It Works Out As It Should, a Ten Things of Thankful Post (and My Annual PSA)

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It's always nice to get to Thankful Day and take a look back over the week.  It may not always be the way we would have wanted it, but it always works out just the way it should.

Last Saturday, a friend brought food to Grandma and Grandpa and they loved what she brought.  I'm thankful for the friend, and thankful there were crackers and a snack for me to have, too.

Because of the renovations, Grandpa wants to move a refrigerator back into the laundry room (he has already permanently moved the coffee maker in there).  I'm thankful i was able to make a space for the fridge, and get rid of some cleaning equipment we no longer  use.

I'm also thankful when i took it all to the shelter for my Friday shift last night, they agreed they can probably use it.  One place gets clean, another gets a donation, it's a double thankful win.

Sunday morning, poor Tripod SissyCat, who is 19 and now has trouble getting into the litter box, went on the newspaper surrounding the litter box, put there just for this reason.  I wasn't paying enough attention when walking past, but thankfully having to clean the mess from my shoe didn't delay me much on getting out of the house.

Because i know Becca's schedule and the usual things for Sunday, i was thankful i knew to look for and found her morning meds, which had not been placed on the counter.

Monday i was thankful to have a heart to heart with Ms. D and Ms. JAI and get them to agree to a slightly different schedule from now on.  Because getting home from Ms. JAI's in the worst traffic time of the day is a nightmare, i will start doing her house right after Carl, then come back to my neighborhood before the big traffic jams and take care of Ms. D, who is only 4 houses away.

My "Mall-Mart" stop was a good one this week, i found they now sell a really good brand of probiotic for a very reasonable cost, and i'm thankful.

One thing you never want to hear is, "The baby is sick," but that's what i heard this week.  In fact, all three of them, #2 Son, Daughter-in-Law, and the baby had the cruddies and the baby's fever was so high they took her to the ER Monday night.

They decided they didn't want the rest of us exposed, so while i'm not thankful to have missed out on babysitting Tuesday, i am thankful for their consideration.

This week was my annual "taking the twins in for their glamour shots," i.e. mammogram, and my biennial DEXA scan.  I'm thankful to live in a country where screening tests can be done and insurance pays for them.

My PSA (Public Service Announcement), get your screenings!  It can save your life.

I'm thankful my mammogram came back normal, and although the DEXA shows i have lost some bone mass, i can go back on the bone building meds now and stave off further losses.

Our new schedule with Ms. GA after Ms. SE every-other-Thursday is continuing to work well, and i'm thankful as there's really no other way to shuffle anyone else around any further.  I'm thankful, too, we brought the vacuum cleaner we now have to Ms. SE's and it works much better than theirs.

Friday i was thankful to finally get to spend time with our little Annie.  She is still not fully recovered (although no longer contagious) and very cranky, crabby and sleepy.

Someone has been sleeping a whole lot.

We've made the difficult decision, because of some symptoms Slow-Moe the car is having after the last repair, neither of our cars are road-worthy for out of town.  We will now have to rent a car each weekend, or borrow one.

I'm thankful renting is possible and easy, the people there know us and it's a reasonable price, and if we are a few minutes late over our 24 hours because we are coming from out of town, they don't charge us extra.  (We've never been more than 20 minutes over.)

The shelter had 2 extra volunteers Friday evening, and 2 adoptions, capping a week in which two of the cats who had been there the longest both found a home.  We're thankful for all the help, and for good homes.

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:

Black Ribbon Day -- Estonia; Latvia; Lithuania

European Day of Remembrance for Victims of Stalinism and Nazism -- European Union

Flag Day -- Ukraine

Great Feast of the Netjeru (all gods and goddesses) -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Health Unit Coordinator Day -- US (National Association of Health Unit Coordinators, Inc.)

International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and Its Abolition

National Spongecake Day

Nemeseia -- Ancient Greek Calendar (local festival to the goddess Nemesis, date approximate)

Ride the Wind Day -- internet generated, a day to get out and ride with the wind in your hair, in whatever transport you choose, or fly a kite

Sento Kuyo -- Nenbutsu-Ji Temple, Adashino, Kyoto, Japan (memorial service for graves that no longer have families to tend them; through tomorrow)

St. Eoghan's Day (Patron of Derry, Ireland)

St. Rose of Lima's Day (Patron of embroiderers, florists, gardeners, needle workers, people ridiculed for piety; The Americas/The New World, especially Central and South America, Latin America, Peru, and the West Indies; Lima, Peru; Philippines, Santa Rosa, CA, US; Villareal Samar, Philippines; against vanity)

Valentino Memorial Service -- Hollywood Cathedral Museum, Hollywood Forever Cemetary, Los Angeles, CA, US (annually since 1927, a memorial service celebrating Rudolph Valentino on the anniversary of his death)

Vertumnalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (in honor of Vertumnus and Pomona)

Vulcanalia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (festival to the god of fire)

Birthdays Today:

Kobe Bryant, 1978

Jay Mohr, 1970

River Phoenix, 1970

Queen Noor of Jordan, 1951

Rick Springfield, 1949

Shelley Long, 1949

Antonia Novello, 1944

Patricia McBride, 1942

Richard Sanders, 1940

Tony Bill, 1940

Barbara Eden, 1934

Sonny Jurgensen, 1934

Mark Russel, 1932

Vera Miles, 1930

Gene Kelly, 1912

Edgar Lee Masters, 1868

Navy Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, 1785

Louis XVI, 1754

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"She Loves You"(Beatles single release date), 1963

"The Bat"(Mystery play), 1930

"Gasoline Alley"(as a daily comic strip), 1919

Today in History:

On the feast of Vulcan, Roman god of fire, Mt. Vesuvius begins to rumble, 79

Visigoths storm Rome, 410

Edward I executes William Wallace, Scottish patriot, for high treason, 1305

French explorer Jacques Cartier lands near Quebec City in his third voyage to Canada, 1541

Rabbi Joseph Caro completes his commentary of Tur Code, 1542

The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre of Huguenots in Paris begins, 1572

The first one-way streets open in London, 1617

Steamship service begins on the Great Lakes, 1818

Great Britain abolishes slavery in the colonies, 700,000 slaves are freed, 1833

Automobile tire chain is patented, 1904

The World Council of Churches is formed, 1948

Lunar Orbiter I takes the first picture of Earth from the Moon's orbit, 1966

Bryan Allan, in a Gossamer Condor, completes the first man-powered flight of one mile, 1977

Soviet dancer Alexander Godunov defects to the US, 1979

Hans Tiedge, top counter-spy of West Germany, defects to East Germany, 1985

Hungary opens the Iron Curtain and allows thousands of East Germans through to West Germany, 1989

West Germany and East Germany announce that they will unite on Oct. 3, 1990

The remains of Anastasia and Alexei, rumored to have survived the 1917 assassination of the Russian Czar and his family, are found, 2007

Heavy winds knock down the Anne Frank tree in Amsterdam, breaking off approximately one meter above the ground, 2010

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi is overthrown, 2011

Lance Armstrong, the seven-time Tour de France winner, announces he will not contest the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency charges of doping, a result of which will include being stripped of all of his tour de France victories, 2012

Libya's ruins of Cyrene, a World Heritage Site near Shahhat, is damaged by real estate developers, 2013

Destruction by ISIS of the first century AD temple of Baalshamin in the ancient ruins of Palmyra is confirmed by Syrian officials, 2015

The world's driest place, the Atacama desert in Chile, blooms after an unexpected rainfall, 2017

Russia launches the first floating nuclear power station, the Akademik Lomonosov, from the port of Murmansk, 2019

Video evidence shows a Seychelles giant tortoise hunting and eating a bird, a new behavioral observation, as tortoises were previously thought to be herbivores, 2021

India becomes the fourth nation to launch a successful mission to the Moon when its Chandrayaan-3 craft successfully lands at the Moon's south pole, 2023

Parties, Celebrations, Annual PSA and Medical Stuff, a Ten Things of Thankful Post

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Here i am again, skidding into Thankful Day rather breathless.  Lots of things haven't gone quite as planned this week, but they worked out perfectly anyway, and i'm thankful.

Last Saturday was an election day.  Nothing big, just a few amendments and a judgeship.  The polls are supposed to open at 7am, so i told Grandpa i'd vote and then head down there for shopping and cleaning.  He was fine with that, although i'd be a bit later than usual and he always wants to be finished with everything yesterday.

About ten minutes before the polls were to open, i pulled into the parking lot at the school and got out to get in what i thought was a line of voters.  It wasn't a line of voters, it was the poll workers.  The school had forgotten to send someone with the key, so they were locked out.

That's how i ended up getting to NOLA earlier than i'd planned, which made Grandpa thankful.  Also, Grandma had a lunch meeting with a friend for the first time in a long time, a very thankful thing.  Wen i was done cleaning, i was thankful to be able to head back home, vote, and i even got to go visit Ms. S that evening because my Sunday was already packed.

Sunday's plan was for me to go to Becca's house as usual, and after the first service at church and Sunday school, i was going to sit with her while her mother sang with the second service choir for one special song that was being done at both services.  Then i'd scoot out for the rest of my day's activities.  

After arriving, Ms. AH told me Becca was still asleep and asked me to let her rest another 45 minutes.  This was fine, i was thankful to take Mr. Cal for a walk and he was thankful to get one.  He got to play with his dog friend Ash.

While we were out, Ms. AH texted me and said she was feeling poorly and did not think she could make it to church at all, so she'd stay home with Becca.  She was sorry i'd come all that way for nothing, but to me it was a thankful thing, Mr. Cal and i had a good time.

