What to Celebrate April 13 thru 19, 2020
Celebration Ideas for April 13 – 19, 2020
Welcome to the 4356th day of Appletini. If you’re like most of us, you’re quickly losing track of the date. And days of the week are but a distant memory.
But keeping track of days to celebrate can help! Not to mention supply some much-needed distraction.
From gardening & poker to appreciating linemen, occupational health nurses, & husbands, there’s plenty to keep you occupied. And of course, lots of food days to tempt your taste buds.
So go ahead & jump right in to take a peek and plan your week. And do remember to …
Enjoy!
Celebrate for the rest of April
Humor and hope are both important coping mechanisms for stressful times. And we have those in abundance! So lets make sure we find (or create) hope & humor as much as possible.
Like with a garden, which is a hopeful look toward a future filled with fresh foods & beautiful flowers. And trying new recipes can be both hopeful and humorous, depending on how things go!
National Garden Month: Get your garden started this month. Nothing tastes better than garden-fresh tomatoes, peppers, & herbs! And of course plants & flowers create an inviting space to relax in.
National Fresh Celery Month: Speaking of fresh veggies, this month is also a great time to experiment with fresh celery! Try different recipes, and add some celery plants to that garden so you can have your very own fresh celery later in the season.
National Humor Month: Humor is good for us, and we need as much of what is good for us as we can get these days. So help boost your own and others’ morale wherever & whenever you can this month. And beyond! The Humor Month website offers downloads & links to more humor resources to help you celebrate right.
National Month of Hope: Along with humor, hope will help us get through this crazy month! So find hope wherever you can & help spread it through your community & even the world.
Weekly Celebrations for April 13 to 19
Lots of animal protection related weeks happening this week. Along with a nod to occupational health nurses, whose jobs are probably looking a bit different today than they did just a few weeks ago.
Animal Cruelty/Human Violence Awareness Week (April 19 – 25, 2020): People who are cruel to animals are also more likely to be violent towards people. It’s long past time to recognize this link and stop the violence all around. Use this week to learn more and help spread the word.
Animal Care and Control Appreciation Week (April 12 – 18, 2020): Say thank you to the hard-working animal care & control professionals protecting the lives & welfare of pets & other animals in our communities.
National Dog Bite Prevention Week (April 12 – 18, 2020): Even good dogs can bite, especially if they’re scared or upset. This week reminds us that there are things we can do to make biting less likely.
Occupational Health Nurses Week (April 13 – 17, 2020): These days every health professional deserves thanks every day of every week. But for this week we give some extra appreciation to the occupational health nurses. They’ve dedicated themselves to ensuring employees in all kinds of professions stay safe & healthy at work. And while fewer people are working these days, keeping those who are working healthy has become an even bigger challenge than usual.
Celebration Days coming up for April 13 thru April 19
In a normal year Wednesday would be Tax Day, a day for taxpayers and tax preparers to all breathe a sigh of relief. But this year that day has been pushed to July. Does that make you more or less stressed? Or does it not matter because you filed your taxes ages ago?
However you feel about Tax Day (or the lack thereof), you’ll find plenty of other things to celebrate, from a game of Scrabble to writing Haiku (or not!).
Whether you want to celebrate foods or watch cute animal videos, you’ll find options for creating another fun-tastic week.
April 13:
National Scrabble Day: Has your stay-at-home game plan included Scrabble? If not, this is the day to add it to your games rotation! If you’ve already been playing, well then you’ve had practice & this is the day to get serious! Either way, play Scrabble.
Make Lunch Count Day: The original purpose of this day was to encourage workers to break free of the lunch-at-your-desk pattern that’s become increasingly common & have lunch with coworkers instead. But with so many people not working due to the pandemic, maybe we put a different spin on it this year? Why not make lunch count by ordering carry-out or delivery from a locally owned business for the day. Many of you have already been trying to help our small businesses stay in business. But let’s ramp up the effort for this day. Because every order really does count for them.
Thomas Jefferson Day: Celebrate the birthday of one of the founding fathers of our country and a major author of our Constitution. Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743. While the man was far from perfect, he did did contribute a lot to shaping the young United States of America, including as its 3rd President.
National Peach Cobbler Day: Make the house smell amazing by making a fresh peach cobbler to celebrate the day. Then of course you get to enjoy eating that cobbler! Whoever wins at Scrabble should get an extra serving. 🥰
April 14:
National Dolphin Day: Dolphins! Learn about them & watch videos of them to celebrate. If you can see them live, that’s even better!
RAINN Day: This day is for college students to unite against sexual violence. But really high school students and even entire communities can take part too. This year will have to be virtual events in most cases, but we’re getting good at that by now, right?
National Gardening Day: It’s time to head out to the garden & get some work done! Depending on where you live it may still be a bit early to do any actual planting, but that doesn’t mean you can’t dig out weeds, turn the soil, and add an amendments you might need to create a nurturing home for those plants you’ll eventually plant. Or you could connect with other gardeners to share tips & ideas.
Look Up At the Sky Day: While you’re out there gardening, take time to look up and admire the beauty you find. What do you see? A bright blue sky & a few puffy white clouds? Is the sun peaking out too? Or is the day more gray where you are, maybe even with some dark, angry clouds? If you take a look at the sky after dark how many stars can you see? No matter what the day looks like, nature is awesome & deserves our admiration.
National Pecan Day: Snack on, bake with, and/or cook with pecans for the day. This list of recipes with pecans includes lots of dessert options but also salads & entrees!
