Eager for More (Awww Monday), Inspiring Quote of the Week, and Poetry Monday, Passover, an A to Z Challenge Post

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To enjoy more blogs participating in the A-to-Z Challenge, click here.   

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Awww Monday is hosted by Sandee at Comedy Plus.

Join us every Monday for Awww...Mondays.  Post a picture that makes you say Awww... and that's it.

Make sure you get the code from Sandee's site, linked above, and leave a link to your post so we can visit you.  What better way to start the week than with a smile!

Last Thursday, as i was taking care of Becca for the evening (parents had an event), she, Mr. Cal and i had just started to walk when the rain started again.  We came back in and Mr. Cal asked for his treat.

Short or not, it was a walk!

After all, he had gone for a walk, right?  Doesn't he get a treat after a walk, even if it's no further than the end of the driveway?  He got a treat.

Becca and i fixed and ate supper, the rain had stopped, so we tried again.  This time, we were successful in taking a good walk, and when we got back, Mr. Cal expected, of course, to get his treat again.

But I walked, I get treats!

You know he did!

Nom, nom, nom!

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Sparks is the brainchild of Annie of McGuffy's Reader, who wanted us to post something positive and uplifting at the start of the week.  While she no longer blogs, i like to post an Inspiring Quote of the Week in her honor.     

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Our dear friend Diane is taking a break

accommodations we must make

we miss her poetry and wit

so carry on as Poetry Monday's a hit!

Poetry Monday was started by Diane at On The Alberta/Montana Border.  Charlotte/Mother Owl and i are keeping it going while she takes a blog break, we hope temporarily.  Anyone else is welcome to join in the fun, just let us know!

This week the theme is Passover.               

When God wanted to set Israel free

He sent them Moses, told them to flee,

first put the blood of a Passover lamb

upon every Israelite door jamb,

the Angel of Death would pass them by

and once he was done, it was time to fly.

Eat a meal in haste, no time for bread to rise,

bake it flat, dine quickly, and to their surprise

the Pharaoh agreed to let them leave,

leaving Egyptians behind to grieve.

(For any unfamiliar with the Passover story, the summary is God freed Israel from being slaves to the Egyptians by sending plagues to the Egyptians and protecting the Israelites and "passing over" them with no harm.  Finally, the Pharaoh of Egypt told them to leave, and they packed and ate a quick meal, no time for risen bread, to get out before he could change his mind.  This being set free is celebrated each year.)

Future themes are:

April 6 Passover (Today!)

April 13 Fabulous

April 20 Superhero

April 27 Plaid

(All themes are from the 365 Days of Drawing Prompts and Other Arts Facebook group.)

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Today is National Siamese Cat Day in the US!  Freelance writer and newspaper columnist Jace Shoemaker-Galloway founded this day to encourage people to adopt Siamese cats from shelters.

Thanks to Barb Kowalik and The Cat Blogosphere for the event badge.

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Today is:

Animated Cartoon Day -- date of release, in 1908, of Humorous Phases of Funny Faces, often considered the first actual animated cartoon

Army Day -- US (by proclamation of FDR in 1942)

California Poppy Day -- California, US (state flower)

Chakri Dynasty Day and King Rama I Memorial Day -- Thailand

Drowsy Driver Awareness Day -- please pull over and take a nap when you need to

Easter Monday -- Christian; related observances

     Dyngus Day

     Egg Races -- Rural Northwestern Switzerland (traditional Easter Monday races with competitors carrying large numbers of eggs from village to village)

     Emaishen -- Luxembourg (traditional market)

     Family Day -- South Africa

     Hallaton Hare Pie Scramble & Bottle Kicking -- Hallaton, Leicestershire, England (traditional celebrations dating back at least 600 years)

     Memorial Day -- Republic of Georgia

     Seu Harvest Parade -- Curacao

     Sham el-Nessim -- Egypt (Smell the Breezes Day, a spring celebration for all religions; celebrated by getting outside, greeting neighbors, enjoying spring, and eating salty raw fish)

Guan Shi Yin Pu Sa -- Buddhism (birthday of Guan Yin, the goddess of mercy)

International Day of Sport for Development and Peace -- UN (on the anniversary of the date of the opening of the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896)

Procession of the Addolorata -- Taranto, Italy

National Caramel Popcorn Day

National Student Athlete Day -- US

New Beer's Eve -- US (unofficial celebration of the end of Prohibition; beer became legal to sell again on tomorrow's date in 1933)

