The Battle of Culloden was the final confrontation of the Jacobite rising of 1745. On this date, 16 April 1746, the Jacobite army of Charles Edward Stuart was decisively defeated by a British government force …
National Barbershop Quartet Day is observed annually on April 11. Barbershop quartets have a way making the heart flutter. Very often they transport us back to a simpler time or at the least make it …
We were in NYC April 6, 2019 for our daughter-in-law’s birthday and the Tartan Day Parade. Look who the Grand Marshall was! I am so sorry we missed 2015 when Sean Connery was Grand Marshall …
I spent many years helping the school librarian in my son’s elementary school. They do fantastic things! April 4th is National School Librarian Day. It is set aside to honor all school librarians. School …
Q: How many critics does it take to change a light bulb? A: Critics can’t change a light bulb. But they’ll watch you do it and tell you a hundred ways you could have done it …
I wasn’t home this year on our anniversary – the first one I’ve missed. I was in Southport, NC for the memorial celebration of our church’s former music director. Tom would have gone with me, but he was dealing with house issues that I’ll be posting about in the near future.
Another anniversary rolls around, the 45th, to be exact.
I always like to check out this picture of our wedding expenses. We have it framed and sitting on our mantle.
Tom paid $50.26 (blood tests and wedding ring!) and my costs (I made my own dress) were $29.25.
We were lucky. My dad was the minister at the Barre (MA) Congregational Church so he didn’t charge us to perform the service. The women of the church provided the reception in the parsonage. My mom chipped in the flowers.
Well worth the cost!
Barre Congregational Church
Our honeymoon was in upstate New York so Tom could look for a job. My only memories of that trip were the snow coming in under the door of our motel and Tom not getting a job.
After that, we drove back to Boston where we rented the bottom floor of my mother-in-law’s house. In Dorchester, many of the homes were triple deckers and families could have one, two or three floors.
This isn’t where we lived, but a very similar look to her house.
We got all moved in and painted everything (we decided to paint my sewing room a cheery yellow. The walls just sucked in the yellow paint and we had to use many, many coats). So, Tom got a job in Washington, DC.
So, we packed up and found a small apartment in Alexandria, VA.
That apartment was so small…when my parents came to visit, they slept on cots in the living room with their feet under my newly-acquired piano.
Then we moved to Holmes Run Parkway (also in Alexandria), Silver Spring, MD, Wilmington, DE, and finally settled in Fairfax, VA.
When we were in Scotland a couple years ago, we walked to Edinburgh Castle and back from hotel a couple times.
I had never heard of Greyfriar’s Bobby until our bus tour the second day although we had walked by the statue 3 times already!
On our 4th pass-by, we saw several people taking pictures of the statue. I guess they knew.
Bobby was a Skye Terrier who became known in 19th-century Edinburgh for supposedly spending 14 years guarding the grave of his owner until he died himself on 14 January 1872.
The story continues to be well known in Scotland, through several books and films, and a prominent commemorative statue and nearby graves act as a tourist attraction.
Each year on the 14th of January there is an event in Greyfriars Church Yard honoring the loyalty of Greyfriars Bobby. The inscription on his memorial reads ” Let his loyalty and devotion be a lesson to us all”. He had faithfully guarded the grave of his master John Gray for 14 years after he passed away. The minister of Greyfriars and the Lord Provost of Edinburgh were the key speakers.
According to a 1973 Sesame Street calendar, Rubber Duckie’s Birthday is January 13 so around the country it’s National Rubber Ducky Day! A friend of Ernie and Big Bird, Duckie made his debut in a February 1970 episode.
The rubber ducky (also spelled duckie) has come a long way from his first concept as a chew toy for children. While the origin of the first rubber ducky is uncertain, many rubber molded toys from dolls to those in various animal shapes came about when rubber manufacturing developed in the late 1800s.
During World Wars I and II, rubber was a valuable commodity which was rationed, and by the 1940s with the advent of plastic, the rubber ducky began being produced in vinyl and plastic.
The earliest patent for a rubber duck toy was patented in 1928 by Landon Smart Lawrence. His design was for a bath toy which was weighted and when tipped would return to its upright position. The sketch included with the patent was that of a duck.
