another personality test!

It was a fun test to take. I like the way it lets you use a sliding bar and even a grid format rather than multiple choice or yes-no answers. Here is what it said about me:

You are an Inventor

Your imagination, self-reliance, openness to new things, and appreciation for utility combine to make you an INVENTOR.

You have the confidence to make your visions into reality, and you are willing to consider many alternatives to get that done.

The full spectrum of possibilities in the world intrigues you—you're not limited by pre-conceived notions of how things should be.

Problem-solving is a specialty of yours, owing to your persistence, curiosity, and understanding of how things work.

Your vision allows you to identify what's missing from a given situation, and your creativity allows you to fill in the gaps.

Your awareness of how things function gives you the ability to come up with new uses for common objects.

It is more interesting for you to pursue excitement than it is to get caught up in a routine.

Although understanding details is not difficult for you, you specialize in seeing the bigger picture and don't get caught up in specifics.

You tend to more proactive than reactive—you don't just wait for things to come to you.

Your independent streak allows you to make decisions efficiently and to trust your instincts

You're not afraid to let your emotions guide you, and you're generally considerate of others' feelings as well.

You do your own thing when it comes to clothing, guided more by practical concerns than by other people's notions of style.

If you want to be different:

Try applying your creativity to more artistic arenas, and letting your imagination take less practical forms.

how you relate to others

You are Considerate

You trust others, care about them, and are slow to judge them, making you CONSIDERATE.

You value your close relationships very much, and are more likely to spend time in small, tightly-knit groups of friends than in large crowds.

You enjoy exploring the world through observation, quietly watching others.

Relating to others so well, and understanding their emotions, leads you to trust people in general, even though you're somewhat shy and reserved at times.

Your belief that people are generally well-intentioned contributes to your sympathy regarding their problems.

Although you may not vocalize it often, you have an awareness of how society affects individuals, and you understand complex causes of people's behavior.

You like to look at all sides of a situation before making a judgment, particularly when that situation involves important things in other people's lives.

Your close friends know you as a good listener.

If you want to be different:

Because other people would benefit immensely from your understanding and insight, you should try to be more outgoing in social situations, even when they make you uncomfortable. Others will want to hear what you have to say!

Hair

Sunday Scribblings

Hair....

We don't realize how much of our identity, sexuality, and self-confidence is wraped up in our hair until it is gone. Maybe, it is because it is one feature we have some control over. Unlike our noses, we can decide how long our hair will be. Unlike our eyes, we can easily change the color of our hair. Unlike our weight, it seems easy to change the volume of our hair with curls or straight irons. It is how others identify us, "the girl with red hair, the man with the black curls." It is how we attract and maybe even keep our partners.

If you see a man with very long hair, he is making a social statement. A woman with really long hair is making a religious statement. A teen with a pink mohawk is making a personal statement. A young male with a shaved head is making a political statement. Why do people with straight hair spend so much on perms, while those with curls spend so much on straighteners. Are they trying to make a statement or have they bought into the "fashion industry's" line that none of us are good enough the way we were created? All the money spend, tears shed, and assumed misconceptions, just because of a few million cells coming from the tops of our heads. If none of us had hair, what yard stick would we use to size people up?

Our hair is often a connection to our family and our heritage. It can also be a painful reminder of not fitting into the family, like being the only wavy blonde in a family with straight black hair. People often think they can tell someone's race by the color and texture of hair. They think they can tell just about everything about us by our hair. The question it leaves me with is do we try on the "hair" because we want the stereotypes and fantasies that go with it to be associated with us, or are the stereotypes based on the personalities of the people who make the choices?


Make sure to read the other great posts on hair by clicking here, it seems this sparked lots of thoughts this week!

Saint Theresa's Prayer

Saint Theresa's Prayer


May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones,
and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.

Slippery.....

I have been reading the wonderful thoughts of those who post their Sunday Scribblings for a few weeks now. Two very good online friends participate regularly. I am jumping in, with a 10 minute freewrite.

The topic this week "slippery."

When I think of the word "Slippery" these are the first things that come to mind: emotions, life, finances, relationships, memory, strength, health, ice, water.... it is strange to me that ice and water, the literal definitions were the last to come to mind. It is also strange that as soon as I started thinking in the concrete the thoughts stopped.

