Who Knew?

I guess I'm surprised, but then again, I don't know much about Marilyn, so I guess if you believe this quiz we had a lot in common!

Your result for Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz...

You Are a Marilyn!

You are a Marilyn -- "I am affectionate and skeptical."

Marilyns are responsible, trustworthy, and value loyalty to family, friends, groups, and causes. Their personalities range broadly from reserved and timid to outspoken and confrontative.

How to Get Along with Me

• * Be direct and clear


• * Listen to me carefully


• * Don't judge me for my anxiety


• * Work things through with me


• * Reassure me that everything is OK between us


• * Laugh and make jokes with me


• * Gently push me toward new experiences


• * Try not to overreact to my overreacting.

----these are all so true it's creepy!----

What I Like About Being a Marilyn

• * being committed and faithful to family and friends


• * being responsible and hardworking


• * being compassionate toward others


• * having intellect and wit


• * being a nonconformist


• * confronting danger bravely


• * being direct and assertive

What's Hard About Being a Marilyn

• * the constant push and pull involved in trying to make up my mind


• * procrastinating because of fear of failure; having little confidence in myself


• * fearing being abandoned or taken advantage of


• * exhausting myself by worrying and scanning for danger


• * wishing I had a rule book at work so I could do everything right---this only lasts for the first few months to a year of a job for me----
  


• * being too critical of myself when I haven't lived up to my expectations---this is true, and even more so when they are expectations I set for myself without anyone else knowing. strange, I know----
  

Marilyns as Children Often

• * are friendly, likable, and dependable, and/or sarcastic, bossy, and stubborn


• * are anxious and hypervigilant; anticipate danger


• * form a team of "us against them" with a best friend or parent----I don't remember this past the little "girl vs. boy" wars of 5th grade. In jr. High I was somewhat of a uniter---
  


• * look to groups or authorities to protect them and/or question authority and rebel


• * are neglected or abused, come from unpredictable or alcoholic families, and/or take on the fearfulness of an overly anxious parent

Marilyns as Parents

• * are often loving, nurturing, and have a strong sense of duty


• * are sometimes reluctant to give their children independence---I don't think this one will be a problem---
  


• * worry more than most that their children will get hurt


• * sometimes have trouble saying no and setting boundaries

Take Are You a Jackie or a Marilyn? Or Someone Else? Mad Men-era Female Icon Quiz at HelloQuizzy

the weather outside is frightful...

...but it's warm inside, so I'm happy! Yes, my 'landlords' finally turned on the heat! I am actually happy to have the "nasty" weather too, since I really like winter and this is a prelude to that. Coming out of church this morning it was sleeting a little, and by the time I got to the car it was snowing a tiny little bit!! Yay!!

Halloween is only a week away and I am stressing out because I am organizing the haunted house and activities for the Fall Fling at our church on Sat. the 1st. Have I ever told you how much I dislike working with type A personalities? It's true. We need to draw a line over which they can not cross. Why can't everyone go with the flow like me?

OK, I don't always go with the flow, and sometimes when I do it ends up being bad. But I think mostly I know when to hang in there or when to cut my losses, and either way, I try not to bring others down with me; to take responsibility for my own actions; to respect others need for details, and lie to them in order to give them the illusion of details... ;)

So, anyway. I chaperoned the lock-in for the high school kids at church last night. It was pretty fun actually, aided by the fact that my crazy best friend (whom I have known forever and grew up with me at church) came and hung out with us after she got off work.

It was good to hang with the kids and fun to get to know some of them a little better. They are all a little too old for me to have baby sat (well, not quite, as one of the seniors was my first charge, but he wasn't there) but too young to have been in youth group with me, which would have been awkward I think. I was still a little nervous, since I didn't know these kids. Would they be rowdy? Would they be disrespectful? What about just plain boring? Luckily they were none of these things.

My favorite story of the night: The youth leader pulled some stuff out of the freezer when I started to make the frozen pizza and said we could make those, too. They were little petite cheese things and some deep fried shrimp. I was thinking, Oookay... interesting choice of snakes to buy for a bunch of teens, but whatev. so I made them and put them out and the kids ate them...and then the youth leader said he had just FOUND them in the freezer. Someone went and checked on the expiration date...over a year ago.

OK, so that's pretty funny right? Everyone was all "eewww!!" and "Your trying to poison us!" and we laughed and it was all good.

Then a few hours later everyone was playing rock band and I thought, these kids need some popcorn. So I went and found the box of microwave pop corn I had purchased that day for them and made some. I brought it in and told them it was there with bowls.

The youngest kid there, the 8th grade friend of a youth group member, turned to me and said, "well, like, how long has it been here?" and I said, "about a minute, I just made it now," thinking to myself that he seemed a little dense. And he said, "no, I mean like here, in the kitchen here...like a year?" I almost started laughing hysterically! But I held it together and said "No, no, I bought it today!" And then I called out to everyone that it was fresh, just bought today!

