Dogging It

As often times happens when I was working on yesterday's blog I was reminded of another saying that my mother liked to use. The phrase "putting on the dog" has a rather lackluster origin. The definition some people believe states that "putting on the dog" came from a colonial custom of making shoes or gloves out of dog skin,but closer examination revealed the expression coming into use around the 1860s and refers to wealthy people with lapdogs. Queen Victoria was given lapdogs as gifts and they became popular in wealthy English families. It had become college slang by 1871,meaning :to make a flashy display,to cut a swell,much the same meaning as it expresses today. The phrases "putting on the Ritz" or "putting on airs" mean the same,but I am not clear on the connection to "putting on the dog".

Over,Under,Around...

I have been feeling under the weather since Saturday (first time since I retired that I have been the least bit sick,but I am on the mend now) and that made me wonder where the phase "Under the Weather" came from. Since retiring in 2005 I have had the time to take things out and examine them at my leisure,which brings me to what I found.
Most people know that the phrase means not feeling well,or things aren't going well,or it can even indicate drunkenness. The origin seems to refer to seasickness,from the days when ocean passage was the only form of transportation between continents. In bad weather many passengers would get sick due to the rocking and rolling of the ship (hey! maybe this is really where rock and roll came from!). Passengers would go below deck to avoid the weather (I've always heard being below deck makes seasickness worse) and where the motion was less noticeable. Therefore they were under the weather.

Christians 0,Lion 1

At least that is the score I am hoping for in an upcoming trial. A 29 year old woman was fired for becoming pregnant out of wedlock,or engaging in premarital sex,either way the end result was the same. The woman did sign a morality contract which included a provision to not engage in sexually immoral behaviour (what century is this?). At this point some of you might be thinking,well,if she broke the contract she deserved to be fired,but wait until you hear the rest of the story before you start casting stones. After the woman lost her job,they offered the job to her fiance...stop me if I'm wrong here,but wouldn't he have been every bit as immoral as the woman?
After reading further on the subject of religious schools firing employees for pre-marital sex,it turns out they are pretty much all over the board with their decisions on who is immoral and who is not. What I want to know is if they are such GOOD Christians what gives them the right to judge their fellow humans? At one school where the contract included drinking in public,sex before marriage and homosexuality a third of the faculty quit rather than signing the contract...Yeah Lions!

Easier Prey

Is nothing sacred? Just about everything,be it food or fowl,is genetically manipulated these days,and most of it is causing problems all the way from food allergies to digestion. It is understandable how it got started with scientists trying to solve the problem of growing more food for more people in less area,but the latest one I heard about doesn't seem to serve any purpose at all...unless of course they are trying to make sheep easier to find in the dark to prevent their predators from hunger? Researchers used a gene that produces a green fluorescent protein in jellyfish to make glow in the dark sheep. Again,why? Maybe there is a need for glow in the dark wool that I am unaware of...or if the meat also glows you could douse the lights at your next barbecue save power and eat by the glow of the lamb. It seems like there must be some better way to use their education that making things that don't serve a purpose,but maybe I am missing something?

How's That?

Today I want to share a word I ran across and found the definition a little on the confusing side. The word is "merkin": A pubic hair piece,yes that's right a toupee for your pubic hair. My first thought was who on earth would wear one? it seems like most people go the other way and try to rid themselves of pubic hair. Merkins were first used in the 1700's when mercury was used to treat sexually transmitted diseases,one of the side effects was loss of pubic hair. To disguise the condition a merkin was employed. But wait! it gets better...former president George Bush was constantly heard saying "ah am proud,to be a merkin citezin" (I am proud to be an American citizen). I have to admit,when it comes to unintentional laughs,the Bushes were hard to beat...not to be confused with beating around the bush. Never mind that the word bush is also slang for the pubic region. It all seems to make some kind of crazy sense now,or is that just me??

