#WANAfriday: Back-to-School

This week’s #WANAFriday prompt is….

Since the kiddos are headed back to school soon – or are already there – what was your favorite thing about going back to school? The new clothes? The fancy notebook and perfectly sharpened pencils? Algebra? (Okay, probably not that last one, but…)

Just as kids count down the days before school, we adults in our 55+ community count down the days until our pool closes on September 8. We will have one more humongous pool party this weekend, then seven days later, summer will officially end when the pool cover rolls out and clicks into place.

Dagnabbit.

Instead of going back to school as I did for so many years as a child and as an adult (I was a teacher, then an elementary administrator), I will go to the library and get a new batch of books to read,  join an indoor (ugh) exercise class, start a new travel notebook and daydream about trips I want to take, bake the last of the blueberry and peach pies, pack away my summer clothes, (oh wait, I need them for my trip to San Diego in October), attend my husband’s MAJOR high school reunion, and then count the days until next summer.  I am tired already.

At the pool today, I chatted with my neighbor’s seven-year-old granddaughter as she balanced on a pool noodle decorated with a fairy head insert on one end (her brother floated on a noodle with a shark head…pretty scary!). School starts in two weeks for her. She told me she already knows her teacher’s name: Mrs. Hubbard. She beamed with a precious smile.

I remember that feeling. I loved school, and I always looked forward to the first day. I loved getting new shoes, dresses, skirts, and blouses (that’s all we could wear way back when) and planning my first day outfit.

And I thought about my teacher. I knew who it would be because I went to a two-teacher, two-room schoolhouse up through the fourth grade. I had Mrs. Fike in kindergarten, first, and second grades, and then Mrs. Cohen in the third and fourth grades. No surprises there. My older sisters and brothers led the procession for me. (“What? Another Kroey Krewe family member? How many more are at home?” Teachers just loved my big family.)

Spring Road School, Vineland, NJ

Our desks, bolted to the floor, looked something like this:

Share the Memories photo

Once I learned to read in school, I was in seventh heaven. I can thank Mrs. Fike and Mrs. Cohen for that. And that’s what I loved about back to school.

Speaking of Back To School, here are some thoughts on that topic from my #WANAfriday friends:

Dianna Bell, #WANAfriday: Going Back to School
Kim Griffin, #WANAfriday: No More Pencils, No More Books
Liv Rancourt, #WANAfriday: Back to School
Siri Paulson, What Do YOu Love About Going Back to School?

And here’s another to ponder:

Julie Miner, Rants in My Pants: Said No Teacher Ever. . .

The Last Meow

Good thing I don’t have to go back to school. That would interfere with my daily schedule: eat, play, sleep. Speaking of sleep, it’s about that time.

Meow for now.  =<^;^>=

Blogger Friends, Blogger Awards, and Childhood Pictures

Blogging brings new friends. We read about each other’s worlds in posts and connect.

Bloggers encourage each other. Getting over the hurdles of setting up a blog and then posting regularly is time consuming and more than occasionally frustrating. Bloggers know how discouraging it can be when photos don’t fall into place the way you want them to, widgets fight with you over their placement, links don’t link, picture captions disappear, or sneaky typos infiltrate your newly pressed post.

If you have a problem, you only need to ask another blogger for help. Some bloggers get special notice for their techie skills, and Laird Sapir, blogger-techie-advisor-friend, is one of those bloggers who’s always willing to help a newbie.

Bloggers know the way it is, and they support each other with comments… and…*tah dah*…*drum roll*… awards.

My blogger friend, Jacqui Talbot, recently passed on the Very Inspiring Blooger Award to me.  Thanks, Jacqui. Your posts inspire me, too.

Jacqui, a teller of tales of the Choctaw Nation, is a gifted story weaver.

