My personality assessed!

You are an Architect (About me)

Your preference for concrete, visually pleasing things, combined with your confidence and your respect for order make you an ARCHITECT.

You are logical and detail-oriented, which allows you to get things done efficiently. (True)

You are quite sure of yourself, so that you tend to know the best ways of doing things. (Are you reading this mum ;-)?!)

Your eye for aesthetic beauty and style indicates that you know a lot about design. (Not sure I agree with this one)

Having a routine and sticking to it is important to you; you find comfort in tradition and familiarity. (Absolutely)

Self-reliance is something in which you take great pride—you are confident and down to earth. (Definitely)

You have a basic faith in yourself in many areas of your life, allowing you to be self-assured when facing challenges. (Also true!)

Your independent streak allows you to make decisions efficiently and to trust your instincts. (Scarily true!)

You're not afraid to let your emotions guide you, and you're generally considerate of others' feelings as well. (note the 'generally' here!)

You have a strong sense of style and value your personal presentation - friends may even seek your style advice from time to time. (But I wear Crocs daily!?)

Generally, you believe that you control your life, and that external forces only play a limited role in determining what happens to you. (Hmmm only partially true - I don't really believe in luck, but I do believe in God having a path for me and fate)

If you want to be different:

Try moving beyond the things that you find comfortable—open yourself up to a broader range of experiences. (i.e less planning, more spontaniety & risks!)

Question how much you know about things by imagining different possibilities. (does this mean be more open-minded?)

You are Benevolent (How I relate to others)

You are a great person to interact with—understanding, giving, and trusting—in a word, BENEVOLENT

You don't mind being in social situations, as you feel comfortable enough with people to be yourself. (true if I am not having a 'fat' day!)

Your caring nature goes beyond a basic concern: you take the time to understand the nuances of people's situations before passing any sort of judgment. (yep I think this is true)

You're a good listener, and even better at offering advice. (I try to be, but I have consciously worked on this for years as I was very bad!)

You're concerned with others at both an individual and societal level—you sympathize with the plights of troubled groups, and you can care about people you've never met. (yep I am a weeper and worrier during the News!)

Considering many different perspectives is something at which you excel, and you appreciate that quality in others. (I try to and I do!)

Other people's feelings are important to you, and you're good at mediating disputes. (That comes from my HR Manager days and training!)

Because of your understanding and patience, you tend to bring out the best in people. (Well I hope I do anyway)

If you want to be different:

You spend a lot of time taking care of others, but don't forget to take care of yourself! (guilty as charged!)

Sometimes you can get overcommitted, and when you sacrifice spending time with those close to you, it can make them feel unimportant. (I think the Hubster could vouch for this sometimes!)


Do you want to know your true personality? If so, head over to this site when you have a spare 20 minutes - Personal DNA. I would however only caution that it seems to focus on all the positives and not many negatives, which of course we all have somewhere inside our make-up!

But I would have to say this has certainly pinpointed some of my key personality traits accurately. Like why I can be reduced to tears on hearing about people I don't even know suffering! My love of logic, detail, decisiveness and routines - which is probably why I have always seemed pre-disposed to enjoy administration oriented work. I am definitely self-reliant, self-assured when challenged, can often see things from all sides and firmly believe in good personal presentation. It has also picked up on the fact I prefer routine to spontaniety or leaving my comfort zone but am very independent - this is all true.

I would therefore say that this test is pretty accurate and very hard to fiddle, as you will find out if you complete it. As mentioned though I would have also liked to know some of the negatives that show through, so I could perhaps work on them a bit. The Hubster has just read this over and he also thinks it's accurate and the people who know me who read this, will see me in the results!

Thanks to Snippety Gibbet for the link, who just like me is a sucker for these tests. Why not have a go too and post the results?

Handbag of the day....Jello!

Remember a few years ago when these 'jelly bags' were all the rage and appeared everywhere in a multitude of colours. Well I like most women thought they were pretty cool at the time and I contemplated buying one for a few weeks.

This culminated in a week long trip to NYC, right at the peak of their popularity. At the time the pound>dollar exchange rate was still in our favour and so I shopped around for one in pink. I visited a few high-end stores selling the original brand that launched the fad, but just could not bring myself to part with that many dollars for what was obviously only a fashion fad.

So I ended up buying a 'fake' (sharp intake of breath!) from a street seller in NYC, it was reasonably priced and looked the part. A few months later the fashion passed and I was glad I had 'cheated', but Jello still makes an occasional appearance for fun!

So did anyone else succumb to the Jello bag fashion?

Bonnie's Home

I picked up the baby of the family after my course this afternoon and brought her home with a clean bill of health :-)

She has not had a fever for 24 hours and is back to being the crazy, playful kitten we had before Sunday. The other two have escaped outdoors for some peace and quiet, after the initial welcome home! I guess after 4 days in a hospital cage she is just full of pent-up energy, because she has only stopped tearing around in the past 2 hours to eat. It's great to have her back and so obviously well again.