The Easter Bell

A book I recently read described the Easter Bell tradition in France,being the curious sort I wanted to learn more about the French Twist on this holiday. It turns out that it makes as much,or possibly more sense than the Easter Bunny. In fairness to the Bunny,I think it was brought on board because of the legendary rabbit fertility,thus symbolizing rebirth? In France (also The Netherlands and Belgium) church bells are silent as a sign of mourning for one or more days before Easter. The story that explains the silence says the bells fly out of their steeples to go to Rome,and return on Easter morning bringing both colored eggs and chocolate shaped rabbits and eggs. While I was looking for information on the Easter Bell I also found out that several countries in Europe also have Easter Fires which are sometimes topped with a doll representing Judas Iscariot. In The Czech Republic and Slovakia a tradition of spanking is carried out on Easter Monday. In the morning men spank the women in order to keep their health and beauty during the next year. In some regions the women get their revenge the next day when they pour a bucket of cold water on the men. You European readers probably know all this,but I had never heard of it before and am guessing some other U.S. readers had also missed out on this tidbit. Sorry I didn't time it right for Easter!

Face It

How do you tell if a person is approachable? I have often wondered about this because I am the person that other people will always stop and ask for help. It just happened a short while ago,I was out for a walk and a group of seniors stopped me wanting to know where the Film Museum was,luckily it was less than a block away as some of the group were not as mobile as others. This happens not only on my home turf,but places I travel to that I am not familiar with. I must either have a friendly face or an air of confidence about me,but I really couldn't tell you which. I was planning on finding some answers to include with today's blog,but I didn't find anything that explains this phenomena. There is plenty of information on how to tell if a person is not being truthful,is agitated,flirting or bored,but nothing describing why a person is singled out for assistance. If any of you readers have an explanation please let me know. I enjoy mysteries,but I also like having answers...after all it seems to be my trade!

This Ain't No Party

I thought I had misunderstood when they announced a one-way mission to Mars yesterday on the news. Who would want to sign up for that,I thought? and why should humans go to live on another planet after nearly ruining this one? (Which might be reason enough in itself.) After looking into it more closely it sounds more like a pipe dream than anything that will come to be. The apparent plan is to have habitation units assembled by robotic rovers,once completed the humans will launch from Earth in 2022 and become residents of Mars 7 months later,to live and work out their lives. The entire mission depends on corporation funding to the amount of $6 billion. The permanent stay does solve the problem of how to get back to Earth,simply by not planning to return,but it isn't clear how the lives there will be sustained. I am definitely going to count myself out of this mission!

Slug Fest

The regular readers amongst you know that I have a certain fascination for exotic animals,particularly the ones with unusual mating habits. The Japanese Sea slug is a perfect example of why I have this intense interest. The creatures are hermaphrodites,they possess both male and female organs which allow them to donate sperm and receive sperm at the same time,in itself that isn't that unusual. What sets these guys apart is 20 minutes after having sex the used penis falls off,but not to worry a brand new,never been used penis uncoils and replaces the discarded one within 24 hours. It is not known for certain why their equipment works in this fashion,but it is suggested that the penis also removes rival sperm from its partners previous matings and then disposes of the penis like a used syringe. Though other creatures also lose their penises after sex,the sea slugs are the only known ones who can re-grow their male parts.

Stoned or Stupid?

Sometimes it is a tough call whether some of the people that end up in jail are either stoned or stupid. The two options are not exclusive,and often times the people in question are both stoned and stupid.
I was going to write about two brothers in Kansas who decided to celebrate their winning lottery ticket by buying a stash of marijuana. While attempting to light the bong using butane lighter fluid,they blew up the family home. One brother was hospitalized with burns the other was arrested for marijuana possession. But wait!! It gets better with a local story!
A local rocket scientist that was either stupid or lazy,or possibly both (stoned is yet another option), decided they would rob the drive-up window at the Burger King. Apparently they didn't really think the plan through,or they did think it through to the best of their ability and decided if they didn't go inside they would be afforded a faster get away. I wonder if they thought the person at the window would just hand them a wad of cash,smile and ask if they wanted fries with that? or maybe,can I Super Size that for you? Needless to say it didn't go however they had envisioned it would go and they were arrested. I can't help but wonder if in addition to a robbery charge they were also cited with theft of service? or perhaps public stupidity?

Tax Dollars at Work

Most cities offer a selection of classes and activities for their inhabitants,but this one is WAY out there,even by California standards. In Oakland,CA the mayor decided to include a course in lock picking along with 40 other classes offered in a "Workshop Weekend". I have to comment at this point,how could anyone think this was a good idea? Even if it was in a low crime area why would the city want to in any way endorse this skill? The idea,as explained by the mayor was to assist people who accidentally locked themselves out of their homes. The 3 hour class description stated that students could either bring their own tools or purchase a set at the class. The mayor heard from constituents, to say the least, and apologized saying it strikes the wrong note when we are trying to bring down crime (no kidding?).

