A Wednesday Medley of Holidays

Good morning and welcome! Terri @ Your Friend From Florida has gone all out with the Wednesday Medley this week. It seems there are a whole lot of "holidays" this week...each one is a great idea to get behind. Thanks Terri, for bringing them to light!

NATIONAL MAKING LIFE BEAUTIFUL DAY

National Making Life Beautiful Day is observed annually on June 11.  It is a day dedicated to encouraging and celebrating men and women who are making life beautiful.  Whether you’re creating beauty through building relationships or helping others achieve personal success, one small action can lead to a ripple effect, making life beautiful not just for yourself, but for those around you, too.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Help someone you know to achieve a personal goal, donate time to a worthy cause, help someone less fortunate or just do something nice for someone.  On social media, use #MakingLifeBeautifulDay

1.  Tell us about a time you made someone's life beautiful or someone made YOUR life beautiful.  I hope this is something I do every day at work (and at home). My goal as an activities person in a dementia unit at a nursing home is to improve the quality of life for the residents, to give them something to feel good about or smile about every day. And making their day a little brighter makes their families' day a little better, too. As for doing something for me, it was a family member of a resident who voiced her appreciation for the way I interact with the residents. That encouraged me so much, because a lot of the time it's a thankless job.

NATIONAL SMILE POWER DAY

June 15th is the day we observe National Smile Power Day.  This is a day for everyone to share the power of the smile.

From the good morning greeting and the first “How may I help you?” present yourself with a smile.  No matter where you are employed, job seeking, retired or looking for new horizons starting the day with a smile is certainly more empowering than a pout or grump.  Starting with a smile first is easier than trying to get there later in the day. 

When you smile at someone, you are telling them that they are valued and worth the smile that you just gave them.  Smiles are moral boosters and confidence builders.

Research has proven that smiling really does increase attractiveness and likability between humans.  Smiling creates a greater trust and increased interpersonal cooperation.  Smiling at someone can help them to relax and relieve their stress while at the same time, it will make you feel right.  Smiling (even if you do not feel like it) will lift your mood and can make you a  happier person.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Challenge yourself to smile more often today.  Use a smile to disarm a tense situation, or simply smile during your daily tasks.  Use #SmilePowerDay on social media.

2.  Will you take on the challenge and smile more often on June 15th?  Why not start now!!  Have you been blessed by a smile that changed your day?  I'm a very smiley person most days. People comment on it all the time and they have been since high school...my yearbook is filled with comments about my smile. I'll certainly try to be more conscious of it, but I'm not sure how much more I can smile. I really do try to greet everyone with a smile already. As for being blessed by a smile that changed my day...I'm sure I have, but I can't think of a specific instance right now.

NATIONAL RANDOM ACTS OF LIGHT DAY

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.” ~ Edith Wharton

Sometimes it takes just one gentle word or small token to help overcome darkness. On June 13, National Random Acts of Light Day encourages us to bring light to the darkness of cancer by surprising someone with an act of kindness.

Receiving the diagnosis of cancer is one of the darkest moments a person can have. As part of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Light The Night Walks fundraising campaign, National Random Acts of Light brings awareness to the importance of providing cures and access to treatments for blood cancer patients.

Take a friend fishing or bring them their favorite cup of coffee. Sometimes a visit, a walk or a fresh bouquet of flowers is what brings the light into the room. Surprise someone you love, by bringing a sparkle to their day.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Share your Random Acts of Light on June 13, and throughout the year! Learn more about The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s National Random Acts of Light Day, Light the Night Walks and other campaigns and follow them on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.  Use #RandomActsofLightDay to share on social media.

HISTORY

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society ®(LLS) founded National Random Acts of Light Day to bring shine a light on the need for research and a cure for blood cancers.  In 2017, celebrities and local heroes surprised people affected by blood cancers as part of Random Acts of Light.

About The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society® (LLS) is the world’s largest voluntary health agency dedicated to blood cancer. The LLS mission: Cure leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families. LLS funds lifesaving blood cancer research around the world, provides free information and support services, and is the voice for all blood cancer patients seeking access to quality, affordable, coordinated care.

The Registrar at National Day Calendar proclaimed National Random Acts of Light Day to be observed annually beginning in 2017.

3.  Terri is a cancer survivor.  Cancer has touched most of us in one way or another.  When did someone reach out to you with an act of kindness or when did you last perform a random act of kindness for someone?  I guess I am blessed to work in a setting that provides ample opportunities to show someone kindness. I try to keep my eyes open to the needs around me and to reach out even in a small way. Sometimes the kindest thing I can do is give a shoulder to cry on or sit and listen quietly to what someone has to say...the folks living in nursing homes often struggle with depression and feelings of not mattering. Other times it's simply showing a small courtesy or treating them with dignity. As for receiving a kindness, what stands out above all, I guess, is the outpouring of prayers and help that came our way when my dad was fighting cancer and ultimately lost his battle.