A slippery life can feel like it is just slipping through your fingers and the more you try and grab it the less of a hold you have. Life should be slippery and smooth, silky and sensual. To often it feels more like a wrestling an oiled pig, not very enjoyable at all and too much energy for too little reward.

A slippery, smooth, silky, sensual life would be one that was fully in the moment, alive, moving forward and enjoyed to the maximum. Really good ice cream, sun rays peeking through the clouds, a great wine, wonderful sex, amazing chocolate, playing with a baby, beautiful clothes, big beautiful flowers, feeling the Peace of God, and lots and lots of laughter. It would be a rich life, fully lived within a greater Community. The Peace would slip right through your fingers and into someone elses, as more and more continues to slip your way.

My 10 minutes is up...

Another Sunday Summary....

Monday: Went to visit Otter Creek as a location for Kayleigh's wedding. It inspired lots of field trips and programs for the kids too. When we got back Mom was home from chemo and doing ok. Dirk went to bed and woke up a couple hours later with very high blood pressure. Not good and a bit of a scare.

Tuesday: one student showed up, Dirk was still having trouble controlling his BP, but Mom was doing ok. She had to go in early to get a scan of her spine where they think the cancer might have spread. I went to get the meds for Dirk.

Wednesday: One different student showed up, Dirk is still not getting his BP under control and Mom is loosing handfuls of hair. Even when you know it is coming, it still takes a little to get used to. I did grill and watch 1776, but other than that it was a very uneventful day.

Thursday: Three students, Dirk still has high BP, but feeling better and pulse is much better. Mom is not having a good day.

Friday: WOW, this is the kind of day you might think back and laugh at in 20 years or so. Four Students all using the day as make-up. The day starts out just fine, boys are working in the yard, Dirk and Mom are doing well, and I am feeling like I am getting lots of planning done for the Fall Quarter. Then about mid-morning the boys decide it would be fun to drive Dirk's car up the drive way and back, our driveway is over a 1/4 of a mile long. Nathan had left the keys in it so that all of them could listen to the music while working outside, something else I don't allow! They are allowed to take out radios or personal music devices, but Nathan has been told before my cars are not personal stereos!Anyway Nathan went off in a different car to get the mail and the other boys 'chased' him in Dirk's car. Nathan has been given permission in the past to move the cars while he is working on them, but he has also been told not to do it while other students are on property. All plans I had for the rest of the day were put on hold while I dealt with these guys. Everything is worked out now, they have some stiff consequences to follow through on, but I think they matured quite a bit in just a couple hours. I know I age a few years in the same couple of hours :)

Then around 4pm I was told we would be having 12-15 people for dinner. Most of them teens, but also my BIL and FIL whom I really enjoy having. Problem was I had been planning on going to the store on Friday morning. We were out of everything. I made a quick dash up to Mejiers and got the food to fix a nice picnic cook-out. Even though it wasn't served until 7:30 it was a great meal! Chicken-kabobs, hamburgers, hotdogs, roasted corn, mushrooms-onions-peppers-fennel-kabobs, carrots, salad, with fresh watermelon and cantalope for dessert.

By 9:30 I dropped into bed!

Saturday: I slept in until 9am, got up took care of Mom and Dirk. Both were doing pretty well. I worked on curriculum, bills, and watched a few shows stored on the DVR. Then I got ready and went shopping. Dirk went with me. He wanted to start at Whole Foods since it is the only place in town to get the gluten free, wheat free type startches that we are trying to switch too and the bulk beans, nuts and rices we use. I don't like the part of town this Whole Foods is located in... it is in the very uppermiddle class, we shop here because it is the fashionable thing to do... part of town and just being in the same very crowded store with them make me uncomfortable! Then we go to Mejiers for much of the meat and frozen veggies that I get. I can't wait until we can join the grass-fed meat coop this fall! All shopping together took over 3 hours and cost about $600. The majority of the food will last 4-6 weeks with only trips to get fruit and veggies at the farmer's market the only extras. When you are feeding 5-6 people three meals a day, even if the food only lasts 4 weeks I still think we are doing pretty well.

Then Nathan who had cleaned the kitchen and done laundry while we were gone, ask us to take him to the movies when we got back and had dinner. So we went to see Evan Almightly. It was a cute film. I am glad we went because it might encourage filmmakers to make more like this one. I enjoyed it, but Dirk really loved it. I think he identified a lot with the main character.