Pack,Peck...

Any vowel will work in the second position of p-ck,which begs the question why Pac-Man ended up with that name rather than PeckMan,PickMan,or PockMan. Pac-Man started life in Japan as Puck-Man which evolved from the Japanese word paku,meaning "chomp" (which also can support other vowels and still be common words). Given the closeness to an explicit four letter English word,arcade owners worried that vandals would alter the letter P making puck into a word not generally acceptable in public places. Still I wonder why Pac? he doesn't pack anything,he does look something like a puck,and he does peck or even pick at his prey,but I guess it was as close to what they wanted to call him as they could get.
Other Pac-Man trivia: within 15 months of its U.S. release fans spent over 1$billion in quarters. The ghosts in the game have both Japanese and English names. In Japan they started as Fickle,Chaser,Ambusher and Stupid. Their English names were Inky,Blinky,Pinky and Clyde. In 2010 Pac-Man was named the most recognized video game in the U.S.

Signature Scent,or...

The first thing that comes to my mind when someone says Devil Dog is a hard to find bakery treat consisting of 2 layers of devil's food cake with whipped cream in between and on top,with a cherry as the crowning piece. There are or maybe were,since the fate of Hostess Bakery is still not entirely decided,a Hostess snack cake that had the same name but not nearly the same quality. Okay,enough about treats before I make myself hungry!
Devil Dog is also another nickname for the U.S. Marine Corp,which is closer to what today's blog is really about. The USMC has a cologne named Devil Dog,it is called intense and brave,a finely crafted fusion of sandalwood,cedar and citric spices. Classic yet modern,the undeniable sophistication stands as a proud reminder of honor and tradition. Personally I am not big on colognes,most of them either make me sneeze or plug my head up,but this one sounds like a decent combination of scents and for the bonus a percentage of sales are contributed to the American Veterans Administration. I had never heard of this,but as it turns out there are several different products offered by the different branches of the military and they have even registered their trademark phrases such as "The Few. The Proud."

A Novel Approach

Have you ever read any Jack Reacher novels? The author is Lee Child,which is actually a pen name for a British author,Jim Grant. I accidentally stumbled onto his novels thinking he was Lincoln Child. One of the things I find interesting is Reacher owns nothing,he travels by either bus or hitchhiking and only wears the clothes on his back and carries a toothbrush in his pocket. His logic is that by not having a home he pays no rent/house payments,no insurance or taxes. Same deal applies to having a vehicle. When his clothes get dirty he simply buys more and throws the soiled ones away. For food he eats in diners and inexpensive restaurants. He has a savings account and also takes odd jobs. According to the storyline he travels in this fashion because of his childhood and the continual moves of a military family which was reinforced by his own years in the Army.
It sounds like an adventurous life and I enjoy the stories,but after giving it some thought I don't think I would like the nomadic life style for long,I would sorely miss my creature comforts.

Tasty Morsel

After reading extensive Dave Barry articles and books I would like to say,"only in Florida"...but since Florida has the highest population of seniors in the nation what are the chances of a youth services officer getting bitten by a police dog?
Police were searching for a burglary suspect in a wooded area when a police dog suddenly bit the youth officer in the crotch. The dogs are trained for a single powerful bite and can do considerable damage in seconds. The dogs are accepted into the program for their intensity and when the are actively working a scene their focus is on an objective and any distraction can become a target. They are trained for a full mouth bite (at 1,100 pounds pressure per square inch) and hold until they are told to release.
This may be in bad taste after the bombing in Boston yesterday,but that has never stopped me before. This story is an example of how anything can become a weapon,whether in the right or wrong hands,and a quick fix such as tighter gun control laws is not going to solve the war on terror,either foreign or domestic.

