Happy Independence Day!

Enjoy a wonderful 4th of July!

See the USA through your camera!

To honor the day the US Interstate Highway System was instituted, and Camera Day, look at pictures from your last trip. Or look on the internet for pictures of places you'd like to visit. Or watch this 1952 video and "See the USA in you Chevrolet".

Take time to celebrate:
6/30  Meteor Day, Emile Blondin crossed Niagara Falls on a tightrope, President Lincoln signed the Yosemite Land Grant (more places to visit!)

7/1  Canada Day, First U.S. Zoo Opened, July Belongs to Berries Month, National Anti-Boredom Month (Bored? Go to the zoo or make a berry shortcake!)

Chocolate Pudding Day!

Today is National Chocolate Pudding Day! Make some pudding! Find new things to do with it! Once, my mom was an aide in a preschool and they had a little boy who would not get his hands dirty. No sand play, no finger painting, nothing. After talking to his mom they discovered his hands had been badly burned when he was very small and he was used to being told not to get his hands dirty. The teacher's solution, after his parents told him it was okay to get his hands dirty? Finger paint with chocolate pudding! So finger paint with chocolate pudding! Freeze it in popsicle molds and make fudgesicles! Today is also the day the bicycle was patented, so go ride your bike and have fudgesicles afterward!

Take time to celebrate:
6/27  Sunglasses Day, "Happy Birthday to You" composed, Helen Keller's birthday
6/28  World War I began and ended 5 years later (1914-1919), the U.S. bought the Panama Canal from France, Paul Bunyan Day (so tell some tall tales!)

Happy Birthday - NOT!

I would like to wish my father a happy birthday today! Over the years, he's had his share of unhappy birthdays. He moved to a new town on his birthday, his eldest daughter totaled a car while he and her mom were in another city visiting her college, same daughter (hi!) is having minor surgery today, etc.
But I do hope today will be a happy day for him.
Today is also "Let it Go" day - see, now you'll have a happy tune stuck in your head all day - no need to thank me. Its also National Pink day, so celebrate by wearing pink, eating something pink, chewing pink gum and having a bubble blowing contest, or anything else to do with PINK!

Take time to celebrate:
6/24 UFO Day, First report of "Flying Saucer," Sally Ride, first woman astronaut, lands on earth after her tour on the space shuttle Challenger (space theme, anyone?)
6/25 Table forks were introduced to America, barbed wire patented, toothbrush invented, first color TV show broadcast

Father's Day & Longest day of the year!

Tomorrow is Father's Day! Hooray for every man who does the job of a father! It also happens to be the longest day of the year, also called the summer solstice. Technically, it is the first day of summer, but since conventionally summer starts on Memorial Day or the Last Day of School (yes, last day of school gets major holiday status, I'm a teacher,) I think it's more fun to celebrate the longest day of the year with a really late night party! Bring the OFF, light the citronella candles and torches, and play until the sun goes down. One year, my mom's best friend organized a neighborhood water fight with water guns, and balloons. There was a little plastic wading pool set up in the front yard to refill guns. Some of the older kids (not saying it was my idea, not saying it wasn't) decided to pick up the pool and dump it on the dads, who were sitting right on the other side of the fence. My father, having good hearing, instincts and years of thwarting kids planning mischief, moved. The other dads didn't.

Take time to celebrate:
6/20 Eat an Oreo Day, Ice Cream Soda Day, West Virginia becomes a state
6/21  Father's Day, Summer Solstice (First Day of Summer)
6/22  Birthday of the donut and Anne Morrow Lindberg

Adopt a Cat Month

June is National Adopt a Cat Month, and my daughter just adopted a cat! His name is Lysander, and he is training to be a service cat and help my daughter with her anxiety and PTSD. He has an excellent temperament for it, being very calm and not scared of anything, including the part pit bull, part German Shepard that also lives at the house. He seems to enjoy going out in public and visiting other places. She adopted him through Kitty Save, a local non-profit no kill shelter. If you're in the North Texas area and you'd like to help cats, click on the link and it will take you to the shelter's website. Fact I didn't know: St. Gertrude is the patron saint of cats.

Take time to celebrate:
6/18  International Picnic Day, Go Fishing Day
6/19  World Sauntering Day, Juneteenth

Flag Day!

Today is Flag Day! If you have a flag, please fly it today. If you don't have one, at least salute one that you see. I was privileged to see (with my mom and dad) the replica Star Spangled Banner from Fort McHenry. That thing is huge! I understand how they could see it from a good distance now. If you need a good book to explain Flag Day and the importance of our national traditions, check out The Star Spangled Banner by Peter Spier. Today is also Family History Day, so why not create a flag with your family (or have each member of the family make a flag) that shows your history, just like many state and national flags.

Take time to celebrate:
6/15  Native American Citizenship Day, Arkansas becomes a state
6/16  Fresh Veggies Day, Cracker Jacks introduced, No Orange Clothes Day