After church, it was time for Lee's birthday party.  Red-headed Alec's boy Lee is now four!  It was a Sonic the Hedgehog party, and i'm thankful i got to go and see all of the family.

Once the party was over, i was thankful to go back to the church for the Children's Choir performance of "Table for Five...Thousand!"  They did a wonderful job, the choir is kindergarten to about 5th grade and you could tell they were having a good time.  They fed the audience, the "five thousand," goldfish crackers, which i found funny and appropriate.

Monday morning at 2am, i woke up and knew that i once again have a bladder infection.  Thankfully i now keep the medication that controls symptoms in the house, so i was able to take it right away.  Once i cleaned Carl's apartment, i ran by the doctor's office and left a sample, then went to Ms. PA.  Before i got home, the prescription was ready, i am so thankful for my doctor and the nearby pharmacy.

This past Tuesday was the first part of my annual physical and my appointment to take the twins in for their glamour shots (mammogram).

Interruption for my annual PSA -- get your annual physical and whatever tests your doc tells you to get.  Better safe than sorry!

Thankfully i had arranged to have the day off, so i wasn't in a rush, and my doc and the place where they do the testing is all under one big hospital roof.  Once i was done, i was able to have a nice, long visit with Ms. S.  It's a thankful thing to be able to see her twice a week.

Tuesday evening was our monthly Ladies' Circle meeting.  We had a wonderful time, and the dessert you saw on my Wordless Wednesday picture was the peanut butter/butterscotch rice crispy treats i brought.  Thankfully they are quick and easy to make, just do your regular rice crispy treats adding a bag of butterscotch chips and 1/3 cup peanut butter.

While i was at the meeting i fielded a call from Ms. G, my Wednesday lady.  She wanted to know if i was okay to skip cleaning her house and go volunteer at the other shelter instead.  Of course i was. 

That meant that on Wednesday i went and did the usual shelter stuff, then went out to the one in the next parish(county).  They'd had a bit of a disaster, 135 cats needed care and due to an unfortunate series of events they were down by 3 employees and a couple of volunteers.  It made me thankful to go and help, although at the end of 6 hours i was whipped.

When i got home, i was thankful to lie down for a while, and then i got the phone call from the doctor's office.  How soon could i come back in for more testing?  They needed more mammogram views, and i was thankful to be able to say that i would be in Thursday afternoon.

Ms. S wasn't home when we got there Thursday morning, and the lock box with the house key was gone.  When i called her, she said her husband had taken it to one of his jobs, and we're thankful he thought to leave the key in a hidden place where we could get to it.

The house was not quite as bad a disaster this time as last, even though they'd just had a birthday party for one of the boys, and Sweetie and i were thankful to get it done by noon.

One-thirty pm saw me back at the hospital for the further testing, and i'm thankful the radiologist is being so proactive.  The views and the ultrasound show a small cyst that he's pretty sure is nothing, but in an abundance of caution i'm going to have a biopsy done at the end of the month.

Again, go get your tests, please!

Thursday evening a neighbor called to ask two favors and i was thankful we could do both.  First, she wanted Sweetie to come and change a light bulb for her -- he's tall and she needs a tall person to do it, and he's always glad to go over there and help.  Second, could i start coming once a month to vacuum, sweep and mop the floors, since she broke her toe and just can't keep up with everything since it's not healing right, making her limp.

That's how on Friday i went to morning prayer group, cleaned Ms. GA's house, and then went to see Ms. DJ.  Thankfully i was able to get all of that in, and go back to the pharmacy for another prescription (thanks to all the antibiotics, i now have a yeast infection, too, so i needed more medicine, can you see why i'm so thankful for the modern medical community right about now?) and then back to the cat shelter.

At the regular shelter where i volunteer, we have a new director, and i was thankful to finally meet her.  She's a wonderful person and going to be a great director.

There we have it, folks, another week to remember how good we have it, i know i am thankful as so many of these things could have gone sideways or worse. 

Please write up your own list and link up to Ten Things of Thankful, where Dyanne and her co-hosts always have a warm welcome waiting.   

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Today is:

Absurdity Day -- an internet generated absurd holiday

Africa Industrialization Day -- UN

Air Your Dirty Laundry Day -- internet generated, and be careful with this one!

Beautiful Day -- Fairy Calendar

Clean the Cat Hair Out of the Vacuum Cleaner Day -- internet generated, and always tops on my chore list

Dia de la Soberania Nacional -- Argentina (Sovereignty Day)

Day of Sekhmet and the Purifying Flame -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Day of National Sovereignty -- Argentina (commemorates the Battle of Vuelta de Obligado)

Dia da Consciencia Negra -- Brazil (Black Consciousness Day)

Family Volunteer Day -- to get families working together to better their communities and the world  

Globally Organized Hug A Runner Day a/k/a G.O.H.A.R.D

International Games Day @ Your Library -- libraries in many countries are sponsoring a local Games Day, check with yours!