Now, no one had yet moved to take any, and I thought it was because they were wrapped up in rock band. But sure enough, as soon as I told them it wasn't a year old, there was a rush of kids to get at the bag!

Oh, I laughed and laughed!

(btw, as I was re-reading that for glaring mistakes, I had said "poop" instead of "pop" twice! perhaps I should've left them in!)

OK, I should get to bed even though I took a four hour nap to recover from last night.

Oh, and have I told you I have the cutest/smartest cat EVER? It's tru, and sometime tomorrow you will see that it's true if you check her blog!

FRIDAY FIVE: Coin Toss

Songbird at RevGalBlogPals writes: Well, Gals and Pals, this weekend we'll be rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and that has me thinking about coinage.

1) When was the last time you flipped a coin or even saw one flipped in person?

I think it has been a very long time since I flipped a coin. And I can't recall seeing it in person recently either. However, I have seen two films recently that had coin flipping. The first was the Dark Knight in which TwoFace is born. Before he becomes evil he is a do-gooder who flips a coin his father gave him because he believes in fate. The other one I am having a hard time remembering at the moment, though I feel it must have been a Coen brother's film...any ideas?

2) Do you have any foreign coins in your house? If so, where are they from?

Daddy Hankie pants gave me some of the Iraqi money he brought back from his time there. I am also sure I have some Canadian coins about that the change machines never take.

3) A penny saved is a penny earned, they say. But let's get serious. Is there a special place in heaven for pennies, or do you think they'll find a special place in, well, the other place?

I feel bad for pennies. I have to admit that I don't chase after them if they fall from my purse...on the other hand, I will stop to pick one up, since that is considered good luck and I need all the help I can get! I also save them when I am cleaning out my purse, because they do add up if you have enough!

4) How much did you get from the tooth fairy when you were a child? and if you have children of your own, do they get coins, or paper money? (I hear there may be some inflation.)

As Mommy Knickers points out, we started with quarters. I think my belief in the tooth fairy was shattered earlier then anything else (i.e. Santa, the Easter Bunny, democracy...), but I still always looked forward to it because of the notes she would write me in squiggly handwriting, like there was this ethereal being out there who took an interest in me, even past my oral health.

When I was in high school I had to have a major amount of dental work done, including having my upper wisdom teeth out (the lower ones came out a few years later). I seem to recall getting a kind of under the pillow bonus that night of about $25...yes, I am the youngest, and yes, I am spoiled.

5) Did anyone in your household collect the state quarters? And did anyone in your household manage to sustain the interest required to stick with it?

No one in my household, but a kid I babysat for did. I babysat every Saturday morning, and every week he would want to show it to me, even though there was almost never any new ones! I generally don't have the patience for things that involve big pieces of cardboard, ya know?

A Promise of New Life

I just found out that a Dog Blogger whose blog I lurked on occasionally has died. I don't know, really, anything about his family or the dog. I have no reason to mourn the passing, and yet I do.

For me, mourning is really about mourning a part of our lives that has left and can never return. For the Person (be they human or furry friend) who has left, we as Christians, can be comforted in knowing that they are with the Creator, safe and happy in Her hands, in a way unachievable to those of us still here...

But in my personal theology it doesn't stop there, in that loving embrace. God asks us to return, to do more good works, to make this world a better place.

Jesus promises us all a chance to redeem ourselves through him. He himself is reincarnated when he raises from the dead, and when we take Communion we experience the way in which Jesus/God is part of everything, from the wheat in the fields and grapes in the vines to our worshiping mouths taking in the holy spirit. But where does it say that we are only given this one body to take our journey with?

I came to this belief for myself after many years of feeling I had been here before, and that there is just too much I need to accomplish spiritually in the next 60 to 70 years.

So, I'm thinking about Grendel and how much he is missed and I am thinking that his soul must have gone through some tough times and done some good things to have been lucky enough to come back as Grendel, to such a loving home.

a quick little post

I have to make this quick because I amcatsitting for a friend and so tryng out the indian restraunt by her house that I have always wanted to visit. So, I have to go pick up my order shortly!

This week has been crazy! I had to mmove out of my house for a few days while the floors are sanded so I am jumping between catsitting jobs and then back to y aunts until wednesday when it should all be done!

Oh and the reason my typos are worse then usual is because my friend's computer is a laptop and I am super bad at tping on laptop computers!

wow, this looks like a lol post!

It's been a while. My life has been pretty darned crazy in the last two months, so here's a quick recap:

July, decide not to go to Mich Fest this year :( , find out I can't live with Hugo Buffo and The Collector, and subsequently don't know where I will live come September, then find out I can because they are buying a house. Yay! Finish up my English class...with an A!! Double Yay!

