Dear Elena - Thank you so much - that is much clearer. "Ignore the Grade Item was where I was headed - but I needed to understand it before i told everyone to ignor it! Has anyone ever said the Gradebook gets way to complicated? LOL - Thank you again - your answer was just what I needed.
Nancy K.
PS - may I please add a little note that the Grade Item section on the Add Category page is not covered in the documentation - at least I could not find it.