April 24, 2015

Today we celebrate:

Tax Freedom Day –This is a theoretical day. The Tax Foundation, which is a tax research organization based in Washington D.C., has counted every dollar that is officially considered income and every dollar that is officially considered a tax at all levels of government throughout the country. According to them, this is the day that the nation as a whole has made enough money to pay the taxes of the nation as a whole. I confess that I don't find this to be personally relevant and I kind of wonder why they bother and whether any of my tax dollars are paying for this research.

National Pigs-in-a-Blanket Day – Bite sized sausages or hot dogs wrapped in dough, these are commonly served as hors d'oeuvres at parties.

Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day – Between 1915 and 1918, some 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks. Turkey remembers events differently and disputes the validity of this day. The Armenians keep this day going not out of a desire for revenge but out of a desire for recognition and remembrance. Particularly since Turkey continues to deny that it ever happened. In February 2014, Takouhie Keshishian, the last known survivor of this genocide who lived in California, passed away.  She was 99 years old.

National Teach Your Children To Save Day – If we do not want to raise the next group of debtors, we need to teach our children how to save their money. Many financial institutions visit schools on this day to talk to the kids about how important it is.  This day is celebrated in April every year but the day of celebration is decided by the American Bankers Association.

International Size Acceptance Day – Begun in the United Kingdom in 1992, this day is now being celebrated by many different countries.  In the United States it has been sponsored by the International Size Acceptance Association since 1998.  The purpose of the day is to focus on having a healthy lifestyle regardless of what size and shape your body may be.  Dieting has limited success and some diets could be dangerous.  Instead, simply eat healthy quantities of healthy foods and get plenty of exercise.  Then accept yourself and your shape for what it is.

Arbor Day - Founded by J. Sterling Morton in 1872 and officially celebrated on the last Friday in April, although some states celebrate on different days because of differences in when the best tree planting time is in their areas.  Find out when your state celebrates here. You can also find many different ways that you can celebrate above and beyond simply planting a tree such as reading a book about trees, taking a hike, drawing a picture of trees, writing a poem about trees, and anything else your mind can think of.

Take Our Daughters & Sons To Work Day – For twenty-one years now the goal of this day has been to help strengthen the connections between work and education and the relationships between parents and their children. The theme for this year’s celebration is, “#MPOWR Knowledge + Choice = Strength.”  This day is primarily for children between 8 and 18 years old.

National Hairball Awareness Day - Celebrated on the last Friday in April (although some say it is celebrated on April 25th every year), this is a day to spread awareness of the dreadful and debilitating hairball disease. Mostly suffered by felines and feline lovers, although my canine also seems to suffer from periodic bouts of the disease, it causes coughing, hacking, and puking on the brand new living room carpet or in the expensive and also brand new dress shoes. Volunteer at your local SPCA to help them find a cure for this socially unacceptable issue.

To celebrate today, pledge to eat healthy and exercise and accept yourself for whatever size you happen to be before you take your child to work with you.  Feed your kid pigs-in-a-blanket for lunch while you tell them, in an age appropriate way, about the genocides that happened in Turkey and other places in history because if our children cannot learn from the past, they will be doomed to repeat it.  Then to lighten the mood, take them home to plant a tree and teach them about saving their money for the future.  Finally, have a serious discussion with your cat about appropriate locations for expelling hairballs.

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