-KIDS- Rockin' the Extra Chromosome

"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted."

– Aesop

 

Mysterious Beauties

Words only go so far, we must live our message. Our true wisdom is displayed through our actions

 

-EDITORIAL-

 Hello Everyone,

Arriving a bit earlier than usual, Easter is upon us again. And once again we find ourselves celebrating yet another holiday with pandemic restrictions. But I'm not going to dwell on that, this editorial is about more enjoyable things.

I want to start by thanking everyone for all their praise on two recent Scribbles offerings. Let's start with our Really BIG Show. I love when you message me to say how much you enjoyed something I created and it is even more special when friends we have not heard from in a while respond. Our Really BIG Show had that effect. We heard from our beloved "regulars" who typically send much appreciated comments AND we heard from others who rarely comment. Friends like Rich & Maria, who told us how much they enjoyed our show...wowza... that meant a lot to me.

Then we have our Look for the Leprechaun Contest. We had 26 friends enter this contest with a jackpot that capped at $31 going to our pal Jessica. What made this one extra special was our live draw on Facebook. Over 100 people watched the draw on Facebook and more caught it on Scribbles and You Tube. I'm thrilled and encouraged by those numbers.

I've heard that youngsters also enjoyed watching our live draw. Our Ottawa Valley pal Joe (age 3) noticed himself on screen (the leprechaun was hiding in a post featuring him & we revealed that during the draw.) He also repeated each entrant's name after I read them off. Welland 2 year old pal Lucas also enjoyed watching the draw. Maybe he was mesmerized by my festive green essemble & funky eyewear. We're doing a similar live draw for our Count the Eggs Contest and I'll be wearing more festive attire, so get the kids ready for another family friendly draw. We'll announce the date and time of this draw soon.  

This edition offers a bit of everything. We have our Easter classics and comics. There's a "Cuteness Overload" post that dares you not to smile. We say happy birthday to Joe Friday and my sister Kim -who has two new roommates who we introduce you to this edition as well. 

Have a happy Easter. Be sure to enter our contest and enjoy today's Scribbles.

Treasured Memories

Yes, we've featured this one before, but with this being Easter, it's always nice to look back at some past celebrations. 

I Love This Comparison...

“I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light.”

– Helen Keller

-PETS- The Birthday Boy's New Bowl

“The secret of getting ahead is getting started.”

 

– Mark Twain

 

Cuteness Overload

“Either you run the day, or the day runs you”

– Jim Rohn

 

-KIDS- Slow Down, You're Growin' Too Fast

 “Just because it didn’t last forever, doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth your while.”

-PETS- Two Times the Fun!

 “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up” 

– Thomas A. Edison

-PASSAGES- We Remember Joan Miller

My mom (Joan) has remained close with friends she met many years ago. One of those friends was her pal Joan Miller, who lived in Renfrew with her husband Bert. 

When mom & I went to Renfrew in the summer of 2019, mom made sure to visit with Joan, while I did some bargain shopping at the local Walmart. When mom was ready to go back to the campground we were staying at, I went in to say hello to Joan & Bert -where I took the picture of my mom with Joan, seen here. I remembered Joan from past years, as a visit with her was always on my mom's agenda whenever she was in Renfrew. 

Mom said when Joan would call her, she referred to herself as "the other Joan".She did that for years according to mom.  

Sadly & suddenly, Joan Miller passed away on March 23rd. Mom contacted me shortly after she received the news, which was indeed a shock to us all. 

My sincerest condolences to my mom and to Joan's family and friends. We just never know when our time here will end and our time in heaven will begin. Treasure your memories of time spent with Joan. She was a very special person. 

Obituary of Joan Shirley Miller
  1941 – 2021  

Peacefully at the Ottawa Civic Hospital on Tuesday March 23rd 2021 at the age of 79 with her loving daughter by her side. Cherished wife of Bert for 54 years. Loving Mom of Mark (Carla) and Shelley (Mike Merpaw). Proud and loving grandma of Gracie, Julia, Ryan and Sarah. Predeceased by her sister Phyllis (late Guy Ziebarth).

Joan will be fondly remembered by her sister in law Doreen Ballard and her many nieces, nephews and friends.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at Our Lady of Fatima Church, Renfrew on Saturday March 27, 2021 at 11:00 am. Spring interment St. Francis Xavier Cemetery.

Donations in memory of Joan Miller to CHEO Oncology while supporting Julia Miller.

-MUSIC- Better Days Ahead' Video Offers a Message of Hope

VAUGHN ROWSELL IN SCREENSHOT 
FROM 'BETTER DAYS AHEAD'

Prior to the pandemic, it wasn't unusual to find my friend Shelley & I at The First Ontario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines taking in another stellar live performance. 

One such show was the Ultimate Fleetwood Mac and it was presented by VaughnCo Entertainment. There was signup info on hand for VaughnCo and when I got home that night I subscribed. Since that time I've received emails notifying me when a VaughCo act is performing. Needless to say, with the world on lockdown, there hasn't been a lot of live shows to tell of.

