October 29, 2011

Personality

Ever take one of those personality tests? One of the most popular is Myers-Briggs. I love taking tests. Seriously, I'm weird and I embrace it. Speaking of which, isn't the spelling of the word 'weird' weird? What happened to the "i" after "e" except after "c" rule? American English is odd.

Any whozzle, I was reminded of this test recently by a blogger I follow and it was fun to look up all the stuff related to my personality. Let's hear it for the INTJs!!! I'm so doing this with my kids and hubby!

INTJ: Strategist - Mastermind - Intellectual
Independent, original, analytical, and determined. Have an exceptional ability to turn theories into solid plans of action. Highly value knowledge, competence, and structure. Long-range thinkers. Have very high standards for their performance, and the performance of others. Natural leaders, but will follow if they trust existing leaders. Approach reality as they would a giant chess board, always seeking strategies that have a high payoff, and always devising contingency plans in case of error or adversity.

Hubby would call that last sentence the "what if" principle and was not so appreciative of it in the past. I am a total "what if" person and proud of it. It's paying off quite a bit now so hubby has changed his tune :)

October 23, 2011

When you love someone

Sassy and I attended the wedding of some dear friends last night. Hubby should have been there, but he will be home soon enough. The happy couple were thoughtful enough to pay Hubby a visit today so he felt included in the occasion. The setting was lovely, the food delicious and the ceremony touching. Simple, down to earth, very K&B.

Sassy captured the moment for us -


The setting was on a bluff overlooking the beautiful Mississippi River -


The happy couple -


The cupcakes were fantastic and the Magic 8 Ball was a very personal touch -


I think my favorite part was the reverend's reading of an Anne Morrow Lindbergh poem -

When you love someone, you do not love them all the time. in exactly the same way, from moment to moment. It is an impossibility. It is even a lie to pretend to. And yet, this is exactly what most of us demand. We have so little faith in the ebb and flow of life, of love , of relationships. We leap at the flow of time and resist in terror its ebb. We are afraid it will never return. We insist on permanency, on duration, on continuity; when the only continuity possible in life, as in love, is in growth, in fluidity in freedom. The only real security is not owning or possessing, not in demanding or expecting, not in hoping, even. Security in a relationship lies neither in looking back to what it was , nor forward to what it might be, but living in the present and accepting it as it is now. For relationships, too must be like islands. One must accept them for what they are here and now, within their limits islands surrounded and interrupted by the sea, continuously visited and abandoned by the tides. Once must accept the serenity of the winged life, ebb and flow, of intermittency.

October 9, 2011

Deep in the heart of ...

I discovered a deep wrinkle (line!) at the corner of my lower right-side lip this morning. It was not there yesterday. I know ... I thoroughly check every day. I consider myself moderately vain when it comes to my face so I've invested in good skin care products, I exfoliate regularly and use sunscreen daily. What the heck?! If you saw me you would probably say you could barely see it or it's small because you'd be being nice ... it's not small, it's a mini Grand Canyon on my face! My grandma P was right ... it's hell getting old. I think it could be related to my previous bad habit as a casual smoker. I quit weeks ago in preparation for a wellness screening at work which allows me to lower my health insurance premium by meeting specific goals like being tobacco free and cholesterol/blood pressure readings below a certain level. That was pretty motivating, but this, THIS is super motivating. I'm done - no more smokes or lines for me!

October 2, 2011

Leavin' on a jet plane

While visiting hubby this morning I decided to check my bank account online to confirm recent activity while he took a short nap. I was surprised to see a charge for $1,000 to Southwest Airlines and several others for online dating services (match.com, hotornot.com, etc.). I wonder where I'm going and with whom? I contacted Wells Fargo and they pressed into action. It took a little while to walk through everything and find that I had almost $2,000 in charges I didn't make! I'm confident all will be reversed though. When I returned home there was a voice mail message from Southwest Airlines asking me to authorize a $1,000 gift card. The thief hadn't bought a plane ticket, rather a gift card they could turn around and sell. Some peoples' kids!

October 1, 2011

Make this now!

I awoke at some ungodly hour this morning. After I watched the remainder of the 'Project Runway' episode I missed when I fell asleep last night, I channel surfed and landed on Cristina Ferarre's 'Big Bowl of Love' on the Oprah Winfrey Network (remember John DeLorean? she was married to him!). I'd never watched it before, but she made an Udon Noodle Bowl soup that I was absolutely compelled to make. After my 7:30am oil change appointment, I went straight to the grocery store to pick up the necessary ingredients. I love it! I changed up a couple of things: added diced raw chicken while heating stock, added a package of frozen edamame I bought on a whim in lieu of peas, added carrots and scallions while cooking and omitted the cilantro. It's delightfully fresh and comforting. I'm pretty sure it's super healthy too! The only things I'd change would be to cut the udon noodles (I'm sure slurping the long strands adds to the charm and authenticity, but the small puddles of soup everywhere put my OCD on high alert) and add cilantro at the end for freshness and a bit of crunchy texture (in addition to sesame seeds - a must!).

Photos a la P-Dub!