Take Each Day as It Comes, a Ten Things of Thankful Post

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We've come to Thankful Day and it's been a ride since last week, but you just have to take each day as it comes.

Last Friday night, we were most thankful for lots of help at the shelter (i probably mentioned it last week) and i'd also noted #2 Son had gotten the VVT solenoid replaced in Lawrence the Honda.

I'm thankful when i got home from the shelter, i was able to watch Annie and he managed, in under an hour, to install the purge valve.  He's getting good at this stuff.

My Sweetie and i are both thankful our Saturday trip to NOLA to take care of Grandma and Grandpa's house was uneventful, and i'm thankful i got done with the work a little earlier than usual and so had more time to visit with Grandma.

Sunday, thankfully, was an all-around pleasant day.  Mr. Cal was thankful for his walk, although in this heat, even though we walk early, and at his age, he is starting to get winded sooner and sooner.  We're thankful for every time we get to go out with him.

Ms. D was thankful for the Sunday evening visit from me and Annie first, and then the rest of the family a little bit later.

This past Monday was a bit different, and many days may be different going forward.  Grandma and Grandpa really need more help, so plans were made and more are being made for later.

Thankfully, this past Monday i was able to get to Dr. BowTie's office for part one of my annual-poke-and-prod (i.e., physical).  Then it was on to Ms. S's house which, since i got there rather early, was done rather early.

Now it was time to pack for an overnight to NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana, for any who don't know, i really should stop to and explain it once in so often), in spite of the gathering clouds.

I'm thankful for rain.  We're dry around here and very thankful for rain.  This rain poured down as i was driving on the freeway, so thick and fast and heavy even the usual speeders were going slowly.  We (meaning every other driver i could see in front of or behind me, there was no one passing) lined up a good distance apart, flashing lights on, and behaved.  It was too serious not to, and i'm thankful we drove out of the storm before NOLA and i made it safely.

Monday afternoon, it finally came down to giving Grandma a bed bath, as Grandpa can no longer help her get in the walk-in tub.  I'm thankful it went well and she felt much better, and fresher, when it was done.

Since i spent the night, i'm thankful she only called me once to come help her.

Tuesday morning, i got Grandma a few things, helped her where i could, then packed to get back home so i could watch Annie for the day as always.  Then i stepped into the hall off the foyer right in front of the coat closet and stepped into water.

First, i'm thankful Grandpa didn't step in it first and slip.  Second, i'm thankful it was not the A/C leaking again, especially as they've had that unit replaced.  Third, i'm thankful i called time on the water bottles Grandpa stores for emergencies in that closet which were more than ten years old as they'd started to leak.  All the old ones are gone and the mess was cleaned.

Grandpa is thankful, too, and still has plenty of fresher water, which i'm going to be keeping my eye on.

Now it's time to go home, right?  Wrong.  Lawrence the Honda would not start.  I'm so very, very thankful #1 Son found my old pair of jumper cables in GusGus die Fledermaus (the Ford) a while back and insisted on putting them in Lawrence, and so as soon as Grandpa got back from running an errand i was able to jump it and get on the road.

I'm very thankful it was just a battery which needed replacing, which #2 Son did while i watched Annie (among many other things he took care of).

This week, Mr. BA and Ms. GA are out of town, so as of Tuesday evening, i am on duty to take care of their clowder of cats morning and evening.  I'm thankful for the extra income.  The timing was just inconvenient, as it turned out.

Tuesday afternoon, around the time #2 Son usually comes and gets Annie, he came in with a question.  "Ben has a low-grade fever and we called the doc, they said a fever in a baby this young means the emergency room.  He's happy, doesn't seem to be in much distress, just a bit of fever.  Should we really go?"

My mama instinct kicked in and i said yes, get going, and i'll put Annie down for her nap (and take one, too, while i'm at it, which is a side thankful).

I'm so thankful they did.  The little guy had a bladder infection, the docs even did a spinal tap for meningitis and later an ultrasound to make sure his kidneys weren't infected, too.  The bladder infection was all of it, but for this they admitted him and put him on a 24-hour antibiotic drip to start with (this also prevents any infection from them having to do the spinal tap itself).

When Annie got up, #2 Son came to get her to take her to see mama and baby at the hospital and i'm thankful i was able to go do clowder duty, then come back and watch Annie while #2 Son brought comfort items and a good dinner to Daughter-in-Law at the hospital, then he came back and took Annie home.

Wednesday morning i was thankful to get to the shelter by 6am, and by just after 7, two of the vet tech trainees from a local program where there and i was able to set them up with the rest of the caretaking so i could go to clowder duty before Ms. G.

Ms. G was on notice of our family's situation and am thankful she agreed if i was called away, it wouldn't be a problem.  She's thankful we still got a good bit done, including emptying the truck.

I'm thankful i got clowder duty done in time to get to Bible study, and then after, to watch Annie again a while as this time Daughter-in-Law took a good supper and some supplies up to #2 Son so he could have a night at the hospital with Ben and she could stay with Annie.

Thursday started extra early, i'm thankful all went well for clowder duty in the dark for the outdoor cats as i got there by 5:15am.  Then on to Ms. V's place.

I'm thankful Carl got home to visit and i got to see him.  He was up very early (the group home gets them up at 5:30 every morning and it's rubbing off on him) and he is doing very well.

Ms. V, though, had stayed up very late the night before and Mr. L told me she would probably want to sleep late.  This was a problem as they needed me home to watch Annie for a bit, and when i told him what was going on, he told her and she graciously got up even though she didn't really want to.  I'm thankful because it meant the work got done in time to meet up with #2 Son at the house so he could check both cars.

