The Thankful List

Yeah, I've been meaning to do this for a few days.  It is, as it states, a thankful list!  Which will of course...list things I am...wait for it...thankful for!

1. I am thankful for League of Legends.  Yeah, it seems stupid and cheesy, but I have actually met some of my best friends there and it's also a place where I can go and "hang out" with my friends who live far away.
2. Obviously, my family.  I had a blast with them yesterday when we celebrated our family Thanksgiving.  My uncle can go from lying flat on his stomach, then going to a standing position, with my cousin and I on his back, our weights totaling over 280 pounds.
3. My friends.  Definitely these people.  They give me hugs, they give me love, company, support.  I'm even going with a friend today to see a movie, unless the weather gets too bad.
4. Music.  I honestly don't know that I would still be here without music.
5. Art.  What did I put for music?  That applies here as well.  In fact, in English, the teacher had a journal prompt, asking if we thought that FHS should cut out the music and art programs to offer the more "schoolbooky" type classes at an advanced level.  I bet you can't guess what I said!  Maybe someday I'll share it.
6. I am thankful that I got the solo I wanted for the Christmas Pageant!  It's a beautiful solo.  My one problem with it is that it's called "Shepherds", but practically tells the story of the wise men...just a slight issue....
7. I am thankful for my not one, not two, but three home churches.  I have a Sunday morning church, that does not have church at night, so we go to my grandparents' church, not only to spend time with them, but to go to night church there, then of course, my church that I go to on Wednesday nights.  I've just recently started going, but so far, I enjoy it.
8. I am thankful that even though I'm 18, I don't have to learn how to adult alone.  I have my mom, my stepdad, my friends, my family to help me.
9. I'm thankful for my school and the way so many people have practically adopted me and have kept an eye on me to make sure I adjusted well.  I'm thankful for the clubs I am a part of, like FCA...mostly FCA....  I'm thankful for all the good teachers and students.
10. I am thankful for my freedom of speech.  I'm glad I can type whatever I want on this blog.  I can cuss FHS out, I can cuss IBS out, I can cuss Obama out and I have that right.  Of course, I'm not going to cuss anyone out, but I could.  I could also elope, as I have told many people, but I don't plan on doing it for awhile.
11. I'm thankful for how easy it is to publish nowadays!  I can write the stories that flow through my mind in colorful pictures and share them globally...and I'm glad for that.
12. I am thankful for God's goodness and grace, because without them, I would not be here!  And I'm thankful that he knows what's best.  And the thing is, sometimes he lets you go through what seems like misery...and very well might be...so that he can give you something.  Like...people in my life that have made me miserable...because of one of them in particular, I have met friends that I will never let go.

I have so much to be thankful for and that's not everything I'm thankful for, it's just everything that's popped into my head as I was typing.  And the best part?  We don't have to wait for it to be Thanksgiving to be thankful!  We can be thankful on Christmas, and Halloween, and our birthdays, and Valentine's Day!  And you know, any other random day or holiday in the year.

~Katie

Church vs. Gym

I'm sure we've all (well...a lot of us) seen this picture on Facebook before:

I have issues with this.
When you go to church and are greeted by a nice couple, who says that they're Christians, the husband is a deacon, the wife is a Sunday school teacher, you're impressed!  But then on Tuesday, you see the husband cussing out a kid for walking across the yard and the wife screaming at the husband telling him to quit yelling at the kid, you're kind of going to be a bit skeptical on the Christian thing....
Or say if you told the couple something in confidence, then you heard them gossiping about it to their neighbor?  Would you believe them to be Christians?  No.  That is called a hypocrite.
However, if you go to the gym and see a man or a woman who has a little extra weight and ask them if they believe themselves to be in shape...the answer will most likely be "no.".  You could even ask someone who looks like they're in shape if they're in shape and because they know themselves and their body, they could also answer with a "no.", simply because they know that they were in shape and now aren't so much.
What's the difference?  One claims to be something that they aren't and the other knows what they are and owns up to it.  Am I saying that not going to church and using hypocrites as an example is a good thing?  Uh...no, not really.  For the majority of churches, there will always be hypocrites...but there will also be good, true Christians.  Sometimes you need to change churches and that is okay...so long as it's cleared by God.

