July 18 – Woody Wagon Day

This day celebrates the old cars from the 40’s and 50’s said to symbolize American freedom and casual style of life!

I know these more as an excuse to punch someone next to you and yell “Woody!”

July 17 – National Yellow Pig Day

Yellow Pig Day is apparently a day celebrated by Mathematicians…Odd…they celebrate yellow pigs and the number 17…now I am no Math genius, but these things do not seem to be related at all! I am so confused by this day and I am not sure how to celebrate it at all…I don’t even think there are yellow pigs. Maybe you are supposed to figure out the probability of two pigs having a yellow pig…I have no idea…this is really confusing to me…this is why I don’t do math!

Apparently on college campuses math people usually celebrate with yellow pig cakes and yellow pig carols…so confusing.

July 16 – National Hot Dog Night

Hot dogs…I think they are great, I could never do a hot dog eating contest…1 maybe 2 that’s good enough for me. I am a bit particular though. I like hot dogs in the microwave with the ends cut off and slit down the middle.

I will eat them off the grill, but not my first choice, made over a fire while camping – that’s good, boiled…again not a fan.

I was not able to have hot dogs tonight, I went to my brother-in-laws birthday party and so we had pizza.

Can I just say…why is this on ESPN…this is not a sport although you may think it is by how much these people are sweating, glad they all have their little wrist bands on…gross! Also, I love at the end after the contest that the first thing he picks up is Pepto Bismol!

July 15 – Cow Appreciation Day

Cows bring about this urge for me to Moooooo. Whenever I see them while we are driving, I suddenly feel like I have to Moo. Jared is well aware of this, and I am pretty sure it doesn’t even faze him anymore.

Cows are great creatures and I LOVE what they give us…MILK, ICE CREAM, CHEESE! YUMM!

In Michigan I always see “Ruthie” the Country Fresh cow…and who did I see driving down the highway today…RUTHIE!!! I tried to take a picture, but I was driving and it was about to get messy!

Jared and I saw Ruthie about 2 weeks ago as well when we were going up to the UP…it was Jared’s first “Ruthie” experience. We took a picture then…but now I can’t find it...BOO. I could only find this video of Ruthie online…no pictures came up so I don’t know who these people are or what they are doing…but the cow…that’s RUTHIE!

July 14 – Blueberry Picking Day

I didn’t pick blueberries today…however; this makes me think of my dog growing up…Fido. He LOVED blueberries! He would go blueberry picking every year with my step-dad and between the two of them…the blueberry farm probably lost money with the amount of blueberries they ate while they were picking others to bring home.

Oh Fido…we miss you little buddy!

July 13 – Embrace Your Geekiness Day

This was actually celebrated by a news station in Charlotte, North Carolina today! It is exactly what it sounds like…celebrate your geeky qualities.

Best Buy’s Geek Squad should have the day off or something...their job title says GEEK.

I am a geek in a lot of ways…not tech savvy geeky…at least that would be useful. Celebrate those things about you and those around you that make you geeks! It’s a wonderful thing and today is the day to be proud!

July 12 – Different Colored Eyes Day

This day is a holiday for 2 reasons:

1. Celebrate different color eyes!

2. Bring awareness to an eye condition called Heterochromia

Heterochromia is when you have two different colored eyes, it only affects about 1% of the population – with today’s colored contacts and things, it is not as big of a deal or as widely known who has this condition.

I have blue/green eyes – they are both the same color, but depending on what I am wearing they can look green or very blue, or somewhere in-between…I like it.

Some famous people with Heterochromia include Dan Aykroyd, Jane Seymour, and Kiefer Sutherland.

July 12-18 Holidays

July 12 - Different Colored Eyes Day

July 13 - Embrace Your Geekiness

July 14 - Blueberry Picking Day

July 15 - Cow Appreciation Day

July 16 - National Hot Dog Night

July 17 - National Yellow Pig Day

July 18 - Woodie Wagon Day

July 11 – World Population Day

Current estimated world population:  7,028,287,668  _ this changes all the time you can go to: http://www.ibiblio.org/lunarbin/worldpop to watch it!

Current USA population: 309,784, 247   you can watch this one at: http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html

Current State of Michigan Population: 9,969,727 (2009)

Current Grand Rapids population: 193,083 (2006)

Current Home Town Population: 6,997 (2008)

Current Home Population: 3 people, 1 dog (2010)

July 10 – Don’t Step On A Bee Day

How did this day come about, was there a real problem wih stepping on bees? I don’t think anyone EVER sets out to step on a bee…do they? Unless there is some ancient culture who did this as a sport I am thinking this is a null holiday…so avoid the bee’s…apparently you are NOT supposed to step on them…who’d a thought!

