Hat tip to KC for a link to prayers for each specific Meyers-Brigg’s personality.  Turns out, that’s the blog of none other than John Holzman of Sonlight Curriculum.  A wonderful company and a very nice man.  (I had the chance to exchange emails with him and he couldn’t have been more gracious and understanding.) If you don’t know which Meyers-Briggs personality you are, he has a link at the end of his post for a quick test to take.

This week I am an ISFJ - Introverted Sensing Feeling Judging.  I say “this week” because my type changes according to my mood.  The very first time I took the test, it was the real paper and pen version that was analyzed and returned to me a day or two later.  Most of the test had questions that started off - “Would you rather x or y?”  Well, I answered how I’d rather be, instead of how I really am.  For example, in a party situation what I really do is keep to myself and wonder when we can go home.  What I’d rather do is walk in, start talking to people I don’t know and circulate around easily.  It’s the difference between an extrovert and an introvert.   I am an introvert.  I’d rather be an extrovert.

Philip was surprised when I came home and told him my type.  We looked over the test together and I realized how I misunderstood the question.  The next time I took the test I was correctly labeled as in introvert.

Anyway, I followed a couple of links after taking the test today and found this description of me:  ISFJ Profile

It was kind of scary in its accuracy.  I liked this paragraph:

[ISFJs] prove over and over that they can be relied on for their loyalty and unstinting, high-quality work, those around them often take them for granted–even take advantage of them. Admittedly, the problem is sometimes aggravated by the ISFJs themselves; for instance, they are notoriously bad at delegating (”If you want it done right, do it yourself”).

And this one:

They are capable of forming strong loyalties, but these are personal rather than institutional loyalties; if someone they’ve bonded with in this way leaves the company, the ISFJ will leave with them, if given the option.

This one had me laughing out loud.  It’s me all over:

ISFJs have a few, close friends. They are extremely loyal to these, and are ready to provide emotional and practical support at a moment’s notice. (However, like most Fs they hate confrontation; if you get into a fight, don’t expect them to jump in after you. You can count on them, however, run and get the nearest authority figure.)

But the best part was the list of potential careers:

Traditional careers for an ISFJ include: teaching, social work, most religious work, nursing, medicine (general practice only), clerical and and secretarial work of any kind, and some kinds of administrative careers.

Now tell me that’s not what I do every single day.

As for the prayer for my personality type…

“Lord, help me to be more laid back and help me to do it EXACTLY right.”

AMEN.

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I have a friend who works for a major news agency.  Their website was launching a new feature about busy moms and one of their first articles was going to be about traveling with children.  My friend recommended me to the writer since I’m an expert at traveling with children.

Really?  Who knew?

Apparently, I once sent my friend a multi-page treatise on the Lessons Learned While Traveling with Our 3 Month Old Son.  Imagine, me - going on and on about my new-found knowledge.  Shocking, isn’t it?

So, lo these many years later, I found myself being interviewed over the phone about traveling with children.  The night before, Philip and I had sat down and brainstormed our best tips.  At this point, we have traveled all over the world with our children.  We’ve crossed the International Date Line 4 times with the two older ones, we’ve traveled by car, by train, by airplane.  I’ve been pregnant for a good portion of the trips and we’ve had all sorts of experiences, good and bad.  While we’ve never considered ourselves to be experts, certainly, we do have lots to say about the subject.

I wrote down my main points that I wanted to cover and 10 minutes before I expected the phone call, I sent my children upstairs.  I gave them instructions that on pain of death, they were not to come downstairs.  No screaming, yelling, hitting, biting, or throwing.  Don’t make each other mad.  Don’t touch each other.  Don’t look at each other and don’t even breathe in each other’s space.  For the love of all things holy - don’t bother me during this phone call.

So the phone rings and the interview begins.  I give the correct spelling of my name and brief family history, including travel experience.  I answer the questions intelligently, giving examples and personal anecdotes to illustrate my points.  Thank God I had written my thoughts down because it was hard to concentrate with all the screaming going on upstairs.

The writer was appreciative and enthusiastic over all I had to say.  She told me that the article was due to run on June 2nd.  She said she’d probably call back later in the week after she’d typed up her notes.  She never called me back.

That should have been my first clue that something was up.  Just this morning I remembered that the article should be up on the website by now.  I Googled my name.  Nothing.  I went right to the news agency’s website and found the link to their Busy Moms articles.  I found the story about traveling with a baby or toddler.

If you’re an actor who gets cut out of a movie, it’s called ending up on the cutting room floor.  What do you say when you’re an “expert” that gets left out of an article?  Well, whatever it’s called, that would be me.

The writer decided to go with real experts.  She quoted an author and a director of an internet parenting site, both of whom had shockingly similar advice as I did.   I guess that I, with my four children and thousands of miles of actually flying experience with them, lacked credibility.  Not that I’m bitter, of course.  I’m just saying.

I did get mentioned, though! My entire wealth of travel tips was reduced to 2 sentences about how Pumpkin Girl once threw up all over Philip on one of our flights to Korea.

At least my name was spelled right.

