Well, here it is. Tonight is the Great Neighborhood Candy Exchange. You know, that night when all the kids dress up funny and the moms trade candy through their kids.
That's all it really has become, you know. Yes, it all started with Druid ceremonies and Day of the Dead stuff in many religions, or celebrations of Saints in others. It has all boiled down to, my kids want to dress up funny and go get candy. "Just one more house, please?"
Kind of keeps things in perspective, doesn't it?
Today is:
Admission Day, Nevada
Apple and Candle Night, Wales
All Hallow's Eve -- Christian
All Saint's Day, Sweden
Dookie Apple Night, Newcastle, England
Duck Apple Night, Liverpool, England
Feast to Pomona -- Ancient Roman Calendar
Festival of Inner Worlds
Ghost Walk
Ghostwriter's Day
Hallowe'en or Beggar's Night
Homemaker's Day
Increase Your Psychic Powers Day
Independence Day, Antigua
National Knock-Knock Joke Day
National Magic Day -- in honor of Harry Houdini, who died on this day in 1926
National Caramel Apple Day
National UNICEF Day
Old Celtic New Year's Eve
Reformation Day -- Protestant Christian
Samhain Eve -- Druids
Senior Absurdity Day at Horace Mann School
St. Quentin's Day
St. Wolfgang's Day (patron of carpenters and woodcarvers)
Thump-the-Door Night, Isle of Mann
Trick or Treat Night
Youth Honor Day
Birthdays Today:
Adam Horovitz, 1966
Peter Jackson, 1961
Larry Mullen, Jr., 1961
John Candy, 1950
Jane Pauley, 1950
Deidre Hall, 1947
David Ogden Stiers, 1942
Michael Landon, 1936
Dan Rather, 1931
Michael Collins, 1930
Barbara Bel Geddes, 1922
Dale Evans, 1912
Ethel Waters, 1896
Chaing Kai-shek, 1887
Juliette Low, 1860
John Keats, 1795
Jan Vermeer, 1632
Today in History:
Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites after their return to Jerusalem from exile, BC445
First All Hallows Eve observed to honor all the saints, 834
Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses on the Wittenberg church door, marks the beginning of the Protestant Reformation, 1517
Georg Ludwig van Hannover is crowned as the English King George I, 1714
Execution of Girondins at Paris during the Reign of Terror, 1793
Sir Humphrey Davy of London patents the miner's safety lamp, 1815
A standard uniform is approved for US Postal workers, 1868
A tropical cyclone hits Bengal, about 200,000 die, 1876
John Boyd Dunlop patents the pneumatic bicycle tire, 1888
Arthur Conan Doyle publishes "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes", 1892
Benito Mussolini becomes Premier of Italy, 1922
Mt. Rushmore sculptures are completed, 1941
Only the usual boredom to report today.
Cleaning the church, schoolwork, Sweetie working late, piano tuner coming this afternoon, feed/clean up after the cats at the shelter, wake #2 Son when he is sleepwalking again.
Plus the usual fold the laundry/cook the meals/fight the traffic stuff.
Meanwhile, the children carved their pumpkins. One has the initials of the latest pop singer who is a craze. One was carved to took like it was sick to its stomach, and has the "guts" of the pumpkin coming out of the mouth (they got the idea from Calvin and Hobbes). The third has a sneer, and a fake cigar coming out of its mouth.
I may be boring, but my kids...
Oh, and Happy Frankenstein Friday. Don't read that book unless you want to be very sad, and see life from a rather odd perspective.
Today is:
Buy-A-Doughnut Day
Chan Kom, Mexico
Covenant of Grace Day
Create a Great Funeral Day
Frankenstein Friday (Always the last Friday in Oct.)