Russian Sculptor Peter Ganine sculpted many animal figures. One, a duck, he later designed and patented it into a floating toy which closely resembles the rubber ducky we have become familiar with today.
Sales of the iconic yellow rubber ducky we’ve come to know today soared in Britain in 2001. Why? A British Tabloid, The Sun, reported Queen Elizabeth II had a rubber duck in her bathroom that wore an inflatable crown.
The rubber ducky became a Toy Hall of Fame inductee in 2013. Founded in 1998, the Hall of Fame has only inducted 52 other toys.
The now world famous giant rubber duck, by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, has sailed into the Port of Los Angeles. The six-storey-tall bath toy has made its west coast debut to take part in their Tall Ships Festival parade. The duck has also appeared in Australia, Belgium, Japan, New Zealand and Brazil. Earlier this year, versions of the massive inflatable duck were in Asia, including Beijing’s harbour and Taiwan, where the duck actually exploded and fell apart while on display. Report by Sarah Kerr.
Did you know that the City of Fairfax Regional Library has a Rubber Ducky collection?
Go on a scavenger hunt to discover more than 200 ducks hiding throughout the building and are on display. The Rubber Ducky is the library’s mascot.
Today, January 13, holds a couple anniversaries for me. I remember the day of the Air Florida Flight 90 Crash in 1982 so well.
We were living in the Metro DC area and our young son had just turned 2 in December. Tom, my DH, worked in DC and I was never sure the route that he drove home from work. Sometimes, he left his car at the Vienna Metro lot and took the subway. It all depended on traffic, what he had to do that day, how late he was running.
Light snow started falling in the early morning. By noon, moderate-to-heavy snow had spread over the entire area, and by early afternoon the snowfall rate was very heavy. There was enough snow to close Washington National Airport (now Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport)
I think I had the TV off and on in the early afternoon because I was worried about the snow. Tom worked for the government then. Many federal offices in downtown Washington had closed early because of the quickly developing blizzard conditions – but I didn’t know if Tom’s was one of them. Although we were both from New England, had lived in Milwaukee and knew very well how to drive in the snow, I was concerned about other drivers.
According to the TV news, an extremely cold Arctic outbreak had spread across the eastern half of the United States, dropping temperatures to -25°F in Chicago and near 0°F in Atlanta. There was a major freeze in the central Florida citrus groves. At National Airport, the temperature dropped to 2°F.
There was a one-hour period during the early afternoon when the snow dropped visibility at National Airport to a sixteenth of a mile. Approximately 2-to-3 inches of snow fell during that hour. Then, the snow ended abruptly in the mid-afternoon.
During this day, I was also heavy with memories. On this date in 1976, I had had a miscarriage. We were living in Silver Spring, MD, then. I remember waking up in the night in pain, bleeding. We called my gynecologist in Alexandria, VA (we hadn’t lived in MD long) and he said to get to Alexandria (VA) Hospital at once.
We packed up our dog – she wasn’t trusted to stay at home alone. But her antics are for another day.
We raced around the Beltway at top speed to get to the hospital. I was admitted and I don’t remember a thing until the morning when I heard that I’d had a “missed abortion”. The doctor (or someone at the hospital) had performed a D&C (dilation and curettage) and the baby was gone. Even though I was pretty drugged up for the next several days, the mental pain was more than I ever could imagine.
I always wondered if this miscarriage was related to an accident we were in at Christmas. We were in Boston to visit Tom’s family and there was snow, of course. A young woman hit our car from behind. None of my doctors would confirm, or deny, that this was a contributing factor in the miscarriage but I always wondered.
I was remembering these events on January 13, 1982, tending to my young son, worrying about my husband when the news got worse. There was no internet then, no cell phone, only radio and TV reports.
The Air Florida’s scheduled departure time was delayed about 1 hour and 45 minutes because of the temporary closing of Washington National Airport. Moderate snowfall continued and the air temperature was 24 °F.
The plane had trouble leaving the gate when the ground services tow motor could not get traction on the ice. For approximately 30 to 90 seconds, the crew attempted to back away from the gate using the reverse thrust of the engines, which proved futile. Boeing operations bulletins had warned against using reverse thrust in those kinds of conditions.