Jacqui also passed on the rules for this award:

1. Link back to the blogger who nominated you. Here’s the link to Jacqui Talbot’s blog. Go read it. Not only does she retell Choctaw Tales, she writes about things she has learned the hard way. She has lessons for all of us.
2. Post the blog award on your page. Done. It’s posted on my blog page (after a tussle with the widget control master, but hahaha, I won!)
3. Tell 7 facts about yourself, nominate 15 other blogs for the award, and let the nominees know they have been chosen.

Okay, here goes. Seven Facts…. I thought I would share some (undated) childhood photos.

1. This is the only baby picture of me that I have.  William Asbury Cooper, son of Rev. Edward Cooper of West Baptist Church of Vineland, NJ, holds me when I am only a few months old. I don’t know the backstory on this picture since our family attended the Presbyterian Church for as long as I can remember.

2. My nickname as a child was “Nan,” although I never knew how I got this name. My brothers teased me by calling me Nannygoat. I hated that, but I got even with at least one member of the family. I called my brother Bill, “Billygoat.” Here’s a picture of Billygoat and his ukelele.

Christmas, circa 1950 (?)

3. I loved playing with dollies when I was little. Here is my newest dolly at Christmas, 1950 (?)

Bill, Bobby, Janice (front)
Judie, Charles (back)

4. Here is a picture of me with Thomas-soo-lo, the family cat, when I was a little tyke. Thomas-soo-lo loved napping on Daddy’s lap as he read the newspaper after dinner. He condescended to cuddle up on other laps when Daddy was not around, and he tolerated me carrying him around the house and yard. Other times, Thomas-soo-lo wandered the farm looking for tasty, four-legged tidbits to snack on.

• 

  Thomas-soo-lo, the family cat, with Janice

  5. I went to Spring Road School, a two-room schoolhouse, through the fourth grade.

  

  Spring Road School, Vineland, NJ

  Our classroom desks looked like those below. Mom snagged a desk when Spring Road School finally closed down, and all of us country farm kids had to ride the bus to bigger schools in town.

  

  Photo: Share the Memories. Old classroom in Milwaukee with desks similar to those at Spring Road School. These students are practicing an air raid drill.

  6. As a girl scout, I wore my hand-me-down scout uniform, while all the other girls had the newer style. Poor me. Being the youngest female sibling of six, hand-me-downs made up the bulk of my wardrobe.

  

  Here are the six Kroey girls. (L to R, back row: Joyce, Joanne, Shirley. L to R front row: Beverley, Judie, Janice) See that littlest one with the knobby knees? That’s me.

  

7. The first car I could claim was an old black Chevy. It was passed down through the sibling ranks over the years, and it was as old as the hills. It even has a song written about it. I have been blamed for writing that song, but I’ll never tell. You may soon read about this family relic car  in an upcoming post.

So there it is. My childhood. Did it bring back any memories for you?

The last requirement for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award is a bit tricky. I read so many good blogs that it is hard to narrow the list down. But I’ll give it a shot. (Note: taglines written as bloggers show them. Some prefer capital letters; some do not.)

1. Shannon Messenger: books, ramblings, and plenty of shenanigans

2. Rhonda Hopkins: Where Reality and Fiction Collide

3. Barbara Forte Abate: Scribbling Outside the Lines

4. Sara Walpert Foster: Nobody Expects the Spanish Inquisition

5. Myndi Shafer: Blogging Barefoot. one stray sock away from insanity

6. Cora Ramos: Drinking the eclectric cool-aid

7. Ellen Gregory: to beyond and back

8. Fabio Bueno: Diamonds and Rust

9. Elizabeth Fais: Where the awesome begins. . .

10. Shay Fabbro: Fun, Family, and Time Travel Accessories

11.Karen Pullen: Cubicle Escapee

12. Siri Paulson: everyday enchantments

13. Rabia Gale: writers at play

14. Nikki McCormack: Dancing on the Treetops in the Forest of My Mind

15. Susi M. Nonnemacher: Barefoot Bliss

And here’s one bonus blog!

16. Laird Sapir: Shabby Chic Sarcasm

I hope you enjoy these blogs as much as I do.