another thankful, too little napping leaves her cranky and she's trying to nap less).  We were also thankful for all the wet spots where she was able to sit during our walk and make herself a delightful little mess, because what's childhood if you can't make yourself a mess?

Ms. G's friend and client Sean ended up in the hospital ER Tuesday evening and i'm thankful she was there to take him and be with him.  I'm also thankful she called me and asked me to run over to her house to let Mr. Gray, the cat, out.  Mr. Gray is a good boy, usually, but he is still semi-feral and will spray if left in the house too long.  Also, April will finally get tired of having him in there and pick a fight, not something we want.  I was very thankful when i opened the door to see him sleeping on the den floor, and all i had to do was call him and shake the kibble cup kept near the front door to get him to run out, and yes, i gave him some of the kibble, that's why he's willing to come when we do it.

Wednesday morning the shift at the shelter went well and Ms. G was back up at the hospital with Sean.  I'm thankful she was there to help him make sense of the diagnosis (gallstones, one blocking a bile duct badly) and thankful to finally be able to do all the chores at her house without interruption.  It was the first time vacuuming everything in a long time, and the layer of cat fur on everything is thankfully gone so the cats can start fresh laying down a new one.

Our church does a Maundy Thursday service, and Mr. J had to work both the night of the choir rehearsal and the service, and Ms. A is in the choir.  Becca is too sensitive to be taken to the event, which is very somber, so she and i were thankful to spend Wednesday evening together for the rehearsal night, taking Mr. Cal for a walk (he was so thankful he did his business 4 times!), having supper, and reading and then getting her to bed.

Thursday was going to be jam packed, so we got an early start, i was thankful Sweetie and i got to the MallMart early and got everything we needed, including rEcess supplies, and got to Ms. SE's early.

Mr. DE and his father were there, we were thankful to be able to "dance" around each other as we cleaned and they got ready to leave.  Thankfully, we were done early enough to get to Ms. GA's by 1pm, Mr. BA cooperated and let us in his office early, and i had an hour at home before having to go back to sit with Becca for the Maundy Thursday service time.

Just as we started to take our walk, though, the rain came back.  Mr. Cal was sorely disappointed, but Becca and i fixed and had supper, then the rain was stopped but thankfully it was still daylight.  We tried again and had a delightful walk (for which Mr. Cal was so thankful he did his business five times!).  

Mr. Cal was extra thankful he got a treat for our first walk, which was cut short, and then again for our second, successful walk.

#2 Son, Daughter-in-Law and our little Annie left for their whirlwind trip to Alaska for her Grandfather's memorial service and we are thankful they've had a safe journey.

Friday morning i was very thankful to go to prayer group and run errands in Daughter-in-Law's car, which was left for us to use, as with no A/C in my GusGus, it's not easy to drive in rain when you need A/C to defog the windows.

Friday evening was rEcess.  We're always thankful for rEcess, build your own fajitas night, plenty of time in the gym and art room, no feeding tube mishaps, the two littlest babies had plenty of offers for snugglers and a good time was had by all.

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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Today is:

Ballroom Dance Day -- dance with your sweetheart today in honor of the birth anniversary of Arthur Murray

Bonza Bottler Day™

Children's Day -- Taiwan

Every Day is Tag Day™ -- make sure your pet has an up-to-date tag or microchip, just in case! 

Homogenized Milk Day -- a machine to homogenize milk was patented this day in 1892 by Auguste Gaulin

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

Hug a Newsman/Newswoman Day -- an internet holiday, and be careful, no more fiascos like the gropings in 2009, please, just a nice hug

Independence Day -- Senegal(1960)

International Carrot Day -- really!www.carrotday.com

International Day for Mine Awareness & Assistance in Mine Action -- UN

International Pillow Fight Day -- yes, really (organizers used to have huge fights set in large cities, since Covid ended that, have a fight at your own house and join the fun!)