~Katie

A Scary Thought

Do you want to know a really scary thought?  No, probably not...people rarely want to know scary thoughts.  But...it's just something I've been thinking lately...don't ask why, just accept it....  The scariest part of rapists and murders and pedophiles etc., is that...they were all babies once.  Little...innocent...helpless...then they were little kids.  Running around, getting into all kinds of stuff, being cute.  Then they were older.  They went to school, maybe went to church, bought stuff at the grocery story, went to WalMart....  They probably had friends.  They had people who believed in them and loved them and cared about them!
And now...they're murderers...rapists...pedophiles...and it's got me sitting here going "How does that even work?!"  We'd like to say that those people are bad and terrible...and they are...but the thing is, we forget that they had friends at one point.  Maybe they had a good job.  Maybe they ran on the treadmill at the gym next to you.  And then...something inside them...somehow...just snapped!  And I'm over here all confused like...why?!  How?!
And that's Katie's scary/creepy thought of the day.

~Katie

Controversy in a Musical?

Okay, you've heard me mention my school's musical The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and how there are some cuss words that were being changed and all that.  I'm not sure how much else I said would be changed, but I decided to share some of it.
In the original, one of the spellers has two gay fathers.  We're changing that to adoptive parents.  The cast and crew of our musical went to watch another production of the musical and ate at Braum's afterward (which was delicious) and as the production we watched was done by a college, they didn't change a thing.
While at Braum's I was sitting with one of the crew members and I told her that some of the things in that production, we were doing differently.  In the original, one of the kids gets an erection...and it causes him to lose the spelling bee.  Then he sings about his "Unfortunate Erection".  Thankfully, the writers realized that some schools may not want to do that version and gave another version where he sings about his "Unfortunate Distraction", which was daydreaming about a girl in the audience.  She was understanding of that change, because yeah, even though it was hilarious, a lot of people would find it inappropriate.
However, when I told her that we changed the two gay dads to adoptive parents, she became more defensive and asked why people were being homophobes (I have a lot of issues with that word, simply because it implies that people are scared of homosexuals...disagreement does not mean fear, nor does it mean hate....).  When our music teacher told us about the change, she said that she personally didn't have any problems with gays and I told this girl that and told her that the teacher also said that it was changed because of how conservative this area is.  She wasn't happy with that.
What I thought of later, that I should have told her, but couldn't, because I hadn't thought of it, was that...this is a high school drama.  Not a college drama.  Not a Broadway drama.  This is high school.  We are doing this for fun, not to take a stand on gay marriage or abortion or anything of the sort.  There is no reason to have controversy in a high school production.
If a group of high schoolers got together and decided that they wanted to promote gay marriage or abortion or spanking or even take a stand against these things, that would be one thing, but for the fall musical, it is just unnecessary.  For a college, go ahead.  Broadway...go ahead....  But not a high school.
This is designed to be humorous and entertaining...not for promoting someone's views.  Let it be fun, funny and enjoyable and forget the controversy...please....

~Katie

IBS vs. FHS Teacher Showdown...part 2...

This is continued from IBS vs. FHS Teacher Showdown, which you can find...here.

