You probably don’t know this, but Friday, yes this Friday, June 20, has been declared the happiest day of the year.
Who knew? Not me.
The news came in an e-mail from something called the Stress Institute. It reports that a researcher at the University of Cardiff’s Center for Lifelong Learning devised a scientific equation using a variety of physical, emotional and stress factors and came up with this Friday as the happiest day of all. At least this year.
In short, the stars aligned.
It’s the beginning of summer, we’re at the pool, reliving childhood memories of firefly nights, working in the yard and spending vacation time with loved ones.
I’m not sure I can handle this much fun at one time.
Kathleen Hall, founder of the Stress Institute, says: “Happiness is a physical state of the brain. When we’re happy, our brain produces neurochemicals that result in us wanting to eat, have sex or maybe sing.”
But all in one day?
I understand the barbecue. I understand the sex. But singing, too? It feels a bit like Christmas. Too much pressure.
And what if we’re not in the mood to cash in on the steak-sex-song trifecta Friday? Will we have missed our chance to experience ultimate happiness for another whole year?
An old friend of mine would be very suspicious of all this. He was always a bit perplexed, albeit amused, by Americans’ obsession with happiness.
For years he’d ask me why we think we’re entitled to be happy all the time. It’s not the way the world works, he’d say. People aren’t supposed to be happy all the time.
I never had an answer for him, so he’d sulk for a while, which I suspect brought him a certain amount of pleasure, if not happiness.
Coincidentally, Friday also is the 10th annual Take Your Dog to Work Day. The organizers, Pet Sitters International, hope the day will spark pet adoptions after dogless workers see what a great companion a dog is.

usatoday.com

Last-minute gift seekers with a computer and printer on the ready can honor dads this Father’s Day with free printable cards, gift tags, certificates and more thanks to the FreePrintable.net family of sites.
At Free Printable Greeting Cards.org, there are humorous cards, including dads in mild peril.
For the younger set, there are Father’s Day coloring pages along with hundreds of other themed coloring sheets that are perfect to slip in a card or frame for Dad.
All of the printables can be downloaded and printed for free as PDFs, while the certificates and cards also have premium Microsoft Word download options so, for a fee of $4, users can customize them however they would like.
“Our free printables save you a trip to the store while still showing Dad that you care,” said Kevin Savetz, creator of the FreePrintable.net sites. Other Printable.net sites fill a variety of home and business needs, from free printable business cards to fax cover sheets to printable paper.
FreePrintable.net was created by Savetz Publishing, Inc., a company that creates high-quality, content-driven web sites. The FreePrintable.net family of sites also offers free printable business cards, stationery, award certificates, recipe cards and other useful printable items. Savetz Publishing also owns FaxZero, which lets users send faxes from their PC; and Free After Rebate, a guide to free-after-rebate deals.

expertclick.com

H2O’s new wine flight menu features groupings of several wines poured in two- or three-ounce servings and sold as a set, giving diners a chance to try several wines in one sitting.
The new cheese flight menus are a similar concept, offering a variety of domestic and imported cheeses that pair well with the wines.
Chef Dan Dunn says he’s been very excited to try all the new cheeses and wines. Surely, the same will be true for his customers.
CC’s Fine Wines and Gourmet Gifts has moved to a new location, just up the road from its previous home. The new shop is in the Breeze Plaza, 3090 Gulf Breeze Parkway.
The shop still carries the same quality merchandise its customers have come to expect, including limited editions and bottles from small wineries. In other words, the kind of products you wouldn’t find in the corner grocery.
CC’s will also continue to offer wine tastings from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursdays. Details: 932-3617.
Unfortunately, the news isn’t as good for two Gulf Breeze eateries. Morning Star Coffee, at 47 Gulf Breeze Parkway, and Verde, an Italian restaurant in the Seagreen Center, have both closed.
While I never got the chance to visit either restaurant, I did sample Morning Star’s fare many, many times. PNJ Assistant Life Editor Kimberly Blair would often stop at Morning Star on her way to work and pick up some of their fantastic baked goods to share. From muffins to brownies to banana-nut bread, everything was delicious. These goodies will be missed.
Our best wishes to the owners and employees of both establishments.
If you’re looking for locally grown produce, head downtown on Saturday. The Palafox Market, an open-air farmer’s market for local growers, will be open from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Plaza on Palafox Street.