Imagination

Yesterday the sky was filled with white fluffy clouds,it reminded me of my youth when I could sit for hours finding objects in the various shapes. I sat briefly and watched the clouds hoping to have a picture revealed,just as I was about to give up I noticed what looked like a puppy crouching in front of an elongated mother dog,contented with my find I went back inside and resumed my day. Sadly I don't think even children give much thought or imagination to the clouds anymore,which brings me to the real subject of the day.
I had tuned in to watch the news at noon in preparation for the main attraction,"Who Wants To Be a Millionaire" which comes on directly after the news. My show was once again preempted by another disaster,but that isn't my complaint. My problem is the amount of attention the media gives the bombings,shootings and other acts of violence that seem to have become the norm...do you suppose the media ever stops to think why these things are becoming more commonplace? My theory on that is the ones amongst us that are less than mentally stable see these happenings as a way to achieve their 15 minutes of fame,and since they were never taught to use their imaginations for something as benign as finding shapes in the clouds they turn their full concentration to mayhem. I know I have expressed my feelings on this before and will likely do so again,if nothing else maybe just one person will be deterred from an act of violence and the death of innocent people. My thoughts go to those injured in Boston.

Real Answers

I read a couple of these early this morning and have been laughing every since. I hope I picked ones that everyone will find equally humorous.

Makes me wonder if this was Hannibal Lecter's test paper!



This one looked pretty hopeful until Mrs. Edwards started doing meth with the students!




I certainly hope this was supposed to read "My dad is the best cook ever!"

Watchers

I am a dedicated people watcher,most people are but some are hesitant to admit it. There is no shame in it,though most people don't like to be found out. Often times when I am out for a walk I notice that people watching seems to be a sport for dogs as well,and they feel no shame when they are noticed at their game. They will make eye contact and watch with purpose,even turning their heads to follow your progress. The question is what are they thinking as the watch the parade? Do they critique your gait,your hair,your clothes? Or do you suppose they can smell your scent even though they are inside a vehicle? Do they think you look like a nice person,or are they looking for a potential doggy parent for a homeless friend? The simple answer from people that have never really been around animals or got to know how individual each critter is would probably be that they aren't really thinking much of anything,just watching the motion of passersby to keep from boredom,but if it were that simple wouldn't they just curl up and take a nap if they were worried about becoming bored? Just a little something to give some thought to,or not if it doesn't rate high on your list of things to think about. I will go ahead and make up my own scenarios as is my habit.

Funny Story

The following is something I found in Urban Legends and is not my own writing. I have a couple of projects going today that prevent me from doing my regular thing,but I was in the mood for something humorous and this fit the bill.

A MAN was working on his motorcycle on his patio and his engine on the motorcycle and somehow, the motorcycle slipped into gear. The man, still holding the handlebars, was dragged through a glass patio door and along with the motorcycle dumped onto the floor inside the house. The wife, hearing the crash, ran into the dining room, and found her husband laying on the floor, cut and bleeding, the motorcycle laying next to him and the patio door shattered. The wife ran to the phone and summoned an ambulance. Because they lived on a fairly large hill, the wife went down the several flights of long steps to the street to direct the paramedics to her husband.
After the ambulance arrived and transported the husband to the hospital, the wife uprighted the motorcycle and pushed it outside. Seeing that gas had spilled on the floor, the wife obtained some papers towels, blotted up the gasoline, and threw the towels in the toilet. The husband was treated at the hospital and was released to come home.
After arriving home, he looked at the shattered patio door and the damage done to his motorcycle. He became despondent, went into the bathroom, sat on the toilet and smoked a cigarette. After finishing the cigarette, he flipped it between his legs into the toilet bowl while still seated. The wife, who was in the kitchen, heard a loud explosion and her husband screaming. She ran into the bathroom and found her husband laying on the floor. His trousers had been blown away and he was suffering burns on the buttocks, the back of his legs and his groin. The wife again ran to the phone and called for an ambulance.
The same ambulance crew was dispatched and the wife met them at the street. The paramedics loaded the husband on the stretcher and began carrying him to the street. While they were going down the stairs to the street accompanied by the wife, one of the paramedics asked the wife how the husband had burned himself. She told them and the paramedics started laughing so hard, one of them tipped the stretcher and dumped the husband out. He fell down the remaining steps and broke his arm. Now THAT is a bad day...

V.I.D.

Thanks for today's blog go to Ronda for sharing her birthday with the birth of rock and roll...long may you both live!
V.I.D. stands for very important date,April,12,1954 (the exact date may vary!) though the day is not cast in stone as far as dates go it serves as well as any.
Many rock fans claim "Rock Around the Clock" (1954) by Bill Haley and the Comets as the first rock and roll record but that was just the first to become a hit. "Earth Angel" a doo-wop hit by the Penguins was released after "Rock Around the Clock" but became a hit in less time. Other rock fans give the honor to "That's All Right,Mama" by Elvis (1954). The even earlier (1950s) rhythm and blues artists have their rightful place in the family tree as well as Thornton's original version of "Hound Dog". No mention of rock and roll is complete without due credit going to Chuck Berry (hot on Elvis' heels) and his transformation of a country tune called "Ida Red" into the immortal "Maybellene". Rock On!!
How many readers remember these?