International Survivors of Suicide Loss Day   

     National Survivors of Suicide Day -- US (by Congressional designation since 1999, and now an international movement; remembering those who have lost loved ones to suicide, especially as Thanksgiving and the holidays are coming)

Name Your PC Day -- mine is Ol' Bessy, a/k/a Old Crankypants; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays  

National Adoption Day -- US (encouraging us to find a home for every child; many courts finalize thousands of adoptions of children from foster care on this day each year)    

National Peanut Butter Fudge Day

Praetextatus and Paulina's Day -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Guardians of the Eleusinian Mysteries, pagan activists and devotees who tried to save Roman religions; date approximate)

Revolution Day -- Mexico (traditional)

St. Edmund the Martyr's Day (Patron of kings, torture victims, wolves; East Anglia, England; against plagues)

Surin Elephant Round-Up -- Surin, Thailand (includes elephant football, elephant tugs-of-war, and parades; through Sunday)

Teachers' Day -- Vietnam

Transgender Day of Remembrance -- memorial for those who have been killed because of transphobia

Universal Children's Day -- UN

Zumbi Day -- Brazil (death anniversary of Zumbi dos Palmares, a day of Afro-Brazilian consciousness, as he was a hero and freedom fighter)

Anniversaries Today:

The Princess Elizabeth (now Queen Elizabeth II) marries Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten at Westminster Abbey in London, 1947

The first municipal airport in the US opens, in Tuscon, AZ, 1919

Birthdays Today:

Sabrina Lloyd, 1970

Ming-Na Wen, 1967

Sean Young, 1959

Bo Derek, 1956

Steve Dahl, 1954

Richard Masur, 1948

Duane Allman, 1946

Judy Wooodruff, 1946

Veronica Hamel, 1943

Joe Biden, 1942

Dick Smothers, 1939

Don DeLillo, 1936

Richard Dawson, 1932

Estelle Parsons, 1927

Kaye Ballard, 1926

Robert F. Kennedy, 1925

Nadine Gordimer, 1923

Gene Tierney, 1920

Robert Byrd, 1917

Alistair Cooke, 1908

Chester Gould, 1900

Edwin Hubble, 1889

Karl von Frisch, 1886

Kenesaw Mountain Landis, 1866

Selma Lagerlf, 1858

Sir Wilfred Laurier, 1841

Thomas Chattertn, 1752

Oliver Wolcott, 1726

Susanna Wesley, 1669 (mother of John, Charles, and 17 other children)

Peregrine White, 1620 (born on the Mayflower)

Maximinus, Roman Emperor, 270

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Beatles Antology 1(album release), 1995

The Day After(TV movie), 1983

"A Soldier's Play"(Fuller Pulizer winning play), 1981

"Cabaret"(Musical), 1966

"The Seven Year Itch"(Play), 1952

"The Children's Hour"(Play), 1934

"The Goldbergs"(Radio), 1929

The Sheik(Film, with Rudolph Valentino), 1921

"Das Lied von der Erde/The Song of the Earth"(Mahler symphony), 1911

"The Doctor's Dilemma"(Play), 1906

"Fidelio"(Opera, Beethoven Op. 72), 1805

Today in History:

Bögü, Khan of the Uyghurs, conquers Lo-Yang, capital of the Chinese Empire, 762

Zumbi, the last leader of the Quilombo dos Palmares of Brazil, is executed, 1695

New Jersey becomes the first state to ratify the US Bill of Rights, 1789

Curacao's government forbids slave work on Sunday, 1795

Howard University is founded in Washington, D.C., 1866

US State Department starts requiring photographs for passports, 1914

The first municipally owned airport in US opens, in Tucson Az, 1919

In response to the Soviet Union agreeing to remove its missiles from Cuba, U.S. President John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of the Caribbean nation, 1962

The SETI Institute is founded, 1984

Microsoft Windows 1.0 is released, 1985

The number of protesters assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia swells from 200,000 the day before to an estimated half-million, 1989

In England, a fire breaks out in Windsor Castle, badly damaging the castle and causing over £50 million worth of damage, 1992

The first module of the International Space Station, Zarya, is launched, 1998

The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level in eleven years, 2008

NATO agrees to begin handing over Afghanistan's security to the Afghan military, 2010

The UN World Meteorological Organization announces the 2011 greenhouse gasses reached record levels, 2012

A vote of the General Synod of the Church of England approves women to be ordained bishops beginning the next year, 2013

Atlanta's Georgia Dome, once the world's largest covered stadium, is destroyed in a controlled implosion, 2017

The Oxford Dictionary word of the year is "climate emergency," 2019