Early August, after returning from a Boundary Waters Trip I get to packing. This shouldn't take so much work in a studio, but it does. HB and C find a house and make an offer, they get it and we start making plans.


Mid-August, start cleaning the house. Filled with the smells of nicotine, dog and dying people, this takes about 10 paid helpers, a weekend and a week of a lot of painting with Kilz. And, p.s., it still smells pretty rank in some places.

BUT...the wood work is beautiful, the outside was redone recently so there is no work to be done there, and now Winifred T. Katt has an awesome big house to play in and catch mice in! Oh, had I left out the mice?

Late August, we move in, but can't unpack because we are having the floors redone at the end of September, so most of my stuff sits on the porch while the dining room, living room, study, extra living room and front room are filled almost to the ceilings with boxes and furniture! We all moved from smaller spaces, so why does it seem like our stuff takes up more space? Probably because we all have a fair amount of books (I have the least of my family, and I have about 3 book cases worth). Quit my job at the mall because I don't have the time for it. Classes start. I have been randomly selected by the government to have my taxes, FAFSA, and other stuff compared to make sure I'm not lying. This will take 4-6 weeks, and I can't get any financial aid till then. So, it looks like I will be dirt poor until the end of October. No Soup for You!

Early September, life is a whirl-wind of new bus schedules, digging out warm clothes, remembering how to do homework and adjusting to a new work schedule. Also, mourning the loss of my good friend from last semester, who moved to NY and got a job in the industry right away...no. fair.

So, hopefully, I will get back to blogging more, and I will try to post some pictures of my crazy life.

(The first picture is one of the two "staging areas I had in my apartment - I had over 40 boxes and lots of loose ends. The second picture is from when I was cleaning the base boards in The Collector's room, by far the worst smelling of the bedrooms. It has since been primed and painted a lovely shade of blue (but a different blue than it was already))

Friday Five: Labor Day

At RevGalBlogPals:

Here in the USA we are celebrating the last fling of the good ol' summertime. It is Labor Day weekend, and families are camping, playing in the park, swimming, grilling hotdogs in the backyard, visiting amusement parks and zoos and historical sites and outdoor concerts and whatever else they can find to help them extend summer's sun and play just a little bit longer.

It is supposed to also be a celebration of the working man and woman, the backbone of the American economy, the "salt-of-the-earth nieces and nephews of Uncle Sam. With apologies to those in other countries, this is a Friday Five about LABOR. All can play. Put down that hammer, that spoon, that rolling pin, that rake, that pen, that commentary, that lexicon, and let's have some fun.

1. Tell us about the worst job you ever had.

Ok, it's time for the truth here...I've only had, like, three jobs if you role all the nannying and babysitting and child care related stuff into one. So, yeah there were definitely babysitting clients I didn't care for, but it isn't really appropriate to discuss those online...overall I have been very lucky, with bosses, co-workers, companies, the whole sha-bang...get back to me in 10 years!

2. Tell us about the best job you ever had.

I realize in the last question I rolled all the child care into one, but I have to single out my work for the Norwegian and the Dutch-ess as being the best job I have ever had. The parents are freelance artists and the two boys are awesome free spirits who have really good morals even at 3 and 5. Besides being a great family by any standards, I think our philosophies on child-rearing really meshed better then with all my other clients. They would actually tell me not to play with the kids constantly, that they need to learn how to play on their own, which I completely agree with. I miss those little guys!

3. Tell us what you would do if you could do absolutely anything (employment related) with no financial or other restrictions.

Right now, I think I would like to be employed as an assistant to an editor. I know I don't have the skillz yet to be a full-blown editor, but working along side a really cool, knowledgeable easy-going editor would be super awesome!

4. Did you get a break from labor this summer? If so, what was it and if not, what are you gonna do about it?

My trip to the Boundary Waters was my only break, which was great and I am sure would be long to most people, but the past three years I had scheduled my work around a three week trip to Michigan which I couldn't do this year, so it doesn't really feel like I have had any break at all...especially now that I am back in school already!

5. What will change regarding your work as summer morphs into fall? Are you anticipating or dreading?

Well, I like to think that part of my "job" right now is school, and I just realized that my two Film Theory classes have a few papers due the same weeks, so that will be a new challenge for me! Also, we are starting a new announcement system at the church I work for and I am really excited, but a little nervous that people won't like it (even though they should, but their church folk and sometimes they don't see what's best for them!)

Bonus question: For the gals who are mothers, do you have an interesting story about labor and delivery (LOL)? If you are a guy pal, not a mom, or you choose not to answer the above, is there a song, a book, a play, that says "workplace" to you? This is one of my absolute favorite songs of all time! We used to sing it in elementary school and I would sing down the octave from where everyone else was singing...then I would be told not to do that...but how could I help myself!? This song sounds the best being sung in a big, deep man voice! The best line is, "If you see me coming, better step aside, a lot of men didn't, and a lot of men died." Classic.