Special K and Coffee
I don't really know why you'd be here. I mean, I know I'm the single most interesting person, but don't you people have lives? Really, it's quite sad.
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Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Learning about yourself
Greenville College participates in something called the Clifton StrengthsFinder, which is something of a personality test from the Gallup Organization. Every single person--faculty, staff, and students--at Greenville College takes the test and gets an accompanying book specifically for students for free. During the two years I was in school there, especially through some of my communication classes with Prof. Ross, I found it to be very interesting and an insightful tool to learn about myself and other people and how relationships work.
Several months ago, Paul and I were talking about the Myers-Briggs/Keirsey Temperament [aside: I'm ISFJ and he's ENTP], and that led to talking about StrenghtsFinder, which made me very curious as to what his top five strengths are. In order to take the test, you basically have to purchase a book containing a personal code, which was one of Paul's birthday presents from me. But instead of buying him the same book that I own, I bought him the one my grandfather had at Christmastime because the board at their church all got the book and took the test. That book is specially directed toward churches and serving within a church community and it looked like very interesting reading--to both of us.
My Top Five Strengths
Developer People strong in the Developer theme recognize and cultivate the potential in others. They spot the signs of each small improvement and derive satisfaction from these improvements.
Input People strong in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they like to collect and archive all kinds of information.
Harmony People strong in the Harmony theme look for consensus. They don’t enjoy conflict; rather, they seek areas of agreement.
Responsibility People strong in the Responsibility theme take psychological ownership of what they say they will do. They are committed to stable values such as honesty and loyalty.
Arranger People strong in the Arranger theme can organize, but they also have a flexibility that complements this ability. They like to figure out how all of the pieces and resources can be arranged for maximum productivity.
Paul's top Five Strengths
Woo [Winning Others Over] People strong in the Woo theme love the challenge of meeting new people and winning them over. They derive satisfaction from breaking the ice and making a connection with another person.
Futuristic People strong in the Futuristic theme are inspired by the future and what could be. They inspire others with their visions of the future.
Includer People strong in the Includer theme are accepting of others. They show awareness of those who feel left out, and make an effort to include them.
Ideation People strong in the Ideation theme are fascinated by ideas. They are able to find connections between seemingly disparate phenomena.
Activator People strong in the Activator theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.
Full list of the above links.
P.S. For those who gave up on Paul ever updating his blog...he actually has and we're trying to get him to put more of his funny clinic stories up there. :-)
Friday, June 10, 2005
Friendly little tip
Don't have Trixie (Paul's cat) in your arms when someone turns the vacuum cleaner on. If you don't realize it's going to happen or don't think about the fact that both she and Spuds (Paul's other cat and Trixie's son) are terrified of vacuum cleaners, you will likely end up with about four bandages on your arm as I have today. She got me pretty deep and long on both my forearm and the palm of my hand. Such is life in the jungle.
Monday, June 06, 2005
"It's 100% 95% DEET"
Paul's little powerful bottle of bugspray says on the front that it is 100% DEET, but then says it contains 95% DEET. Regardless, it works really well and doesn't take much to keep the mosquitoes away which, as most of you know, is a very important thing to me because they seem to absolutely love me.
So even with that fact, this weekend I got two of the strangest mosquito bites I've ever had. The first was picnicking at Ledges State Park without bugspray: the dumb thing bit me on the bottom of my foot. And the second was while hiking at Peterson's Pits with bugspray, but not very much on my face: she got me on the eyelid. Now let me explain to you just what happens when a mosquito bites you on your eyelid. In short, it swells up to almost twice the size, even after the itching is gone. I have no idea how long this will last because it just happened last night, but I almost look like I took a light punch in the eye or something. It's the strangest thing in the world and I don't recommend it. :-)
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
"It's lemon scented, so it'll make it minty fresh."
We had a fun weekend that started with a quick little visit to Kansas City for Paul's cousin's graduation from medical school and ended with a brand new shower in Paul's trailer and five exhausted people. It all started with a suggestion by Helen to put up a new shower surround in Paul's bathroom. She tore out the old surround which revealed the ugliest wallpaper on disgusting smelling fiber board that we had ever seen. Sunday night Helen and I (while the guys were working on baseboards and things) worked on cleaning off old caulk and whatever other disgustingness was left, including the old adhesive which looked like refried beans. During the giggling and hilarity that ensued from that came the above quote, the realization that the hot water knob leaked every time you turned it on, and a deep dislike for the ugly wallpapered fiber board.
By the time I showed up Monday morning, they had decided to tear out the old boards and replace them with 1/4" plywood, which also allowed them to replace the bathtub faucet and handle, and move the shower head up higher. That added a considerable amount of time to the project, but makes it so much nicer. So while the guys worked on the plumbing, Helen and I put up the plywood and had a bunch more fun with that. Then came the shower surround which threw the lovely fumes of Liquid Nails into the mix and three people crammed into a trailer bathtub. It looks super awesome, though and kudos to Helen for making it happen! Like she said, it wasn't on the project list, but it needed to be and it was good bonding time for the girls (pun unintentional until I realized it was there... ;-)).
[please read comments for introductions of people in pictures :-)]
