Much-Needed, a Six Sentence Cafe and Bistro Story

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"Soon, boy, soon."

The woman holding the leash smiled with as much anticipation as the dog at her side showed by his body language.

It was a credit to his training from all the proprietors that he didn't strain or pull, knowing if she said, "Soon," she meant it.

A few more moments of walking and they went through a gate onto a private property the woman had been told she could use, an acre or so of woods and walks and even a small pond, a veritable doggie playground where the animal could run and play and "get his wiggles out," as she liked to say.

Hunga held still as she unfastened his Pet Partners' harness, then she let him loose to run, knowing he'd have a ball smelling all the smells and even chasing a few squirrels within the safe bounds of the fenced property.

Mimi sat on a bench by the side of the small pond, leaned back, slipped out of her shoes to stretch her toes, then opened a book and thought to herself, the dog and i both need a half-hour off lead every day for our sanity.

Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Lead.

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Time Difference (Cajun Joke) and Saturday at Grandma's (Sunday Selections)

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Just because Sandee of Comedy Plus is no longer hosting a Silly Sunday blog hop, do not expect me to quit telling Cajun jokes, especially as it has now become a habit.

Uncle J has moved further away and was visiting at Grandma and Grandpa's house yesterday.  He and Dre were still asleep when i arrived, and Uncle J stayed in bed until  rather late in the morning.  He usually doesn't do that, but he was still tired from driving in.

While i've been an early riser my whole life, there was a time when both of my brothers could sleep late with a vengeance.

Tee Boudreaux be usin' de opportun' o' de day off school to sleep late.

Fin'ly Boudreaux go call Tee, "Fils, you be goin' sleep all day?  It be time to get up!"

An' Tee say, "Père, I be wants to sleep!"

So Boudreaux say, "It be already noon!"

"Mais, Père," say Tee, pullin' de pillow back over hims head, "it only be 4am in Guam!"

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Sunday Selections was started as a way for bloggers to use photos that might otherwise just languish in their files.  The rules have been relaxed, and it is now simply a showcase for your photos, new or old, good or bad, although nothing rude, please.  It is now hosted by Elephant's Child.     

Uncle J, Dre, and Bryn being at the house meant that Grandma and Grandpa were also hosting their dogs as company for Lulu.  None of the pups really wanted to look at the camera:

Grandma has gone on an ordering spree lately, she got several packages yesterday.  She'd getting Christmas presents, and new pots for her plants.  She's already gotten some of them ready for occupancy:

Other pictures from Grandma's house:

Home made upside down tomato planter.

How the artist props open her stubborn drain.

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Today is:

Brumalia -- Byzantine Empire celebration of Dyonisus and New Wine Festival; until the solstice

Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day -- there used to be a website associated with this day, but it closed; that's no reason for you not to celebrate your uniqueness!

Celebration of Christ The King -- Christian (final Sunday of the Ecclesiastical Year) related observance

     Stir Up Sunday -- the day to get your Christmas plum pudding started

Celtic Tree Month Ruish (Elder) begins

D.B. Cooper Day -- anniversary of the 1971 hijacking

Discovery Day -- Tasmania (by Abel Tasman in 1642) 

Feast of the Martyrs of Vietnam -- Roman Catholic Church

Guru Tegh Bahadur Martyrdom - Sikh

Handel's Messiah Sing-Along -- East Room of the Nixon Library, Yorba Linda, CA, US (two seatings available for this beautiful and enjoyable event, singing along with a master choir and orchestra)

Lachit Divas -- Assam, India

Mother Goose Parade Day -- El Cajon, CA, US (kicking off the holiday season with good, family fun)

National Farm-City Week -- US (on the week of Thanksgiving, remember that it's the farmers, ranchers and growers who supply your celebratory foods)

National Sardines Day -- wonder how this would go over next to the turkey today?