NATIONAL LOVING DAY

National Loving Day is observed each year on June 12.   National Loving Day is an annual celebration that commemorates the anniversary of the 1967 United States Supreme Court decision Loving vs. Virginia.  This decision struck down all anti-miscegenation laws remaining in sixteen U.S. states citing “There can be no doubt that restricting the freedom to marry solely because of racial classifications violates the central meaning of the equal protection clause.”  Anti-miscegenation laws in the United States were U.S. state laws banning interracial marriage.

Childhood friends, Mildred and Richard, met when she was 11, and he was 17.  Over the years they began courting and in 1958 when she turned 18, they married in Washington.  They returned to their hometown north of Richmond and two weeks later, not realizing that interracial marriage was illegal, they were arrested.  Mildred and Richard Loving pleaded guilty and to avoid jail time; they agreed to leave Virginia.

The Loving’s moved to Washington D.C. and started legal action writing to Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy.  Kennedy referred the case on to the American Civil Liberties Union.  The Warren Court unanimously ruled in their favor, and the Loving’s returned to their Virginia home where they resided with their three children.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Use #NationalLovingDay to post on social media.

HISTORY

National Loving Day is not yet an officially recognized holiday by the U.S. government. However, there is a movement to persuade the government to do so.  This day was inspired by Juneteenth and seeks both to commemorate and celebrate the Supreme Courts 1967 ruling, keeping its importance fresh in the minds of a generation which has grown up with interracial relationships being legal as well as explore issues facing couples currently in interracial relationships. 

4.  Terri admits that this turned out to be not what she thought it would be.  Our country has come a long way in recognizing that people are people and our differences are what makes life beautiful, but we still have a long way to go, unfortunately.  Your thoughts?  Race has never been a way I've measured a person and it saddens me to see our society taking what seems to be steps backward on the issue. There is so much tension between us all.

NATIONAL KITCHEN KLUTZES OF AMERICA DAY

Each June 13 honors those who would like to cook and be in the kitchen, but it just doesn’t seem to work well for them.  After all, it is National Kitchen Klutzes of America Day.

Klutz:  most commonly referred to as a clumsy person.

These are the people who set out with the intentions of Paula Dean or Julia Child as the open up the cookbook.  Setting out the mixing bowl and ingredients, they imagine knife cuts as swift as Wolfgang Puck or Bobby Flay.  However, reality quickly dissolves all those dreams as smoke billows from the oven and salt is mistaken for sugar.  Those knife cuts become bloody, and cookies and fingers are burnt.  The Kitchen Klutz has struck, and visions of spilled milk are pitifully cried over.  

It may be necessary to keep a first aid kit and fire extinguisher handy when Kitchen Klutzes are around.  Be ready to call 911 and your favorite take out if you’re still hungry.

HOW TO OBSERVE

Use #NationalKitchenKlutzes to post on social media.

5.  Had to lighten it up a bit.  Terri is a total klutz in the kitchen.  Tell us about something klutzy that happened in your kitchen... by you or another!  Can you laugh about it now?  I'm not too much of a klutz, but mishaps do happen in my kitchen whether by me or someone else. One that we laugh about now is the Christmas Tim decided to bake the ham. He did everything just right...except he forgot to take off that plastic layer the ham is wrapped in under the brand wrapper. It sure made the "skin" awful chewy!

6.  Share something about your week so far, if you would.  Yesterday I arrived at work to my boss jumping all over me about approving my time so she could send it in to payroll. I tried a couple of times to explain to her that I did try to approve it, but the account said it had been approved by a supervisor and was locked. She would not hear it and was pretty awful. I had to try logging onto the system at work and had all kinds of trouble and had to get help from someone in administration with access to passwords and such. It took forever! I tried to tell my boss and again, she didn't want to hear it. She kept insisting I was at fault. When it finally went through she calmed down and she eventually came to me and apologized for her behavior. She explained that she knew the CEO would be calling and jumping on her soon if she didn't get it sent in. I understand her desire to avoid that, but she sure could have handled it better. All kidding aside, I really do think the woman might be bipolar.

Today I took Megan to have her blood pressure monitored. It's been spiking here and there and last night she wasn't feeling well at all. Of course, it was fine at the doctor's office, but they told her to take it easy until they see her for her regular appointment on Thursday. They are watching carefully because they made the decision to induce and then to do a C-section with her first pregnancy because her blood pressure went up and stayed up.

Otherwise, it's been a pretty quiet week and today I got several loads of laundry done and did the push-mowing and the trimming before Tim got home to do the rest with the tractor. I grilled a small pork tenderloin while he did that and boy, was that yummy with mashed potatoes and a fresh salad!

Looking ahead, I'm off this weekend and Tim is hoping to be off the whole weekend, too. Woohoo!