Game Changer, a Ten Things of Thankful Post

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This is the week we are thankful for the game changer.  His name is Ben.

Let's start with last Saturday, when, as if on a timer, the heavens opened up at 3pm just as i'm leaving NOLA.  This is the fourth Saturday in a row where it's happened, and i'm starting to wonder what's up, but i'm very thankful for umbrellas and for the fact it stops before i'm over the spillway.

That evening, #2 Son, Daughter-in-Law, and Annie dressed in their hillbilly best and took "hillbilly pregnancy photos," complete with curlers in her hair and him dangling a cigarette from his lips (unlit, of course).  They'd been wanting to get some good pregnancy photos and decided to make them funny, and i was thankful to take the photos for them, we all enjoyed it.

Sunday on the way to get Becca, Mr. J texted and asked if i like figs.  I texted back we do, and we've been giving every single one which ripens on our own tree to Annie, so i've not had any.  I'm thankful he packed up a bunch of extra figs he had for us, his tree overproduced and he had plenty to share.

That afternoon, #2 Son tackled Sweetie's A/C in Slow-Moe the Pontiac and found the problem.  Thankfully, he found the part and arranged to pick it up Monday morning.

Then came Monday afternoon, and i'm very thankful i was home from Ms. S's house when i got the call.  The doctor was calling time and wanted to induce labor that evening!

I'm thankful Annie is accustomed to being with me a lot, thankful they were able to bring her home to me while they packed for the hospital, and thankful they had a few minutes to show me where they've moved her clothes now the new baby's clothes are in the cupboard where hers used to be.

Thankfully, GG found one of her favorite dresses.

Tuesday morning, we were all thankful for the arrival of little Ben, the game changer who takes them from being able to trade off the one child and now they have to each have charge of one.  (If they have a third, the game changes again to zone defense, but they are not planning on letting it happen, one girl and one boy is plenty for them.)

Annie was thankful to see her mama and dada at the hospital and meet her little brother, whom she immediately started gently poking and prodding.  We're thankful he slept through it and thankful we've been talking to her so much about being gentle.  She's also had plenty of practice with Link Linker the Stinker Cat, as if she's not gentle with him he hisses and scares her.

I was thankful to be able to spend two nights with Annie, and thankful the second night i had a heating pad, they keep the place cold.

Wednesday, i was thankful to drop Annie with them at the hospital and go do their grocery shopping and also get them a new key made for the car as the one they had was old and in terrible shape and the metal part tried to come out of the key fob while i was trying to put it in the ignition.  

They are thankful for the new key, they'd been meaning to get around to that, but life does get in the way.

We were all thankful when mama, dada and Ben came home Wednesday evening.  It meant i did not get to Bible study that evening, but there's always next week.

I've been thankful to hold the little guy several times and to watch Annie for them twice since then.

Ms. V was very thankful i was off Annie duty in time to go back to work Thursday, and Ms. G, thankfully, understood why i couldn't work Wednesday.

Friday was also spent with Annie and i was thankful to be home when Ms. D's daughter called me, saying she couldn't get in touch with her mom and would i go down there and check on her.  Ms. D wasn't home but had forgotten her phone, but i was thankful Annie and i were able to run down and check and ease her daughter's mind that Ms. D was just running errands and not on the floor of her house and unable to call for help.

Friday evening at the cat shelter was busy and good, I'm thankful there have been so many adoptions lately.

Then, once i was home, once again i was thankful i got to spend time with Annie while #2 Son finished with the A/C repair on Slow-Moe he had originally planned for Monday night, but Ben changed those plans.

We're all going to be jumping to the tune of two children now, and we're very grateful and thankful to do so.

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.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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Today is Independence Day / Fourth of July for the US and Territories!

There are lots of parades and celebrations in the USA today, but a few really fun ones include:

Filipino-American Friendship Day, celebrating the friendly relationship between the Philippines and the United States.

Independence from Meat Day, because you don't have be a slave to tradition!  This is sponsored by Vegetarian Awareness Network.

Sidewalk Egg Frying Day and although you can do this anywhere it's hot enough, for the real deal, plan to go to the Solar Egg Frying Contest, held annually on July 4 on old Route 66 in Oatman, Arizona, US, where the rule is you must use solar heat only.

The Stone Skipping Tournament at Windermere Pointe Beach, Mackinac Island, Michigan, US, it's open to all, come skip some stones and have a blast!

The World's Greatest Lizard Races in Chaparral Park, Lovington, NM, US.  Cheer the lizards and iguanas as they race down a 16-foot ramp, and yes, trophies will be awarded!

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

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Today is:

Build a Scarecrow Day -- keep the crows out of that field of freshly growing corn in the back 40!

Buffalo Bill Day -- he staged his first Wild West show on July 4, 1883

Bullion's Day -- Anglican tradition, the translation of the relics of St. Martin of Bullion; rain today means rain for the next 20 days, according to the legends

Day of Pax -- Ancient Roman Calendar

Garibaldi Day -- Italy

Hop A Park Day -- US (several years ago the Colleyville, Texas, Park and Recreation Commission started this celebration on the first Saturday of July, which is National Parks and Recreation Month; go visit a park today, or make plans to do it soon!)

