North Catholic Alma Mater

See post below, please!

See Our Banners Wave Proudly Before Us!

Spent a bittersweet morning at North Catholic. When I was young, my father took me every year to the Memorial Day Mass and service there. Mass was in the Faculty House chapel followed by a ceremony/wreath laying at the Shrine of Our Lady Of Fatima on the front lawn- the site of the large stone memorial to those from North who had died in WWII. I learned the Alma Mater way back then.

This morning I took my Mother to the ceremony. Mass was a collection, mostly men, of ages from approaching (if not in) their 90s to young men who are recent grads, and families with young children. The Shrine now has two large memorials, including on the second one names from Korea and Viet Nam.

I was happy to see one of my father's classmates there- he was someone my Dad remained close to all his life, and he and Mom had a joyous reunion. I met people who knew, or were related to, some of the priests I had known as patients in my father's office, and who were later patients of mine. I got a chance to finally meet Fr. Vince Smith, the President of North, who has done such a wonderful job of focusing this year on the incredible history and tradition of North, and made this year a mix of sorrow and great celebration.

I spent a lot of time when I was younger at North. Rode the buses to the Sunday football games. Spent a lot of Friday nights in North's iconic gym, "The Pit". Saw a lot of shows in the auditorium. And, those Memorial Day mornings with Dad.

Like my beloved Cardinal Dougherty, North is being closed in a few weeks. My family has sent 4 generations of young men there, from my Great-Uncle Leo who was in the first 4 year graduating class of 1930 to my nephew, who is in the un-graduated class of 2011. In between those two, my father, his brothers, my mother's brothers, and my brothers went to North. My family includes the classes of 1930, 1934, 1936 (two grads), 1940, 1942, 1946, 1972, 1975, 1978 and 2011.

Today was the last time this Memorial Day service will be held at North Catholic. The singing of the Alma Mater after Mass was particularly difficult. The words I've known all my conscious life, but getting them out today was not easy. Looking around at men of all ages struggling to sing, many getting somber and some openly crying, was heartbreaking.

I am very glad I went, even with all the sadness. It gave me a chance to say goodbye to North Catholic, which, although not *my* Alma Mater, was an integral part of my life and my family's life for its entire history. It gave me a chance to look around one last time at the place that I remember so well. I was able to do this in company where I felt comfortable- with people who understood that my grief was real even though I never attended North as a student. I am especially glad that I got to say goodbye in a way that brought back happy memories of special times with my father.

Hail Alma Mater of North Catholic High.

Just a short interruption:

ROY HALLADAY PITCHES A PERFECT GAME!!!!!!!!!!

Now back to the Operation Write Home Memorial Day Blog Hop- please see the post below!

Operation Write Home Memorial Day Blog Hop!

Welcome to my stop on the Blog Hop! My card is made with Close To My Heart stamps from several different sets including Vintage USA and Childhood Portrait.

I am offering blog candy for anyone who pledges to send at least 10 cards to Operation Write Home. It is the "Mini-Masterpiece" ATC set from Artistic Outpost. The set is already mounted and pre-cut for you and can be seen HERE. Please leave a comment with your pledge to be entered.

Last year for this Memorial Day blog hop I wrote about my father's experience in World War II and the importance of Mail Call to those serving overseas. Today I want to tell you about what I have seen from mail that arrives from those overseas.

I often write here about my darling Auntie. She is a beautiful and amazing woman who is now 85 according to the calendar, but so young at heart that no one would believe her age. She met her beloved husband as a 16 year old, married him at 21 and lived an incredible life with him until his death 15 years ago. For the first 30 years of their marriage, he was an active-duty naval officer and served in posts around the world.

One of her great treasures are his letters. She has 35 years worth of letters and they are kept, just like one sees in a movie, in a box tied with ribbons. When she is particularly missing him, as she still does every day, she will take out her box, gently untie a ribbon, and read a few letters from long ago.

She was too young to be "involved" with a sailor the first time he went away. He told her he wanted to write to her but that she should date while he was gone. Their love was built through those letters and they married not long after he came home from World War II. Their great love for one another was sustained through his sea duty assignments by more letters.

Today her house is full of reminders of him- pictures, mementos of foreign postings, naval memorabilia, the flag that covered his casket at Arlington. The box of letters is kept private. They are for no eyes but hers. She will tell me that they are full of his love for her, but I have never read them, nor do I want to. Whenever she wishes, she can once again experience the voice of her beloved, telling her how much he loves her. Even as they did 40 or 50 or 60 years ago, these letters sustain her today.