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I hate summer storms. Let’s be perfectly clear about this. I hate them. I know there is a whole group of people out there who love them. They love the way the rain refreshes the earth and breaks up the humidity while the gentle roll of thunder can be heard in the distance. Children grab rain boots and umbrellas and splash in puddles. Mom puts up her feet on the porch and reads a book. Yeah, I like those storms, too, but that’s not what I’m talking about.

I’m talking about severe thunderstorms. The kind that cause watches and warnings to be issued. The kind which are capable of producing strong winds, hail and tornadoes. Tornadoes terrify me. I live in a house with no basement, that is rumored to have no foundation and whose only interior room is a 3 foot by 3 foot bathroom.

The threat of severe weather puts my stomach into knots. I fret and pace and monitor the weather channel. I become crabby and tense. I may even round up shoes, my purse and some blankets and put them in the hallway next to bathroom in case we need to take cover. I try to talk myself back from the edge, telling myself that while our area does get frequent, often daily, severe thunderstorms that may cause some damage, and that tornadoes are possible, they are very rare here. And the one or two that have touched down in the DC Metro area have been small and short. Mostly. In the 5 total years we’ve lived here, we have not once ever gone to an actual tornado warning. But still, I worry.

Our forecast will hold the possibility of thunderstorms almost every day until the mid-Fall. It’s hard for me to relax and make plans to be away from the house, knowing that at any moment the weather is going to go to hell in a hand-basket. Yes, these are anxious days for me. Time to lay in a supply of chocolate.

note: As soon as I finished this blog post, the weather alert on my computer informed me that we are now under a tornado watch until 8 pm.  That’s 7 hours for me to worry about.  Lovely.

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It seems like a good Catholic girl, with 4 children, the youngest of which is getting a bit old to be called the “baby”, cannot knit a pair of baby booties without everyone thinking that another baby is on the way.

Sorry, the only thing being knit is the booties.  One of my good friends from Korea is expecting a grandson in June and the booties are for him.

Thanks for the laugh, though.  I didn’t see that one coming.

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What does

An Electrolux mixer

A Circa mini notebook with leather cover

Craft magazines and some chocolates

and $38 all have in common?

They’re my birthday presents!  Yay me!  I won’t tell you how old I am, but I will tell you that my grandma always sends birthday money to match my age.

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I’m sick.

No, not because I’ve got some kind of notebook obsession or too much yarn or a whole room full of rubber stamping and scrapbooking supplies.  I’m honestly sick.

I was getting over my cold and was feeling better when I got hit with chills and stomach pains on Wednesday night.  By Thursday morning I was having cold sweats just trying to sit at the computer and read my favorite homeschooling boards.  I knew I wasn’t going to make the Brownie meeting.  I slept all day.  I ate a piece of toast.  I tried to stay hydrated.

Today…a little better.  I had a bowl of cereal.  We managed to catch up on school work.  But now I’m seriously regretting that bowl of cereal.  Blech.

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Q: Can you share a neat Advent activity or craft with us?

For a Advent activity or craft - well, I like these stars from Dawn. We’ll be making those this year. Another quick and easy one is this little angel I made for the Jesse Tree Swap. They look cute tied to packages or hanging from a garland on your mantle.

You need 30 mm jingle bells, a spool of gold cord, a spool of thin gold ribbon, a spool of wide, white organdy ribbon, a spool of gold beads, a spool of lace and some wood balls with or without a hole through them. I found it all at Michael’s, but ran out of lace and went to a closer fabric store for more. I like the lace I got at the fabric store MUCH better. It had a finished edge, which caused the lace the form a circle almost by itself. Make the extra trip and get that kind of lace. You’ll also need regular and mini glue dots.

Start with the body. Cut a piece of lace that will go around the bell for a dress. If you’re making more than one, get some paper and mark your measurements. Don’t bother with a ruler, just mark the length and label it. Use a glue dots to stick on the lace.

Cut a length of gold cord for a hanger. Record your measurement. Thread the cord through the tab on top of the bell and tie. Try to stick the knot and end into the bell if you can. If not, don’t worry. Don’t go nuts with it. If your wooden ball has a hole through it, thread the non-knot end of the cord through the hole, make another knot right on top of the ball. Make sure you make an extra long cord to do this. If your ball doesn’t have a hole, just use a glue dot to stick it to the top of the bell.

Cut a small piece of gold ribbon and tie it in a bow. Use a glue dot to stick it on the front of the angel’s dress. You remembered to mark your measurement, right?

Cut a piece of organdy ribbon and tie into a bow. Use a glue dot to stick it to the back of the angel. Cut a piece of the gold beads to make a halo. A mini glue dot will stick it on just fine. I like to put it back on the head a bit so it’s just sticking up.

That’s it, you’re done. You can use colored pencils or paint to put a face on if you want, but they are cute as is. If you’re making a lot of these, use the measurements you recorded to cut all the ribbons at once and make them in an assembly line.

You can actually buy kits for these through Oriental Trading Company, but their shipping takes forever, unless you’re willing to pay a whole lot more. Might as well just get the supplies yourself. I made 29 angels from the supplies I had and I could have made more.