Recently I received a message from VaughnCo promoting their original song and video 'Better Days Ahead'. After I watched, I left a message praising the uplifting tune and letting them know I would share it to Scribbles. 

Much to my surprise Vaughn Rowsell emailed me thanking me for my words. He had also checked out Scribbles and really liked it.

Vaughn and his family recorded Better Days Ahead joined by family and friends . "As a concert promoter and musician, I have experienced first hand the impact that this pandemic has had on the music industry", Vaughn shared on You Tube, "I felt it was important to create a message of hope as we move forward."

You can watch the video below. You can also help VaughnCo Entertainment by purchasing the song on itunes and other streaming services (I did, it costs around a buck and it made me feel good to support a Canadian business -VaughnCo Entertainment is based in Newfoundland)

VISIT VAUGHNCO ENTERTAINMENT'S WEBSITE HERE

-TV- Law, Order & a Whole Lotta Confusion

This Thursday, NBC debuts a new series in the Law & Order family, it's Law & Order Organized Crime and it airs Thurs at 10 pm right after Law & Order Special Victim's Unit at 9 pm. The new series sees the return of Christoper Meloni as Detective Elliot Stabler, the role he launched on SVU.

 
Now here's the messed up part..... although the two series air back-to-back on NBC in the States, in Canada CTV has the broadcast rights for SVU but CityTV has the rights to the new Organized Crime. And when are they airing the two series? AT THE SAME F'N TIME! Both shows will air Thursdays at 10 pm. This week's SVU reintroduces Elliot, which is perfect if you're watching the two series one AFTER the other, but will add even more confusion when both episodes air simultaniously in Canada.

Not sure who the brilliant minds were who thought this would be a good programming plan, but it's just another example of Canadian networks showing little regard for the US programs they air and even less regard for their viewers. 

Long Distant Birthday Surprise

"Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one.”

– Eleanor Roosevelt

-DIY- A Shelf Project Worth Repeating

“Low self-esteem is like driving through life with your hand-break on.”

-TV- Mom is Done

CBS has cancelled their series 'Mom'. It will come to an end on Thursday, May 7th, after 8 seasons. This past year has note been kind to the sitcom. Anna Farris, who portrayed one of the series main characters Christie, did not return for season 8, which saw a shift in storylines and a decline in ratings. Covid 19 restrictions also caused issues. With fewer new episodes recorded and countless reruns airing in the series 9 pm Thursday time slot, viewers never knew if or when they'd see something new.

Still, the series did charter untravelled territor. Wth it's strong AA storylines, the show covered once taboo topics such as addiction, unwanted pregnancy and the benefits of a strong support system. 

We will really miss this once mighty show. 

 

Blooming Beauty

-MORE LAUGHS-

THIS IS THE END OF OUR NEW EASTER / CUTENESS OVERLOAD EDITION

CONTINUE ON TO SEE PREVIOUS SCRIBBLES FUN...

-SCRIBBLES VIDEO- Look for Our Leprechaun Draw

We've had lots of contests in the past year or so and we usually get someone in our Scribbles gang to assist us in picking the winners. This time around we thought we'd try something a bit different....since our contest was about finding a leprechaun, we decided to do our draw on St. Patrick's Day, live on Facebook.

I donned lots of green with funky eyeglasses, a hat, a flashing shamrock necklace and a green shirt. I surrounded myself with green balloons, a cutout of the little Ken leprechaun we had asked everyone to look for, a smiley container in which to put the entries and a glass of faux green beer (made from green paper.)

I had my iphone all set to go live at 7:30 pm, which I promoted heavily for several days leading up to to the draw. I tested the system prior to airtime, all was good. I had special effect filters picked out and was raring to go. Then the unthinkable happened. My damn phone wouldn't go live. I tried several times to no avail. Luckily I still have my old iphone which I was able to go live with. The planned special effects were out and the video quality would be blurry throughout the draw (thanks in part to the flashing necklace) but we were live and that's what counted.

26 Scribbles friends found the leprechaun and entered our contest. The jackpot was $31 and those who watched the draw -either live or later- said they found it very entertaining, even some pals who we had not heard from in ages (gotta love that). 

Here's an abbreviated version of the live draw, in case you didn't catch it on Facebook. 

-BIGGEST SCRIBBLES VIDEO EVER- Our Really BIG Show

I've hyped it for a while and now it's finally here. Scribbles Really BIG Show is 42 minutes of music and merriment that I hope you find enjoyable. The show pretty much speaks for itself so I'm not going to spend a great deal of time here explaining what you will discover once you start to watch. 

I do want to take a second to thank each of the friends who appear on our show. You are all so talented in various ways and it was a pleasure to come up with a way to showcase those talents. Like they say, 

I couldn't have done it without you.

**And if you want to learn more about how the concept of a variety show came to be and the challenges we faced putting it all together, there's an in depth bonus story that appears after the two parts of our video.

Reunited....& It Feels So Good

“Self-care is never a selfish act—it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer to others.”

– Parker Palmer

 

-PETS- Enough is Enough

“The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.”

— Morrie Schwartz

 

Morning Glory

"When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive 

– to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”

— Marcus Aurelius