Saturday, July 8, 2017

Thank Heaven for Young People!

Ten Things of Thankful


There's always something going on around this place, even when it feels like work and sleep is all i do.  Most of it is great stuff, the things for which i am thankful.

This week, it's the thankful for young people edition.

#1 Son loves to come have a conversation most days.  Yesterday his topic was "Death Star versus Borg Cube, which would win?"  It was fun talking that one out and hearing his arguments.  (Death Star, at least the way he sees it.)

Bigger Girl is feeling better over these last few days.  Last weekend was so difficult for her, i'm thankful she is smiling again.

#2 Son has been over a bit more often lately, and it's so nice to see him, even if it's just that he's here to take a nap between shifts at work.

Daughter-in-Law Becky has come over more often, too.  She likes the kittens, and she seems to be, i don't know, maybe a bit more mellow?  It can't be easy having a mother-in-law sometimes (i never had one, she died long before i met my Sweetie) and i am grateful she feels comfortable coming over here, and just seems friendlier.

Little Girl is gone on her two weeks of military training.  She is loving her military work, and is more certain than ever that she wants to be an army nurse.  It's such a treat watching her bloom.

Niece Bryn is now 17!  She is lovely and outgoing and it was such fun watching her joke around with my kids at the restaurant after the wedding.  Many families don't have such fun times, and i'm thankful we get along so well.

Nephew Dre is such a handsome chap, well behaved, he even cooperated with all the picture taking after the ceremony when he was hungry and could have gotten cranky and whiny.

Friend Chris is down on his luck again, and i'm thankful Mr. B, whom i help in his workshop every other Saturday, has agreed to hire him today along with me.  He will be cleaning out the "greenhouse" area, earning $10/hour, which he desperately needs.

Mike-Next-Door, who no longer lives next door but shares an apartment with friends, continues to be the best lawn person ever.  

Red-headed Alec, Sweet Sue, and yet-to-be-named baby boy are doing well.  Baby boy's due date in some time around Thanksgiving.  Alec is so very solicitous it's a delight to watch him, and he's working hard to learn as much as he can so he can move up at the store.

The young people help keep me young, and i'm thankful for every one of them, they enrich my life.

Why not list the people for whom you are thankful today and link up at Ten Things of Thankful.  You will find that gratitude makes a not-so-good day better and a good day great!


Today is:

Abbotsford Berry Festival -- Abbotsford, BC, Canada (enjoy berries at the height of the season, as well as music, clowns, games, a "berried" treasure hunt, and more, through tomorrow)

Art Fair on the Square -- Madison, WI, US (one of the Midwest's largest juried art fairs; through tomorrow)

Bald In - Bald Out Day -- sponsored by Bald Girls Do Lunch; if men can be bald and brazen, then women and children who cannot grow hair should bring bald INto their lives, and never feel on the OUTs!

Bohemian Club Annual Rites begin -- Bohemian Grove, CA US (if you are into conspiracy theories, this is supposedly when and where the male movers and shakers of the world meet for two weeks and decide the fate of the world for the next 12 months; the members of the club, including former presidents and other high level officials, do meet for a couple of weeks this time of year to have, among other things, a Cremation of Care ceremony)

Carver Day -- George Washington Carver National Monument, Diamond, MO, US

Celtic Tree Month Tinne begins (Holly)

Feast of St. Sunniva (Ancient Norse solar maiden Sunna's worship around this time of year was merged with the story of this medieval saint; Patron of Bergen, Norway and the Norwegian west coast)

Galicnik Svadba -- Galicnik, Macedonia (wedding festival, when one lucky couple gets to be married in a traditional "Galichka" style wedding, through tomorrow)

Harrison Festival of the Arts -- Harrison Hot Springs, BC, Canada (a celebration of the world of music, dance, theater, and visual arts; through the 16th)

Math 2.0 Day -- celebrating the intermingling of math with technology 

Nagoya Sumo Tournament -- Nagoya, Japan (one of the 6 major tournaments; through the 22nd)

National Milk Chocolate with Almonds Day

Old Crafts Day -- it's listed in a few places, but i can't find the history; Old time crafts, or old crafts you've had sitting around the house and never gotten done? If you have the latter, do them or toss them!