Through Operation Write Home we can assist and encourage today's active duty service men and women to share their thoughts in a tangible form with those waiting for them at home. When a man in Iraq sees a card and thinks "My wife would love that" or an overseas Mom knows "that would make my son smile", we are helping, in a small way, to keep families together during a most difficult time.

I hope you will join with Operation Write Home in this wonderful effort. I know of no better way this Memorial Day weekend to honor those who have already made the ultimate sacrifice than to support those who are now in harm's way in service to us.

Your next stop on the Blog Hop is at Samantha's blog, More Paper Please. If you get "lost" due to any broken links, you can always start at the beginning by going back to the Stars and Stamps blog. You can also visit OWH's home page- this is the place for you to learn more about Operation Write Home and how you can help, even if you are not a card maker. And, if you Facebook, you can join the OWH page at FB!

Have a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend!

Memorial Day Weekend Blog Hop

Just to remind everyone- the Operation Write Home Blog Hop starts tomorrow morning at 10 AM EDT. Start here and visit over 100 blogs which will be showing cards made for our heroes overseas. Learn more about OWH and maybe be inspired to join the effort. There will be tutorials, blog candy and wonderful stories all along the way. The Blog Hop will continue all weekend so there will be plenty of time for checking everything out. Take some time during this Memorial Day weekend and remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country by thinking about those who now serve. Hope to "See you" tomorrow!

Gibbs our Hero- just something FUN!

More Physics Day!

Had a terrible, hectic, stress-filled day. Oh, well.

Here's a few more pages from Physics Day on Saturday- we had such a wonderful time!

All these pages were done with Creative Memories Storybook Creator Plus- check my sidebar for links to CM's website and some blogs about the program!

Physics Day, Part 1

Yesterday, I spent the day with my students at Dorney Park, celebrating Physics Day!

We had a TERRIFIC time- and they even learned!

More pages from my pictures later.

Janey Cutler - Britain's Got Talent 2010 - Auditions Week 4

Busy, busy, but keep some time open for OWH!

Crazy busy, but wanted to get an early post out!

Remember that the folks of Operation Write Home will be repeating their Memorial Day Blog Hop this year.

If you are a card maker, why not join the hop?

If you are not a card maker, why not visit some of the participating blogs and learn more about this terrific organization?

I'll be blogging about OWH on May 29th and hope you will come back then and visit!

More digi-pages and some thoughts on the programs

Here's the rest of the digital pages from my trip to Notre Dame last September.

I did these, as I do most of the pages I intend to print for a scrapbook, with Creative Memories Storybook Creator Plus. When I very first got it, I had already had Polaroid's My Memories Suite for about 2 weeks.

They are both very good programs. At the beginning I found it harder to manipulate the CM program, but that may just be because I already had used the MMS and was used to it's ways. Now, after a couple months of using them both, I definitely tend to go to the CM program most of the time.

There is, however, one big difference where I turn to the MMS. MMS has a lot more features besides making scrapbooks either by printing pages or ordering photobooks. MMS has significant multi-media options that CM does not.

I can turn any set of photos into a slideshow, with music and/or narration, then burn that to a CD and send it to family or friends. I am currently, very slowly (lol), making a heritage book of all the old OLD pictures I have from my family. When I finish making the individual pages, I will be first burning them to CDs in their basic format, so that everyone in the family can print out the books, or have them printed at Shutterfly or a like site. I will also be making a slideshow of the pages and burning CDs for all my aunts and cousins. This ability to use the scrapbook pages in more ways is a definite plus for the MMS program.

I truly do like the CM better just for pages- I have found it better for my style and my abilities than the MMS. But, I am very glad that I have both. Each has a particular use that I want and need, and I now know I would not be as happy with only one of them.

If you are considering getting into digital scrapbooking, take the time to really investigate and consider what YOUR primary desires from a program are.

Some Digital pages- and why I LOVE digi-scrapping

Here are the first 4 pages of the 8 page group I did from pictures of my visit to Notre Dame last summer.

These were all done with Creative Memories Storybook Creator Plus. There is a link on my sidebar to the software, and several links to great sites for learning more about it. I love this software!

I spent the weekend last month at the scrapbook retreat weekend doing nothing but digi-scrapping. While everyone else was carrying in tons of stuff- like I usually do- this time all I brought was my laptop. It was SOOO easy packing up after the weekend!!

I'm not giving up my paper scrapbooking....yet! I have a room full of supplies that are for albums I've planned but not gotten to yet. Those will all be done in paper. But all my newest pictures, and the ones I take from now on, will definitely be scrapped digitally. I love the ease, the lack of mess, and mostly the space saving of digital scrapping. This will fit in so well with our downsizing efforts- which are sooooo necessary for when we move to a much smaller house.

