— 1 —

It makes me happy to have a theme for my Quick Takes posts. I know that’s not the point of them. All the same, I like a theme. It helps me write them.

— 2 —

But this week, no theme. Not even something related to Mary. (But hey! Today’s the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary!)

— 3 —

I just finished an amazing book, by the mom of a high school friend. How cool is that?

The book, which I’ll be reviewing in depth at CatholicMom.com sometime soon, was Strategies for the Tech-Savvy Classroom, by Diane Witt.

It’s a book I’m glad I discovered, however accidentally. I have a tendency to geek out about education and technology, and to be able to combine them: bliss! Diane writes from experience as an educator and as a mom, and she speaks to some concerns I think we all have when we face the onslaught of technology and the need to educate.

I came away with some great ideas for myself–and for my kids! I plan to apply some of her ideas and concepts to my religious education classroom and to my home.

— 4 —

Last Friday night, I was not at the CNMC. I was, however, a panelist on Catholic Weekend. (They let anyone on, I tell ya.)

I mentioned that I had just started Sinner, by Lino Rulli.

And now that I’ve finished it, I gotta tell ya: one of the best Catholic books I’ve read.

Yeah, I know. Everyone is saying that. (Or not. I really don’t know.)

Lino keeps it real, but he does it in a way that had me laughing and snorting and nodding the whole book through.

I find myself inspired by how Lino is so honest, and I want to share this book with everyone I know, especially those people who may struggle with how perfect they’re not. Because, after reading this book, I’m struck by the fact that hey, it’s not just me.

Highly recommended. And maybe I’ll even get my husband to read it.

— 5 —

As I type, the baby is crawling around and pulling himself up underneath the table.

He’s also growling.

I find myself continually struck by how, well, growly he is. Oh, and grunty. He’s grunty too.

In a way that my girls just weren’t.

Anyone else have this experience?

— 6 —

Next week, I start teaching a fifth grade religious education class in our parish (aka PSR). I had these grand plans to build a website and everything, but…yeah. So far, I haven’t.

I’m a little nervous, to be honest. The last time I taught PSR, it was called CCD. I was single and a brand-new Catholic.

Now, eight years and three kids later, I’m just hoping that the “call” I thought I heard this summer, the one I thought I said yes to, wasn’t actually for something far different. You know?

— 7 —

I’m slowly getting back into blog-reading (and I hope this lasts a while, but we’ll see). In my email the other day, I had a link to Catholic Sistas.

I went and poked around and liked what I saw.

I especially liked this:

It’s a Catholic pro-life symbol! Go read about it, and especially about Erika’s journey with a breast cancer diagnosis during her pregnancy.

They make my feed reader, and I salute their fine work! Check em out!

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