Persephone Day (a/k/a Kore -- Ancient Greek Calendar (celebration of her as wheel goddess of the underworld; date approximate, but she is often associated with St. Catherine)

Ragtime Day -- birth anniversary of Scott Joplin

St. Colman of Cloyne's Day (Patron of Cloyne, Ireland)

St. Joachim Ho's Day -- a Martyr of China

St. Mary of Cordoba's Day (Patron of martyrs)

Teacher's Day -- Turkey

Third Bash of the Tree-Toppers -- Fairy Calendar (fairy creatures who don't believe in "one" or "two", so start counting at three)

Totensonntag/Ewigkeitssonntag -- Germany (Sunday of the Dead/Eternity Sunday; a general celebration and memorial of all who have died, decreed to be celebrated in Lutheran Churches by King Frederick William III of Prussia in 1816)

Use Even If Seal is Broken Day -- internet generated; observe at your own risk, always!

Birthdays Today:

Miley Cyrus, 1992

Katherine Heigl, 1978

Brad Sherwood, 1964

Stanley Livingston, 1950

Rudy Tomjanovich, 1948

Dwight Schultz, 1947

Oscar Palmer Robertson, 1938

William F. Buckley, Jr., 1925

Howard Duff, 1913

Charles "Lucky" Luciano, 1897

Dale Carnegie, 1888

Erich von Manstein, 1887

Alben William Barkley, 1877

Scott Joplin, 1868

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, 1864

Bat Masterson, 1853

Frances Hodgson Burnett, 1849

Bram Stoker, 1847

Zachary Taylor, 1784

Laurence Sterne, 1713

Charles Theodore Pachelbel, 1690

Baruch Spinoza, 1632(O.S. date)

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Guys and Dolls"(Musical), 1950

Softball, as a sport, invented this day as a spur of the moment game at the Farragut Boat Club in Chicago, IL, US, 1887

Today in History:

Theodosius I makes his formal entry into Constantinople, 380

Rabbi Nathan ben Yehiel of Rome completes his Talmudic dictionary, 1105

The Thames River freezes, 1434

First observation of transit of Venus occurred (only 2, record event), 1639

Abel Janzoon Tasman becomes the first European to see Van Damien's Land, later renamed Tasmania, 1642

First Lutheran pastor ordained in America, Justus Falckner at Philadelphia, 1703

Mt. Vesuvius erupts, 1759

Charles Darwin publishes "On the Origin of Species", 1859

Luik-Visé-Maastricht railway opens, 1861

Joseph F Glidden patents his improved barbed wire, 1874

The first US absentee voting law enacted by Vermont, 1896

Clyde Coleman of NYC patents automobile electric starter, 1903

Radio Belgium makes its first transmission, 1923

The first woman pilot on a transcontinental air flight, Miss Ruth Nichols (Mineola, NY to Calif), in a Lockheed-Vega, took 7 days, 1930

In Washington, D.C., the FBI Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory (better known as the FBI Crime Lab) officially opens, 1932

Lee Harvey Oswald is murdered by Jack Ruby, 1963

During a severe thunderstorm over Washington state, a hijacker calling himself Dan Cooper (AKA D. B. Cooper) parachutes from a Northwest Orient Airlines plane with $200,000 in ransom money, and is never seen again, 1971

A national speed limit is imposed on the Autobahn in Germany due to the 1973 oil crisis; it lasts only four months, 1973

The communist party resigns in Czechoslovakia, 1989

By a margin of only 50.28% t 49.72%, Ireland votes to end the 70 year old ban on divorce, 1995

Ireland presents its austerity package to the European Union and IMF, 2010

Palestinian officials announce their plan to exhume the body of Yasser Arafat to determine if he was poisoned, 2012

Fun All Around

The dog parade came to share our Christmas yesterday.

Christmas was a grand celebration, everyone in the family was there.  Gifts of all kinds and sorts were exchanged, from the fun and silly, like the pin i now own

Tinkerbell is fun, and i'd love to sprinkle some pixie dust sometimes!

to the practical, like umbrellas and new shirts, to the unneeded but much enjoyed iTumes gift cards.

Also, we had four dogs.  Sadie lives at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and Uncle J brought his 3, and so everywhere we turned, there were dogs.

Dogs in the kitchen, wondering when the fun starts.

Dogs in the dining room, waiting for a treat.

They enjoyed the day as much as we did, especially Sadie.  She loves to see her "cousins," always trying to keep up with them.

Being an only dog can get lonely, it's nice to have a friend to let your tongue hang out with!