International Day of Cooperatives -- U.N. (theme: Cooperatives Build a Better World)

King Tupou VI's Birthday -- Tonga

Liberation Day -- Rwanda

National Barbecue Spareribs Day

National Country Music Day -- US

Old Midsummer Eve -- by the Julian Calendar

St. Elizabeth of Portugal's Day (Patron of brides, charitable societies, charity workers, charities, difficult marriages, falsely accused people, peace, queens, tertiaries, victims of adultery, victims of jealousy, victims of unfaithfulness, widows; invoked in time of war; Coimbra, Portugal)

St. Ulrich's Day (Patron of peaceful deaths, pregnant women, weavers; Augsburg, Germany; Creazzo, Italy; against birth complications, dizziness, faintness, fever, frenzy, mice, moles, vertigo)

Tour de France -- through July 26

Anniversaries Today

Tuskegee Institute opens, 1881

Birthdays Today

Becky Newton, 1978

Koko, 1971 (gorilla who speaks sign language, and has now taught it to her offspring)

Pamela Howard "Pam" Shriver, 1962

Signy Coleman, 1960

Geraldo Rivera, 1943

George Steinbrenner, 1930

Al Davis, 1929

Gina Lollobrigida, 1927

Neil Simon, 1927

Eva Marie Saint, 1924

Ann Landers, 1918

Abigail Van Buren, 1918

Mitch Miller, 1911

Gloria Stuart, 1910

George Murphy, 1902

Rube Goldberg, 1883

Louis B. Mayer, 1882

George M. Cohan, 1878

Calvin Coolidge, 1872

Stephen Foster, 1826

Hiram Walker, 1816

Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1804

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"American Top 40"(Radio), 1970

"Honky Tonk Women"(Single release), 1969

"America the Beautiful"(Publication date), 1895

Today in History

A supernova is observed by the Chinese, the Arabs and possibly Amerindians near the star Tauri; for several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day, and its remnants form the Crab Nebula, 1054

Christian III is elected King of Denmark and Norway in the town of Rye, 1534

The city of Trois-Rivières is founded in New France (Quebec, Canada), 1634

City of Providence, Rhode Island forms, 1636

The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress, 1776

The United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, opens, 1802

The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American public, 1803

Construction of the Erie Canal begins in Rome, New York, 1817

The world's first long-distance railway, the Grand Junction Railway, opens between Birmingham and Liverpool, 1837

The Cunard Line's 700-ton wooden paddle steamer RMS Britannia departs from Liverpool bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia on the first transatlantic crossing with a scheduled end, 1840

Henry David Thoreau embarks on a two-year experiment in simple living at Walden Pond, near Concord, Massachusetts, 1845

The first edition of Walt Whitman's book of poems, titled Leaves of Grass, is published, 1855

Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell and her sisters a story that would grow into Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, 1862*

The Anglo-Zulu war ends, 1879

The people of France offer the Statue of Liberty to the people of the United States, 1886

The first scheduled Canadian transcontinental train arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia, 1886

Western Samoa changes the International Date Line, so that year there were 367 days in this country, with two occurrences of Monday, July 4, 1892

The short-lived Republic of Hawaii is proclaimed by Sanford B. Dole, 1894

Dorothy Levitt was reported as the first woman in the world to compete in a 'motor race', 1903

African-American boxer Jack Johnson knocks out white boxer Jim Jeffries in a heavyweight boxing match sparking race riots across the United States, 1910

First flight of the Lockheed Vega, 1927

Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, tells a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considers himself "The luckiest man on the face of the earth" as he announces his retirement from major league baseball, 1939

After 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule by various powers, the Philippines attains full independence from the United States, 1946

The first broadcast by Radio Free Europe, 1950

President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into United States law, 1966

NASA's Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars, 1997

The Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1, 2005

The Statue of Liberty's crown reopens to the public after 8 years, due to security reasons following the World Trade Center attacks, 2009

Discovery of a picture of the Biblical Samson and a Hebrew inscription in an ancient synagogue in the Galilee region of northern Israel is announced, 2012

Scientists at CERN's Large Hadron Collider announce the discovery of a new particle consistent with the Higgs boson, 2012

UNESCO grants World Heritage Status to vineyards in Champagne, France along with Singapore's Botanical Gardens, Diyarbakir Fortress (Turkey) and Maymand Caves (Iran), 2015

NASA's Juno spacecraft successfully enters Jupiter's orbit, 2016

North Korea tests first successful intercontinental ballistic missile into Sea of Japan, 2017

Chinese technology company Baidu announces it has begun mass production of self-driving buses, the 14-seat Apolong, 2018

Mad Magazine announces it will stop publishing new material after 67 years, 2019

Researchers reveal there are 14 living descendants of Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci, 2021

Australian rules player Heather Anderson, who suffered a concussion in 2017 while playing becomes the first known professional female athlete to be diagnosed with the degenerative brain disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy, known to plague male athletes of contact sports who suffer concussions, 2023