Fancy that....

 My west coast brother felt that I should know that today is "Fancy Rat and Mouse Day."  Although I am not at all fond of rats or mice, I felt I should look into this.  

The day was celebrated, beginning in the 80's, to encourage people to consider adopting these 'intelligent and affectionate domesticated rodents' as pets.  They do have some good points, I guess.  They are small, don't have to be taken for a walk, don't eat much, and don't smell bad as long as you keep their cages clean, but I don't ever remember them being particularly affectionate.

Charlotte, on the other hand could be very affectionate.  She would curl up in my lap and let me pat her.  Charlotte was a boa constrictor. Not a very large one, only about four feet long.  She came home to live with us one summer.  My daughter and her boyfriend at that time, had purchased Charlotte as a pet during their sophomore year in college.  Her boyfriend's mother absolutely refused to have a snake in her house, so she spent the summer with us. 

Charlotte stayed in a large terrrarium most of the time and it was down in our basement family room, so she really was no trouble. Her 'pet parents' kept her living quarters cleaned and made sure she was fed and watered.  It was the feeding procedure that I was reminded of when I learned what special day today was.

About once a week my daughter would go to the pet store and bring home a little white box with the sentence "Somebody loves me.  I'm going home." printed on the outside.  

Well, it was true.  I'm not sure if they were fancy or not, but Charlotte did love those mice.  I will spare you the details of her dinner manners.

Armistice Day

 Today, November 11, was originally called Armistice Day, to commemorate the end of fighting and the signing of the armistice between Germany and the Allied Forces in 1918, bringing an end to World War I.  

On June 1, 1954, President Eisenhower officially changed the name to Veterans Day to honor all veterans, not just those who served in WWI.  At that time it included veterans of WWII and the Korean War, which ended on July 27, 1953, and veterans of previous wars.

While I honor all veterans, on this day I like to remember those most closely related to me.  My family tradition includes a veteran of the Revolutionary War.  My first husband's father served in WWI.  My father served in WWII.  My first husband served during the Korean Occupation, after the end of the Korean War.  My oldest brother served in the Army in Viet Nam, my west coast brother was in the Air Force, my brother-in-law served in the Army, my wonder spouse designed and developed munitions and missiles, my daughter and her first husband served in the Army in Desert Storm.  She and her second husband served until very recently in the Air National Guard with several deployments.  

Those are the veterans I honor today and I celebrate the fact that none of them were killed in action.  My oldest brother did have his ankle badly broken in Viet Nam.  He was an MP and was breaking up a bar fight when it happened.  Because of that injury, he got sent home much earlier than we expected.  We all thought that was a very good break (pun intended).

Happy Birthday dear daughter...

 Today is my daughter's birthday.  She is my youngest child, therefore she will always be my baby, even though she is 53 today.  She has had an eventful life, happily full of many more good times than bad.  I remember the day of her birth quite clearly, although she tells me she has no memory of the event.  I was only in labor for three hours.  She was always in a hurry. 

Her childhood was normal, or at least I like to think so.  She had girlfriends, she did well in school and she had a steady boyfriend in highschool (her first true love).  She never did drugs, although she did get her first tattoo, and her first piercing when she went off to college. 

She married her college sweetheart (the coach of the co-ed Rugby team on which she played).  After college they both joined the army. After several years of service, including time in Iraq, she retired from full time military service but joined the Air National Guard.  She had two children, a boy and a girl, my adorable grandchildren. Her first marriage ended in divorce, but her father and I were there to help her pick up the pieces.  Now she is happily remarried to a wonderful man who is a loving step-father to her children.  

In her 40s my daughter surprised me by going back to school.  She graduated top of her class as a Surgical Technologist, and has worked in that field, very successfully, for the last ten years.  

This year she embarked on her favorite career so far.  She is a grandma, and the full time baby sitter for her adorable grandson.       I think she would agree that it's been a good life so far, and there are so many great times still to come.  

Happy birthday my darling daughter. 

Here she is at 52, with her handsome husband and that adorable grandson (my great grandson, of course).

an example

 My west coast brother has informed me that today is "National Chaos Never Dies Day." I sensed a truism there so I decided to look into this a little more deeply.  Here is the explanation I found:

This unofficial holiday acknowledges that daily disorder, stress and unpredictability are a permanent part of life, rather than temporary problems to fix. Instead of fighting the madness, the day encourages people to take a breath, let go of things they cannot control, and find a moment of calm or humor amidst the routine.

I like this idea.  I find that taking a deep breath often helps me feel more relaxed and in control.  Sometimes it takes more than one breath. 

So, to add a moment of humor to your day, and celebrate the chaos in our lives, let me show you what my spouse and I are up to.