April 15:
Rubber Eraser Day: Ahhh, the rubber eraser. Once upon a time it was one of the most useful items ever! For some it still is. And on this day we celebrate it by writing something with a pencil & erasing it! Or not. It’s all up to you. But seriously, you probably have the time …
One Boston Day: This day was born out of Boston’s response to the Marathon bombing on April 15, 2013. It encourages random acts of kindness from people everywhere. Because that’s basically how Bostonians responded to the bombing. But you don’t have to live in Boston to join in the kindness! Especially now we all need to join together (from a distance) to create a better world from this trying time.
National Titanic Remembrance Day: We remember another tragedy that also happened on April 15. The sinking of the Titanic in 1912. Take a moment to honor the more than 1500 people who lost their lives that day.
World Art Day: We just had Slow Art Day and now there’s World Art Day. The day celebrates the fine arts and happens on Leonardo da Vinci’s birthday. The day usually features exhibitions, performances, artist talks and more. Much of that is probably not possible this year, so consider enjoying some art on your own this year.
National Glazed Spiral Ham Day: On this day you must enjoy ham. But not just any ham. It must be a spiral cut ham, to celebrate the spiral slicer patented in 1952 that makes these perfect ham slices possible. That patent wasn’t filed or granted on April 15, so we’re not sure why we’re celebrating on this date, but who cares? Glazed spiral ham is delicious!
April 16:
Save the Elephants Day: Elephants, like many animals these days, are in danger of extinction. But we can help! Learn more about the dangers elephants face and how to help for this day.
National Healthcare Decisions Day: If you have not yet made an advance healthcare plan, this is the day to get that done. Or at least start thinking about it & then getting it done sooner rather than later. If you do have a plan in place, this is a good day to review it to make sure it’s still what you want. Most official events for the day have probably been cancelled or postponed, but you can create a binding advance healthcare directive on your own. The website offers tools & links to resources to make it easier.
Wear Your Pajamas to Work Day: This day usually celebrates the relief we all feel the day after Tax Day. But this year a lot of people have probably been celebrating this for a month or more! Nonetheless, if you’ve been feeling guilty about wearing your pajamas all day, this is your official permission to not feel guilty for at least one day.
National Eggs Benedict Day: Mmmm … Eggs Benedict make a fabulous breakfast. Or lunch or dinner for that matter! So have this rich, delightful dish for at least one meal. If you need a recipe, this one’s detailed to make it as simple as possible!
April 17:
Bat Appreciation Day: Do you appreciate bats? You should! Find out why for this day. (No, bats didn’t cause our current problems, at least not directly. They had help from humans).
National Ellis Island Family History Day: Ellis Island was the nation’s busiest immigration inspection station for more than 30 years. But one day, April 17, 1907, saw the most people ever pass through. This day commemorates that day, when 11,747 people began their new lives in the US. If any of your family members arrived through Ellis Island and you’ve never looked them up, why not do that for this day?
International Haiku Poetry Day: This is your annual reminder to enjoy the deceptively simple poetry form called Haiku. And perhaps try to write one yourself?
Blah Blah Blah Day: What things have friends & family been blah-blah-blahing to you about doing recently? Have you done any of it? If it’s something you can do or can at least make progress at, this is the day to do that. Then those people can stop nagging you about it!
National Cheeseball Day: Cheeseballs are the perfect party snack, with crackers or even fresh veggies. And just because you can’t go to any parties these days doesn’t mean you can’t bring the party foods to you. Practice making different cheese balls for this day. Then pick your favorites to bring once you can party again.
National Crawfish Day: It’s the first annual Crawfish Day, created to encourage anyone who loves crawfish to have or attend crawfish boils with friends & family. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like big, rowdy boils will be possible for this inaugural event. But if you love crawfish & you can get some, cook ’em up your favorite way for yourself & your household to enjoy.
April 18:
Husband Appreciation Day: If you have a husband, show him how much you appreciate him for this day. Yes, really. Because while he might irritate you on a regular basis, you know he also does plenty of things you appreciate.
National Lineman Appreciation Day: This is the day to appreciate and thank those people who keep your power on. It’s an important day any year, because these people do their best to keep power on or get it back on quickly no matter the weather or other (often dangerous!) circumstances. But especially this year, as so many of us are now confined to our homes. Without power our already stressful situation would be even more so. They most certainly provide an essential service!
National Columnists’ Day: Honor your favorite columnists on this day. Whether they make you mad, happy, or sad, the best columnists always make you think. And we need that these days! We celebrate columnists on the day well-loved World War II military correspondent Ernie Pyle died at Okinawa, Japan from sniper fire.
National Animal Crackers Day: When was the last time you had animal crackers? Unless you have kids it’s probably been a while. This is the day to change that! Pick up a box or 2 and indulge in some nostalgia.
April 19:
National Garlic Day: Eat garlic all day long! Of course, if you’re like us you already do that pretty regularly, so this’ll be an easy day to celebrate. But you could certainly try some new garlicky recipes. Yum! 😊
National Hanging Out Day: No, it’s not a day for hanging out with friends. Which is good, because most of us can’t do that anyway. Instead it’s a day to learn what grandma always knew: Hanging your laundry on a clothesline to dry is good for the environment and for you. Check out Project Laundry List, the day’s founder, for reasons to line dry.
National Poker Day: Play poker! If you live with enough people who play to do that, anyway. Because that’s probably the only way to play live these days, since most if not all US casinos are closed for now & large gatherings are banned in most states. Or play online if you can.
National Amaretto Day: Enjoy your favorite amaretto drinks for the day. Or try a new one. Even better, use amaretto in cooking & baking!