**after further investigation this day is to help raise public awareness of the crisis in U.S. beekeeping and the potential implications for the nation's food supply. - I still think it's a weird name for the day.

July 9 – National Sugar Cookie Day

I must confess, I forgot about this day…I can’t say I was too sad once I realized it because I am not a big sugar cookie fan…I can say however, I ate a LOT of sugar today and I did have a cookie…

I llike to make Christmas cookies every year and decorate them…but I don’t like eating them. Thankfully Jared does so I just make him a special batch every year.

July 8 – Be A Kid Again Day

Today is actually my 4 year wedding anniversary! HOORAY…and today I was a little “irresponsible” like a kid. I worked for 3 hours only, and then headed out to get my hair cut and highlighted, and I took myself out to eat…I would say this is going back to my teen years, where you spend all your money on food and fun things. Then Jared and I drove to Detroit to have lunch with a friend visiting from Seattle, it was great, I got chicken and noodles ( I basically eat like a kid every day so that was easy) … Jared and I LOVE playing on playgrounds so we made plans to do that soon…couldn’t today cause we were so busy with friends! Therefore this celebration will last a few days I think!

July 7 – Father Daughter Take A Walk Day

My dad takes a walk every morning at 5:30…I elected NOT to join him for this walk, but instead we went on a walk around our work building at about 3 today. I am LOVING working for my dad. I get to see him all the time, and it made today especially easy. I think that everyone needs to do things with their parents individually to build relationships. I am a big fan of the father daughter walk, the father daughter breakfast, and anything else father daughter like…it’s the best! Not that I don’t like other people too, I just love doing stuff with just my dad!

July 6 – Take your Webmaster to Lunch Day

Our webmaster at work is getting married this weekend…in preparation he has been on a strict “no eating out” plan. Hence, he was not up for going out to lunch, plus he had a lot of work to get done before this weekend. But I did make sure that he knew about the day, and I told him to mark it down cause he should FOR SURE cash in on this day in the future. I don’t envy webmasters at all, always getting called when something is wrong or broken…I do however envy their skills, and I will continue to try to learn them!

July 5 – National Work-a-holic Day

Today I actually thought about going into work, before I even knew what the holiday was. Today is a day that many people get off of work, at least here in the USA because of the 4th of July…Independence day! I needed to make up some hours at work and seriously contemplated going into the office…so I decided that since it is work a holic day maybe I should work. However, I choose to work around the house, mowing the lawn, cleaning the house, and all that good stuff. I hope that I am never a work-a-holic…hard work I think is great, but it is not my first priority and I hope that I never get disallutioned enough to where work and money become more important then anything else. I hope to always be a friend-a-holic, and a family-a-holic…but no work-a-holic.

July 5-11 Holidays

July 5 - Work-A-Holic Day

July 6 - Take Your Webmaster Out To Lunch Day

July 7 - Father/Daughter Take A Walk Together Day

July 8 - Be A Kid Again Day

July 9 - National Sugar Cookie Day

July 10 - Don't Step On A Bee Day

July 11 - World Population Day

July 4 – Build A Scarecrow Day

Well, Jared and I were in the car 90% of the day…at least 14 hours. I didn’t build a scarecrow, but I did think about scarecrows and how to build them…mine were not nearly as detailed and massive as this:
Here are directions for serious scarecrows!

Step 1 - Cut a 10-foot bamboo pole into two pieces, one 4 feet long and the other 6 feet long

Step 2 - Place the 4-foot section across the 6-foot piece, 1 foot down from the top.

Step 3 - Wire the two pieces together with floral wire, twine or raffia.

Step 4 - Place an old shirt on the short cross-piece of the frame and button the shirt in front.

Step 5 - Stuff the shirt loosely with straw, dry leaves or rags.

Step 6 - Place gloves at the end of the "arms" and secure them with rubber bands.

Step 7 - Pull one leg of a pair of trousers onto the long bamboo pole. The other leg will hang freely.

Step 8 - Tuck the stuffed shirt into the waist of the trousers.

Step 9 - Secure the waist of the trousers to the pole with a rope or belt , tying the belt or rope to the cross-piece if necessary to keep the pants from falling down.

Step 10 - Stuff the pants with the stuffing material of your choice.

Step 11 - Make a head for your scarecrow by stuffing straw into a pillowcase. Tie the pillowcase opening onto the top of the long stake with rope.