Olive Branch Petition Day -- the final attempt, by the 13 Colonies, to avoid a complete break with England in 1775

Pori Jazz Festival -- Pori, Finland (a major international music event with world class performances; through the 16th)

SCUD Day (Savor the Comic, Unplug the Drama) -- a good habit, on every day

Soapy Smith Wake -- held simultaneously in 5 locations from this evening through noon tomorrow, local time: 1.) Eagles Hall, Skagway, AK, US; 2.) Magic Castle, Hollywood, CA, US; 3.) The Tivoli Club (a reproduction of Soapy's Saloon in Denver, Colorado, US), Whitehorse Ranch movie lot, Landers, California, US; 4.) The Wizard's Club, Chicago, IL, US; 5.) The Lumber Baron Inn, Denver, CO, US (held by Soapy Smith Preservation Trust and Friends of Bad Man Soapy Smith, preserving the memory of one of the Wild West and Alaskan Gold Rush's most notorious con men, killed in a gunfight this day in 1898)*

Sodbuster Days -- Fort Ransom, ND, US (learn how rural North Dakotans lived in the early 1920s; through tomorrow)

Sts. Aquila and Prisca's Day

St. Kilian's Day (Patron of people with gout or rheumatism, whitewashers; Bavaria, Germany; Paderborn, Germany; Tuosist, Ireland; Wurzburg,Germany)

Stone House Day -- Hurley, NY, US (tour of several 250+ year old stone houses within 150-yards of each other)

Stroud International Brick and Rolling Pin Throwing Contest -- held simultaneously in the 4 cities called Stroud: Gloucestershire, England; Oklahoma, US; Ontario, Canada; and New South Wales, Australia (results are compiled internationally following the event)

Thangka Unveiling at Tashihungpo -- Tibet (Buddha Exhibition Festival, in which the large Thangka with the image of Buddha on it is unfolded in public) related observance
    Zamling Chisang -- Universal Prayer Day (to the Tibetan Deities, especially Samye Dolde)

Video Games Day -- do they really need a day?

Vitulatio -- Ancient Roman Calendar (when Vitula was given the first fruits of the earth)

White Cloud's Birthday and Tatanka (Bison) Festival -- National Buffalo Museum, Jamestown, ND, US (annual 3 day celebration of bison and their role in American history, near the birthday of White Cloud, the true albino bison born in 1996)

Ziegfeld Follies Day -- his first "Follies of 1907" opened on this day


*If you cannot make it to the Soapy Smith Wake in one of these locations, please at 9:15pm, your local time, have a glass of something grown-up and offer the traditional toast: "Relatives and friends, raise your glass.  Here's to Soapy's Ghost!"


Anniversary Today:

Prince Richard of Gloucester marries Birgitte Eva van Deurs, 1972



Birthdays Today

Jaden Smith, 1998
Sophia Bush, 1982
Milo Ventimiglia, 1977
Kathleen Robertson, 1973
Beck Hansen, 1970
Billy Crudup, 1968
Toby Keith, 1961
Kevin Bacon, 1958
Christopher G. Moore, 1952
Marianne Williamson, 1952
Anjelica Huston, 1951
Wolfgang Puck, 1949
Kim Darby, 1948
Raffi, 1948
Cynthia Gregory, 1946
Jeffrey Tambor, 1944
Steve Lawrence, 1935
Marty Feldman, 1933
Roone Arledge, 1931
Billy Eckstine, 1914
Nelson Rockefeller, 1908
Louis Thomas Jordan, 1908
Philip Cortelyou Johnson, 1906
Alfred Binet, 1857
John D. Rockefeller, 1839
Ferdinand von Zeppelin, 1838
Etienne De Silhouette, 1709


Today in History

Vasco da Gama sets sail on first direct European voyage to India, 1497
Charles II of England grants John Clarke a Royal Charter to Rhode Island, 1663
Battle of Restigouche – British defeat French forces in last naval battle in New France, 1760
The Olive Branch Petition is drafted by the Second Continental Congress as the Congress' last attempt to get King George III of Great Britain to reason with them, 1775
The Declaration of Independence has its first public reading, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and the Liberty Bell is rung, 1776
Chippewas turn over huge tract of land in Ontario to the United Kingdom, 1822
Commodore Perry sails into Tokyo Bay, 1853
The initial force of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police begin their March West, 1874
The first issue of the Wall Street Journal is published, 1889
St. John's, Newfoundland is devastated in the Great Fire of 1892
The Dow Jones Industrial Average reaches its lowest level of the Great Depression, bottoming out at 41.22, 1932
The United States Air Force accepts its first female recruits into a program called Women in the Air Force (WAF), 1948
Richard Nixon delivers a special congressional message enunciating Native American Self-Determination as official US Indian policy, leading to the Indian Self-Determination Act, 1970
The Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe creates the office of High Commissioner on National Minorities, 1992
NATO invites the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join the alliance, membership to become effective in two years, 1997
The Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program, 2011
Pope Francis condemns the 'global indifference' to the plight of immigrants who have drowned trying to reach Europe, 2013
The mission of the NASA Curiosity Mars rover begins, 2013

13 comments:

  1. That is a great thankful list. :) I hope all goes well with the girl becoming an army nurse. May Our Father always bless her with safety.