Easterween

Okay I made up the word Easterween,but as today's blog unfolds you will understand why.
The Easter Witch is a custom in Sweden and parts of Finland that resembles Halloween but takes place the Thursday or Saturday before Easter. Little girls (I never discovered if boys participate too) dress up in rags and old clothes,usually too big for them and go door to door asking for treats. The tradition comes from an old belief that witches would fly to a German mountain the Thursday before Easter to cavort with Satan. On their return trip the Swedes would light fires to scare them away. The tradition is still honored today with bonfires and fireworks in the days before Easter Sunday.

A Mazing

I have always been intrigued by mazes and would love to wander around a life sized one. Maybe not like the one in the "Harry Potter" book that held a few unpleasant features,but just a basic maze to fumble around in until I worked my way through it. The following maze seems more like a nightmare,or maybe a M.C. Escher drawing come to life. The maze was drawn by a Japanese janitor on a 35 by 23.3 inch sheet of paper. It took the artist over 7 years to complete. A maze on this difficulty level is way beyond my skill level and amount of time I would want to devote. As far as I could find,no one has been able to solve it yet.

Mother's Wisdom?

Most of the kids that grew up around the same time as I did all were pretty much told the same old cliches by their mothers. They seemed to have one for every occasion when they wanted to alter your behavior. The one that I have most often compared notes over and had the most laughs about is "make sure you have on clean underwear,I would die if you were in an accident with dirty underwear". There are so many things wrong with that saying it is hard to decide where to start! First of all I am hoping it was only a ploy to teach the children good hygiene,but the earnestness with which it was delivered makes that a bit hard to believe. On to the statement itself...they would die if you were in an accident?? Wait a minute,how would they be the one in physical danger if the child was the one in the accident? I suppose they could be going for the death by broken heart story,but in real life that seldom happens,and shouldn't the main concern have been whether the child was seriously injured,not the state of their underwear? Second and maybe the most laughable of the things wrong about the situation is that chances are if you were in an accident you would in turn soil your underwear so they would no longer be clean even if they had started the day in pristine condition! Of course mothers in days gone by had a entirely different set of worries than the mothers of today,but that is a different story for a different day. 

Do You Solemnly Swear?

Although the debate continues on the origin of the word testify,temptation got the better of my judgement to include this "jewel".
The theory I prefer is that testify was derived from the ancient Roman custom of men holding their testicles with their right hand before giving testimony(kind of conjures up a vivid picture doesn't it?). The other side of the debate claims the word testify came from the Latin testis which means "third person standing by" or "witness". Again for the pro testicle side,as cited in the Bible,"And Abraham said: 'unto his eldest servant of his house...Put,I pray thee,they hand under my thigh and I will make thee swear" (this is supposed to translate to putting a hand on testicles,but the twisted way my mind works makes it sound like Abraham had something other than swearing on his mind!) Okay,I am probably going to hell for that thought...but at least I will be with friends!

Kiddie Coop

I ran across this photo on the back page of a magazine,there was no explanation only the caption "Baby Cage".

Naturally I was intrigued but since I didn't have my trusty note pad handy, I forgot about it for a few days.
In 1922 Emma Read of Spokane,WA. filed for a patent for an enclosure to be suspended from the side of a building. The baby cage was meant for women living in cities without a backyard or other outdoor area for their children to play. Using the cage the baby would have access to fresh air and sunlight plus have room to play with toys. The patent also noted the cage could be used as a sleeping area with removable curtains to prevent a draft. There was also a slanted roof piece available to protect the babies from rain,snow or falling objects...Yikes! can you imagine seeing one of these in our time? Can you say "children's services"?

Mother's Milk

Booze can be made from a wide variety of ingredients. The most widely used are fruits/vegetables and grains. Vodka in particular is normally distilled from potatoes or grains...and now milk! A farmer in England got the idea from watching a documentary on a Siberian republic where people made vodka from yak milk. It took him three years to perfect the process of blending a milk beer made from whey into the final product. The Black Cow vodka has received positive reviews and can be found on menus of posh restaurants. I am going to have to check to see if it is available here,it is the only way I will satisfy my curiosity about this,from what I understand it is about $35 a pint...of course a pint isn't really a pint anymore and I have no idea what the size measurement is. This is another thing I should know and include in my trivia repertoire!

