Is Your Life Exciting or Boring?

I thought for sure that this blog quiz would tell me I led a boring life. After all, my vacations are all but non-existent and I haven't been out to eat at a restaurant in ages. But it seems that attitude counts more than circumstance. Here is my result:

You Live an Exciting Life

You are anything but a bore. You make sure that life is full of excitement. You have an adventurous spirit, and you don't like to sit still for too long. If you feel like doing something, you don't think about it. You just do it. There's no way you could ever live a boring life. There's too much to do and not enough time.

Is Your Life Boring?

Rain over Snow

A Capriccio View Of A Town With Figures On A Frozen Canal

It’s a child’s worst nightmare: After a freshly fallen snow, it rains before they get to play in it. School goes on as usual, and there is nothing left with which to make a snowman when they get home. Ugly piles of dirty ploughed snow line the streets. Boots step into piles of slush rather than soft white fluffy stuff.

My eldest daughter woke me up at 6:00 yesterday morning, announcing a still-falling snow, with significant ground cover. Rather than rise to power up the computer to check the online status of school cancellations, I turned on the local news channels. I impatiently flipped from channel to channel, waiting for the byline to get through all the New Jersey school districts. Finally I found Suffolk County and was disappointed that our district was not listed. I told the kids to go on and get ready.

The school bus comes to our driveway, so the kids were able to play in the snow while waiting. It was a dress-down day, so they did not have to wear their uniforms. After a half-hour, my daughter came in. “We’ve been waiting out there for an hour! Can you check again?”

So I fired up the computer and found that there was a two-hour delay. I told the kids to come on in until the appointed time. They got another twenty minutes of snow play while waiting.

Later that morning, the rain started; it kept up all day long. I was so glad we had made the mistake of going out twice that morning while the snow was still fresh!

They were disappointed that afternoon, but today made up for it. My backyard was paved with pools of ice, and they got to go ice skating in their boots!

I Have Walked in Many Shoes

25 Random Thoughts Game

I was tagged for this meme by Loren Christie.

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about yourself. At the end, choose people to be tagged. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you. (copy this paragraph to start your note)

Call me a conundrum if you like. Although I consider myself to be a traditional sort of person, I also eschew having to play by strict rules. When I thought of a list of 25 things, what first came to mind was a list of all the types of jobs I have held in my lifetime. So here is a list of 25 jobs I have held. They are also not random. I have put them in chronological order, starting with the first job I ever had. For temporary jobs I have put the length of time in parentheses. For jobs I still hold in some capacity, I mention no time period.

The only one of my readers I can think of who might want to carry on this meme is Leticia. If any other bloggers read this and think it might be fun, consider yourself tagged.

My 25 Jobs:

1. Babysitter
2. Birthday party puppet show entertainer (self-employed, 6 months)
3. Chocolate house maker
4. Leaf raker
5. Religious education instructor
6. Lector
7. Piano accompanist at a ballet school (3 months – they neglected to tell me it was a non-paying position)
8. Lifeguard and swim instructor (3 years)
9. Bank teller (2 years)
10. Chimney company dispatcher/office manager (2 years)
11. Pizza delivery-person (1 week – they only paid you if you got sent out on a run)
12. Research assistant (2 years, during my MA at SJU)
13. Aerobics instructor (3 months – to pay bills in between semesters)
14. Door-to-door environmentalist (1 hour – I had no idea what this job entailed. They dropped me off in a random neighborhood; I found the nearest telephone and called my husband to pick me up.)
15. Teacher’s assistant (1 year, during my post-MA credits)
16. Junior High School Teacher (1 year – I left to be a stay-at-home mom)
17. Stay-at-home mom
18. Daycare teacher (1 month – they thought the program I put together was too advanced for little minds to grasp)
19. Church nursery coordinator (6 months – I was expected to tolerate children kicking me)
20. Bookkeeper (for my husband’s business)
21. Notary (for my husband’s business)
22. Home school teacher
23. Leader of homeschool field trip group (2 years – until I sent my kids to Catholic school)
24. E-bay seller
25. Freelance writer!

The Sandwich Cookie Personality Test

You Are Traditional and Dependable

You are optimistic, friendly, and cheerful. People appreciate the hopefulness and good vibes you bring to any situation. Your life is all about change. Right now, you may be going through some changes you really don't like. You're easy going and easy to be around. You aren't picky or high maintenance. You seek security in your life. Feeling safe is important to you.

Take the Sandwich Cookie Personality Test here!

Christmas Carol Meme

I got this from MacBeth’s Opinion.

1. Love 'em, hate 'em, tolerate 'em, or...?
Love them! All of them!

2. Policy: none before Christmas, none before Thanksgiving, or...?
None before Thanksgiving. I take out my "Book of Golden Christmas" to start practicing the day after Thanksgiving.

3. Favorite? Favorites, if you've got more than one?
Any of the ones I can play on the piano. I like all the classics. O Holy Night, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Joy to the World, Silent Night, etc.

4. Least favorite? Drives you batty/hate it/turn it off if it comes on the radio?
Santa Got Run Over by a Reindeer (Of course, this does not constitute a Christmas Carol – songs that are not hymns are referred to as Christmas Songs. I like many Christmas Songs from the kids’ Christmas specials.)

5. Caroling door to door in neighborhood? Ever done it/would do it? Wouldn't even consider it?
Have done it and would do it again. I keep cookies on hand in case they come by, which is seldom.

6. Funniest kids' rendition, if any?
Kids used to add “like a lightbulb” at the end of every phrase in “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”. I never really understood why this was funny. I don’t like the “Batman Smells” version of “Jingle Bells” because I think it’s disrespectful.

7. Most inappropriate carol ever heard in a church setting (Catholic or otherwise)?
I can’t think of any.

8. The one foreign language carol I know (or know best) is...?
Does “JOY / Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” by J.S. Bach count? (There are no words but the title was originally foreign.)

9. Carol that perplexes you the most?
The Twelve Days of Christmas. I know they were supposedly code for the catechism at a time when Christians were being persecuted. I need to educate myself on the meanings of these verses. There is a thorough explanation here.

10. Carol your whole family will sing?
Any and all.

Consider yourself tagged if you’d like to copy this and post your own answers to your blog.

What is Your Brain's Pattern?

Your Brain's Pattern

Structured and organized, you have a knack for thinking clearly. You are very logical - and you don't let your thoughts get polluted with emotions. And while your thoughts are pretty serious, they're anything from boring. It's minds like yours that have built the great cities of the world!

What Pattern Is Your Brain?

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?

I got this off my friend Loren Christie's blog. These are my results. Click on the picture to take the test.

Your Dominant Intelligence is Linguistic Intelligence

You are excellent with words and language. You explain yourself well. An elegant speaker, you can converse well with anyone on the fly. You are also good at remembering information and convincing someone of your point of view. A master of creative phrasing and unique words, you enjoy expanding your vocabulary. You would make a fantastic poet, journalist, writer, teacher, lawyer, politician, or translator.

What Kind of Intelligence Do You Have?