North Pole Day -- Peary and Co. arrived there this day in 1909

Plan Your Epitaph Day -- figure out how you want to be remembered, and then live that way! (some sites celebrate this on Nov. 1)

President Ntaryamira Day -- Burundi (anniversary of assassination)

Sorry Charlie Day -- a day to recognize Charlie the Tuna, always rejected but never giving up, and anyone who has ever been rejected and lived to tell about it

St. Sixtus' Day (Patron of Alatri, Italy)

Tartan Day -- Scottish diaspora of Canada and the US (anniversary of the Declaration of Arbroath in 1320)

Teflon Day --  Polytetraflouroethylene resin was developed by Roy J. Plunkett while working for E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company in 1938

Think About Spring Cleaning Day -- don't do it, just think about it

Twinkie Day -- the snack cakes that will never go away were invented on this day in 1930

Birthdays Today:

Candace Cameron, 1976

Zach Braff, 1975

Ari Meyers, 1969

Paul Rudd, 1969

Marilu Henner, 1952

John Razenberger, 1947

Barry Levinson, 1942

Philip Austin, 1941

Roy Thinnes, 1938

Merle Haggard, 1937

Billy Dee Williams, 1937

Andre Previn, 1929

James Watson, 1928

Gerry Mulligan, 1927

Lowell Thomas, 1892

Rose Schneiderman, 1882

Butch Cassidy, 1866

René Lalique, 1860

Raphael, 1483

Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Barney & Friends"(TV), 1992

Post-It Notes(first day of sale), 1980

"Entertaining Mr. Sloane"(Play), 1964

"Little Orphan Annie"(Radio series), 1931

"La Double Inconstance / Double Inconsistancy"(Play), 1723

Today in History:

Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) in the battle of Thapsus, BC46

The Roman army under the command of Stilicho stymies the Visigoths under Alaric in the Battle of Pollentia, 402

Charlemagne confirms his father Pepin the Short's "Donation of Pepin," which had established the Papal States, 774

King Richard I, The Lionheart, of England dies from an infection following the removal of an arrow from his shoulder, 1199

The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath, 1320

The Italian poet Petrarch first sees his beloved Laura, 1327

At the Cape of Good Hope, Dutch sailor Jan van Riebeeck establishes a resupply camp that eventually becomes Cape Town , 1652

An earthquake devastates Dubrovnik, then an independent city-state, 1667

Peter the Great of Russia ends the tax on men with beards in that country, 1722

Rama I succeeds King Taksin of Siam (modern day Thailand), who is overthrown in a coup d'état, 1782

The Committee of Public Safety becomes the executive organ of the republic in France, and the period known as the Reign of Terror begins, 1793

John Jacob Astor incorporates the American Fur Company, 1808

Celluloid, the first plastic, is patented, 1869

The city of Vancouver, BC, is incorporated, 1886

The Mormon Temple in Salt Lake City is dedicated, 1893

In Athens, the first modern Olympic Games are opened, 1,500 years after being banned by Emperor Theodosius I; James Connoly of the US becomes the first gold medalist of the modern games, 1896

The Kishinev pogrom forces thousands of Jews to seek refuge in Israel and the West, 1903

Robert Peary and Matthew Henson allegedly reach the North Pole, 1909

Governor Huey P. Long is impeached by the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1929

Mohandas Gandhi raises a lump of mud and salt and declares, "With this, I am shaking the foundations of the British Empire." Thus he starts the Salt Satyagraha, 1930

Launch of Early Bird, the first communications satellite to be placed in geosynchronous orbit, 1965

The American League of Major League Baseball begins using the designated hitter, 1973

Pakistan tests medium-range missiles capable of reaching India, 1998

Rolandas Paksas becomes the first president of Lithuania to be peacefully removed from office by impeachment, 2004

Scientists announce the discovery of three new animal species that spent their entire lives without oxygen, 2010

In England, lawmakers ban the display of tobacco products, hoping the move will lead to a reduction in the number of youths who smoke, 2012

The first baby with DNA from 3 parents through mitochondrial transfer is born in Mexico, 2016

NASA's InSight lander detects its first ever "Marsquake," a seismic event on Mars, 2019

Nadia, a tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York City, tests positive for Covid19, the first known case of human-to-cat transmission, 2020

Scientists claim to have found the fossil of a dinosaur killed on the actual day the giant asteroid which wiped them out struck, 66 million years ago, 2022

Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin becomes the greatest scorer in NHL history passing Wayne Gretzky with his 895th career goal, 2025