The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit

The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit:

• Wisdom

• Understanding

• Counsel

• Fortitude

• Knowledge

• Piety

• Fear of the Lord

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

"1831 The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. They belong in their fullness to Christ, Son of David.  They complete and perfect the virtues of those who receive them. They make the faithful docile in readily obeying divine inspirations."

http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/p3s1c1a7.htm

Yellow Split Pea Soup

A Split Pea Soup recipe that I will make at some point this upcoming week...

Courtesy of Camellia Brand Beans (http://camelliabrand.com/t-familyrecipes.aspx)

Sawyer’s Yellow Split Pea Soup

1 lb Camellia Brand Yellow Split Peas
1/4 lb seasoning meat OR ham
6 cups water
1 large onion, chopped
4 carrots, chopped
1/2 cup celery tops, chopped
1 toe garlic, chopped
1 large bay leaf
Salt and pepper

Directions
Rinse and sort peas. Cover peas with water, add meat, vegetables and seasonings. Simmer 2 to 2-1/2 hours until tender. Add water as necessary to desired consistency. Pass peas through sieve or blender.

Serving Suggestions:
For a richer soup, use milk instead of water to adjust consistency.
For a creamy vegetable sauce, use milk instead of water for an excellent topping on fresh vegetables such as yellow squash, green beans, asparagus or your favorite.
To thicken consistency of soup or sauce, add bread crumbs and/or grated sharp cheddar cheese.

Prep Time: 3 hours 0 minutes
Difficulty: 1 - Easy
Camellia Product: Yellow Split Peas
Servings: 6

Appreciating Technology in Education

My response to this post:

http://gtirbs.blogspot.com/2011/05/entry-10-technology.html

For some reason, the comment box didn't work, and I took the time to write this.  So, here it is!

-----------------------------

Dr. Speaker, I agree with your ideas about the inevitability of technology become more integrated into our lives.  However, as some who values - and yes, has a nostalgic longing for - some peace and quiet away from the constant connections, I have to say I'm still hesitant to let some things go, like a paperback or textbook for example.  Yes, e-books are much cheaper and better for the environment.  But, using and referencing one of my online textbooks takes up way more of my time than it would if I just had a hard copy of it.  I find that when I work from a hard copy text book, I absorb the information better and I can flip quickly to the index and find what I'm looking for (rather than clicking back and forth through menus and losing my place and train of thought).  When I'm writing a paper on a laptop, I have to click back and forth through windows (or make each window small) instead of just having my reference on the table beside me.  And, frankly, it's a reprieve from looking at a screen.

One thing I find is that now that virtually everything is online, I'm incessantly connected to my computer or some other electronic device.  I relish opportunities where I enter into a building that requires phones to be off.  I shouldn't have to be at everyone's disposal every second of the day, and I should be able to enjoy, uninterrupted, what I'm doing in the present moment at its fullest.  Opportunities to experience a still, focused mind are quite rare in this generation, but, in my opinion, are so important to having a good quality of life.

I do love my gadgets, and I genuinely have an appreciation for the amount of information at my fingertips at any moment.  I'm not scared of technology, and I do my best to stay up-to-date and educated on how to use new devices.  However, I think we should tread carefully.  We are at risk of spending way too much time and money on figuring out how things work and deciding whether or not they'd be useful tools in the classroom when we could have finished a very effective lesson already.  It's best to let newer technologies sit in the market for a while to make sure they suit their purpose efficiently and effectively before we dive in to every technological fad as soon as  it hits the shelves.

Just today...

Today is a beautiful day in New Orleans.  I spent the morning at the eye doctor where I learned my astigmatism has slightly increased, but other than that all is well!  I'm glad I made an early appointment because it was so nice driving through the city with the music up and windows down!  I really enjoyed it.  The area of Gentilly (the Dillard subdivision) where my doctor's office is is very nice.  I'm not too familiar it, but it was very clean with lots of trees, wide streets, and it was quiet.  My eye doctor is so friendly, and he was in no rush.  He was on time to my appointment, and spent a whole 45 minutes with me!  He evaluated my eyes to the sharpest vision possible then we chatted while he entered the data into their seemingly new computer system.  It's probably why his appointments are so spread out... it took me 3 months to get!