Sunday: Finds me not at church yet again. Today it was just a matter of oversleeping. I had every intention of going when I went to bed last night, but I didn't even begin to wake up until 10:15am and to get to chuch I would have to leave by 10:30. Athena and Nathan left on time and I am glad they went. I had a couple very strange dreams that I can still remember vividly!

One: I was in an elevator and it was not only going down too fast, it was going down too far, and then it started getting smaller. No matter which buttons I pushed it wouldn't stop falling or shrinking.

Two: I was tutoring for an association that I tutored for a teen and young adult. I kept going into the different rooms and asking how I could help out and all I got were giggles and "no, your not needed here, go away"

Three: I was driving around looking for something and I kept falling alseep at the wheel. It was very spooky. I was lost, alone in the car, but trying to get somewhere important (don't know where) , but I couldn't stay awake.

I don't think you need to know much about dreams to know that my mind is trying to deal with the daily stress :)

Fair Schooling Choices.....

Here is a pretty balanced article on the recent Supreme Court Decision. And here is a blog post by Julie that wrestles with the decision. Julie asked me what I thought a fair plan would be.

First and foremost I think the choice of the parents should count the most. Students should be allowed to attend their first choice schools as long as there are openings. A way to really do this is to give the money the government 'assigns' each student to the parent to 'spend' how they see fit.

In an article I read recently the author said something like, "We all want safe, reliable sources of food, but we don't want the government running 90% of the restaurants, supermarkets, and farms. The same is should be true for schools, we want safe, reliable schools, but the government should not be in the business of education."

The one thing I have seen is that when parents and students choose their educational instruction they already have a greater investment in that program. Why can't all schools be privatized? Many things we rely on everyday are: food, internet, utilities, mass transit, garbage pick-up, prisions, etc.... These things are necessary for our daily lives and we don't need the government running them. Overseeing maybe, but not running. When people have to make choices and investments they choose more wisely and competition makes schools better.

That competition is one of the best things that has happened to Louisville schools. They had the great idea of putting the magnet schools, the best programs and many of the best teachers in the 'bad neighborhoods', but these excellent schools are going unattended because of skin-color rules. Neighborhood kids who want to attend can't because they are the wrong color and tip the balances. One and a half black kids can come for every white kid whose parents want to put them on a 2 hour bus ride each way. It is not fair to expect the white parent to put their 5-6 yr old on a bus for 4 hours out of their day! To deny the great education to the black child is also criminal.

Many parents are happier keeping their kids closer to home. I think this is be especially true at the elementary and middle school levels. By highschool, kids and parents are willing to travel farther for the specific program they want. Parents who live near the school, who have been allowed to choose the school and who feel invested in the school will be an asset to the school. They will be involved and hand-ons and supportive of the teachers and programs. This benefits everyone.

When the school is far away and the parents feel 'put there', resentment builds up. They don't feel invested in the program or the staff. And they are more likely to see 'the school' as an intrusion into their lives instead of a partner in the educational life of the family. The parents and the kids make 'the school' the scapegoat for everything wrong in their lives.

When schools fill-up hard choices need to be made. Here I think I would be interview the parents and the students to see why this is their first choice school. I would choose the family that matches the program the best and when there was a tie, I would do a random drawing or lottery style approach. I would also try very hard to help the students who didn't get in to find a program that matches their needs instead of just telling them no. If there were enough parents I would help them form another school program like the one that was full.

So, a fair system to me would be one that respected parental choice as much as possible. A system that builds communities and involves extended families in positive ways. And a system that respects the needs of the children.

Five cool things about Jesus....

Matt was tagged then asked others what they thought.

Here are my five:

1) Jesus used stories and parables to teach deeper Truths. He asked us to use our imaginations and empathy to "get the point."

2) Every major revelation about the nature of Jesus was made by a woman. Mary his mother, Anna on his presentation to the temple, the woman at the well, Martha, Mary of Bethany, Mary Magdelene, the bleeding woman who touched his robes.....the list could go on.

3) Jesus is all about the Spirit of the Law and how it connects us to God and one another. The Law as a tool for us to use, but not be enslaved to.

4) Jesus' choice of friends and companions. He must have laughed and loved everyday. He was all about building strong communities that saw and cared for the 'fringes.'

5) The way Jesus called the children to him. I think he knew they would understand before the adults did.

If you post your 5 cool things about Jesus, leave me a note so I can go read them :)