September 28, 2017

Today we celebrate:

International Right To Know Day - Freedom of information is essential to a democracy. Freedom of Information organizations created this day in 2002 to spread awareness about our right to access government information.  

National Good Neighbor Day - This is a day to recognize your good neighbors and to be a good neighbor yourself. Some stores near you might recognize this day with a sale, and I suggest you recognize it with some good neighbor deeds.

National Ask A Stupid Question Day – This is officially celebrated on this day every year. However, since it is usually celebrated by students and teachers, they tend to change the date to  the last school day of the month instead. Anyway, this is a day to stop being afraid of looking stupid and ask any question you want to know the answer to. They say that there is no such thing as a stupid question. Well, if you listen to comedian Bill Engvall, you know that this is not true. However, just because it’s a stupid question, doesn’t mean you can’t ask it. Ask me anything you want to know. I’m listening…...OK, that was a stupid question. Congratulations! You got the right idea!

National Strawberry Cream Pie Day – Who doesn't love strawberries? But as good as strawberries are, strawberries and cream are even better.

World Maritime Day – Celebrated by different countries on different days during the last week in September, this is a day to stress the importance of safety on the waters for people and marine life. The theme for this year is “Connecting Ships, Ports and People” in order to bring to the world’s attention the huge number of people, locations and equipment needed for a successful maritime industry.

World Rabies Day – The Global Alliance for Rabies Control which has headquarters in the United States and the United Kingdom, coordinates activities on this day which honors the death of Louis Pasteur, who was a part of the team that developed the first rabies vaccine. They honor him by working to raise awareness of the dangers of rabies for humans and animals, and spreading information about how to prevent the disease. Humans and animals on every continent except Antarctica (I’m sure you don’t need me to explain why) are at risk although some continents, such as Africa and Asia, hold the most risk because of the large number of unvaccinated stray dogs.

Read A Child A Book You Like Day - If you have children, I am sure you have put in plenty of time reading the same book over and over and over again. Some you have read so many times you would really like them to disappear so you never have to see them again, no matter how good the books were the first hundred times. Well, this is a day when you get to pick which book you read. Pick one that is age appropriate (although I am guilty of reading all kinds of weird stuff to my kids when they were babies and didn’t know what I was saying) and that you enjoy and have fun reading it to them. You can even do this if you don’t have children, I’m sure you can find one to borrow if you look around.

National Drink Beer Day - I’m not a fan of beer and never have been, but I know it is an extremely popular adult beverage so if you enjoy a beer, have one today. There are certainly a lot of different kinds to chose from.

National Poetry Day - A celebration of poetry and all things poetical that has been a special day since it was founded in 1994. Share your poetry with the world with the hashtags #nationalpoetryday. This day is coordinated by the Forward Arts Foundation. The BBC Radio 4 will have some well-known poets and performers share poetry on air at different points in their regular schedule. The theme for this year is “Freedom”.

September 27, 2017

Today we celebrate:

National Corned Beef Hash Day - Today it’s all about meat and potatoes. Specifically corned beef meat and fried potatoes. It’s delicious with fried eggs.

Ancestor Appreciation Day – This is a day to dig into your family history and find out where you came from so you can appreciate your ancestors, whoever they happen to be. Without every single one of them, you would not be who you are. So, even if you find that one or more of them are not necessarily people you would be proud of, you should be thankful for their role in ultimately creating you.

Gay Men's HIV/AIDS Awareness Day – Created in 2008 by the National Association of People with AIDS, this is a day to recognize that although gay and bisexual men are only about 2 percent of the U.S. population, they accounted for 61 percent of all of the newly diagnosed HIV infections in the year 2009. Since this is the demographic that is most at risk of developing this devastating disease, it stands to reason that men who are gay and bisexual need to be tested regularly and, even better, take precautions to protect themselves against becoming infected in the first place.

National Chocolate Milk Day – Chocolate fans everywhere, heads up! This is a day for you. Carry some chocolate around with you today so you can add it to your milk at every meal. If you don't usually drink milk at meals, you might want to change your habits today. I really like to use Ovaltine as opposed to Nestle or Swiss Miss or other chocolate milk mixes because it is chock full of vitamins and minerals and makes really good chocolate milk.

National Crush A Can Day – This is an odd day that doesn't seem to have a specific purpose or history that I can find. I can speculate that it is a stress relieving day as some people like to relieve their stress by breaking or crushing things. I prefer to recycle my cans but I guess I can make an exception today.