What, you mean i didn't mention the check engine lights came on Wednesday evening in both Lawrence the Honda and Slow-Moe the Pontiac?

We're all thankful mine is probably just the pesky gas cap thing again (or it really does need a catalytic converter, either way the car is safe to drive) and Slow-Moe just needs the throttle body cleaned, also not an emergency.

Thursday evening was more of the same, clowder duty and then Annie so #2 Son could set Daughter-in-Law up for a night at the hospital, and at this point i'm thankful we are all holding up.

We also knew by this time, thankfully, Ben was on the road to recovery and would likely be home by Friday afternoon.

Thus Friday started with me going to the church to make the coffee for prayer group and Bible study, then the clowder of cats again, my weekly shopping and banking, and finally back home by 9am to be with Annie for the day, and i'm thankful it all went smoothly.

#2 Son went up to the hospital after i had Annie and sure enough, once all the turtle slow paperwork was done, little Ben was discharged and sent home with what the cultures said would be the perfect antibiotic for exactly what ailed him.

Little Ben is not very impressed with the world right now.

I was very thankful to hold the little guy.  Then Annie and i kept playing while mama finished work and #2 Son got all the chores done and everything packed, and they went off for a quiet weekend to housesit for Aunt A and Uncle JR while they're at the beach.  I'm thankful they could do it, they needed some down time and are getting it.

Friday evening at the shelter went very smoothly and we're thankful there were people adopting and i'm thankful i got done early so was able to do the clowder duty and get home reasonably early, too.

Now i'm kind of thankful this week is over!

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:

According to Hoyle Day -- death anniversary of Edmond Hoyle

Be Kind to Humankind Week: Speak Kind Words Saturday 

Birthday of Hathor -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Chop Suey Day

Feast of the Beheading of St. John the Baptist (Patron of baptism, bird dealers, converts, convulsive children, cutters, epileptics, farmers, French Canadians, lambs, monastic life, motorways, printers, tailors; over 70 cities and countries around the world; against convulsions, epilepsy, hail and hailstorms, spasms)

     Head Day -- Iceland (a weather omen day; whatever today's weather, it will stay the same for at least 3 weeks)

Gai Jatra -- Kathmandu Valley, Nepal (cow festival, celebrated in remembrance of all people who have died in the previous ye

Individual Rights Day -- on the birth anniversary of John Locke, the first philosopher to argue that a human being has basic rights based on his status as a sovereign human being, and that people are not slaves of their government, but their human rights should be protected by government

International Bat Night -- through tomorrow, go enjoy these wonderful creatures and for information you can go here or here     

International Day Against Nuclear Testing -- UN

Judgment Day -- according to "The Terminator"

Lemon Juice Day

More Herbs, Less Salt Day

National Sarcoidosis Awareness Day -- US (by presidential proclamation in 1991)

Runic Half-Month Rad begins (Motion)

Slovak National Uprising Anniversary -- Slovakia

St. Medericus' Day (also called Saint-Merri or St. Merry, acclaimed as the Patron of the Right Bank of the Seine River in Paris)

Birthdays Today:

Lea Michele, 1986

Rebecca De Mornay, 1962

Mark Morris, 1956

Michael Jackson, 1958

`Richard Gere, 1949

Robin Leach, 1941

William Friedkin, 1939

Elliot Gould, 1938

John McCain, 1936

Richard Attenborough, 1923

Charlie "Bird" Parker, 1920

Isabel Sanford, 1917

Ingrid Bergman, 1915

Preston Sturges, 1898

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., 1809

John Locke, 1632

Today in History

Era of Diocletian (Martyrs), the last major time of persecution for the early Christian churches, begins with Gen. Gaius Aurelius V Diocletianus Jovius becoming emperor of Rome, 284

Japan mints its first copper coins, 708

The last Incan King of Peru, Atahualpa, is executed by order of Francisco Pizarro, 1533

The first Indian "reservation" is formed by the New Jersey Legislature, 1758

Michael Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction, 1831

The United Kingdom legislates the abolition of slavery in its empire, 1833

Treaty of Nanking signing ends the First Opium War, 1842

The first motorcycle is patented in Germany by Gottlieb Daimler, 1885

The chef of a visiting Chinese Ambassador invents "chop suey" in NYC, 1896

The Goodyear tire company is founded, 1898

The Quebec Bridge collapses during construction, killing 75 workers, 1907

Ishi, considered the last Native American to make contact with European Americans, emerges from the wilderness of northeastern California, 1911

The Soviet Union tests its first atomic bomb, 1949

Speedy Gonzales makes his debut, 1953

The Beatles perform their last concert before paying fans at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, 1966

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union suspends all activities of the Soviet Communist Party, 1991

Hurricane Katrina devastates much of the U.S. Gulf Coast, 2005

Sumatra's Sinabung volcano erupts for the first time in 400 years, killing one and causing Indonesia to evacuate thousands of people, 2010

London holds the opening ceremonies for the 2012 Summer Paralympics, 2012

Austrian researchers announce they successfully grew 'cerebral organoids' or mini-brains, containing several distinct regions of the brain; the mini-brains will help scientists understand how brains develop, and what causes schizophrenia and autism, 2013

Hurricane Harvey sets a rainfall record of 51.88 inches in Cedar Bayou the most ever from a tropical cyclone in continental US, according to US National Weather Service, 2017

John McCain lies in state in the rotunda of the Arizona State Capitol Building in Phoenix, only the third person ever to do so, 2018

Hurricane Ida makes landfall as a Category 4 storm near Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, 2021

Greek wildfire north of city of Alexandroupoli declared EU's largest ever recorded, having burnt 310 sq miles (810 sq km), 2023