pnj.com

A couple of anti-war protesters have lost a High Court appeal against convictions for offensive behaviour at an Anzac ceremony in Wellington.
The protesters, Valerie Morse and Mark Daniel Rawnsley, were arrested after disrupting last year’s Anzac Day dawn service - Morse by burning a New Zealand flag and Rawnsley by blowing a horn during a speech.
In a reserved decision, Justice Forrie Miller upheld punishments handed down in Wellington District Court, The Dominion Post reported today.
They included a fine of $500 for offensive behaviour for Morse and a conviction and discharge for Rawnsley for resisting and obstructing police.
Both appealed the decisions and tried to get their convictions quashed.
Their lawyer Mark Lillico argued the district court judge who handed down the sentences had not applied the right balance between the right to protest and the right to be protected from offence.
Mr Lillico said freedom of expression on political views had to have higher protection, despite the likelihood it would cause offence.
He said the pair had been specifically protesting about New Zealand’s military deployment in Afghanistan and had every right to do so.
A crown representative said the burning of a flag was particularly offensive to those who had gathered to commemorate the dead and the veterans and under the circumstances the protest went too far.
Several witnesses at the initial hearing said they had been highly offended by the burning of the flag and the disruption of the service.

tv3.co.nz

Today is a day to celebrate mothers. We think about all the things mothers do for us and our families. Our mothers provide us with comfort, warmth, food, clothing, a place to call home.
Our mothers are not the only ones that take care of us. Remember, our Earth has provided many of these same things that make our lives more comfortable and meaningful.
What have you done for the mothers in your life? On Mother’s Day, my dad was famous for gifts that would lessen my mother’s workload. A sewing machine, a new washing machine and a riding lawn mower come to mind. As you enjoy the day and spend time with family, take a few minutes to think of ways you can honor moms and Mother Earth.
Green is more than just a color now. It is a term used to represent a new way to live, work and play that lessens the workload or impact on our Mother Earth. Sustainability, living today in a way that will allow us to continue to provide for the needs of future generations, has been a buzz word. But now folks are understanding how our quality of life depends on it.
We can live green and make a difference without sacrificing how we behave. We can make choices at the cash register by making choices in the products we buy. Informed consumers are changing the ways that businesses market themselves.
Green choices are not just good for the environment. They can save us money. High gas prices have resulted in increased costs of power, food and goods and services including our entertainment. Home buyers are shopping for homes closer to where they work so they don’t spend so much on fuel.
The price is only one part of a purchase decision. Now, we also are looking more closely at the maintenance costs. Car shoppers are reading the miles-per-gallon labels as much as the bottom-line price so they can get farther on a gallon of gas. Appliance shoppers are using the yellow-and-black energy-guide labels to see how much it will cost to operate a new washing machine, television or refrigerator.

orlandosentinel.com

Cooking and baking for my family is one of my joys as a mom. I take pride in preparing healthy, flavorful food for my husband, sons and daughter and love to pore over recipes. I have a cupboard full of cookbooks and a box overstuffed with recipes, but that doesn’t stop me from subscribing to a cooking magazine.
So I was delighted when Cooking Light, one of my favorite food magazines, in its May issue, interviewed four famous chefs and asked them to recall a few of the best dishes their mothers used to make. The chefs’ favorites varied from rubbed pork with apricot glaze and sauerkraut, to lemon cake to braised short ribs.
Although, I’ve never made any of those dishes, I can relate to the feelings they stir up in the chefs. Some of my best childhood memories of times spent with my own family are centered around food; summer picnics, holiday gatherings, harvest lunches and just plain, old family meals.
Like most children I never thought much about the effort on my mom’s part to plan, coordinate and cook those meals. They somehow just magically appeared, were consumed in a flash and the dirty dishes and a few crumbs were the only evidence that remained.
Now that I’m an adult, I marvel at how my mom could, seemingly effortlessly, and most often, single-handedly, prepare those huge spreads while still managing day-to-day family and farm responsibilities. Each year when I’m flying around the kitchen trying to cook and organize Thanksgiving dinner, I am in awe as I recall earlier years when the sunflower harvest was delayed and my mom prepared a meal for 25 people in between helping my dad and brother juggle trucks from field-to-field.
Reading the Cooking Light article got me to reminiscing again about the love that moms put in to meal making and about some of my own favorite dishes.

