Cathy's Grace Notes

It's as clean as it's going to get....

Desk, .

It's as clean as you are going to see it. This was taken this morning. More was added to embellish what was already there. We finally found my stapler (the one that I have had since 1989, when I began teaching).

I really am going to try and keep it neat. I really am. Any advice gladly taken.

Return to School

Today (Monday) teachers returned to school to begin the school year. Students start Friday. Preplanning is filled with putting the room together and going to meetings and then more meetings.

I meant to take a picture of the desk with NO PAPERS on it, but I forgot.  Tomorrow I will post a picture of the desk. And maybe a few pictures of the room.

This year, instead of using paper for the bulletin board, I got some fabric for 2.00 a yard to use - it doesn't fade and it doesn't tear like paper does, so it can't be all bad.

That's all the energy I have to post now. Later.

Book #19 - The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is the book we are reading for our August book read for our local book group. Based in Germany during WWII, the narrator, Death. The book's protagonist Liesel Meminger, becomes a foster child to a couple after her father is arrested and accused of being a Communist. She steals her first book from the gravedigger who buries her brother, who dies on his way to the foster home. She makes her home at the foster parents near Munich.

However, her book thievery does not stop there - in her thirst for reading. She encounters many people in the community, and book burnings, and hunger, and death.

I found this book to be one of the most powerful books I have read this year. Excruciatingly painful at times as the story turns to the horrors of WWII in Germany. However, the beauty of the language and story kept me reading this 500+ page book written for youth, but much more powerful that one expects.

Here is a Diane Rehm interview with the author. I highly recommend reading this book.

Consider me Grumpy

The past two weeks 10 year old has been with us for her annual 2 weeks in July. It's been nothing like the 2 weeks in June which was filled with a cruise and a wedding and all the anticipation and preparation of the two events. We have done a little geocaching, but the weather/gnats were so such that being outside was miserable - who wants to inhale gnats in one's mouth and through the nose!

So we have been inside, reading and a little housework when necessary, and..... watching TV. My television watching is limited to a very few shows, and honestly I can take them or leave them if it comes down to brass tacks. In fact, there was a time where there were NO TVS in my house.... for about 5 years. Then the children's grandparents felt as though we were committing some sort of abuse to the children and insisted on purchasing us a color TV - I remember it was 1984 and was the first color tv in my home as an adult.

Now I am married to someone who LOVES television, where my vice is the computer. However, over the past 2 weeks I have had more than my fair share of "children's TV". The two I have in mind are the Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. I really can't tell you the names of the shows I have watched as they all seem similar, but I do note that I have quite had my fill of snarly smart aleck comebacks between young kids and then young kids and their parents. And... it's just not smart aleckness from kid to parent, but also vice versa - sort of a one upmanship as to who can dish it out and have the quickest comeback.

The thing is.... ten year old "doesn't hear" the tone of the kids voices on television, so she dishes out what she is hearing and thinks it is perfectly normal. So when we call her to task on something she has said, she genuinely doesn't hear how her tone and inflection has come across to others.

I am really given thought to putting parental controls on the children's channels which is a sad commentary on the television industry and on our culture. Consider me a fuddy duddy or curmudgeon, but, for the most part, I think I have raised my children to be pretty respectful and courteous children. That's not to say we have not had our moments/hours, but I can understand rebellion during adolescence, but there is a line in which we draw where adults must act the role of adult and children must have boundaries as to what they say and how they say it.

I do understand why people PULL THE PLUG and choose and alternative to how their children are educated.

My belly is full of sensationalized and substandard programming.  Call me  grumpy and disappointed because I am.

Me on TV?

Well... sorta....

You, too, can be on tv or try something different here.
I want to see you too. Have fun.

Friday Five - Can't leave home without it

Here's the Friday Five from Revgalblogpals:
What are the five  things you simply must have when you are away from home?  And why?  Any history or goofy things, or stories?

1. I must have my medicine - that's one that I WISH I didn't HAVE to have, but it what I MUST have at this point.
2. This book follows me -

Hour by Hour

Here is the summary from its publisher Foreward Movement:

A compact edition of the Daily Office planned complete with prayers and Psalms for one week. Perfect for purse or pocket.

This beautiful little book, excerpted from The Book of Common Prayer, will enable anyone, Episcopalian or not, to say the hours every day: Morning Prayer, Noonday Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Compline.

Perfect for prayer and worship at all times and in all places. Convenient for purse, pocket, or briefcase. An ideal gift for the regular worshiper and clergy alike.

Though Amazon states it is out of print, there is no indication from Foreward Movement that  it is. 

It's a source of comfort and security.

3. A ziploc bag of a knitting project - preferably one that requires no looking at directions. (THINK SOCK).

4. Laptop - it's the source of information, communication and entertainment

5. Pillow -ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

6. (Because I can't follow rules and forgot this one because it is ALWAYS with me) CAMERA ----- I need my camera!

Really and truly, everything else.... I can easily pick up at Walmart or a $ Store.

And what are 5 things that are must haves on YOUR roadtrip?

Me Me meme - I'm it

Auntie Knickers tagged me for this me me meme.