World Tourism Day - This is a day to focus on the value of tourism. The theme for this years’ celebration is “Tourism For All, Promoting Universal Accessibility.” A lot of communities depend on tourists for their livelihood, but there are a lot of places that people with disabilities cannot get to. Whether the disability is permanent or temporary, at some point in almost everyone’s life, they will find a place that they want to see but won’t be able to because it is not accessible. So today we focus on trying to change that and make every place accessible to everyone. The organizers want to know how you will be celebrating so they ask that you send them photos based on the theme to the WTD Facebook album and label your tweets about it with #travelenjoyrespect #WTD2017 #iy2017.

See You At The Pole Day - At first glance this can be interpreted in different ways so be careful. It is meant to be a Christian gathering for prayer. It began in 1990 in response to the abolition of prayer in public schools. Many people believe that public schools have created a hostile environment toward Christian students. So on this day every year, Christian students gather at the flagpole in front of their schools for prayer, scripture reading and worship early in the morning before school starts. It began small, but has grown to become an event that is celebrated by millions around the world.

National Women's Health & Fitness Day – This day is considered to be “the nation's largest annual health promotion event for women of all ages.” It is held on the last Wednesday in September with a goal of highlighting the importance of health awareness. Physical activity on a regular basis is an important component of being healthy so look into joining a local fitness center or working on your own to increase your level of physical activity. Many fitness based organizations all over the country will be having special events today.

World School Milk Day – Celebrated for the last 15 years on the last Wednesday of the month, this is a Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations created day for the purpose of establishing school milk programs all over the world. Milk is a good way to get calcium which is important for growing strong bones for children. This makes milk an important part of a child's diet and far too many children in the world do not have access to it.

September 26, 2017

Today we celebrate:

European Day of Languages - This is a day to celebrate the diverse languages that span our globe. We are encouraged by the Council of Europe (who created this day in 2001) to learn a new language no matter how old you are. The more people who know more than one language, the easier it will be for different countries and cultures to understand each other.

National Better Breakfast Day - This is a day that I can really get behind. A day to have a better breakfast. I always have a good breakfast because no one wants me to be cranky in the morning. However, my children rarely eat it. I have given up badgering them about it because if I make them eat breakfast before they go off to school at that horrifically early hour (their words, not mine), they get sick. So, since they usually get lunch long before noon, I let it slide on school days. However, it bothers me that they don’t eat because I know that their brains will work much better if they have a good breakfast in their bodies.

World Contraception Day - This is a day to spread the message about keeping yourself safe when you share yourself with someone else. I can’t talk too frankly about this because I have to be cognizant of my audience. But everyone should want to avoid STD’s and unwanted pregnancies which is a huge problem all over the world. So many diseases could be avoided if you just practice abstinence until you are married and you use contraception until you are sure your partner is free of disease and until you are ready to have babies.

Johnny Appleseed Day – Born on this day in 1774, this is a day to celebrate John Chapman who was known by many as Johnny Appleseed. He was responsible for introducing apple trees to parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, West Virginia and Indiana. He became a legend in this country, even before he died in 1845, mostly because of his conservation skills and his kind and generous way of life.

National Pancake Day – This is not the IHOP Pancake Day that we celebrated back in February, and it is not associated with the “pancake race” that is held every year in England (check back in April for more on this fascinating tradition). This is simply a food holiday that just happens to fall on this day. Have some pancakes for breakfast today.

Love Note Day - This is a day to get out the paper and pen and write a love note to the one you love. No texting, emailing or tweeting. That will just not count today. Paper and pen is the only way to go, but it doesn’t have to be long in order to be heartfelt. I promise you that your loved one will absolutely love to receive this from you.

Shamu the Whale Day - Shamu is the trademarked name given to various orca whales that perform at several of the SeaWorld parks. There is a lot of controversy right now regarding the captivity of these whales and several trainers have been injured or killed because the whales are wild creatures who cannot always be controlled the way the SeaWorld people would like them to be.

Lumberjack Day – Created in 2005 by Marianne Ways and Colleen AF Venable, this is a day to behave like a lumberjack if you know what that type of behavior consists of. Apparently lumberjacks eat a lot of pancakes, talk differently and carry an ax wherever they go. Good luck with that.

National Voter Registration Day – Participation is vitally important when you live in a democratic society. If you don’t participate, you leave the decisions up to the ones that do and you don’t get a voice. Sometimes it seems like voting is pointless especially if you are part of a minority party, but you still need to realize that your voice is important and you have the right to speak. And if you speak up loud enough, you may be able to sway others to your point of view and then you can create change. So if you are not registered to vote in your local area, get out there and register today. This is celebrated on the fourth Tuesday in September.