Eventually, a tug ground unit properly equipped with snow chains was used to push the aircraft back from the gate. After leaving the gate, the aircraft waited in a taxi line with many other aircraft for 49 minutes before reaching the takeoff runway. The pilot apparently decided not to return to the gate for reapplication of deicing, fearing that the flight’s departure would be even further delayed. More snow and ice accumulated on the wings during that period, and the crew were aware of that fact when they decided to make the takeoff. Heavy snow was falling during their takeoff roll at 3:59 p.m.
…
At 4:01 p.m. EST, it crashed into the 14th Street Bridge across the Potomac River, 0.75 nautical miles (1,390 m) from the end of the runway. The plane hit six cars and a truck on the bridge, and tore away 97 feet (30 m) of the bridge’s rail and 41 feet (12 m) of the bridge’s wall. The aircraft then plunged into the freezing Potomac River. It fell between two of the three spans of the bridge, between the I-395 northbound span (the Rochambeau Bridge) and the HOV north- and southbound spans, about 200 feet (61 m) offshore. All but the tail section quickly became submerged.
Meanwhile, at 4:29, the subway system (Metro) suffered its first fatal crash at the Federal Triangle station near Tom’s office. In my mind, Tom could have taken the subway…
The news on TV was just getting worse and worse when…our power went out.
When Tom finally did get home, safe and sound, it was cold, dark, cranky baby, hysterical mom, frantic dog…but our little family made it through that day.
We were lucky – many others didn’t 🙁
From the description of the video above:
Air Florida Flight 90 was a scheduled U.S. domestic passenger flight from Washington National Airport to Fort Lauderdale – Hollywood International Airport with an intermediate stopover at Tampa International Airport. On January 13, 1982, the Boeing 737-200 registered as N62AF, crashed into the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River. The aircraft had originally been purchased by United Airlines in 1969 and flown with the registration number of N9050U. It was sold to Air Florida in 1980.
The aircraft struck the 14th Street Bridge, which carries Interstate 395 between Washington, D.C. and Arlington County. It crushed seven occupied vehicles on the bridge and destroyed 97 feet (30 m) of guard rail[3] before it plunged through the ice into the Potomac River. The crash occurred less than two miles (3 km) from the White House and within view of both the Jefferson Memorial and The Pentagon. The aircraft was carrying 74 passengers and five crewmembers. Four passengers and one flight attendant survived the crash. Four motorists from the bridge were killed. The survivors were rescued from the icy river by civilians and professionals. President Ronald Reagan commended these acts during his State of the Union speech a few days later.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the cause of the accident was pilot error. The pilots failed to switch on the engines’ internal ice protection systems, used reverse thrust in a snowstorm prior to takeoff, and failed to abort the takeoff even after detecting a power problem while taxiing and visually identifying ice and snow buildup on the wings.
Major real-life air disasters are depicted in this TV series. Each episode features a detailed dramatized reconstruction of the incident based on cockpit voice recorders and air traffic control transcripts, as well as eyewitnesses recounts and interviews with aviation experts. Sometimes, interviews with investigators who dealt with the disaster or even actual footage are featured. In Canada, where the series originated, the show is called ‘Mayday’. In the US it is ‘Air Emergency’. Everywhere else it is called ‘Air Crash Investigation’.
National Spaghetti Day on January 4 recognizes that long, thin cylindrical pasta of Italian and Sicilian origin. Usually made from semolina flour, this pasta has been a worldwide favorite for ages and loved by millions.
The word spaghetti is plural for the Italian word spaghetto, which is a diminutive of spago, meaning “thin string” or “twine.”
And, who can forget
Did you know spaghetti grows on trees? Well, no!
The spaghetti tree hoax is a famous 3-minute hoax report broadcast on April Fools’ Day 1957 by the BBC current affairs programme Panorama. It told a tale of a family in southern Switzerland harvesting spaghetti from the fictitious spaghetti tree, broadcast at a time when this Italian dish was not widely eaten in the UK and some Britons were unaware that spaghetti is a pasta made from wheat flour and water. Hundreds of viewers phoned into the BBC, either to say the story was not true, or wondering about it, with some even asking how to grow their own spaghetti trees. Decades later CNN called this broadcast “the biggest hoax that any reputable news establishment ever pulled.”
