Zippy at the Shelter (Feline Friday) and Friendly Fill-Ins

Feline Friday was started by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude, and i'm going to believe it's because he likes cats.

He has handed hosting duties off to Sandee, of Comedy Plus, and it's simple to join, just follow the link to Sandee's page for the rules and the code.

Zippy is up for adoption.  We hope he gets a new home quickly.

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Friendly Fill-Ins are easy to do. There are four statements: the first two statements are provided by Ellen of 15AndMeowing, and the final two are offered by McGuffy Ann Morris of McGuffy's Reader. They try to make sure the statements will be fun to both answer and share. The linky will be posted at or about 12:00 AM on Friday. Please head over to one of their sites, link up, and share your thoughts! 

My fill-ins for the statements are underlined:

1. I can't wait to see                    open my gift to him/her.

2. I have had the same                    for                    .

3. I would not mind if Santa were to bring me                    .

4. On Christmas Eve, I always                     .

I can’t wait to see the sextons at our church open our gifts to them, except that i will be out of town and Sweetie will pass them on, so i won’t really get to see it.  

I have had the same husband for over 32 years.  In other words, forever.  (He says the same thing, it’s our joke.)

I would not mind if Santa were to bring me enough money to truly fix our house.

On Christmas Eve, i always ... well, i always used to.  We would put out milk and cookies for Santa when the kids were little.  Also, i used to always go to the candlelight Christmas Eve service.  This year, i will be watching the service remotely, as i’m staying with Grandma and Grandpa over the weekend.  That may well become my new tradition.

Today is:

Beetle Banquet and Badger Ball -- Fairy Calendar

Chipmunks Day -- the date, in 1958, when Alvin, Simon, and Theodore hit #1 with "The Chipmunk Song"

Day Sacred to the Lares -- Ancient Roman Calendar (household gods)

Hari Ibu -- Indonesia (Mother's Day)

Icelandic Yuletide Lad of the Day, Gattapefur -- Sniffer, who uses his big nose on hlakkandi ("looking forward" day, when you begin to look forward to Christmas) to sniff out a cake or two to snatch

Khoiak Ceremony for Raising the Djed Pillar -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (Osiris festival, the pillar represented his spine, and so stability and strength; date approximate)

National Date Nut Bread Day

Santa Claus Flight Clearance Day -- US FAA (they make sure he's cleared to fly, with his de-icing system, Terrain Avoidance Warning System for low-altitude flight, and special seat belt extension in good working order)

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini's Day (Mother Cabrini, the first US citizen canonized; Patron saint of emigrants, hospital administrators, immigrants, orphans; against malaria)

Unity Day -- Zimbabwe

Birthdays Today:

Jordin Sparks, 1989

Ralph Fiennes, 1962

Maurice Gibb, 1949

Robin Gibb, 1949

Steve Garvey, 1948

Diane Sawyer, 1945

Steve Carlton, 1944

Hector Elizondo, 1936

Joe Pyne, 1925

Barbara Billingsley, 1922

Gene Rayburn, 1917

Claudia Taylor "Lady Bird" Johnson, 1912

Dame Edith Margaret Emily "Peggy" Ashcroft, 1907

Edwin Arlington Robinson, 1869

Giacomo Puccini, 1858

William Ellery, 1727

James Edward Oglethorpe, 1696

Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Graduate(Film), 1972

"Ding Dong School"(TV), 1952

Today in History:

A serious earthquake strikes Innsbruck, 1689

The Turkish fortress of Izmail is stormed and captured by Suvorov and his Russian armies, 1790

The first freight train is operated in Roorkee, India, 1851

Jules Janssen flies in a balloon in order to study a solar eclipse, 1870

The first string of Christmas tree lights is created by Thomas Edison, 1882

Ito Hirobumi, a samurai, becomes the first Prime Minister of Japan, 1885

French officer Alfred Dreyfus is court-martialed for treason, which triggers worldwide charges of anti-Semitism (Dreyfus was later vindicated), 1894

Colo is born, the first gorilla to be bred in captivity, 1956

Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany, 1989

Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63, 2001

An important peer-reviewed study of the spatial memory of bumblebees is published in the Biology Letters journal of the Royal Society by a class of 25 8- to 10-year-old children at Blackawton Primary School, 2010

Ebola vaccine VSV-EBOV is found to be 70-100% effective in a study published in The Lancet, becoming the world's first proven vaccine against Ebola, 2016

Zippy's Unique Cuisines (Feline Friday) and Friendly Fill-Ins

Feline Friday was started by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude, and i'm going to believe it's because he likes cats.