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Q:What is your favorite recipe?

I don’t know that I have one favorite recipe. I’m fond of what our family calls “The Halloween Dinner” as well as Albondigas (meatball) Soup. Both come from my grandma. But here is a recipe for the best sweet cornbread you’ve ever had. It’s probably our family’s hands-down favorite thing to eat.  Or close to it. I could eat it for breakfast. I’ll give you that recipe, too.

Corn Muffins

2 cups cornmeal
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
salt
1 cup shortening, plus more for greasing
1 egg
1 1/4 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder and dash salt in large bowl. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Beat egg in small bowl. Stir in milk and vanilla. Add to corn meal mixture, stirring just enough to moisten. Do not over-beat.

Fill each of 12 muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake muffins at 350 degrees until golden, 20-25 minutes. Note from me: I bake the entire batter in one cast iron skillet for 40 minutes.

Let cool thoroughly in muffin cups before loosening from pan or they will fall apart. Carefully remove from pan.

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I had so much to say in answer to the following question that I thought I’d tackle it in two separate posts.  Today I’m answering the part in bold.

Q:How in the world do you actually find time to educate your children,take care of your household duties, and find the energy necessary to do all those cool crafty projects you always show us? All of that, and still manage to keep your sunny personality and your faith so strong! I wish I just had an ounce of that!

Sunny personality? Well, I don’t know about that.  I’m actually quite the pessimist.  I’m the quintessential Eeyore.  But a long time ago I learned a good lesson.  Philip was off fighting in Desert Storm and we weren’t married yet.  I was living alone in San Francisco, going to school and working part time.  It was one of the most difficult times of my life.  I realized then that I had two choices everyday - sit home, watch the news and cry or get up, go to school, go to work and survive.  I had to make that choice every day.  Oh, I allowed myself to cry when I needed to, and be scared and angry and all that.  But every day I just put one foot forward and started moving.  Sometimes life is like that.  You either let it kill you or you survive.  You can’t control what happens to you but you can control how you react to it.

As for faith - it’s simple really.  I must have faith or I won’t survive.  I would just quit right now, crawl into a hole and die.  I MUST believe that Rebecca is waiting for us in heaven or I couldn’t get up in the morning.  I MUST believe that God loves her more than I ever could and that he will use her life and death for good.  I know absolutely the reason she had to die.  I don’t know why she left so young, but I know who to blame that we are all mortal.   I know what I must do to see our family reunited.  I know it’s going to be better than I could ever imagine.  I’m glad she “brought her baptismal gown unstained into the next life.”  I have faith and so I have hope.  I don’t know how people without faith can survive the death of a loved one, I really don’t.  I have no explanations for matters of faith, I leave that for others.   I found this quotation by Albert Camus be so appropriate:

“I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn’t, than live my life as if there isn’t and die to find out there is.”

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Q: How in the world do you actually find time to educate your children,take care of your household duties, and find the energy necessary to do all those cool crafty projects you always show us? All of that, and still manage to keep your sunny personality and your faith so strong! I wish I just had an ounce of that!

(I’m answering the part in bold today)

Well, I’m Wonder Mom.

Yeah right! Actually, I don’t find time to do it all. When I focus on any one given area too much, then another area gets neglected. I used to be really on top of things, keeping up with the house, getting some great rubber stamping and scrapbooking done, making dinner. But when we had the house flood and moved so quickly, we never recovered like we wanted to. The first priority when moving into the new house on Thanksgiving Day was to get enough of the house unpacked to be able to pull off Christmas. All the pictures of Christmas look great because what you can’t see is the chaos of boxes just out of the picture. We spent the next year just trying to get into the groove. We’re still working on it.

Really though, educating the children isn’t that hard. I use a great curriculum (Sonlight) which has everything laid out for me. If I wanted to, I could pick up the instructor’s guide every day, read the day’s assignments and off we go. I do a little more customizing than that, but it gives me such a great foundation that all I’m doing is adjusting the schedule faster or slower as needed and adding in a few extras. With a 1st and 3rd grader, our school day is over by noon. That leaves the afternoon free for everybody.

As for the crafts, most of those I tackle in the evenings when the children are asleep. I watch tv or movies with Phil and work on the craft du jour. The children get a nightly video, too and depending on the craft, I can work during that time, too. I’m in the room with them which makes them happy, and I can knit at the same time, which makes me happy.

As far as the house, well, you’ve seen the before shots of the corners of my home. It’s not pretty. We’ve got far too many corners like that which still need work.

One thing I do for meals is to limit myself to making only dinners that take 30 minutes or less of prep time. They can cook for longer, but any direct input by me needs to be minimal. That means I don’t cook many of our favorites anymore, but at this stage of our lives, that is what is needed. Someday I’ll have more time to cook and I’ll make those meals again. For now, we let my mom make them when she’s here visiting. She likes to cook and we love it when she makes the old favorites!

In all things, you’ve got to make choices and have priorities. Some days it’s ok to play more than work. Other days you’ve really got to get some work done. Most of the time, though, I try to strike a balance -a little work and a little play every day. I’m a huge list maker and that helps, too.

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