Today we have #2 Son's wedding, where Fiancée Becky will become DIL Becky.  Everyone who was at the Christmas celebration will be there, with the exception of the dogs.  This morning, i'm running to a store to buy #1 Son a nice pair of pants to wear, since he's the best man.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute, is there?  He only asked me yesterday if i could get them!

It's going to be a great day.

Today is:

Awful Tie Day -- internet generated, go to the office and compare who got the worst tie as a gift

Blessing of the Wine -- Greiveldange, Luxembourg (winemakers parade to the church to have a barrel of wine blessed)

Boxing Day -- day on which boxes of goodies are given to the less fortunate or public servants, and sometimes servants and masters traded places for the day

Coffee Percolator Day -- patented by James Mason on this day in 1865

Day of Goodwill -- Namibia; South Africa

Day of Our Theotokos /  Synaxis of the Most Holy Mother of God -- Byzantine/Eastern Orthodox Christian

Family Day -- Namibia; Vanuatu

Holiday Magic Days -- Mystic Seaport, CT, US (reduced admission to fun, entertainment, crafts, and the lore of the sea; through Jan. 1)

Independence and Unity Day -- Slovenia(1990)

J'Ouvert -- Saint Kitts and Nevis (carneval-style street party for Boxing Day)

Junkanoo (Junkanoo Jonkanoo, Jankunu, John Canoe or Johnkankus) -- Carribean Islands, also on New Years Day (A special music and dance, mime and symbol that is an early traditional dance form of African descent.)

Kwanzaa, Day 1, Umoja (Unity)

Mauro Hamza Day -- Houston, TX, US (United States Fencing Association Foil Director)

Mummer's Day -- Padstow, Cornwall

National Candy Cane Day

National Thank-you Note Day

National Whiner's Day™ -- a day to encourage people to be happy with what they have; the previous year's worst whiners are announced (you don't want to be one!) http://www.nationalhuggingday.com/national_whiners_day_tm_-_december_26th

Proclamation Day -- South Australia (day South Australia was established as a Province in 1836 by royal Proclamation

Recyclable Packaging Day -- started by someone who wants to remind us to gather up the reusable bags, boxes, etc., left from the holiday, and recycle the rest

Second Day of Christmas

Sports Days -- Falkland Islands (through the 28th, with the Boxing Day race at Stanley being the most famous part of the celebration)

St. James the Just's Day -- Orthodox Christian

St. Stephen's Day (Patron of casket makers, deacons, horses, masons, stone masons; Patron of over 80 cities throughout Italy; Kessel, Germany; Metz, France; Owensboro, KY; Toulouse, France; against headaches)
     Public Holiday in Alsace, France; Andorra; Austria; Catalonia; Croatia; Czech Republic; Germany; Holy See; Hong Kong; Ireland; Italy; Liechtenstein; Luxembourg; Poland; San Marino; Slovakia; Spain (regional); Switzerland (regional)
     Celebrated as Father's Day -- Bulgaria
     Day of the Wren -- Ireland; Isle of Mann (costumed mayhem)

Tehuantepec Festivities -- Oaxaca, Mexico

Thanksgiving Day -- Solomon Islands

Zarathosht Diso (Death of Prophet Zarathushtra) - Zoroastrian


Anniversary Today:

Rodney Dangerfield weds Joan Child, 1993
Establishment of Shenandoah National Park, VA, US, 1935


Birthdays Today:

Chris Daughtry, 1979
Jared Leto, 1971
Lars Ulrich, 1963
David Sedaris, 1956
Ozzie Smith, 1954
Carlton Fisk, 1947
John Walsh, 1945
Phil Spector, 1940
Alan King, 1927
Steve Allen, 1921
Richard Widmark, 1914
Mao Tse-tung, 1893
Henry Miller, 1891
Charles Babbage, 1791
Laurent Clerc, 1785
Juan Lovera, 1778
Thomas Nelson, 1738
Thomas Gray, 1716


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Do re mi"(Musical), 1960
"The Glass Menagerie"(Play), 1944
"Of Thee I Sing"(Musical), 1931
Judy Garland, as Baby Frances, makes her stage debut at age 2 1/2, singing Jingle Bells on the vaudeville stage, 1924
"Tragic Overture"(Brahms' Op. 81), 1880