The important thing is that I really ENJOY the digi-scrapping. I would not give up something I love just to save space and mess- but when I LOVE doing it AND it has so many advantages- how could I resist???

If you are a scrapper who like his/her computer, you should definitely check out one of the digital scrapbooking programs.

Jambo bwana - Kenya

One of the biggest items on my "Bucket List" is a trip to Africa- especially Kenya. I cannot explain why, but I have always wanted to see Kenya. Here's a little vision of why.

The complicated airline reservations are made (more on that later), the condo is reserved and everything is set.......

We're going to Disney World!!!!!!!!

New Digi Quick Page to show off

Today is the 16th birthday for the little girl- yeah, I know, but that's how I think of her!- who is so seriously hurt.

Yesterday a group of her friends had a get-together in the park. They'd made I don't know HOW many little purple cardstock balloons and everyone who came could write a Happy Birthday or Get Well message on a balloon.

Also, everything (including this post, lol) was in purple- clearly her favorite color.

It was SOOOO neat to see multiple generations giving up a beautiful afternoon to do something special for a young girl and her family. I could not resist asking to take some pictures, and this is the page I made as soon as I got home.

Get well soon, sweetie!

It's Masters Sunday!

Masters Sunday is a very special day at our house. We will all watch the coverage all afternoon, while following a very specific menu. It's a little OCD I know, but it is what we do.

Yes, and I know that Jack doesn't play in the Masters anymore, but this picture is from the famous 1986 Masters, when he roared to victory with an incredible final 9, at the age of 46. Most of our Masters' traditions (what we eat, who sits where) come from that day. He will always remain our favorite golfer of all time.

So I haven't posted in weeks. It's been a crazy, depressing, difficult, disappointing and exhausting couple of weeks. So, here's a few of the scattered good things that have happened since I last posted:

I spent a weekend at a scrapbooking retreat with some of my favorite friends. We had a terrific time and I really got going with my digi-scrapping. We ate, we laughed, we hiked a little, and I still got 29 pages completed- and the only "supplies" I had to take for the weekend was my laptop. It was terrific!

We spent a few days during Easter break in Florida with Auntie. While I had to spend most of my time doing grades, it was still lovely to be there with her. It was a most pleasant change to read term papers and mark exams on the lanai; it also offered the option to take a break with a dip in the pool.

The Junior Prom was wonderful. The kids looked terrific and beautiful and they really had a good time- and since they were having so much fun, so did I.

There was a big fund-raiser for a foundation established in memory of one of our students who died about 18 months ago. The turn-out was tremendous and I really had a great time seeing so many former students.

Finally, I am continually heartened by a Facebook event. A former student was critically injured in an accident recently and her friends set up a Facebook page to pray for her. There are now over 5400 people who have joined the page. While the accident has been one of the most depressing parts of the last few weeks, the response has been overwhelming. It cheers me every day to check the page and see the prayers and good wishes that continue to stream in constantly. No matter how bad things get, and they have been pretty bad recently, seeing the love and support for her and her family reminds me that there are so many good people in the world.

If you want to join in the incredible prayer chain, here's the LINK.

Hoping/praying for happier times soon.

Why I LOVE my Kindle

I got a Kindle for my birthday from my wonderful Auntie. So, I've had it for almost a month and I HAVE to say, I LOVE IT!!!

Right now it has 78 books in it- almost none of which cost anything. Lots of my favorite authors are from long ago and anything out of copyright can be found for free. So I have a complete collection of Jane Austen, plus lots of other stuff that I will really enjoy having available at any time, like Lucy Maud Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables), GK Chesterton (Fr. Brown), and PG Wodehouse (Jeeves and Wooster). These are the kinds of things I can pick up and read ANYTIME and always enjoy them.

I've also been trying out some things I never had the opportunity to read before, that are also long out-of-date. So far I have particularly enjoyed reading "The Prisoner of Zenda" after seeing the movie so many times. It was great fun to read "The Red House Mystery", often listed as one of the 100 Best Detective stories of the 20th century- and written by AA Milne, whom most of us know only as the author of Winnie the Pooh! "The Mysteries of Udolpho" is not only cited in Jane Austen's "Northanger Abbey", but also in countless Regency Romances as something young ladies "should not be allowed to read", so naturally finding it on the Kindle Classics list was terrific news. So far, I cannot see what all the fuss is about, but I haven't gotten to the "classic Gothic" part yet.