Great Pumpkin Carve
Independence Day, Swaziland
Look in the Back of Your Refrigerator Day
Los Angelitos, Mexico
National Basketball Coaches Day
National Candy Corn Day
St. Dorothy of Montau's Day
Birthdays Today:
Gavin Rossdale, 1967
Diego Armando Maradona, 1960
Harry Hamlin, 1951
Henry Winkler, 1945
Grace Slick, 1939
Claude Lelouch, 1937
Robert Caro, 1935
Louis Malle, 1932
Ruth Gordon, 1896
Charles Atlas, 1893
Ezra Pound, 1885
Fyodor Dostoevsky, 1821
John Adams, 1735
Today in History:
Antioch surrenders to Rashidun Caliphate and his Muslim forces after the Battle of the Iron Bridge, 637
Launch of the 8th and final Crusade, 1270
King Henry VII, Tudor, crowned, 1485
Queen Isabella bans violence against Indians, 1503
The first Methodist church in the US is initiated (Wesley Chapel, NYC), 1768
Dr. Richard Gatling patents the machine gun, 1862
Founding of Helena, Montana (capital city), 1864
John Willis Menard, of Louisiana, becomes the first black elected to the US Congress (by special election, he was challenged by the loser, but was allowed to address Congress from the lectern), 1868
Daniel Cooper patents the time clock, 1894
Martha Hughes Cannon of Utah becomes the first woman US Senator, 1896
The first US Automobile Show opens in Madison Square Garden, NYC, 1900
It passed!
Even with the crack in the window. They are supposed to pass it if the crack is not interfering with the driver's line of sight. Good thing the inspectors usually go by their height, not mine! It does not interfere with me, either, but they might think it would, and I seldom drive that car anyway.
So, inspection took the last $18 in the house, and putting gas in it for the week took the remaining money from the account, so nobody better need anything at all paid today, or they will be searching couch cushions for change to pay for it.
Today is the day!
Sounds ominous, and for those of us who count every penny, it can be.
Today is the day I find out if the car #1 Son drives to school will pass inspection. If not, we are in deep.
There is a limit to how much flows in. There seems to be no limit to how much flows out. As Dave Ramsey says, the money comes in, it goes out, and only the names are changed to protect the guilty. Sweetie needs solvent for his project. The kids want Hallowe'en stuff. We have no milk in the house except the prepack cartons that Angel Food provides, and the kids don't like that stuff.
The piano tuner wants to come on Friday. If he has raised his rates again (3rd time in a row, if he has), I will have to go without that next time or find someone else.
Right now, just let the car pass inspection. One more time, please? If it does, I promise to celebrate the wacky Laughing holiday listed below, and ignore the Hide from Everyone day that I am tempted to invoke. Otherwise, dinner just might be nothing but a celebration of Oatmeal Day.
Happiness would be a fresh, new inspection sticker, to keep the policeman happy.
Today is:
Candies Day (They have to be kidding -- this close to Hallowe'en?!)
Hermit Day
Hide From Everyone Day (I know the feeling.)
Iroquois Feast of the Dead (held every 12 years)
Laugh Suddenly For No Reason A Lot Today Day (And end up either getting yourself and everyone around you in a good mood, or yourself being observed at the hospital in a padded room.)
National Disgusting Little Pumpkin-Shaped Candies Day
National Frankenstein Day
Oatmeal Day
St, Baldus' Day (patron of cattle and against family problems)
World Psoriasis Day
Birthdays Today:
Winona Ryder, 1971
Kate Jackson, 1948
Richard Dreyfuss, 1947
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, 1938
Bill Mauldin, 1921
Fanny Brice, 1891
James Boswell, 1740 (wrote the biography of Samuel Johnson)
Edmund Halley, 1656 (yes, that Halley, found the comet)--this is the date based on the OS calendar, often you will find his birthday listed as Nov. 8, because of the switch in calendar use.
Today in History:
First trial for witchcraft in Paris, 1390
Sir Walter Raleigh, adventurer, writer, and courtier, is beheaded, 1618
A severe earthquake shakes New England, 1727
The first Ohio River steamboat leaves Pittsburgh for New Orleans, 1811
Queen Victoria grants Cecil Rhodes rights to Zambezia, 1889
The first intercity trucking service, from Colorado City to Snyder, Texas, begins running, 1904
Turkey declares its independence as the successor state to the Ottoman Empire, 1923
The current dilemmas in our household:
Celebrate Hallowe'en on Saturday night, or go to the university football game? After all, Grandpa does spend a great deal providing us with season tickets. Then again, the opportunity to scare little kids in the neighborhood only comes once a year. It is also a good friend of Little Girl's birthday, so she wants to be with the friend.
Take Bigger Girl to volunteer at the Health Center tonight to help residents celebrate Hallowe'en, as her school has asked, which means picking her and Neighbor Boy up at school, bringing them all the way back home, turning around immediately and hurrying back out there with her even a further drive from our place to get her there on time. It is located in such a place that there is no convenient cross street from either the interstate or the state highway, it is an even further drive than her school, which is a 20 mile round trip from our house, and we have very little gas money. Or, Sweetie needs the van tonight to go to church band rehearsal. He had to miss last week, because of work, and they need for him to be there consistently so he can show reliability.