Today in History:

Columbus founds the first Spanish settlement in the New World by leaving behind 36 men in what is now Haiti, 1492
The final trial of Louis XVI of France begins, 1792
A theater fire in Richmond, Virginia kills the Governor of Virginia George William Smith and the president of the First National Bank of Virginia Abraham B. Venable, 1811
The Erie Canal opens, 1825
Gilbert and Sullivan collaborate for the first time, on their lost opera, Thespis. It does modestly well, but the two would not collaborate again for four years, 1871
King Mwanga of Uganda signs a contract with the East Africa Company, 1890
Marie and Pierre Curie announce the isolation of radium, 1898
FM radio is patented, 1933
Time Magazine's Man of the Year is for the first time a non-human, the personal computer, 1982
The Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union meets and formally dissolves the USSR, 1991
A 9.3 magnitude earthquake creates a tsunami causing devastation in Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Maldives and many other areas around the rim of the Indian Ocean, killing over 250,000 people, 2004
Brazil overtakes the United Kingdom as the world's sixth largest economy, 2011

Visiting

Right before Thanksgiving, my friend DiDreaming came to our house to visit.  She invited me to come see her, and we made plans for the weekend between Christmas and New Years.

Friday morning, i ran my last minute errands and went to Trader Joe's to get her some Two Buck Chuck, because there is no TJ's yet in her area, although i hold out hope for some time in the next couple of years.  Meanwhile, she had enjoyed it when visiting California a few years back, so i brought her some, and got some dog treats for the Terrorist Terrier (the Yorkie), as well as the geriatric Golden Lab and Doodlebug, the medium sized mixed something or other that this person so ignorant of dog breeds couldn't fathom in a year of trying.

Then home to make the post-Christmas gumbo, and packing, and feeding the cats at the shelter.  Finally, finally, on the road with Bigger Girl.

We listened to Spanish lessons on CD, and music, and discussed the philosophy of David Bowie's music.  The trip didn't take long, we are used to making a trek right past this area every June on the way to the annual family vacation.

She gave me the best directions, and has a great sense of humor, so i will quote them (with the actual numbers X'ed out for privacy):



Get on I-XX come East, cross the XXX and it's the 2nd exit from there I don't know if it's a county road or a state Hwy but it's XXX. Turn right. Go South to XX (There's a light, a service station, a vegetable market, a white house, and a wine store on the 4 corners (There is a light) Turn Left, go past a white church and TWO storage building units and by the 2nd storage facility there WAS a pecan grove.. all the trees have been pushed down now getting ready for building something more important than trees.. it's kind of sad. Anyway that's County Road XX, turn right. Go to the 2nd neighborhood entrance on your right and turn right. Pass the entrance and turn left onto E. Circle. It's the 3rd house on your left. There is a white light up dog on the front porch and a fountain in the front flower bed. It's really easy to find but if you have trouble you have my phone number.

We knew for certain we were in the right place because the Terrorist Terrier, in her Christmas dress, was running around the front yard waiting for us.

The Terrorist Terrier

No, i have no clue what kind of dog this is, just that she's medium sized.

A beautiful old Lab.

We arrived to Di cooking a wonderful dinner, and talked until very late.  Then i was shown a beautiful bedroom, and slept well until the smoke alarm decided to start chirping.

The offending smoke alarm

Luckily, there was a ladder nearby:

Who keeps a ladder next to the closet in the bedroom?

Once Di got me a new battery, i got to climb a ladder!

Anyway, Saturday morning i didn't just change the battery in the smoke alarm -- i also let the dogs in and out in the rain, and dried them with an old towel.  Again, i'm reminded of why i love dogs, but do not have one.

At one point during the day, i got a strange message from my mobile phone carrier, saying they were sorry our call was interrupted.  But i hadn't called them, so i called, and was told everything was okay.  Somehow, i didn't believe it, and when i later couldn't send a text, i called again.

It turned out someone was trying to change my phone number over to an IPhone.  Since i don't own one of those, i filed a fraud report and changed the pass code on my account and had them put a note on my account not to make any changes unless i come in to a store and do it in person and show an ID.  If that doesn't stop them, i'm not sure what else i could do.