National Woman Road Warrior Day – Road Warriors are people who travel for a living. This day is celebrated on the fourth Tuesday in September by some and September 19th by others, and honors the traveling businesswomen. Women road warriors often find it a more difficult way of life than the men do because they suffer from the guilt of leaving behind sick children and other family obligations more than men typically do.

September 25, 2017

Today we celebrate:

National Cooking Day - Created by PotsandPans.com in 2016 in order “to encourage and inspire everyone to discover and experience something new and enjoyable in the kitchen.” If you are one of those people who love to cook, this is your day. I’m afraid I’m not one of you. Cooking is a chore for me. Baking, on the other hand, is an activity I can really get into.

National Food Service Employees Day - This is a day to celebrate all the people involved in food service. These are the people who make sure we are fed breakfast, lunch or dinner at all hours of the day or night. They work in our schools, restaurants, delis, coffee shops and sometimes right out our workplaces if there is a cafeteria or some sort. They work hard at their jobs and don’t often get complimented or even thanked. So today show them how much you appreciate their efforts.

National Lobster Day - Created by resolution from the 114th Congress in 2015, today we recognize the lobster as a “prized culinary delicacy.” We honor the lobster fishing industry, the families that make a living from that industry and have created one of the world’s most sustainable fishing practices dating back to the 1600s. We are encouraged to celebrate with appropriate ceremonies and activities. The only really appropriate activity that I can think of is to eat lobster. Share if you think of another way to celebrate.

National Psychotherapy Day - This day was created to work on restoring the reputation of Psychotherapy. People tend to dismiss therapy as ridiculous, they go right to the quick fix of medication without first taking the time to try to solve their problems by any of the other methods that Therapists can use. Sometimes medication is necessary, but other times it can be avoided. I’m one of those who prefers to avoid medication if at all possible so I have utilized the services of a Therapist a few times. I think it really helped. You should give it a try too.

World Dream Day - Today we work to support our dreams as well as those of the dreamers around us. It’s one thing to spend your life dreaming of something, it’s another matter to take steps make your dreams become a reality. Today is a day to work on making those steps happen for yourself and to encourage those around you to do the same.

Crab Meat Newburg Day - A dish made with crab meat, butter, sherry, eggs, cream and various spices. I’ve never had it myself because I’m not a big fan of crab meat but I understand that this is a rich and creamy deliciousness that just has to be tried. Here’s a recipe to get you started, but there are thousands more online so feel free to find a different one.

World Pharmacists Day - Created by the FIP Council at the FIP Congress in Istanbul a number of years ago, this is a day for pharmacists all over the world to work to improve the health of the people they serve. The theme this year is “Pharmacist: Your partner in health.” Medicines are vitally important for the health and well being of billions of people. Having access to, and knowing how to use, the right medicines can make the difference between life and death for so many. Thankfully we have pharmacists who are trained to know everything there is to know about the medications we use both short and long term.

National Comic Book Day - This is a day to read a comic book and maybe to share it with someone else who would enjoy reading it. Don’t put it down and say it’s not a real book just because it has lots of pictures and the words are in bubbles. It is still reading, so let your kids read some comic books today.

International Ataxia Awareness Day – This is the day to increase awareness of Ataxia. The word “ataxia” means “without coordination.” People with this disease have malfunctioning nervous systems which make it impossible to control their movements and balance. It could affect just a small part of a person’s body, such as fingers, eyes, or speech, or it could affect many parts of the body. It is diagnosed based on family history and an MRI brain scan. Genetic tests can be performed to see if someone carries the Ataxia gene. It can begin causing symptoms in either childhood or adulthood.

Math Storytelling Day – First celebrated in 2009, this is a day to tell math stories. You can make it a joke or an anecdote using numbers or symbols. Be creative about it and the kids will enjoy it much more.

National One-Hit Wonder Day – Created by Steve Rosen, this is a day to celebrate and remember those artists who had only one big hit in their careers. That’s still more musical hits than I’ve had, so I’ve got to hand it to them because they’ve all gone farther than I have.

Family Day - Created by CASAColumbia for the purpose of reducing substance abuse in children and teens by helping parents become more engaged in the lives of their children. It is celebrated on the fourth Monday in September beginning in 2001 by telling parents about the importance of regular family dinners. It has since grown from there with more ideas about how to keep the communication open with your children. On the website, there is a pledge that you can make to spend time with your kids, talk to them about anything and everything, answer their questions and recognize the power you have to influence them.