Oh and the bill = $191 for an emergency visit Sunday, 4 days in hospital, all the med's and a very caring excellent service. To say we were pleasantly stunned is an understatement!

And now....

She Sleeps :-)

Brit' Word of the Day....

Today's BWOTD refers to something you see everyday:

"I accidentally hit a bollard in town"

'Bollard' = a small concrete or metal post that stops drivers entering certain areas

I understand that you call these pylons! Well a pylon to us is a huge metal tower that carries the national grid power lines, I'm not sure if you call those pylons too?

I am not a lover of bollards, having at least twice wrapped cars I owned either around them or reversed into them! On one occasion I turned too early and didn't see the darned thing, until I heard it crunch into the passenger door of a car I had literally just picked up from the dealer - luckily it was a company car!

Good day Tuesday

The vet tells me although Bonnie still had a slight fever this morning, she is doing really well and has been very active ( I took her fave toy in when I visited). All being well if her fever has gone tomorrow, then I will be able to bring her home late afternoon.

Sukie and Cal-Jo have definitely shown signs of missing Bonnie tonight. Cal-Jo sat outside her room and meowed to be let in and they both went in to explore, Cal-Jo chatting the whole time bless her. I tried to comfort them and told them she may be back tomorrow, but I can tell they are wondering where she went or what WE did with her!?

Pre-enrollment was a BIG success and I think we probably got about 80% attendance at least and quite a few new students showed up too. It will be especially helpful to me having all these forms in already, as I can now get them processed and filed away before school starts.

Tomorrow afternoon I am attending a video conferencing training course (a first for me) with a colleague at our local vo-tech. It is about taking the lunch count and how to do it optimally, reduced meals, dealing with the paperwork and audits.

On Friday we start In-Service with a day of faculty meetings and training - it's just all go this week and I am loving it.

We hit 106 degrees again today, but this evening the cold-front has pushed through and we are now at 89 degrees at 10:15pm. The high for tomorrow is predicted to be 97 and below 100 for the first time in over a week!

Pre-Enrollment Day has dawned...

Today is Pre-Enrollment Day at the school and a day my boss and I have been hard at work preparing for the past 2 weeks.

The last 2 work days have been a little nuts as a result, but now all we need are the parents and kids to show up later. This is something new we are doing this year, as the school used to have pre-enrollment for all students but stopped it a few years ago.

This year our new principal decided to bring it back and we are all sure it will be a big help when the first day of school arrives. Instead of having to send home and then retrieve numerous forms that require filling out and signing, this way we will get alot of them in and I will then have time to input them before school starts. In the past the teachers have in some cases been chasing these important forms into late Autumn!

Obviously we won't get everyone there today, but even if we got 50% of the students it will be effective. It also gives us a more accurate picture of which students are returning, starting, or have left.

Yesterday the school was a hive of activity as the countdown is now on to D-Day next Thursday. Many of the teachers are back getting their rooms in order, the new heat/air-con' system is fully operational much to everyones relief in the current temperatures, and the new phone/intercom system is being installed.

Busy days ahead but they continue to be enjoyable.

Brit' Word of the Day....

Today's BWOTD is a favourite at fun fairs:

"I need some candy floss, how about you?"

'Candy Floss' = Cotton Candy

Don't worry this isn't some kind of wierd unhealthy floss we use on our teeth in the UK. It's just good old cotton candy as you call it.

Mind boggling googling!

So somebody in Europe ended up on my blog today after searching Google with the text "sara jay mum's got boobs"!!

The mind boggles as to how that search got them to my Handbag of the Day - Pocahontas post!? Although in one of the comments I did mention 'boob', still I'm sure that's not what they were anticipating when they hit 'search' LOL!

Bonnie update & OMG the heat!

After school today I went to visit Bonnie in hospital and am delighted to report a huge improvement from the sad little kitty we left there yesterday. The vet is happy for 'parents' to visit and they put me in a seperate room and just left us together for an hour of quality time.

Well she looked so much more alert and interested in everything around the room. She never stopped purring loudly for the whole hour and kept coming back for constant cuddles and petting. I may sound crazy here (although I know other pet owners will understand), but even the expression in her eyes was back to normal. She was playing with my fingers, rolling on the carpet and got to stretch her legs out of the cage. I think it did both of us a world of good to have this visit and she knows she hasn't been abandoned and I know she's going to be okay.

They will keep her all day tomorrow and maybe tomorrow night, as with pneumonia they like to be sure the lungs are totally clear, and that's fine with us.

So now the CRAZY heat. When I left the vets in Woodward my car thermometer, which is almost new, was showing 111 degrees after I'd driven for 5 minutes! When the hubster got home our patio thermometer was showing 109.4!! Even now at just after 7pm it's 105.7, totally wacky weather and thank the Lord for the person who invented air-con'.

Brit' Word of the Day....

Today's BWOTD is an old-fashioned term:

"I fancy some elevensies, do you?"

'Elevensies' = mid-morning snack

This obviously derives from the fact that a mid-morning snack would be eaten around 11am. You used to hear this alot on TV and in person, but nowadays it is not as common. It's still a cute Brit' phrase though and most Brit's would know what you mean't by this.