I went to Adoration after, which is always nice.  I really look forward to it each week, though when I first made the commitment, I was nervous about breaking away from my daily routine to go and sit still for an hour with Jesus.  It's actually quite easy to do.  I spend the first 10 minutes quietly praying, then I read the day's mass readings slowly, line by line.  I got down in a little notebook any interesting thoughts.  Then, I have a meditation that I read from my Laudate Android app.  I read that slowly, then jot down any thoughts.  I end by spending the last 10-15 minutes in quiet adoration prayer, also which I find on my Laudate app.  The one hour really flies by!  I really like my 11am-12pm time slot, because the church bells right right at 12, so it is an easy signal that it's time for me to leave without me having to glance at the clock.  After doing this a few times now, I have built up quite a collection of notes, and I read through some of them today.  I am noticing trends and common themes in the things I write about, and that gives me a boost knowing that I'm living my life according to the truth I find in Catholic teachings.  The same truth appears in different ways each week, and I love that constancy.  I always wonder if people think that I'm piddling around texting on my cell phone while I'm supposed to be adoring Jesus.  But, I hope people realize that Bible, meditation, and prayer apps are easy ways of accessing spiritual texts that are excellent supplements during prayer time.  Nobody's bothered me about it yet.

The rest of my afternoon has been devoted to career planning and school work.  Besides a normal flow of reading, analyzing, and writing essays, I'm considering a certification in special education.  I'm in the beginning phases of consideration, but am feeling a strong pull towards it.  I'll write more about that later.  We shall see what the next few days have in store for me! 

Cat Year Calculator

cat years

Jaynie is 48 years and Billy is 45 years! Crazy!

Father Maletta's Homily

I have been listening to Gus Lloyd (Catholic Channel, Sirius XM) this morning who has played the audio for this video below:



I am furious about all of this nonsense going on in our government right now.  Like Father Maletta says in the video, aren't there more important things in this world for our country to focus on?  I'm scared of what will happen if this HHS Mandate passes as is.  It sets a precedent for so many other ways for the government to control what we do, what we believe, and how we spend our money.

Lent & Learning

Welcome to Lent!  This year, I'm not really "giving up" a thing.  I'm consciously trying to eat and drink in moderation.  So far, it's been good.  Except, I had an extra serving of macaroni and cheese tonight, which I feel guilty about!  I'm also hoping to try to use my time better.  So, instead of spending several minutes a day reading facebook, I'm trying to use that time to play with my nephew, read something that will educate me or will at least be more creative food-for-thought, and pray in different ways.

Last night, I decided to peruse my Android app Laudate (formerly known as Catholic One), and I stumbled across a daily reading link to meditation podcasts from pray-as-you-go.org.  It was beautiful!  "Miserere" was playing in the background of the spoken meditation.  It is one of the most gorgeous songs I've ever heard -- it sounds like Heaven! 




On a different note, today I read a very long chapter on Cognitive Development in children.  One section that stood out for me was the preoperational stage of development (ages 2-7) because that is where my nephew is about to be.  He'll be 2 in 18 days!  I was observing him today while we played with this cute little pretend food that you can chop (http://bit.ly/bZGBZt).  He's right at the very beginning of learning how to make-believe play.  He's still very realistic about everything, and he's especially good at sorting and stacking.  One make-believe thing we've started noticing him do is that he buckles objects into his high chair (i.e., he associates that he sits and gets buckled, so other things can be buckled in too).  It's fascinating to me to be learning all these things right now and witnessing someone I'm close to go through those developmental stages.  I'll be even more keen to see it from the beginning again when my sister has her next baby in August!  Alas, I still have none of my own, but I'm happy to just be Nanny for now.  :)

Into the grad program...

I am well into my 1st semester of grad school now.  It's going really well, I think!  I'm taking courses on Multicultural Education, Child Development, Learning Literacy, and Research.  New Orleans is fantastic!  I'm happy, focused, and energetic!