Does this look chaotic enough for you? My wonder spouse and I bought this 1000 piece puzzle on our recent trip.  It looked like it would be fun, but it is proving to be very tricky indeed, with odd shaped pieces that fit in at weird angles and very strange one eyed characters.  This is really all the chaos we need in our lives right now.

Such a day...

 
Today is an entertaining day.  First of all, according to my west coast brother, today is "Cook Something Pungent Day."  He also provided me with a word of the day - paronomasia.  

I'll get back to the word in a minute but first a comment on pungent food.  According to Google 'pungent' means 'having a sharp, strong or piercing smell or taste.'  It was probably good that I had never read that definition before I tried "Pungent Beef" at our favorite Chinese restaurant.  I get it medium spicy and it is soooo good.  I never order anything else for my main course.  

It is a guideline of mine, perhaps silly but I don't care, that if I discover a meal I really like at any given restaurant, I will order that same meal whenever I go there.  Examples are Stuffed Shells at Zianos, Chicken Palermo at Casa's,  Meatsa Pizza at B'Antonio's, the Bacon Cheeseburger kid's meal at Culver's, Lupita's Platter at Dos Margaritas, and, of course, Pungent Beef at Wu's.  But enough about food.

Paronomasia, my word of the day, which I admit I had never heard before, means a play on words or a pun.  Here's an example - The bicycles couldn't stand on their own - they were two tired.

Shakespere was quite a fan of paronomasia and you can find many examples in his works, if you listen carefully.  Here's one in Richard III. "Now is the winter of our discontent / Made glorious summer by this 'son' of York."  Son, sun -  get it?  One of my favorite directors use to say that Shakespear never used one word where ten would do. He did love his words. 

Here are some more contemporary examples of paronomasia (what a great word):

The computer ate my homework, it had a byte.

The astronaut's career was looking up. 

The archaelogist's career is in ruins.

The beekeeper married his Honey.

Enough.  I have spent ample time on this, which is appropriate since today is also "National Ample Time Day."

a good book...

A good book is a treasure.  One that you want to read over again is exceptional.  Those are the kind that you buy and keep on your shelf (if you're old fashioned like me).  There are other ways to keep and enjoy books.  My wonder spouse has a whole library on his Kindle, but I like to hold a book and turn the pages.  My library card is more important to me than my credit cards. 

When my west coast brother told me that today is "Book Lovers Day" I knew it was a day I must celebrate.  Added to that, he told me that today is also "National Bittersweet Chocolate with Almonds Day."  Now everyone knows that I am an unapologetic chocoholic.  

So after my spouse and I finished the necessary chores of the day (shopping for groceries and other necessities) I settled in for some cozy time of reading and indulging in just a little bit of really good dark chocolate. 

In case you're curious, the book I'm currently in the middle of is "Midnight at Marble Arch" by one of my favorite authors, Anne Perry. It's a murder mystery set in late 1800's London.  So now you know my deepest secrets.  I read for fun and I like historical fiction and murder mysteries.  Evidently I'm not alone.  Our local library has an extensive sellection of just such books.  

Books I treasure include the entire Harry Potter series, anything by Anne Perry, the Little House series, "A Town Like Alice" by Nevil Schute, and " The Cat Who..." series by Lillian Jackson Braun.  There are more, but those are the ones I can see on my bookcase shelves right now.  Happy Book Lovers Day everyone. 

 

Music...

 I am not musically inclined.  I've always said that, when I die, I'll know I've gone to heaven if I can carry a tune.  

My maternal grandfather could play several instruments 'by ear' never having taking any music lessons.  I remember him playing his harmonica, which was a nice easy instrument to bring along when he came to visit.  My mother had a good singing voice and played the piano. My father, on the other hand, sang in a monotone.  When he was in elementary school he was actually told by one of his teachers to just mouth the words. Guess which side of the family I take after? 

I blame some of my problems with singing with the seating arrangement in church.  I always sat between my mom and dad.  One ear was hearing good singing and one ear was hearing a monotone.  

Happily, the familial music genes (although they skipped right over me) attached themselves to my children and grandchildren.  When my west coast brother told me that today is "National Saxophone Day" I immediately thought of all the time I have spent watching my children and grandchildren perform in parades and competitions.  

My children and my daughter's children went to Carroll High School, a local school with an excellent music program which has developed over the years.  When my son and daughter were in band the band still marched in parades, and had just started going to band competitions. My first husband and I were 'pit parents' during those years, helping to get the non-marching instruments and equipment (xylophones, etc.) in position.  All the necessary equipment was hauled to the football games, where they did half time shows, and to competitions, in a trailer pulled by a pickup truck.  

By the time my grandson and granddaughter were marching, the equipment was hauled in a semi with the school name professionally painted on the sides. During their marching years I was very happy to just sit and watch the show.

By the way, none of my offspring ever played the saxophone.  The family instruments, passed down through the years, were clarinets, a base clarinet and trombones.