He has handed hosting duties off to Sandee, of Comedy Plus, and it's simple to join, just follow the link to Sandee's page for the rules and the code.

Zippy has his own way of eating.  He says, don't knock it 'til you've tried it, especially if it works!

It may look funny to you that I turn the bowl over to eat...

...ha!  Success!

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Friendly Fill-Ins are easy to do. There are four statements: the first two statements are provided by Ellen of 15AndMeowing, and the final two are offered by McGuffy Ann Morris of McGuffy's Reader. They try to make sure the statements will be fun to both answer and share. The linky will be posted at or about 12:00 AM on Friday. Please head over to one of their sites, link up, and share your thoughts! 

My fill-ins for the statements are underlined:

Week 84: December 15, 2017:

1. Snow                           .

2. I                                    .

3. One holiday memory that I cherish is                   .

4. I always thought that Santa                        .

Snow is nice in theory, and even in fact if you are dressed for it and have a warm home.  If you are a swamp dweller and used to heat, it does not need to visit often.  In fact, i'd prefer to travel to it instead of the other way around.

I get very tired by the end of the day, and am more than glad to sit and put my heating pad in my lap and relax in the evenings.  My schedule doesn't show too many signs of change in the near future, either, so i expect to continue enjoying my sit down time into the foreseeable future.

One holiday memory that i cherish is dressing my babies in the elf costume for Christmas.  They were darling little elves, even if i do say so myself.

I always thought that Santa was a nice metaphor.  My children were raised to know that Santa was everyone who wanted good things for others.  We pretended Santa was real, even leaving milk and cookies, and never telling other children, leaving that to their own parents.

Today is:

Alcyone -- Ancient Greek Calendar (kingfisher goddess; date approximate, but during the Halcyon Days)

Bill of Rights Day -- US

Cat Herders Day -- for those whose job or life is like trying to herd cats; sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Centipede Boot-Making and Shoe-Repair Season begins -- Fairy Calendar

Consualia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Festival for Consus, god of graineries, with games and races in the Circus Maximus in his honor)

Coonskin Cap Day -- debut of "Davy Crocket" on TV's "Disneyland" in 1954 (and the original Davy Crockett hated the things, by the way)

Free Shipping Day -- with hundreds of participating merchants at http://www.freeshippingday.com/ 

Homecoming Day -- Alderney, UK

Icelandic Yuletide Lad of the Day, Pvorusleikier -- Spoon-licker, who tries to steal all the wooden spoons he can find

Kasuga Wakamiya on-Matsuri -- Nara Prefecture, Japan (dates to the 12th century, to pray against plague and for a good harvest; through the 18th)

Koninkrijksdag -- Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba; Sint Maarten (Kingdom Day)

Le Foire aux Noix -- Bastogne, Belgium (annual "Nuts Fair", commemorating the liberation of the city from the Nazis and the Rights of the Child; through Sunday)

National Lemon Cupcake Day

National Regifting Day -- be careful here!

Navidades begin -- Puerto Rico (traditional Christmas celebrations that last through Three Kings Day)

Setagaya no Bori Ichi -- Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, Japan (a two day flea market that dates back to 1578)

St. Nino's Day (Patron of Georgia)

Thorn Cutting Ceremony -- Glastonbury, Somerset, England (a sprig from the tree supposedly planted by Joseph of Arimathea is cut, with great ceremony by the eldest child of St John’s Infant School, and sent to the Queen, to decorate her table on Christmas Day)

Trivial Pursuit Day -- honoring Canadians Chris Haney and Scott Abbott, who created the game on this date in 1979

Underdog Day -- the day to celebrate all the number two people who make the number ones what they are (as in Friday to Crusoe); day founded by by the late Peter Moeller, THE Chief Underdog

Zamenhof Day -- International Esperanto Community

Anniversary Today:

Sylvester Stallone marries Brigitte Nielson, 1985

Birthdays Today:

Adam Brody, 1979

Garrett Wang, 1968

Helen Slater, 1963

Nick Beggs, 1961

Don Johnson, 1949

Dave Clark, 1942

Tim Conway, 1933

Edna O'Brien, 1931

Friedensreich Hundertwasser, 1928

Uziel "Uzi" Gal, 1923

Jeff Chandler, 1918

Stan Kenton, 1911

J. Paul Getty, 1892

Ludwik Lejzer Zamenhof, 1859

Alexandre Gustave Eiffel,1832

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Gone With the Wind(Film), 1939 (Atlanta only, general release Jan. 1, 1940)