We didn't let it ruin our day, as i called to take care of the phone trouble.  Saturday afternoon, we had lots of fun wandering around some nice shops, and we went to the Publix (which we don't have back home) and got Sweetie some of the huge bowls they carry that he loves.  We also went to a charity shop, where i saw two of the ugliest pieces of furniture i've ever seen.

Ugly.

Even uglier!

Close-up of ugly,

And yes, ugly was already sold.  Can you see this in your house?  Ugh.

We had a fun afternoon, then went back to Di's house for the evening, and her grandsons made brownies and the dogs begged for treats and we all just enjoyed each other's company.



Today is:

Constitution Day -- Ireland

Enjoying ESP Day -- internet generated, and it means eating, sleeping, and partying!

Fifth Day of Christmas

Illegal Pants Day -- commemorates Emma Snodgrass' arrest in Boston in 1852 for wearing pants

Kwanzaa, Day 4, Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)

National Chocolate Again Day -- because someone, somewhere, believes it can't be chocolate something-or-other day often enough

Paternoster Row Day -- in memoriam of the famous area destroyed by the Blitz this date and tomorrow in 1940

Pepper Pot Day -- Pepper Pot Soup was invented today in 1777 at Valley Forge for the army to have something warm to eat

Sacrifice to Zeus Horios -- Ancient Greek Calendar (sacrifice in the deme of Erichia; date approximate)

St. Gabriel's Day -- Ethiopia

St. Thomas of Canterbury's Day (Thomas a Becket, Patron of clergy, secular clergy; Exeter College, Oxford, England; Portsmouth, England)

St. Trophimus of Arles' Day (Patron of children; Arles, France; against drought)

Tick Tock Day -- end of the year is getting closer, stop putting off your dreams! sponsored by Wellcat Holidays

Yodel in the Shower Day -- internet generated, and i promise not to tell if you do


Anniversaries Today:

J. Paul Getty, Jr., weds Victoria Holdsworth, 1994Texas becomes the 28th US State, 1845


Birthdays Today:

Jude Law, 1972
Bryan "Dexter" Holland, 1966
Patricia Clarkson, 1959
Paula Poundstone, 1959
Ed Autry, 1954
John Polito, 1950
Ted Danson, 1947
Marianne Faithfull, 1946
Jon Voight, 1938
Mary Tyler Moore, 1936
Klaus Fuchs, 1911
Billy Mitchell, 1879
Pablo Cassals, 1876
William Gladstone, 1809
Andrew Johnson, 1808
Charles Goodyear, 1800


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Thunderball"(Film, UK release), 1965
"The Andersonville Trial"(Play), 1959
"The Adventures of Kathlyn"(Film, first movie serial), 1913


Today in History:

Thomas a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently becomes a saint and martyr in the Anglican Church and the Roman Catholic Church, 1170
The first nautical almanac in US published by Samuel Stearns, Boston, 1782
Gas lights are installed at White House, during the Polk administration, 1848
The first Young Men's Christian Association chapter in the US opens, in Boston, 1851
Emma Snodgrass is arrested in Boston for wearing pants, 1852
The first telegraph ticker used by a brokerage house, Groesbeck & Co, NY, 1867
The Wounded Knee Massacre takes place, 1890
Edison patents "transmission of signals electrically" (radio), 1891
Mongolia gains independence from the Qing dynasty, 1911
The first movie serial, "Adventures of Kathlyn," premieres in Chicago, 1913
Fred P Newton completes longest swim ever (1826 miles), when he swam in the Mississippi River from Ford Dam, Minn, to New Orleans, 1930
Physicist Richard Feynman gives a speech entitled "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom", which is regarded as the birth of nanotechnology, 1959
Filming began on Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey in England, 1965
Riots break-out after Hong Kong decides to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese refugees, 1989
Guatemala and leaders of Guatemalan National Revolutionary Union sign a peace accord ending a 36-year civil war, 1996
Leaders of the Khmer Rouge apologize for the 1970s genocide in Cambodia that claimed over 1 million lives, 1998
The last known speaker of Akkala Sami dies, rendering the language extinct, 2003