~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
April 7, 2012

★~ Today’s Quote:  My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.  ~Erma Bombeck

★~ No Housework Day:

No trash. No dishes. No making of beds or washing of laundry. And no guilt. Give it a rest. A 2010 study conducted at the University of Michigan found that the average American woman scrubs her house for at least 17 hours a week! Today, just let the dust bunnies fall where they may.

★~ International Pillow Fight Day:

Today is a global celebration of the ancient art of pillow fighting. Throughout history pillow fighting has been the only form of battle that results in victory for all who take part. Let the feathers fly as citizens of the world take up down-filled arms to celebrate International Pillow Fight Day.

★~ Coffee Cake Day:

You were probably just thinking: “Man, coffee cake gets no respect!” And you’re almost right. In a city that worships the cupcake, the red velvet pancake, and those steel cut oats your trainer insists you start the day with, there’s little time the other 364 days of the year for the good old fashioned coffee cake. The groovy thing about coffee cake is that it’s pretty versatile when it comes to what goes in it and when you can eat it. There are probably always some slices staring up at you from the pastry case at your morning coffee stop spot, and it’s fun to get a piece on the side to share when you’re out for breakfast or brunch. Plus, it has a long history; we can thank the Danish for popularizing the pastry, since the custom of having a sweet bread with coffee originated with them and spread through Europe in the seventeenth century. It’s old school! Easy Coffee Cake Recipe

My sweet mom makes the world’s best coffee cake, but alas, she is laid up with a broken ankle, so I guess this Easter weekend we’ll have to make do with resurrection buns and beer (not necessarily together).

★~ National Beer Day:

People have been brewing beer ever since they began cultivating domesticated grains 8,000 years ago and beer has been an important part of human culture ever since. For example, over 4,000 years ago an anonymous poet wrote an ode to Ninkasi, the Sumerian goddess of beer and brewing! Today, beer is the third most popular beverage in the world behind water and tea.

So why is National Beer Day celebrated on April 7? On this day in 1933, President Franklin Roosevelt took the first step toward ending Prohibition and signed a law that allowed people to brew and sell beer as long as it remained below 4% alcohol by volume (ABV). Despite the low ABV, Americans were thrilled to be able to purchase beer for the first time in thirteen years!

★~ Today in History: 

♥~ 1864 – The first camel race in America was held. Nope — not in the Mojave Desert; but in Sacramento, California.

♥~ 1969 – The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously struck down laws prohibiting private possession of obscene material (Stanley v. Georgia).

♥~ 1970 – John Wayne, a movie veteran of over 200 films, won his first and only Oscar. The Duke earned an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in True Grit, also starring Kim Darby and Glen Campbell

♥~ 1973 – Vicki Lawrence got her number one single as The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia made it to the top of the pop charts on this day. Lawrence had become well known as the comedienne who played Eunice’s mother on The Carol Burnett Show and Mama’s Family.

♥~ 1979 – Ken Forsch of Houston pitched a no-hitter over the Atlanta Braves, 6-0. Forsch walked only two batters. It was the earliest no-hitter ever pitched in a baseball season. He and his brother, Bob, a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, were the only brothers to ever pitch no-hitters in the big leagues. Bob threw a no-hitter on April 16, 1978.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1915 – Billie Holiday (Eleanora Fagan)‘Lady’: jazz singer: Lover Man, They Can’t Take that Away from Me, Fine and Mellow, Don’t Explain, Strange Fruit, God Bless the Child; died July 17, 1959

♥~ 1928 – James Garner (James Scott Bumgarner) actor: Rockford Files, Maverick, The Americanization of Emily, Victor/Victoria, Tank, A Man Called Sledge, Duel at Diablo, The Distinguished Gentleman, My Fellow Americans, Space Cowboys

♥~ 1933 – Wayne Rogers actor: M*A*S*H, Cool Hand Luke, Passion in Paradise, Pocket Money, The Killing Time, Chiefs, The Gig

♥~ 1939 – David Frost TV host: That Was the Week that Was, The David Frost Show

♥~ 1939 – Charlie Thomas singer: group: The Drifters: There Goes My Baby, When My Little Girl is Smiling, Save the Last Dance for Me, Up on the Roof, This Magic Moment, Under the Boardwalk, Sweets for My Sweet, Saturday Night at the Movies, On Broadway, Dance With Me

♥~ 1954 – Jackie Chan martial arts performer, actor: Rush Hour series, The Big Brawl, The Cannonball Run, The Protector, Ninja Thunderbolt, Shanghai Noon, Shanghai Knights

★~ Do You Know Why:

♥~ Do you feel like your mother’s house was so much cleaner and more organized than yours?  In the 70’s women still spent about 30 hours a week maintain their homes by the year 2000 they were cleaning 13.5 hours a week. Working outside the home has certainly contributed to the decrease in cleaning time; women are also doing things faster with the help of household gadgets AND probably more to the point we have given up on a lot of tasks.

♥~ A new study shows that for husbands and wives alike, the more housework you do, the more often you are likely to have sex with your spouse. (marital researcher Dr. John Gottman .)

♥~ A new study from the University of Michigan shows that having a husband creates an extra seven hours of extra housework a week for women. But a wife saves her husband from an hour of chores around the house each week.

♥~ The average housewife walks 10 miles each day doing chores.

♥~ Stay at home moms spend on average of 4 hours per day on family-home related issues.

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It’s hard to celebrate No Housework Day the day before Easter. Everyone wants their house to look tickety-boo before a holiday—especially Easter. I think we should get a do-over for this holiday, so if you cannot celebrate it today, celebrate next Saturday.

It’s a tail-wagging weekend at camp. Our campers include two Milos, two Tuckers, one Scout, a Trooper,  and a Ranger (Trooper and Ranger are the only two campers from the same family). Now it gets even a little Odder.  I have three poodles, two golden doodles, two collies, two beagles, and a couple pups that that match in color. Camp Run-A-Pup is a great example of how like attracts like.

What are your plans for today? Are you in the midst of it all, or have you just kicked back to enjoy the day? Leave a comment if you have an El Morno Moment Odd Loves Company.