"Song of the Forests"(Shostakovich Op. 81), 1949

"Charlie Girl"(Musical), 1965

Today in History:

Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of Ticameron, 533

Hulagu Khan captures and destroys the Hashshashin stronghold at Alamut in present-day Iran as part of the Mongol offensive on Islamic southwest Asia, 1265

Bartholomeus Diaz returns to Portugal after sailing round Cape of Good Hope, 1488

The State of Holland grants patent on a windmill with crankshaft, 1593

The first US law school is established at University of Pennsylvania, 1791

The first Irish magazine in US, Shamrock, is published, 1810

The first street-cleaning machine in US is used in Philadelphia, 1854

The King of Hawaii becomes the first reigning king to visit the US, and is received by President Grant, 1874

The London Underground's Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway opens, 1906

The bandleader Major Glenn Miller is lost over English Channel, 1944

Gemini 6A, crewed by Wally Schirra and Thomas Stafford, is launched from Cape Kennedy, Florida; four orbits later, it achieves the first space rendezvous, with Gemini 7, 1965

Samoa becomes a member of the United Nations, 1976

U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces that the United States will recognize the People's Republic of China and cut off all relations with Taiwan, 1978

The 3rd reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is shut down, 2000

The Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens after 11 years and $27,000,000 to fortify it, without fixing its famous lean, 2001

Boeing's new Boeing 787 Dreamliner makes its maiden flight from Seattle, Washington, 2009

Eighteen asylum seekers drown in the Aegean Sea on the way to Greece from Turkey. 2012

The mayor of Flint, Michigan declares state of emergency over contaminated water supplies amid calls for a a criminal investigation, 2015

Big Buddy/Little Buddy (Feline Friday) and Friendly Fill-Ins

Feline Friday was started by Steve, The Burnt Food Dude, and i'm going to believe it's because he likes cats.

He has handed hosting duties off to Sandee, of Comedy Plus, and it's simple to join, just follow the link to Sandee's page for the rules and the code.

As is usual, Dansig has become the best buddy of our foster kitten, Zippy.  They do everything together.

And they are always up for a bit of grub.

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Friendly Fill-Ins are easy to do. There are four statements: the first two statements are provided by Ellen of 15AndMeowing, and the final two are offered by McGuffy Ann Morris of McGuffy's Reader. They try to make sure the statements will be fun to both answer and share. The linky will be posted at or about 12:00 AM on Friday. Please head over to one of their sites, link up, and share your thoughts! 

My fill-ins for the statements are underlined:

Week 83: December 8, 2017:

1. The best part of last week was                                  .

2. The worst part of last week was                             .

3.                               is a Winter project that I will be working on.

4. A holiday gift that I always buy for someone is                           .

1. The best part of last week was watching nestlings fly (#1 Son and Friend Chris moving out to be on their own).

2. The worst part of last week was watching nestlings fly (same as above).  It really is a mixed blessing that they grow up.

3. Staying warm is a Winter project that i will be working on.  It gets harder each year.

4. A holiday gift that i always buy for someone is pistachio nuts for Grandpa.  He loves them (we all do), and i shell them for him.

Today is:

Battle Day -- Falkland Islands

Be Someone's Pillow While You Watch TV Night -- a good idea, i guess, especially if it is cold

Bodhi Day (Rohatsu) -- Buddhism (especially among Zen Buddhists, and in Japan, a celebration of the Buddha's enlightenment)

CARICOM-Cuba Day

Constitution Day -- Northern Mariana Islands; Romania; Uzbekistan(Konstitutsiya Kuni)

Dita Kombetare e Rinise -- Albania (National Youth Day)

Feast of the Immaculate Conception -- Roman Catholic Holy Day of Obligation; recognized holiday in Andorra; Argentina; Austria; Chile; Columbia; East Timor; Equatorial Guinea(Patrona de Guinea Ecuatorial); Holy See(Vatican City); Italy; Liechtenstein; Macau; Malta; Monaco; Nicaragua(Fiesta de la Griteria); Paraguay; Peru; Portugal; San Marino; Seychelles; Spain; Switzerland; special observances

    Dia de las Playas -- Uruguay (Day of the Beaches, a/k/a Family Day or Blessing of the Waters Day; official opening day of beach season, marked with a ceremonial blessing by a priest, as well as sailing regattas, horse races, and more)

    Festa da Conceição da Praia -- Salvador da Bahia, Brazil (syncretic celebration of Yemanjá, Queen of the Ocean and the Immaculate Conception)

