Good Question (Wordless Wednesday) and Words for Wednesday

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Linking up with Wordless Wednesday, Catsynth, Keith, and Sandee at Comedy Plus.     

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Words for Wednesday was begun by Delores and has become a moveable feast of word or picture or music prompts to encourage us to write stories, poems, or whatever strikes our fancy.   

This month, River is providing the prompts on her blog.

This week's words/prompts are:

1.extravagant  

2.koala  

3.plane  

4.charged  

5.potatoes  

6.alone

Charlotte's colour of the month is Vivid Tangerine.

Yesterday was the second half of my annual physical with Dr. BowTie.

Part one was a few weeks ago when i went and gave them the samples of half of my blood and some other fluids (you know who you are!) and had an ECG, eyes and hearing checked, blood pressure in each extremity (to make sure you don't have blocked arteries anywhere), weight (holding steady), and a whole bunch of stuff we talk about at the big appointment, which was the one yesterday.

Dr. BowTie is on a whole other PLANE of existence as far as i am concerned, and it's not just because he always wears a bow tie (the one yesterday really had some Vivid Tangerine in it) but because he actually takes time and treats the whole patient, as well as making sure you get as much attention as you need.

The office is nice, nothing EXTRAVAGANT, and i was a bit early so asked to use the "little girl's room."  The nurse said sure and then added, "Let's get a sample just in case he wants more tests."  She handed me a cup for fluids (you know who you are!) and when i came out, the room was ready for me.

I sat in there ALONE for a few minutes, but not long enough to feel like maybe the staff had gone on a break and not told me.  He came in and of course asked how i was doing, and also how Grandma and Grandpa are doing (he and Grandpa have been very good friends for years and served on certain boards together).

We talked about my sleep habits, and while i'm not a KOALA, getting 18-22 hours of sleep a day, or even a cat with its average of 16, neither am i sleep deprived.

He said i am keeping my weight in good check and my muscle mass up, and he asked how i was doing it.  I told him i do a lot each day, chase a child, clean floors and bathrooms and kitchens, and just keep going.  I told him i figured it was harder for death to catch a moving target, and he laughed and agreed.

My blood sugar is excellent, and with no history of diabetes in the family, i shouldn't ever have trouble with it, unless i start a "white diet" of white bread, white flour, white rice, white sugar, white POTATOES, etc.

No signs of coronary artery disease, blood pressure is under control (all females on both sides of my family get high blood pressure over 50), liver and kidney function is spot on, thyroid is stable, all my lipid profile is about textbook perfect.  He said i look great and he also tests for mental acuity and i'm not showing early symptoms of any kind of trouble in that arena.

On the whole, my warranty is renewed for another year as long as i don't step out in front of a bus.

The insurance company is CHARGED for the visit and pays it all, because they'd rather you get a check-up and stay healthy, they have less to pay for you in the long run this way.

It's nice to have this done for another year, although taking the twins in for their glamor shots (mammogram) is up this Friday.

Never take good health for granted.

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Today is:

Anne Bradstreet Day -- Massachusetts, US (by Proclamation of the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to honor Anne Bradstreet, America’s first poet, who is also recognized as the first published woman poet in the English language)

Cherokee Strip Day -- Oklahoma, US (anniversary of the last land run, in 1893, which opened Native American land to white settlers)

Collect Rocks Day 

Eleven Days of Global Unity -- Day 6, Children & Youth (sponsored by We, the World) 

Festival for Ra, Osiris, and Horus -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Independence Day -- Malaysia(1963); Mexico(1910); Nicaragua; Papua New Guinea(1975)

International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer -- UN (commemorates the signing, in 1987, of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer)

Martyrs' Day -- Libya

Mayflower Day -- the ship left England on this day in 1620

National Cinnamon Raisin Bread Day

National Guacamole Day 

National Heroes' Day -- St. Kitts and Nevis

National Play-Doh Day -- unofficial; get some anyway and be a kid again for a little while

National Rehabilitation Day -- US (on the Wednesday of National Rehab Awareness Week)

National School Backpack Awareness Day 2026 -- US (or anywhere else that you want to weigh your child's backpack on the 3rd Wednesday of September, to make sure it's not heavy enough to hurt them)   