National Fruitcake Toss Day is annually observed on January 3.
Manitou Springs has hosted the Fruitcake Toss tournament every year since 1995. During the competition, fruitcakes are thrown, hurled, catapulted and cannoned into the air using a range of inventive devices. Those braving this event would be wise to remember to look up occasionally – a frozen fruitcake in the face is a formidable force when fired from an exercise-bike-powered cannon.
Many people receive fruitcakes as gifts sometime during the holiday season. Some people eat the holiday bread. Others may re-gift them. There are those who sneakily throw them away and others who will do so openly.
Also, my DH and DS graduated from UMass Amherst! Many of my best friends were in the marching band…but I couldn’t take my piano. LOL
The internationally televised parade steps off at 11 a.m. EST. UMass joins 20 other marching bands selected from around the country to participate in the parade, as well as marching bands from the University of Oklahoma and the University of Georgia, the two teams playing in the Rose Bowl football game later in the day on Jan. 1.
“Since UMass Amherst is the Commonwealth’s campus, we consider ourselves to be the Commonwealth’s band,” said Band Director Timothy Todd Anderson. “We can’t wait to represent not only our university, but all of Massachusetts for millions of people. It’s our way to tell the world what UMass is all about.”
UMass Amherst, the flagship campus of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the largest public research university in New England, distinguished by the excellence and breadth of its academic, research and community programs.
Founded in 1863 and home to nearly 30,000 total undergraduate and graduate students, UMass ranks no. 27 in a field of more than 700 public, four-year colleges across the nation, according to the U.S. News & World Report’s latest annual college guide.
UMass Amherst stretches across more than 1,400 acres of land in the historic Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts, providing a rich cultural environment in a rural setting close to major urban centers – campus sits 90 miles from Boston and 175 miles from New York City. The idyllic college town of Amherst is home to hiking, biking, museums, music, theater, history, food, farms and much more. UMass Amherst also joins a local consortium of five nationally recognized colleges, including Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke and Smith colleges.
Where to watch the Rose Parade beginning at 11 a.m. EST on January 1:
The Minuteman Marching Band is scheduled as the 11th marching unit in the parade, so be sure to tune in right at 11 so you don’t miss the band!
Michael Galetta ’19 and Jaclyn Nicholson ’19 talk about joining the family of the UMass Amherst Minuteman Marching Band and their performance in the Tournament of Roses – Rose Parade, January 1, 2018.
Talia Kuras ’18 fills us in on the Color Guard’s special role in the UMass Amherst Minuteman Marching Band, leading up to the band’s historic performance in the Tournament of Roses – Rose Parade, January 1, 2018.
The UMass Amherst Minuteman Marching Band debuts new uniforms at the Rose Parade, January 1, 2018 on ABC and NBC at 11a.m. ET. The band wishes to thank everyone who donated to the uniform fund, providing their first new look since 2000.
Hogmanay is the Scots word for the last day of the year and is synonymous with the celebration of the New Year (Gregorian calendar) in the Scottish manner. It is normally followed by further celebration on the morning of New Year’s Day (1 January) or, in some cases, 2 January—a Scottish bank holiday.
The origins of Hogmanay are unclear, but may be derived from Norse and Gaelic observances. Customs vary throughout Scotland, and usually include gift-giving and visiting the homes of friends and neighbors, with special attention given to the first-foot, the first guest of the new year.
And then, there are the fireballs…
Stonehaven’s Fireball ceremony at Hogmanay is one of the more memorable. It consists of mainly local people of all ages swinging flaming wire cages, around their heads. Each cage is filled with combustible material (each swinger has their own recipe) and has a wire handle two or three feet long, this keeps the flames well away from the swinger, but spectators can be vulnerable! The event starts at midnight, lasts twenty-five minutes and is watched by thousands. The idea behind the ceremony is to burn off the bad spirits left from the old year so that the spirits of the New Year can come in clean and fresh.