    Festival of Lights -- Lyon

Festival of Tiberinus -- Ancient Roman Empire (guardian of the Tiber River)

Fetes de l'Escalade -- Geneva, Switzerland (Scaling, or Climbing Day; celebrating the defeat of the Duke of Savoy's troops; through Sunday)

Hanatoro -- Kyoto, Japan (flower and light festival; through the 17th)

Human Rights and Peace Day -- Kiribati

Maouloud -- Mali (Baptism of the Prophet)

Mother's Day -- Panama

National Chocolate Brownie Day

National Salesperson's Day -- US (begun by Maura Schreier-Fleming, and listed on various days depending on whom you ask) 

National Students' Day -- Bulgaria (studentski praznik)

National Ugly Christmas Sweater Day -- any country that dares to celebrate may claim this one, and you can order your ugly sweater here   

Official Lost and Found Day -- why is this one official?  information here   

Popeye Day -- birth anniversary of his creator, Elzie Crisler Segar

Pretend to Be A Time Traveler Day -- although some sites say this day was actually cancelled in 2015, others suggest dressing up as if you are from a dystopian future and running up to people, asking them what year it is, when they answer say, "Then there's still time!" and dash off.  Just don't get arrested if you try it at home, okay?   

Santa Marian Kamelen -- Guam (Our Lady of Camarin Day)

St. Kliment Ohirdski -- Macedonia (St. Clement of Ohrid's Day)

Take It In the Ear Day -- a bizarre and unexplainable internet generated holiday; and by the way, your ENT will tell you not to put anything in your ear that is smaller than your elbow

Virgin de Caacupe -- Paraguay (Nuestra Senora de Caacupe/Our Lady of Miracles of Caacupe, patroness of Paraguay)

Winterfest Boat Parade -- Ft. Lauderdale, FL, US (The Greatest Show on H2O; through Sunday)

Winter Flowers Day -- internet generated, a day to find and enjoy whatever flowers are still blooming right now

Anniversary Today:

American Federation of Labor founded, 1886

Birthdays Today:

Ian Somerhalder, 1978

Dominic Monaghan, 1976

Sinead O'Connor, 1966

Teri Hatcher, 1964

Ann Coulter, 1961

Kim Basinger, 1953

Sam Kinison, 1953

Gregg Allman, 1947

Mary Woronov, 1946

Jim Morrison, 1943

"Red" Berenson, 1941

James Galway, 1939

James MacArthur, 1937

David Carradine, 1936

Flip Wilson, 1933

Maximilian Schell, 1930

Sammy Davis, Jr. 1925

Richard Fleischer, 1916

Lee J. Cobb, 1911

James Thurber, 1894

Elzie Crisler Segar, 1894

Diego Rivera, 1886

Jean Sibelius, 1865

Willam C. "Billy" Durant, 1861

Eli Whitney, 1765

Mary, Queen of Scots, 1542

Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus), Roman writer, BC65

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"(Musical), 1949

"Green Grow the Lilacs"(Musical; precursor to "Oklahoma"), 1930

Today in History

Daitokuji temple, Rinzai line, established in Kyoto by Daito Kokushi, 1326

Biblioteca Ambrosiana opens its reading room, the second public library of Europe, 1609

The Mexican border town Ciudad Juárez is founded by Fray García de San Francisco, 1659

Margaret Hughes becomes the first actress to appear on an English public stage, playing the role of Desdemona in a production of Shakespeare's play Othello, 1660

Vienna's Ring Theater is destroyed by fire, killing over 600, 1881

The American Federation of Labor is formed by 26 individual craft unions, and Samuel Gompers is elected its first president, 1886

The Japanese military police launch a violent suppression of the religious sect Oomoto, 1935

The Chinese Nationalist government moves from mainland China to Formosa, 1949

John Lennon is murdered, 1980

The leaders of Russia, Belarus and Ukraine sign an agreement dissolving the Soviet Union and establishing the Commonwealth of Independent States, 1991

The Cuzco Declaration is signed in Cuzco, Peru, establishing the South American Community of Nations, 2004

Kirsty Williams is elected the first female leader of a political party in Wales, the Welsh Liberal Democrats, 2008

With the second launch of the SpaceX Dragon, SpaceX becomes the first privately held company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft, 2010

Japan's Gvernment apologizes to Canada for the treatment of its POWs during WWII, 2011

Egyptian President Morsi agrees to not expand his powers but declares the referendums on a new constitution will be enacted, 2012

In Kiev, Russia, protestors topple the last surviving monument to Lenin, 2013