grandforksherald.com

MOULTRIE — Union Baptist Church will celebrate its Mission Anniversary Sunday, April 27, at 3 p.m. Music will be provided by the Mt. Olive Baptist Church Choir of Sale City and the speaker is the Rev. Shirley A. Strawter.
Strawter began preaching in 1987 at various Women’s Day programs and conferences. She served as an usher for more than 40 years at Solomon Chapel A.M.E. in Ty Ty, Ga. She has been active in the A.M.E. church since childhood.
In 2001, she became ordained as an itinerant deacon and in 2003, she was ordained as an itinerant elder.
In 2002, she became the pastor of Miller’s Chapel A.M.E. Church in Sumner, Ga., and is now the pastor of Bethel A.M.E. Church in Alapaha, Ga.
An author and poet, Strawter has written numerous Christian poems and stories. She has compiled and written several collection of poems including, “Gathering Leaves,” “Seasoned with Grace,” and “Hands and Hearts for Him.” She has also composed a series of short stories including, “My Plate is Full, But Thank God for the Platter!,” “I Thought I Needed A Miracle, But I Only Needed God” and “The Brick Collector.”
She is a 1978 graduate of Talladega College in Talladega, Ala., and is presently employed with Len Lastinger Primary School in Tifton, Ga., as a physical education teacher. She has been there for 28 years and has been nominated Teacher of the Year twice by her peers, Teacher of Excellence, and Wal-Mart Teacher of the Year.
She is a member of the Ty Ty City Council and a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.
She is the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. O.Z. Strawter and has three siblings, Bill J. Strawter of Midland, Mich., Deborah J. Strawter of Ty Ty, and Ronnie J. Strawter of Tifton. She is the mother of a daughter, Tori G. Strawter.

moultrieobserver.com

Since 1915, we have set aside the second Sunday in May to honor our Mothers. Although there are several opinions as to how this day came about, the one that has lasted is the story of Anna Reeves Jarvis.
Jarvis asked her minister in West Virginia to give a sermon in memory of her mother in 1907, after her mother’s death in May of 1905. On the same Sunday, the minister at a church in Philadelphia, Pa., where Jarvis’s dad had formerly ministered, honored Mrs. Jarvis and all mothers with a special Mothers’ Day Service.
Jarvis began to write to congressmen, urging that they set aside a day to honor Mothers. In 1910, West Virginia Gov. Glasscock proclaimed a statewide Mother’s Day. The next year every state celebrated it. In 1915, President Woodrow Wilson signed into law a resolution making the second Sunday in May the national Mother’s Day.
Anna Marie Reeves Jarvis, Anna Jarvis’s mother, had been instrumental in forming the Mother’s Day Friendship Clubs to work with women to teach the importance of sanitation. The women who belonged to the group refused to take sides during the Civil War and provided nursing service and taught sanitation methods which have been accredited to saving many soldiers’ lives.
In 1872, Julia Ward Howe began the Mothers Day for Peace celebration in Boston. The day set aside for honoring peace, motherhood and womanhood was celebrated for 10 years.
There is also a claim by a service organization that one of their own was responsible for getting Mother’s Day as an official holiday.
Regardless of who gets the credit for bringing this day about, it is a good day to remember our mothers. Some will bring gifts, others will call, and yet others will write poems.
This year, Hallmark expects 155 million cards to be sent. They have been producing Mother’s Day cards since the early 1900s.