I have had the frequent conversation "I love the feel of a book" with most people I tell about my Kindle. Having gotten a cover for it, for protection reasons, as soon as I received it, I can now say that a Kindle in a cover feels a lot like a book. In fact, the other night I tried to physically turn the page while I was immersed in "The Red House Mystery", so I guess I was not aware of that much difference, lol!

I'm going on a scrapbooking retreat next weekend, and to Florida over Easter break. Being able to carry untold numbers of books in one little package is SUCH a big improvement over loading down my luggage, that I am really excited about it. Seems silly, but for a voracious reader like me, being able to have so much reading material available wherever I go is FABULOUS!

I also have to praise the fact that my 58 year old eyes were considered when they designed the Kindle. I can change the font size and that makes reading WAY more comfortable than dealing with whatever the publisher chose for a book. I can still see small print pretty well, but when I read for hours, having the bigger type really makes a difference. (Why do you think I use this font and size for my blog, lol?!?)

I haven't gotten up the nerve yet to start tossing books that I can also have (or already do have!) on my Kindle, but the day when I give away (no, I could NEVER actually TOSS a book!!!) most of my library is coming. It has to come- we are getting ever closer to giving up this large house for something much smaller and more manageable. Right now there is somewhere in excess of 2000 books (probably closer to 2500+) in the room where I am sitting. They are in floor-to-ceiling bookcases that cover every wall space except the small area for the computer desk; the books are two deep on every shelf and there are more books laying on top of the two deep. In fact, I'm willing to share pictures of this disaster just to show how desperate the situation is!

Imagine 24 shelves like this! And, there are other bookcases around the house- in the living room, on the sunporch and in the basement. Yeah, we have a LOT of books!

So, for LOTS of reasons, I LOVE my Kindle. If you are thinking about one and any of *my* reasons for loving it apply to you, definitely I would recommend it.

Back to work for now, but later, my Kindle and I will be delving further into "The Mysteries of Udolpho"!

Plants and other things

Well, it was another long, killer week. Two 12+ hour days- teacher conferences on Tuesday and Ring Mass on Thursday. That I am too old, or at least that my age plus the fibromyalgia don't do well with that schedule, was proven when I was too sick to go to school on Friday. So, I slept from 11PM Thursday until 3:30 PM Friday and today I am STILL tired! Oh, well- such is life when almost everything is bad news and everyone is having troubles.

One piece of good news is that the two Amaryllis bulbs I bought at the Flower Show are sprouting well, as you can see in the picture above. I am happy about this because I love amaryllis. The three plumeria cuttings I got the same day seem to be OK so far- it's hard to tell until they either sprout or get soft.

The bad news is that the local critters got to my Stargazer Lily and Gladiola bulbs! :( Of the 4 lilies and 3 glads that I potted on the front patio, only 1 Stargazer still survives- the rest were dug up and I presume eaten! Although I have supplied bulbs, unintentionally of course, to the locals before, this is definitely the most greedy they have ever been. I hope my one, remaining, lonely lily gets to grow up!

Today is a Blog Hop for Operation Write Home. This is the first one I have not participated in- just wasn't time to dig everything out to make a card. However, I hope you will check it out! This is SUCH a great organization- come summer and some free time and I will be sending them some more cards- I hope you will also!

Otherwise, it's been pretty depressing. DH's school had major layoffs for next year announced yesterday- so sad to see young people who WANT to be teachers lose their jobs. More bad news for North Catholic, the school my family has been connected with for it's entire 84 year history. Ring Mass for us was really nice, but only about 1/3 of the kids even got rings- who wants a class ring from a closed school? Nothing else positive at my school this week either- just more of the same discouraging, sad and frustrating situation. No wonder I'm tired.

The only ray of sunshine was in fact, just that- MANY rays of sunshine. We've had a glorious few days of spectacular weather that make everyone feel better, even if only for the short times one can be outdoors.

Tonight DH and I are attending a Beef-N-Beer to honor an old friend who died suddenly back in January. That he was younger than us, and in better shape than us, was frightening. Tonight we will be seeing people we haven't seen in years and celebrating a wonderful man's life, so it should be a joyous occasion. I am looking forward to it- I NEED some happy time!

And, don't forget to change the clocks!

It's Been a L-O-N-G Time!

So, this picture from the week before last week shows school, the Flower Show, and the hospital! And, the hospital is the reason there are no pictures from last week. :(

Mom was sick, in the hospital for several days, and needed lots of attention when she got out. So, I've been busy- too busy to post or even read.

She's feeling a little better and hopefully things will get back to normal soon.