So often during the diagnosis phase of Cushing’s I felt lost like this picture – I was walking alone to an unknown place with an unknown future. My diagnosis was pre-Internet which meant that any information had to be gotten from libraries, bookstores, magazines…or doctors. In 1983 to 1986 I knew something was terribly wrong […]
This narrative nonfiction novel chronicles my son’s twenty-year journey to get his Cushing’s disease diagnosed—a journey that took far too long. Throughout the book, I highlight opportunities for testing that could have been done according to endocrinologist guidelines. The core message is clear: early diagnosis is crucial for people to live vibrant lives. Read Surviving […]
Please add your bio. Your information will help others. If anyone would like to do something for the Cushing's Awareness Challenge but you don't have (or want to have) a blog, why not consider adding your bio?
In this case, we describe a 54-year-old man with a stage IV NET with metastatic liver and pancreatic lesions, who presented with Cushing's syndrome due to ectopic ACTH production.
Adrenal Insufficiency United’s Lunch & Learn Events are one day mini-conferences located in different cities in the USA. We find great local speakers to lead sessions and give presentations about issues affecting those with adrenal insufficiency. These one day events will be packed full of opportunities giving attendees more chances to ask questions, share their […]
Cushing’s syndrome is a rare disorder that occurs when the body is exposed to too much cortisol. Cortisol is produced by the body and is also used in corticosteroid drugs. Cushing's syndrome can occur either because cortisol is being overproduced by the body or from the use of drugs that contain cortisol (like prednisone)…
Adrenal insufficiency is a condition where the adrenal glands don't produce enough of certain hormones, primarily cortisol and sometimes aldosterone. This disorder can be categorized into primary (Addison's disease) and secondary forms.
The Pituitary Network Association is one of my favorite resources for getting information about pituitary related things. They have published a Patient's Bill of Rights that I have referred back to hundreds of times. I used to have it hanging at my desk at work.
Cushing's Disease is a rare condition caused by excessive production of cortisol, a hormone essential for various bodily functions. It is a specific form of Cushing's Syndrome, where the overproduction of cortisol is due to a tumor in the pituitary gland. The condition affects 10 to 15 people per million each year, predominantly women between […]
The original image was one a couple males, a couple females and a dog walking/running. No folks in wheelchairs, no older folks and certainly no zebras. It would be nice to have everyone out there walking or running but that’s not real life, at least in the Cushie world. It’s been a long time since […]
Learn how to create a simple and personalized 3D object using TinkerCAD and then submit a 3D printing request at FCPL. Laptops are provided or bring your own. Monthly until December 28
The DC area’s un-official start to spring returns on Saturday April 26, (10AM – 6PM) and Sunday, April 27 (10AM – 5 PM). The streets of historic downtown Leesburg will be filled with incredible landscape displays along with vendors selling flowers and live plants, gardening supplies, and everything imaginable involving outdoor living.
Spring is around the corner and Earth Day Fairfax is almost underway! Mark your calendar for Fairfax County’s largest, family-friendly Earth Day extravaganza at the Sully Historic Site on Saturday, April 26. Celebrate our world with a day filled with games, entertainment, food and hands-on crafts, exhibits and activities.
The City Band takes a musical world tour, featuring the music of Valerie Coleman, Percy Grainger, Frank Ticheli, and Leonard Bernstein! Highlights include: “Havana Nights,” “Vesuvius,” “Out of Africa,” and “Candide.”
For potty-trained three year olds through ninth graders. Embark on an exciting journey with Road Trip VBS, based on Joshua 1:9 – "The LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Discover God's presence everywhere as we explore new places, make new friends, and experience God's goodness together. Join us in a fun-filled adventure […]
Enhance your mental fitness with “Train Your Brain” activities! Sudoku, crosswords, Color Me Happy, and word searches. Each activity is aimed at stimulating cognitive function and supporting memory improvement.
Calling All Musicians: Join Pender’s Vibrant Music Ministry! Are you passionate about music? Do you feel called to share your musical gifts in a community of faith? Pender is seeking talented musicians to join our vibrant Music Ministry team and contribute to our uplifting and spiritually enriching worship services!