What to cook for dinner tonight -- beans again or figure out yet another way to cook ground beef?
Keep fighting the losing battles, or go back to bed? Since Sweetie decided to "help" this morning by pouring extra water through the coffee maker and ruining my coffee after pouring his own, bed sounds mighty nice.
Today is:
City of Riverside Founder's Day Festival, Riverside, Ohio
Folly Day
Fyribod (or Forebode) (Either way, whatever it is, it sounds forbidding)
Independence Day, Nationalist China
Milvian Bridge Day -- Christian
National Chocolate Day
National Holiday, Hungary
Ohi Day, Greece (Literally "No Day", celebrating resistance to Mussolini.)
Plush Animal Lover's Day
San Juan Capistrano Mission Pirate Festival
St. Jude's Day, (patron of desperate or hopeless cases -- the reason Danny Thomas chose this saint to invoke as patron of the hospital he helped found.)
St. Simon's Day
Time Day
Anniversaries Today:
Founding of Harvard University. 1636
Statue of Liberty dedicated, 1886
Birthdays Today:
Joaquin Phoenix, 1974
Julia Roberts, 1967
Daphne Zuniga, 1962
Bill Gates, 1955
Bruce Jenner, 1949
Dennis Franz, 1944
Charlie Daniels, 1936
Cleo Laine, 1927
Jonas Salk, 1914
Today in History:
Constantine the Great defeats Maxentius, 312
Battle of Yaunis Khan in which Turkish forces under the Grand Vizier Sinan Pasha defeat the Mameluks near Gaza, 1516
Battle of Amba Sel, in which Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi again defeats the army of Lebna Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia; the southern part of Ethiopia falls under Imam Ahmad's control, 1531
The first university in the New World, Universidad Santo Tomas Aquino, is established in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 1538
Harvard University is founded, 1636
Peruvian cities of Lima & Callao are demolished by an earthquake, 18,000 die, 1746
Eli Whitney applies for a patent on the cotton gin, 1793
The first railroad in Spain, between Barcelona and Mataro, is opened, 1848
Maimonides College in Pennsylvania is founded as the first Jewish college in the US, 1867
The Statue of Liberty is dedicated by President Grover Cleveland, and celebrated by the first ticker tape/confetti parade in NYC, 1886
An earthquake strikes Mino-Owari, Japan, kills 7,300, 1891
The St. Louis police try a new investigation method -- fingerprints, 1904
Czechoslovakia gains its independence in the break up of Austria-Hungary, 1918
The Volstead Act, passed by Congress over Wilson's veto, starts Prohibition, 1919
The first coast to coast radio broadcast of a football game, 1922
Tuesday, and the homeschool co-op dominates my thoughts.
Mississippi Mud Pie (as the recipe should go)
2 graham cracker crusts
8 oz cream cheese, at room temp
3/4 c sugar
8 oz whipped topping (use the rest of the tub for garnish)
1 pkg. chocolate instant pudding mix
1 pkg. butterscotch instant pudding mix
3 c milk
Mix the cream cheese, sugar, and whipped topping, spread in the crusts.
Mix the milk and puddings, let them thicken a moment, spread on top of the cream cheese mix.
Garnish with the whipped topping that is left over and serve.
As the recipe will go:
Quent will yank the mixer from Logan, trying to compare Logan's hair color (light blond) to the cream cheese, meanwhile, Faith and Hannah will hand mix the cream cheese with the sugar.
I will try to get them to mix the puddings at this time so it will thicken a bit while we spread the cream cheese mix. No one will be able to find the measuring cup I pulled from the cabinet because Jason hid it.
We will get the pudding made, and they will fight over spreaders. More will end up on their fingers than in the pies.
I will give up and only let the girls spread the puddings, showing them how to make the tops look pretty.
We will try to garnish the pies, only to find the boys went ahead and snacked on the rest of the whipped topping.
They will eat it all anyway, in about 30 seconds, and leave me to wash the spoons.
It's not on the level of Groucho Marx (see today in history), but it is slapstick, right in the church kitchen.
