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 …
January 2018 archive
Jan 24
National Compliment Day
National Compliment Day. Give an extra compliment on National Compliment Day which is observed annually on January 24. A compliment has a powerful effect. It can instill confidence in a child, or validate someone’s hard work.
Jan 14
Greyfriar’s Bobby
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 …
Jan 13
Today is… National Rubber Ducky Day!
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 …
Jan 13
January 13 :(
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 …
Jan 04
Today is… National Spaghetti Day!
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” …
Jan 03
Happy Fruitcake Toss Day!
Another of those “Who Knew” Holidays. 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 …
Jan 01
My Alma Mater! UMass Minuteman Marching Band at the Rose Parade: New Year’s Day
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 …
Music
- 🌻 Make a Flower, Plant a Flower, April 21Get ready to dive into a world of creativity and greenery as we come together to craft beautiful flowers and nurture our environment!
- 🌱 Community Plant Swap, Seed Library and Master Gardener Help Table, TomorrowGet ready to dive into a world of creativity and greenery as we come together to craft beautiful flowers and nurture our environment!
- 🕎 Cultural Explorers: Passover, TomorrowJoin us for stories and songs celebrating Passover!
- 🌏 Earth Day Fairfax 2024, TomorrowSpring is on the way and that means Earth Day is right around the corner! Mark your calendar and make your plans to join Fairfax County’s largest, family-friendly Earth Day extravaganza at Sully Historic Site on Saturday, April 20. Celebrate Earth Day with a fantastic time filled with games, entertainment, food and a variety of […]
- 🚌 Stuff the Bus Rescheduled for TomorrowAll Stuff the Bus events scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024 have been postponed due to inclement weather. Rescheduled dates will be posted to this page when available.
- 🚌 Stuff the BusStuff the Bus began in 2011 in response to a critical need to help restock the shelves of local food pantries after the holidays. This collaborative program is a partnership between Fairfax County Government and local nonprofits. Now in its 13th year, Stuff the Bus continues to support food assistance efforts for families and households.
- 😎 Vacation Bible School (VBS) Registration is OpenHere, in this vibrant hub of heroism, young and old heroes alike answer the call of duty, joining forces to lend their extraordinary talents to Hero Teams across the globe. Whether it’s solving perplexing puzzles, battling dastardly villains, or rescuing those in peril, these superheroes are always ready to save the day with a dash […]
- 🖥️ One-on-One Technology Help, April 22Do you need help with technology? Our volunteers can answer questions and help with basic troubleshooting, such as setting up email accounts, creating a word document etc.
- 👄 Lava Lip Gloss Lab, April 21BlackGirlScientist, LLC. will sponsor a FREE STEM Workshop (Lava Lip Gloss Lab) at Pender UMC for the maximum of 30 middle school age girls. The goal will be to expose young girls to STEM through an interactive workshop.
- 🏃🏼 Feed Fairfax 5K May 4Are you ready to lace up your sneakers for a cause that hits close to home? Join us for the Feed Fairfax 5k, a family-friendly event that’s more than just a race—it’s a chance to make a tangible difference in the lives of Fairfax County students facing food insecurity. Mark your calendars for Saturday, May […]
Little Free Library
- Dying To Date: Love, betrayal, murder—a great first dateBy a good friend of mine! When dying to date Mr. Right leads to finding Mr. Wrong—it’s deadly. Relationship expert Kristina Truly has a proven track record of dating the wrong men. However, her highly publicized romantic failures don’t stop her fans from attending her Finding Mr. Right, Not Mr. Perfect seminars and reading her […]
- The Poisoned PeerThe 99-year-old Earl of Middlemop has had his future cruelly snatched from him. Who could have poisoned the richest man in Wessex? The answer lies within the walls of Gripedown Hall where family secrets and bitter rivalries prevail. Senior sleuths Churchill and Pemberley investigate on the behest of their friend Tryphena Ridley-Balls. However, another friend […]
- Murder in the ManorMURDER IN THE MANOR (A LACEY DOYLE COZY MYSTERY—BOOK 1) is the debut novel in a charming new cozy mystery series by Fiona Grace. Lacey Doyle, 39 years old and freshly divorced, needs a drastic change. She needs to quit her job, leave her horrendous boss and New York City, and walk away from the […]
- Murder on a Midnight ClearA snowbound country mansion, a missing butler, and a Christmas case . . . Olive and Jasper have never been closer—except in one area. Jasper is still reticent about his frequent disappearances from polite society. With the holidays approaching and no paying client on the books, Olive decides to shadow Jasper when he’s unexpectedly called […]
- Discerning GraceAs the first full-length novel in The White Sails Series, DISCERNING GRACE captures the spirit of an independent woman whose feminine lens blows the ordered patriarchal decks of a 19th century tall ship to smithereens. Wilful Grace Baxter, will not marry old Lord Silverton with his salivary incontinence and dead-mouse stink. Discovering she is a […]
- The Thursday Murder Club: A Novel (A Thursday Murder Club Mystery Book 1)A New York Times bestseller | Soon to be a major motion picture from Steven Spielberg at Amblin Entertainment “Witty, endearing and greatly entertaining.” —Wall Street Journal “Don’t trust anyone, including the four septuagenarian sleuths in Osman’s own laugh-out-loud whodunit.” —Parade Four septuagenarians with a few tricks up their sleeves A female cop with her […]
- Body on Baker Street (A Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mystery Book 2)The amateur sleuths at the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop must call upon the powers of deduction in order to rid Baker Street of a ruthless killer Gemma Doyle and Jayne Wilson are busy managing the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop and Emporium on Baker Street and adjoining Mrs. Hudson’s Tea Room in anticipation of the store’s upcoming book […]
- The Devil and the Dark Water (A Locked-Room Historical Mystery)A murder on the high seas. A remarkable detective duo. A demon who may or may not exist. It's 1634, and Samuel Pipps, the world's greatest detective, is being transported to Amsterdam to be executed for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. Traveling with him is his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, who […]
- Too Many WomenAh, sweet mystery, when Nero Wolfe and Archie Goodwin plunge into a case of murder brimming with luscious, lethal ladies. Who murdered Waldo Wilmot Moore? Well, there were five hundred female employees at the Wall Street firm where poor Waldo had worked. Any one of them might have done it. And there was also the […]
- Christmas Cupcake MurderAs December turns Lake Eden, Minnesota, into the North Pole, the heat is on in Hannah Swensen’s kitchen to honor two Christmas promises: baking irresistible holiday cupcakes and preventing an attempted murderer from succeeding the second time around! While Hannah speeds through a lengthy holiday checklist, drama in town grows like Santa’s waistline on Christmas […]