journal-advocate.com

Twelve grants totaling more than $17,000 were awarded by the Waukee Foundation at its quarterly meeting April 9. The district’s next two-hour early dismissal is April 30.
The following camps are scheduled for this summer. Registration forms are available on the district Web site www.waukee.k12.ia.us under “Waukee Activities Department.” For questions, call Fran at 987-2782.
Volleyball WIN Training: For those entering grades 8-12. Camp runs Wednesdays from June 4 to July 30 for grades 8-11. Cost is $20. Registration deadline is June 4. Camp runs Sundays for grades 11-12 from June 1 to July 27. Cost is $20. Registration is due June 1. If 11th- and 12th-graders attend and pay for the Wednesday training, Sundays are free.
B.E.S.T. Shooting School: For girls and boys entering grades 3-12. Runs consecutive Tuesdays June 10 through July 22. Does not meet July 1. Cost is $90.
Volleyball Camp: For girls entering grades 3-12. Registration is due May 30. Girls entering grades 3-5 meet June 16-18. Cost is $40. Girls entering grades 6-7 meet June 16-19. Cost is $50. Girls entering grades 8-9 (setters/defense and spec./libero) meet June 9-12. Cost is $50. Girls entering grades 8-9 (hitters camp) meet June 9-12. Cost is $50. Girls entering grades 9-12 (all-skills camp) meet June 9-12. Cost is $70. Girls entering grades 9-12 (all-skills camp) meet Aug. 11-14. Cost is $70. (The August camp is free if you pay and attend the June camp.) Registration deadline is July 25.
Girls’ Basketball Camp: Girls entering grades 2-3 meet July 14-17. Cost is $55. Girls entering grades 4-8 meet July 14-17. Cost is $65. Registration deadline is July 1.
Boys’ Basketball Camp: Boys entering grades 1-8 meet July 14-17. Cost is $75. Registration deadline is July 1.
Football Camp: Boys entering grades 7-12 meet Aug. 4-7. Cost is $60 before July 1, or $70 after.

desmoinesregister.com

By Tom Kane
A ‘Golden’ Moment … On Wednesday, April 30, State Senator Marty Golden, a member of the Senate Committee on Education, hosted the sixth annual “If I Were A State Senator For A Day” contest for sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-graders in his district. I had the honor of being a judge on a panel of four during the contest at the Knights of Columbus on 13th Avenue and, let me tell you, it was one of the toughest decisions I’ve had to make in a long while. These kids were brilliant and quite inspiring. Congratulations to winners Marie Frolich, OLG; Justin Lang, I.S. 238; and Amy Elsayed, McKinley Jr. High. See more on this story on page 5.
And Another Golden Moment … Congratulations to Brendan Michael Grady and Kelly Anne Dolan, who were engaged on May 3 after dinner at Chadwick’s. The big man had the ring brought out on a dessert plate with ‘Will you marry me?’ written in chocolate sauce. Happily, Kelly said ‘yes.’ They celebrated down at Pippin’s Pub where they were joined by Brendan’s mom Rita, sister Deirdre, his brother Patrick with his wife Lindsay, Kelly’s dad and her sister Patricia. Hosts Stephen Oliver and Anthony Bartholomeo bought drinks along with friends, John Chell, Patty O’Donnell and numerous others. Nicely done, B-man.
Happy Belated Birthday to my favorite Poly Prep basketball back-up center/right-handed pitcher, Sam Hasty, who turned 18 on May 4. After his Poly graduation, Hasty plans to be pitching for Rutgers University, which won the Division I championship last season. For more on Hasty, see Benchside Seats on page 10.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of Shoreview Golf Club… Paul J. Strafaci is the newly appointed president of the Shoreview Golf Club of the Dyker Beach Golf Course. Paul graduated from Bishop Ford, and has been playing golf since age four. In fact, he led Ford to a championship in his senior year. He is currently a detective second class in the NYPD. Congratulations, pal.

brooklyneagle.com