~★~♥~♥~★~ El Morno! ♥~★~★~♥ ~
February 28, 2014

★~ Rabbit Rabbit! It is February 28th, and you know what that means… It’s time to prepare for the first of the  new month and all that can be yours by simple saying  ”rabbit, rabbit!” The first words out of your mouth, tomorrow, on the first day of  March, must be “rabbit, rabbit.”

★~ Tooth Fairy Day: 

For hundreds of years people have shared mystical legends, stories, and traditions about the loss of baby teeth. The early Europeans buried children’s teeth so witches and evil spirits couldn’t use them for voodoo. The Vikings believed that children’s teeth had magical powers that could help them fight in battle. They would pay their children for their lost baby teeth and string them onto necklaces and other jewelry (My sweet Mother made earrings out of my baby teeth. Ok, maybe she didn’t, but she should have).

Over time, people began to share stories about a Tooth Mouse who scampers around town and steals children’s teeth in the middle of the night. The story of the mouse evolved into the story of the Tooth Fairy who leaves treasures under children’s pillows in exchange for their lost teeth.

Tooth Fairy traditions are still popular today. Kids all over the world place their lost baby teeth under their pillows at night and look forward to a wonderful surprise in the morning. Happy National Tooth Fairy Day!

★~ Public Sleeping Day:

Train, bus, and desk: three of the best places to fall asleep publicly today. Swimming pool, staff meeting, and construction site: three places where it’s probably best not to celebrate this holiday.

A bit of sleeping trivia:

Babies can cause their parents to lose between 400 and 750 hours of sleep during their first year alone.

In his 2010 autobiography. Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards boasted that he once managed to go nine days without sleep.

Randy Gardner holds the scientifically documented record for the longest stint of sleeplessness. He managed to stay awake for 264 hours (around 11 days) in 1964.

Guinness World Records claims that the real record stands at 449 hours (which works out to 18 days, 17 hours). It was set in 1977 in England by a woman named Maureen Weston, who supposedly managed to stay awake that long during a “rocking chair marathon.”

★~ National Chili Day: 

Whether you prefer it Texas-style, Mexican-style, or vegetarian, chili served with a side of cornbread is a fabulous comfort food for the winter season.

Despite popular belief, chili does not come from Mexico. The recipe has certainly been influenced by Mexican culture, but it also incorporates elements from Native American and Spanish culinary traditions. Many historians believe chili originated in Texas where all three of these cultures intersected. According to legend, Spanish priests called the first chili “the soup of the Devil” because they believed that chili peppers were an aphrodisiac.

Ruscitti nephew,  Titus,  has been a Chicago Chili contest winner for multiple years. Click over and check out his chili! Smokin’ Chokin’ and Chow. It’s very tasty!

★~ Chocolate Soufflé Day: 

Soufflé means “puffed up” and is the name of a light dish with a stiff shape, thanks to the air in the dish’s eggs. According to the Horizon Cookbook and Illustrated History of Eating and Drinking Through the Ages (Food Timeline), “Patrons of La Grande Taverne de Londres, which opened in Paris in the 1780s, were perhaps the first to enjoy this dessert soufflé.” Easy and soufflé are two words not frequently found together, but here you go: a recipe for a “so-easy chocolate soufflé.”

Update: I did not forget Paczki Day. We will celebrate it next Tuesday on Fat Tuesday.  Rumor (Stan Adams) is that they have Godly Good Paczki’s. I  ordered a few this year.

★~ Today in History:

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♥~ 1893 – It was a grand day  Old at the home of Edward G. Acheson of Monongahela, PA, as he gathered friends and family around to proudly show off his patent for Carborundum, an abrasive or refractory of silicon carbide, fused alumina and other materials.

♥~ 1940 – The first televised basketball game was shown — over W2XBS in New York City — from Madison Square Garden. The game featured Fordham University and the University of Pittsburgh. Pitt won, 50-37.

♥~ 1953 – Scientists James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick discovered the double-helix structure of DNA, the molecule that contains the human genes, at Cambridge University.

♥~ 1983 – The concluding episode of the long-running television series “M*A*S*H” drew what was then the largest TV audience in U.S. history.

★~Born Today:

♥~ 1924 – Chris Kraft NASA flight director for all Mercury and many Gemini missions; NASA spokesman: voice of Mission Control during Mercury and Gemini space missions

♥~ 1931 – Gavin MacLeod actor: The Love Boat, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, McHale’s Navy, Operation Petticoat

♥~ 1940 – Mario Andretti, race car driver: Italian-American race car driver named U.S. Driver of the year in three separate decades. Before fame, He spent time in a refugee camp after World War II before coming to America.

♥~ 1948 – Bernadette Peters (Lazzara) actress: The Jerk, Annie, All’s Fair, George M, Dames at Sea, Pennies from Heaven; singer: Gee Whiz

♥~ 1979- Ivo Karlovic tennis player: At 6 feet 10 inches, the tallest professional tennis player and has served at record speeds

★~ Good to Know: 

An orphan pelican had to learn to fly from humans,  it’s a wonder he ever managed to do it.

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I know, watching a Pelican learn to fly may not be the most riveting, Good to Know, you have experienced on El Mono, but you have to admit the Pelican is pretty cute. Admit it!!!!

Life at my house last night  at around 11:30pm…..

Cole (my teen) did you take a look at those pictures for your power point.

I will, but I really needed to clean the disk utility on my computer.

(I think this is the modern way to procrastinate—I pull scotch tape off the ceiling, or put the refrigerator in alphabetical order….)

You are doing this NOW?

Mom, a slow computer is not a fast computer.

(You have to admit he makes perfect sense)

I did not forget Paczki Day. We will celebrate it next Tuesday (March 4th)  on Fat Tuesday. It is rumored (Stan Adams) that Maier’s Bakery, Morton Grove, Il has Godly Good Paczki’s. I ordered a few this year to take to Cole’s saintly teachers who have been working tirelessly to get our kids ready for their Senior Projects. If you don’t live in my town, look for Paczki’s at your local bakery. They sell out quick, so you might have to pre-order.

I’ve decided to ignore the cold. Ha.

Odd Loves Company!