Bonnie is in hospital :-(

Well our vet wanted to keep Bonnie in the hospital as she suspects she might have pneumonia. Poor little Bonnie was not herself at all and did not want to eat or drink, so she is in the best place.

The vet gave her 2 shots to bring down her fever from 104.7 and said we'd done the right thing calling her, it's always good to know you're not just fussing. She wants to observe her eating, drinking and toilet habits and be able to medicate her as needed. Her respiratory rate was also up and if needed they have an oxygen cage they can use.

She doesn't go out so we're never going to know how she got it, if it does prove to be pneumonia. In the meantime we need to watch the other two kitties for any signs of them getting sick too, but as the vet said they have more established immune systems than the baby.

We hated to leave her, but she has her blankie and fave toy with her and all she was doing was sleeping anyway, and she needs to be there. But we miss her already and just feel sad, please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Emergency dash to vet...

Little Bonnie is not well :-(

We don't know what's wrong but we noticed last night she was sleeping alot and very lethargic, and thinking back she was like that from around noon yesterday. It's very noticeable when a little kitten stops being right and running everywhere.

We took her temperature (rectally!) awhile ago and it was 104.5 and she is not showing any interest in food or water. I have got her to drink drops of milk off my finger which is something at least.

When she jumps down she also seems to land almost on her face and just seems a bit wobbly. I called the vet and with that fever and her symptoms we have to take her into the animal hospital for 11:45am....

Say a little prayer for our baby kitty please and I will report back later.

108.4 degrees and melting

Yep that was 'our' official high, taken in the shade on the patio by our temperature guage at about 4:30pm yesterday!! And this is just July, who knows what we might hit in August which can be even hotter traditionally.

I spoke to my dad yesterday and he asked me if we'd had any storms or tornado's recently. It's getting to the point where I wish I could answer 'yes' at least to the storms, as it would cool us down somewhat!

My mum has actually commented this week about missing the air-con everywhere like it is here. It's been pretty warm back in the UK and the only place she has air-con is the car, so she's missed our nice cool home.

A predicted high of 104 today, so after church, it'll be another day for being indoors me thinks!

Brit' Word of the Day....

Today's BWOTD should not be taken as an insult if a Brit' calls you this!

"She was an absolute brick about it"

'Brick' = rock / tower of strength

So if you hear a person referred to as a brick, they are being complimented as being a great support, hence where the term comes from originally.

Here she is Daryl...

and as you can see Bonnie Blue and her pink ribbon are doing just dandy thank you! Her head is finally catching up to her huge rabbit ears too :-)

Hazy, lazy 100 degree days!

We have made it over 100 degrees everyday so far this week and are predicted to hit 103 again today. This is expected to continue until Wednesday, when a cool front will push through and take us down to 94 - WOOHOO! I tell you I am so ready for Fall and Winter to be here.

Sooo in temperatures like this, living out in the country, there really isn't alot to do that doesn't involve the outdoors. We are going to have a nice lazy weekend, watch the Formula One action from Hungary, grill some steak and just r-e-l-a-x in the cool of our home :-)

Have a good weekend y'all.

It's official....

As of now I am back in full-time employment after a 3 year break!

My 10-month contract starts with one of the local schools today and although I have been working for them since June sporadically, I am now officially 'on the clock' as us Brit's say.

Working p/time in June/July without kids or teaching staff around, has really helped me acclimatise and learn alot of what I need to know - like where everything is we might need. I also have all the big events on my school calendar and know when I need to start preparations for them.

I am really looking forward to the teachers returning next week, as I took this job partly for the camaradarie and team aspect. The last two months have seemed very quiet at times with just a few staff popping in and out. That will all change at the end of next week though, when my office will once again become the main hub for the school. I cannot wait :-)

No more late nights for me, from now on it's up with the lark and the hubster at 6am!

The Jane Austen Book Club

As y'all know, I am a big fan of Miss Jane Austen and so anything connected with her works is an absolute must-see for me.

Well The Jane Austen Book Club is very loosely connected, in as much as reading her books is the reason the characters come together. So if you are expecting a Jane Austen type period drama, you will be disappointed.

However this screenplay is cleverly woven around her novels and characters, with the book club members lives taking on some of the fictional characters problems. There are five strong women in the book club and a lone man who secretly lusts after one of the women. They are all at crossroads in their lives and meeting as a group, reading aloud and discussing the novels seemingly starts the process of them all moving forward. They themselves see the comparisons with the books and even start to alter the order they read JA's six novels in, to protect each others fragile emotional states.

This movie has a good cast, no real superstars but actors you will know by either name or face. They include Emily Blunt as a seriously neurotic French teacher being tempted by a student, Kathy Baker as a six time married free spirit, Amy Brenneman as the heartbroken recent divorcee, and Jimmy Smits as the cheating ex husband.

We both enjoyed this film, it keeps your attention, I liked the group ensemble feel and the JA connection actually works pretty well.