Swingers

Considering how popular sports bras are it is surprising that they haven't been around that long. The first commercially available sports bra was the "Free Swing Tennis Bra" (kind of a misleading name!) introduced in 1975. Still a better bra was needed for general exercise. A prototype was made from two jockstraps and called a jockbra,it later became the jogbra. There were still more designs to follow to accommodate women with large breasts,while the most common sports bra is the compression type,there are many other variations with gel or water pads and even air bags. They also have different types of strap designs,and choices for the physical activities you plan on doing,not to mention that age also plays a factor in the style of sports bra that will give the most comfort. In addition to offering support and comfort while exercising they can also be worn for most x-rays,which is always a plus if you don't enjoy dressing and undressing multiple times a day! I am not entirely sure how I landed on this subject today,but if you needed to know a little about sports bras now you do. I had no idea the styles were so diverse.

Electric Flower Cars

Funeral customs vary from country to country,but Taiwan has a new twist,funeral strippers. This custom started about 25 years ago when the Taiwanese mafia who ran the nightclubs took over a large portion of the mortuary business. Though the businesses don't seem to have anything in common,the mafia bosses decided to combine the two and increase their income. Anyone who booked a funeral through one of their parlors got a stripper at a discount price. The idea was to attract more mourners to honor the dead. They even offered a religious explanation,the strippers would please the lower gods. The strippers usually arrive on the back of diesel trucks known as Electric Flower Cars. The girls do pole dancing,sing,and some even come down from the stage to interact with the mourners.
I don't know about the rest of you,but this was something new to me!

Dig In

I was afraid when a sewer project began on April Fools Day that it did not bode well for the outcome. I was trying to keep a positive attitude and reminded myself many times that at least they were supposed to have the project completed before tourist season and the traffic congestion that accompanies it arrived. Alas,it was not to be,only hours after the project started it ground to a halt at the discovery of trolley tracks that had been buried under the pavement more than 100 years. Now they are waiting for an archaeologist to submit a report to the state before work can be resumed. The optimistic Public Works Director expects work to restart Wednesday,but when I walked by today no one was at the site and I wonder if an archaeologist has been located to exam the find. If the state finds the tracks to be significant the project will have to either work around the tracks or they will be removed to an appropriate location. I took some pictures with my phone so the quality is not the greatest but you can get a look at the tracks that are holding up the show!

Moving On

It's time to flip the calendar page again (aka Sandy's monthly planner day). This month is both Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Month and National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Month. I intend to honor both causes religiously!
4/1 National Fun Day (I honor this day all year long and recommend it highly.)
4/2 World Autism Day
4/3 World Party Day,also National Walking Day (I will have to be careful to separate  the two activities!)
4/4 World Rat Day (Even rats have their day!)
4/5 National Walk to Work Day (Those of you with long commutes remember to start early enough!)
4/6 International Pillow Fight Day
4/7 No Housework Day (This month is shaping up to be a whole month of fun!)
4/8 Buddha Day
4/9 National Cherish an Antique Day (aka be nice to seniors.)
4/10 National Farm Animals Day
4/11 International "Louie Louie" Day
4/12 Walk on Your Wild Side Day
4/13 Scrabble Day (In remembrance of Linda Thomas.)
4/14 International Moment of Laughter Day
4/15 That Sucks Day
4/16 One Day Without Shoes Day
4/17 Ford Mustang Day!
4/18 National Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day (Warning! Do not take this literally if you sleep nude.)
4/19 National Hanging Out Day
4/20 Husband Appreciation Day (If you don't have one or don't appreciate the one you have,feel free to appreciate someone Else's.)
4/21 National Chocolate-covered Cashews Day
4/22 National Jelly Bean Day
4/23 Teach Your Children to Save Day
4/24 International Guide Dogs Day
4/25 World Penguin Day
4/26 National Hairball Awareness Day
4/27 Eeyore's Birthday Day
4/28 National Pet Parents Day (I wonder what my little dears will get me?)
4/29 Zipper Day (Chose your own definition!)
4/30 National Honesty Day
As ever,enjoy your month!