Lazarus Saturday -- Orthodox Christian

     Lazarovden -- Bulgaria (along with celebrating the raising of Lazarus, there are fertility rituals, especially involving young maidens, and honoring the goddesses of spring and love)

Matsuyama Haru Matsuri -- Matsuyama, Ehime Prefecture, Japan (Spring celebrations incorporating the Matsuyama Castle festival and the Dogo Hot Springs festival)

Megalesia, a/k/a Festival of Magna Mater -- Ancient Roman Calendar (great mother festival for Cybele; through the 9th)

National Cordon Bleu Day

National Reading a Roadmap Day -- another internet holiday that some sites call "Learn to Read A Roadmap Day," but a good one to observe; you need to know how to read one when your GPS or phone battery dies, after all

National School Librarian Appreciation Day

Ose Matsuri -- Ose Shrine, ShizouKa Prefecture, Japan (men dressed in women's clothes dance a lively jig on board a boat afloat in the harbour which is festooned with flags and streamers while taiko groups play drums on shore in this festival thought to date back to a wife wanting to protect her fisherman-husband by giving him a kimono)

Peace Day -- Angola

St. Benedict the African's Day (Patron of African missions; African-Americans; Palermo, Sicily, Italy)

St. Isidore of Seville's Day (Patron of computer technicians, computer users, computers, the Internet, schoolchildren, students)

Swedish-American Friendship Day

Tangible Karma™ Day -- set aside an hour today to become purposefully aware of the needs of someone around you, and to fulfill that need; because giving feels as good as receiving 

Tell a Lie Day -- an internet generated holiday; the only day it is acceptable! make sure, after today, to clear it up, trust me

Victims of Violence Day -- anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Vitamin C Day -- the vitamin was isolated on this day in 1932 by C.C. King at the University of Pittsburgh

World Rat Day -- pet rat lovers everywhere, unite and introduce your friends to your pet rats

ZAB Death Anniversary -- Pakistan

Anniversary Today:

Bill Gates and Paul Allen found Microsoft Corporation, 1975

Birthdays Today:

David Blaine, 1973

Dave Mirra, 1972

Jill Scott, 1972

Barry Pepper, 1970

Nancy McKeon, 1966

Robert Downey, Jr., 1965

David Gavurin, 1963

Gary Moore, 1952

Christine Lahti, 1950

Craig T. Nelson, 1946

Kitty Kelley, 1942

Angelo Bartlett "Bart" Giamatti, 1938

Michael Parks, 1938

Anthony Perkins, 1932

Maya Angelou, 1928

Muddy Waters, 1915

Frances Langford, 1914

Ernestine Gilbreth Carey, 1908

John Cameron Swayze, 1906

Arthur Murray, 1895

Isoroku Yamamoto, 1884

Linus Yale, Jr., 1821

Dorothea Dix, 1802

Today in History:

Francis Drake is knighted for completing a circumnavigation of the world, 1581

Sir Robert Walpole becomes First Lord of the Treasury of England, and is so influential in the Cabinet that he is considered the de facto first Prime Minister of England, 1721

Napoleon abdicates for the first time, 1814

Casparus van Wooden of Amsterdam patents chocolate milk powder, 1828

William Henry Harrison dies of pneumonia becoming the first President of the United States to die in office and the one with the shortest term served, 1841

Bryant's Minstrels debut the song "Dixie" in a blackface minstrel show, 1859

Susanna Medora Salter is elected the first US woman mayor, in Argonia, KS, 1887

Cecil Rhodes scholarship fund is established, 1902

An earthquake in India's Kangra Valley kills 20,000, destroys most of three cities, 1905

Vitamin C was first isolated by C.C. King at the University of Pittsburgh, 1932

Twelve nations sign the North Atlantic Treaty, creating NATO, 1949

Martin Luther King, Jr., is assasinated, 1968

Dr. Denton Cooley implants the first temporary artificial heart (the patient survived for 65 hours), 1969

The World Trade Center in NYC is dedicated, 1973

Bill Gates and Paul Allen form Microsoft, 1975

Space Shuttle Challenger makes its maiden voyage into space, 1983

Marc Andreessen and Jim Clark found Netscape Communications Corporation under the name "Mosaic Communications Corporation", 1994

Comet Hyakutake is imaged by the USA Asteroid Orbiter Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous, 1996

The Angolan government and UNITA rebels sign a peace treaty ending the Angolan Civil War, 2002

15 British Royal Navy personnel held in Iran are released, 2007

The most distant supernova on record is found by the Hubble Space Telescope, 2013

The "Pink Star" diamond sells at an auction in Hong Kong for a record $71 million, 2017

Elon Musk buys enough Twitter stock to make him the company's largest shareholder, 2022

Finland officially joins NATO at a ceremony in Brussels, becoming its 31st member and doubling NATO's border with Russia, 2023

A rare copy of Action Comics #1, which introduced Superman, sells at auction for a record US$6 million, 2024