Here are the rules:

1. List these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog.

1. I had perfect spelling in 3rd grade - I remember that because I got blue ribbons for it and my name was in the local paper.
2. By 2nd grade I knew the capitals of every state and could locate the states on a map. It's because I loved looking at maps - still do.
3. I had bleached blonde hair in high school.
4. I have had the smallpox vaccination 3 times and it would never form a scab and so I don't have a smallpox vaccination scar. I don't know anyone else my age who does not have a scar from this.
5. I was once married to a Jimmy - I am now married to a Jimmy who prefers me to call him Jim (everyone else calls him Jimmy) - he has a son named Jimmy - it gets confusing sometimes in the conversations.
6. My big toes are double jointed.
7. Some people consider me ambidextrous, but I just think my brain is confused. I write and use a fork and spoon with my left hand. I still haven't figured out which hand works best with a punch ladle so don't like to serve punch. Everything else.... I do right handed. No one tried to change any of it. Thank you.

3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

Mary Beth
Inner Dorothy
Mrs. Chief
Mini Meltdown
KnitnTeach
Presbyterian Gal (I see she already was tagged, but I'll double tag her :) )
Annie Oddflower

If you are not on the list, you can PLAY in my comments - join in on the fun!

Drive In Theatre and Geocaching

Drive In Theatre, originally uploaded by catnipper.

While up in Pennsylvania, I decided to try my skills on a newly found activity (new to me) - geocaching. Husband had just purchased a GPS and while I was setting it up I read about geocaching and I had heard about it before, but had not delved into finding out more about it.

Well, geocaching is a geeky kind of treasure hunt. Geeky because you use an electronic device called a GPS (global positioning system). Plug (or download) the coordinates from www.geocaching.com and be on your way.

It's been a long time since I had seen a drive in theatre but I located a geocache at one nearby from where we were staying. We found the geocache (which had all kinds of little ditties in there - you can take one and leave one or just sign the log that you have been there). We just signed the log.

Drive in - costs about as much as a regular theatre does per person. Also, remember those little speakers you placed on the window??? No longer...... you tune onto your radio and listen that way.

I don't reckon they would do well any longer down south, especially in the summer. We are too spoiled and mercy we couldn't take the heat ... or the gnats... or mosquitos....

So, have you been geocaching? If so, share your story!

Summer is ending, but not really

It's so blooming hot here and the gnats are in full force. I have inhaled them in my mouth and nose. I mentioned in the parish hall that I wish I knew the purpose of these pesky insects and someone said so we could be thankful for other things. OK, I'll  take gnats over snow. 

We have found geocaching this summer and have had fun finding some caches along the way of our travels. WE have been more successful at finding some caches than others. Thought about geocaching today, but it was just too. hot. It's unbearable with the heat and humidity. I'll be posting more about geocaching when I get my act about it. I am on the slow end of the learning curve with this high tech treasure hunt.

There is one week before teachers return to school.  I know some of you cannot believe we are starting in July. I CAN'T BELIEVE WE START IN JULY. Students begin August 1. This is my 20th year of teaching - two decades! ON the pay schedule for Georgia, I am now where I have "ceilinged out".  Though many people complain about teacher salaries, and compared to other professionals we may not make as much as them, but I will not complain, knowing what others in our community make.

When does school start in your community?

Friday Five - What's in a name?

If you are a regular reader of Songbird's blog, you know that "The Princess" has requested a new name. Her older brother changed his "secret identity" a while back and now this lovely young lady is searching for a new name on her mother's blog. This got me to thinking. How do we come up with all of these names? There must be at least a few good stories out there.

So here's my play on Friday Five:

• So how did you come up with your blogging name? And/or the name of your blog?                      Very unexcitingly - it first started out as Cathy Knits - but my blog became much more than knitting - because knitting is just one part of my life - Cathy's Grace Notes - I sort of stumbled upon as a combination of the faith and music - two very very important parts of my life and who I am.
• Are there any code names or secret identities in your blog? Any stories there?  Not really - sometimes I throw in a different name - but nothing that sticks for too long. I do have a name I use as a nickname, Catnipper is a name I use online when I need a screen name and it goes over 50 years back as to why I use it. My dad was the only one who called me that name - sometimes "nipper" but mostly "Catnipper". It's a name I treasure - no one else in real life has called me that and I am perfectly content with it that way
• What are some blog titles that you just love? For their cleverness, drama, or sheer, crazy fun? Snickollet,(I just like the name), Stuff White People Like (so we can laugh at ourselves), Deep Fried Kudzu (that's just plain deep south talkin' - GREAT BLOG NAME!)
• What three blogs are you devoted to? Other than the RevGalBlogPals of course! Mercy - you mean there are blogs out there that are not RGBP that I am devoted to?  Well, I do read a few more - Yarn Harlot, Bits and Pieces (for the raunchy side of me), and a pretty new blog that is just out - I love these kids and they live in the same county and the ones old enough to attend school are at the same school as me.
• Who introduced you to the world of blogging and why? Don't remember. at. all. My memory stinks.
• Bonus question: Have you ever met any of your blogging friends? Where are some of the places you've met these fun folks? I have - I will pick out one - Mary Beth - she is the first blogging friend I have met - I know other bloggers but knew them first as someone other than knowing them through the blogging world.  There is no doubt that Mary Beth and I would have been good friends even if blogging had not connected us just because of some of the connections that tie us together other than blogging.   AND - I hope to meet some more bloggers one day!