Announcer:  We have returned after a day long break for cookies, ice cream, and Netflix to continue our IBS vs. FHS teacher showdown.  From IBS, we have the music teacher, Mr. Miller; the science/history teacher, Brother Todd; the former English teacher, Miss Montgomery; the former English teacher Mrs. B., the former English teacher Mrs. Weinand; and last but not least, the P.E. Teacher, Brother Steve!
*audience claps politely*
Announcer: And from FHS, we have the music teacher, Mrs. Fischer; the science teacher, Mr. Weilert; the English teacher, Ms. Schlabach and last but not least, the weights/P.E. teacher, Mr Barnett!
*audience claps politely*
Announcer: Last time, Mr. Miller and Mrs. Fischer tied...Mr. Weilert and Brother Todd tied...and now, we're ready for the English teachers!  English teachers--my goodness there's a lot of you....  Would it be 'a' university or 'an' university?  Write your answers on the white boards provided, then hold them up for the audience to see.
Miss Montgomery: *a university*
Mrs. B: *an university*
Mrs. Weinand: *a university*
Ms. Schlabach: *a university*
Announcer: I'm sorry, Mrs. B, you are incorrect.  It would be 'a' university, because although it starts with a vowel, it makes a consonant sound.  BUT you are not disqualified.  We will continue with our next question.  Have you, as an English teacher, made your students write at least one essay a year?
Miss Montgomery: Yes, ours was about what actually swallowed Jonah, they did research and everything.
Mrs. B:  Yes, they chose their own topic and wrote about it using the internet and practicing using note cards for their citations.
Mrs. Weinand: Yes, they chose their own topic and wrote about it using the internet, books and any other sources they found, but they had to have books as a source as well.  I let them keep track of their citations how they wanted, but they still had to cite them with MLA format.
Ms. Schlabach: Yes, they're actually in the process of writing an essay comparing two different translations of Sophocles' Antigone, MLA format, as expected.
Announcer: Very good!  A tie!  And now...the students will be the ones deciding your fate....  Miss Montgomery...your students say that you taught well and they knew they better work.  Mrs. B, a note from one of your students says that they didn't particularly like you as a teacher, but when they were able to just talk to you, they enjoyed it.  Mrs. Weinand, your students completely loved you and they said something about...apple pie?  Ms. Schlabach, And again, no complaints for you!  It's a three way tie, between Miss Montgomery, Mrs. Weinand and Ms. Schlabach!  Mrs. B...I'm sorry.  BUT you get a consolation prize of a $100 gift certificate to spend however you like, wherever you like!
*audience claps politely*
Announcer: And now...for the final two...Mr. Barnett and Brother Steve, please step forward.  What are your workout regimes for your students like.
Brother Steve: Well...we mostly just play games.  *laughs*  Volleyball when it's cold, softball when it's warm, sometimes we play softball when the girls are complaining that it's too cold, but they can live with it.
Mr. Barnett:  We play games on Wednesdays and the rest of the time, we're in the weights room, lifting and doing other workouts.
Announcer:  Well, either workout regime sounds fun and of course, we all understand that IBS does not have sufficient funds for a weights room, so the weights room does not play into whether or not a teacher is disqualified or not.  Annnd...again a tie!  But, how do the students feel about these men?  Of Brother Steve... "Brother Steve is a kind hearted man and I greatly enjoyed his P.E. class.  My only complaint is that he constantly picked the same people to be the team captains.".  Of Mr. Barnett...  "Mr Barnett is an easy going, fun loving guy, who even at a public school is still a very good Christian influence.".  Again with the ties!  What was the point of this even?  Why have a battle!  They all tied!  *flips desk over, muttering about wasting life away*  That's it, I quit!  I WANTED BLOODSHED!  I WANTED FIGHTS!
*audience watches with odd expressions*
Announcer:  I WANTED THERE TO BE A FIGHT AND BE BIASEDNESS!  WHY CAN'T I HAVE BIAS HERE?  IT'S NOT FAIR!  *begins flailing arms and legs, kicking and hitting the floor*  I WANTED A FIGHT!  WHY COULDN'T I HAVE A FIGHT?  WHY DO THE TEACHERS ALL HAVE TO BE EQUAL?!  WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!
Katie: And this draws to a conclusion the IBS vs. FHS Teacher Showdown....  Now excuse me while I take care of our announcer....

~Katie