Step 12 - Draw a face with felt-tip pens, or glue on buttons for eyes and yarn for a mouth.

Step 13 -Stick the scarecrow in the ground or tie it securely in another location.

July 3 – Compliment Your Mirror Day

I wasn’t sure if I was actually supposed to compliment my mirror on its shine and reflective qualities, or me in the mirror…so I did both.

Take sometime to day to let your mirror know that you appreciate it and how great a job it does. It boosts your confidence at times, sometimes acting as a true friend and telling you something you don’t want to know. It’s a tough job being a mirror, so let it know how great it is today…and throw in some compliments for that pretty face starring back at you too!

July 2 – “I Forgot” Day

Jared and I left for a trip up to the U.P (Upper Peninsula) of Michigan today. We successfully participated in this day as well.

Jared forgot a pillow.

I forgot to take my vitamins.

And I know there were a couple more things, but now Jared and I have forgotten what we forgot!

SUCCESS in celebrating this day!

July 1 – International Joke Day

I do not think these types of jokes are that funny…therefore I let other people opinions decide what to put up here…these are some of the top rated international jokes on Jokecenter.com:

A Texan farmer goes to Australia for a vacation. There he meets an Aussie farmer and gets talking. The Aussie shows off his big wheat field and the Texan says, "Oh! We have wheat fields that are at least twice as large".

Then they walk around the ranch a little, and the Aussie shows off his herd of cattle. The Texan immediately says, " We have longhorns that are at least twice as large as your cows".

The conversation has, meanwhile, almost died when the Texan sees a herd of kangaroos hopping through the field. He asks, "And what are those"?

The Aussie replies with an incredulous look, "Don't you have any grasshoppers in Texas"?

Q. What's the Cuban national anthem?
A. "Row, row, row your boat..."

Q: Why do New Zealand horses run so fast?
A: Because they saw what happened to the sheep!

June 30 – Meteor Day

I tried, but I did NOT see a meteor today…even though millions occur everyday…I failed to see even one…sadness!

A meteor is a bright streak of light that appears briefly in the sky. Observers often call meteors shooting stars or falling stars because they look like stars falling from the sky. People sometimes call the brightest meteors fireballs. A meteor appears when a particle or chunk of metallic or stony matter called a meteoroid enters the earth's atmosphere from outer space. Air friction heats the meteoroid so that it glows and creates a shining trail of gases and melted meteoroid particles. The gases include vaporized meteoroid material and atmospheric gases that heat up when the meteoroid passes through the atmosphere. Most meteors glow for about a second. (www.nasa.gov)

Best meteor show I ever saw was on a white water rafting trip in Utah…they were EVERWHERE! It’s so black and dark out there you could see the entire show, and it was AWESOME and highly recommended!

June 29 – National Camera Day

Again falling on my photography class day! PERFECT! I love cameras and pictures, I scrapbook a little (I’m not a crazy scrapbooker, just a small hobbyist). I do have a problem when people take pictures an entire trip, and instead of enjoying the event or trip they are just snapping away…they are missing so much.

The first practical photograph method was invented in 1835 by Louis Jacques Daguerre. It was named daguerreotype after him. The process included coating a copper plate with silver and then treated with iodine vapor to make it sensitive to light. The image was then developed by mercury vapor. It was later fixed with a solution of ordinary salt. The process was then perfected by William Fox Talbot in 1840. The calotype produced a negative picture on paper, which had the lights as darks and the darks as lights. The positive would be made on another sheet of sensitized paper which was exposed to light through the negative. (www.buzzle.com)

Now days we have cameras everywhere! Spy cameras, traffic cameras, phone cameras, car cameras, cameras in outer space…we can now put a camera anywhere I am convinced.

June 28 – National Handshake Day

You can tell a lot about a person by their handshake I believe. You have the “I’m so strong and in control I am going to break your hand” shake, the “wet noodle”, the “lobster pinch”, the “warning” handshake (perhaps most often given by a father to a daughters new boyfriend or husband), and the “confident” handshake. To me those are your major categories.

In college for my marketing class it was our homework to go out over the weekend and shake hands with 400 people, making sure to practice eye contact, nice firm but not too firm grip and a healthy “HI, nice to meet you”.

I am usually a fan of handshakes, although I HATE when people are greeting you and they don’t look at you, and use the handshake to PULL you to where they want you to go, or think you are going. This often happens to me at church, so now I stand on the other side of the hallway and wave.

Practice your handshaking skills today…they are very important.