National Teaching Assistants' Day -- UK    

Owain Glyndwr Day -- Wales

Rhishi Panchami -- Nepal (continuation of the women's festival, a holiday for Female Employees Only)

St. Cornelius' Day (Patron of cattle, domestic animals, earache sufferers, epileptics; Kornelimunster, Germany; against earache, epilepsy, fever, twitching)

St. Cyprian of Carthage's Day (Patron of Algeria, North Africa)

St. Euphemia's Day (Patron of Rovinj, Croatia)

St. Ludmilla's Day (Grandmother of St. "Good King" Wenceslaus; Patron of converts, duchesses, widows; Bohemia; Czech Republic; against in-law problems)

Stay Away From Seattle Day -- yes, really 

Stepfamily Day -- US and others who choose to recognize it (if you have stepfamily you love, celebrate it wherever you live)   

     originally founded as National Stepfamily Day in 1977 by Christy Borgeld

Working Parents Day -- internet generated, enjoy if you are a working parent or have a working parent you want to thank

Birthdays Today:

Nick Jonas, 1992

Sabrina Bryan, 1984

Alexis Bledel, 1982

Amy Poehler, 1971

Marc Anthony, 1968

Molly Shannon, 1964

Richard Marx, 1963

Jennifer Tilly, 1961

Orel Leonard Hershiser IV, 1958

David Copperfield, 1956

Mickey Rourke, 1956

Robin Yount, 1955

Mark McEwen, 1954

Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 1950

Susan Ruttan, 1950

Ed Begley, Jr., 1949

Elgin Gay Baylor, 1934

Anne Francis, 1932

Peter Falk, 1927

B.B. King, 1925

Lauren Bacall, 1924

Janice Page, 1923

Allen Funt, 1914

James Cash Penney, 1875

Francis Parkman, 1823

Anthony Panizzi, 1797

Hildegard of Bingen, 1098

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Frasier"(TV), 1993

"Miami Vice"(TV), 1984

"Logan's Run"(TV), 1977

"Bridget Loves Bernie"(TV), 1972 (first mixed marriage portrayed on television)

"Mannix"(TV), 1967

"Shindig"(TV), 1964

"The Outer Limits"(TV), 1963

"Broadway"(Play), 1926

Today in History:

The Massachusetts village of Shawmut changes its name to Boston, 1630

Handel's "The Messiah" premiers in Dublin, 1741

The Great Seal of the United States is used for the first time, 1782

Russians set fire to Moscow shortly after midnight – the city burns down completely days later, 1812

Slavery is abolished in all French Territories, 1848

The Cherokee Strip, in Oklahoma, is opened, making land available to white settlers, 1893

Roald Amundsen discovers the magnetic south pole, 1906

William Durant, carriage-maker, founds General Motors Corp., 1908

Juan Perón is deposed in Argentina, 1955

Malaysia is formed, 1963

Cape Verde, Mozambique and Sao Tome and Principe join the United Nations, 1975

Shavarsh Karapetyan saves 20 people from the trolleybus that had fallen into Erevan reservoir, 1976

An earthquake measuring 7.5-7.9 on the Richter scale hits the city of Tabas, Iran killing about 25,000 people, 1978

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines join the United Nations, 1980

The Montreal Protocol is signed to protect the ozone layer from depletion, 1987

The Pound Sterling is forced out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism by currency speculators and is forced to devalue against the German mark, 1992

Mexico celebrates its 200th anniversary of independence, 2010

Denmark elects its first female Prime Minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt, 2011

NASA scientists announce the discovery of a circumbinary planet - a planet the orbits two stars instead of one, 2011

The National Zoo in Washington, D.C., announces a successful artificial insemination as Mei Xiang gives birth to her second giant panda cub, 2012

The brain-eating amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, is found in tap water near New Orleans, the first time ever detected in the U.S. water supply, 2013

The cycling land speed record for men and women is broken by Denise Mueller Korenek, riding at 183.932 mph (296.010 kph) at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, US, 2018

Britain's Kew Gardens now holds the world record for the largest living plant collection (16,900) on a single site according to Guinness World Records, 2021

A massive rockslide in Greenland creates a tsunami wave in the Dickson fjord, setting of earth tremors for nine days, 2023

Typhoon Bebinca is the strongest storm to hit Shanghai in 75 years with winds of 151km/h (94 mph), 2024