    "Stroud International Brick and Rolling Pin Throwing Contest" this one sounds like a fun one!

    Have a blessed weekend. :)

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  2. Lots of wonderful things to be thankful for. I never had a mother-in-law either, my husband's Mom died 15 years before I met him. I remembered to do my thankfuls today :)

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  3. I totally agree with you Mimi. The young people, mt daughter and her family are great for us especially my grandchildren.
    Have a great Saturday my friend. See ya.

    Cruisin Paul

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  4. Hi Mimi! I was delighted to discover this morning that both Suzanne and Ellen have followed you to our TToT blog with posts of their own! See, you are motivational as well as always inspirational! :-)

    I love your post about the young people who make your life meaningful, because when we get right down to it, it's the people we have in our lives that matter, far more than anything else we could name. We could lose everything tomorrow and if we still had our friends and loved ones we would be fine.

    It makes me happy that your kids live near you and like to drop by and stay in touch. A talk with Mom makes everything feel good! It is a testament to the relationships you've built with them. LOL at the Deathstar vs. Borg Cube though, I would be clueless on that one! :-)

    The hardest thing a mother experiences is seeing one of her children sad or hurting, I am so glad that Bigger Girl is smiling again!

    I know you have to be an awesome and non-interfereing mother-in-law, so I'm thinking that Becky will come to love you dearly over the years, we all mellow with time, or at least most of us do. I have had great relationships with past MIL's, it was their sons that were the problem. ;-) Papa Bear's mother passed years ago, but from all everyone tells me she and I would have gotten along fine.

    I am so proud of Little Girl following her heart, Nursing is an excellent career, though a hard working one. My daughter is a nurse in Nashville. My son truly came into his own after his time in the Air Force, he matured greatly, and received the education and training to be a great air traffic controller. He now works for the DoD.

    Your niece and nephew sound wonderful. All of mine are grown now, and all five are just awesome individuals, fun and smart and taking care of their lives and careers. I am so proud of them too! It doesn't seem that long ago that my kids and their cousins weren't that old. My son will turn 38 next week!!

    It was so kind of you to help Chris get a job helping to clean out the greenhouse. Every dollar earned is precious when you need it, and it's wonderful to find good people to help with jobs like that. Papa Bear has friends that are willing to help us with odd jobs and always grateful for the extra cash. I am grateful for them!

    I am so excited for that little boy due in November, and I know you are too. Parenthood changed us all for the better and it must be very fun watching him mature to be a great Dad. I am loving watching my son in the role of an awesome step-dad, it makes my heart happy!

    You are right that young people keep us young, they teach us new stuff, like technology, give us new perspectives, and their energy and laughter is contagious. You are truly blessed with all these lovely young people in your life! Have a wonderful week ahead, and an extra hour or two of feet-up time to relax too! XOXO

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  5. young is a joy and furure in each family. Love from Poland

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  6. That is such a good list of things to be thankful for. People in our lives are so wonderful. Lots to be thankful about. We are thankful for all of our kitties. Have a great day.

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  7. The Death Star could definitely destroy a Borg Cube, but the Death Star couldn't destroy ALL Borg Cubes and eventually the Borg would assimilate the Empire.

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  8. what a thought-provoking TToT. the trials and triumphs of the young(er) people. The situations and opportunities that you describe are things we can all identify with and remember going through (if we're lucky).
    nice one!

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  9. Love hearing about your family....makes me want to be adopted in! But let me say, the Borg cube is a newer, updated model....just sayin. Ivy/zoe

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  10. It is great you have regular quality (and quantity) time with your family.
    I have a new neighbors in the other half of the duplex. They look away everytime I look. I still have not formally me them.

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  11. It sounds like your home is an inviting one, and I'm sure it has a lot to do with your special spirit of accepting people as they are. Not only that, but you are surrounded by good and caring people.
    Young people do brighten our lives and in the process keep us feeling young too.

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  12. ahhhh....listing the people who one feels thankful for is pure genius. In the end they are really all that matter.
    And how I understand that even having your son there to grab a quick nap would be a joy.

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  13. Younger people do indeed keep us younger. I sometimes feel keenly aware that I am older than many (most) of my daughter's classmates' parents. But then again, having a child of that age certainly keeps me moving!

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