Today is:
American Beer Day
Angam Day, Nauru
Big Bang Day
Crack-nut Night
Cranky Co-Worker's Day
Dias de los Muertos begin, Mexico
Day of Peace
Good Bear Day
Independence Day, Turkmenistan, St. Vincent
Naming Day, Zaire
National Day, The Grenadines
National Potato Day
National Tell A Story Day, Scotland and UK
Navy Day
St. Frumentius' Day (patron of Ethiopia)
Swamp Buggy Race Day
Sylvia Plath Day
Tunch Pudding Festival -- Fairy Calendar
Birthdays Today:
Jayne Kennedy, 1951
Carrie Snodgrass, 1946
John Cleese, 1939
Ruby Dee, 1924
Roy Lichtenstein, 1923
Nanette Babray, 1920
Dylan Thomas, 1914
Emily Post, 1872
Theodore Roosevelt, 1858
Niccolo Paganini, 1782
Captain James Cook, 1728
Erasmus, 1466
Today in History:
Constantine the Great is said to have received his Vision of the Cross, 312
Founding of the city of Amsterdam, 1275
Founding of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1682
US Navy forms, 1775
Federalist Papers begin to appear in NY newspapers, 1787
R.H. Macy & Co. opens its first store, on 6th Ave. in NYC, 1858
Boss Tweed is arrested, 1871
The first published reference to "jazz" appears, in Variety, 1916
Chuhei Numbu of Japan sets the long jump record at 26'2 1/2", 1931
"You Bet Your Life," with Groucho Marx, premiers on ABC radio, 1947 (Ultimate result of this a few years later is, of course, the funniest line ever on tv, when a man with 8 kids admitted to Mr. Marx that he did indeed love his wife, and Groucho countered with, "I love my cigar, too, but I take it out of my mouth sometimes!")
It is becoming obvious, from a few subtle hints (like nighttime temperatures in the 40*F range) that winter is on the way.
Oh, joy.
That time of year where my skin is so dry, I can watch it flake.
That time of year where I wake up and have no motivation to move, because it is so cold.
The time of year in which cold seems to suck all the pleasure out of life.
I keep saying I want a winter home in Tahiti, and I mean it.
How come there is a song about there being no cure for the summertime blues, when it is the winter blahs that really get to you?
Well, it could be worse, I guess.
I won't tempt the fates by mentioning how.
Meanwhile, tonight I just might howl at the moon (see the wacky holiday list below).
Also, history handed me a rather interesting thought (in the Today in History list below, having to do with the concurrent happenings of 1863).
Today is:
Exaltation of the Shellfish, Pontevedra, Spain
Feed the Birds Day, UK
Flag Day, Austria
French Food Festival
Horseless Carriage Day
Independence Day, Norway
International Red Cross Day
Mule Day
National Mincemeat Pie Day
Pumpkin Day
Top-Spinning Ceremony, Thailand
Worldwide Howl at the Moon Night
Birthdays Today:
Cary Elwes, 1962
Lauren Tewes, 1954
Hillary Rodham Clinton, 1947
Pat Sajak, 1947
Jaclyn Smith, 1947
Bob Hoskins, 1942
Jackie Coogan, 1914
Mahalia Jackson, 1911
Today in History:
Comet 55P/1366 U1 (Tempel-Tuttle) approaches 0.0229 AUs of Earth (2.1 million miles and 3.4 million kilometers)--marking the third closest approach of any comet to our planet in recorded history, 1366
First use of lead pencils, 1492
William Penn accepts the area around the the Delaware River from the Duke of York, 1682
The first Continental Congress adjourns in Philadelphia, and the Minute Men begin to organize in the colonies, 1774
The "Federalist Papers" are published, calling for ratification of the US Constitution, 1787
The French Directory, a five-man revolutionary government, is created, 1795
Hamilton Smith patents a rotary washing machine, 1858
Soccer football rules are standardized and rugby starts as a separate game, 1863
The Worldwide Red Cross is organized in Geneva, 1863
(Note: is this the beginning of the bumper sticker, "Give blood, Play rugby"?)
First use of a "getaway car" after a robbery in Paris, 1901
The first Soviet (worker's council) formed, St. Petersburg, Russia, 1905
Margaret Sanger arrested for the obscenity of advocating birth control, 1916
Mother Teresa founds her Mission of Charity in Calcutta, India, 1950
Posts
