The Saturday 7

1. Last week, I posted a poll on facebook asking how people pronounce the name of a certain pressure cooker. I was shocked to see how wrong you all are!

66% of you call it an Insta-Pot? When it says very clearly on the appliance itself "Instant Pot"?? How lazy are you that you can't enunciate the "nt"? What's next? Insta-oatmeal? Insta-coffee? Insta-mashed potatoes? Shame on you millenials. ;-)

2. Good news, everyone. I'm normal! Well, at least my heart is.

I got another message from my doctor after this one that confirmed everything looks good. As of now, I don't have the dreaded hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. And since it usually develops in adolescence, I'm probably off the hook! I'll get to have an EKG/echo every 5 years for the rest of my life, though, just to make sure.

3. This week, Lucy's English curriculum called for a lesson on card catalogs and encyclopedias. I bought it new from the publisher and assumed it was fairly updated, so was surprised to see such antiquated reference techniques being taught! We went to a library we don't often visit in search of card catalogs and encyclopedias. They had neither. Haha. So I taught Lucy how to use the electronic card catalog. When we got home, I opened her English book (as opposed to my teacher's manual that came with it) and noticed that her book omitted everything about card catalogs and encyclopedias, and instead had a lesson about electronic card catalogs. So at least I taught her the right thing! Haha. She actually loved jotting down the call numbers and finding books on the shelf. I'm glad libraries bring her as much joy as they do me!

4. Speaking of which, as of today, Lucy is up to 15 books read for the month of January! I think that includes 2 graphic novels, but they're not short either. She's been on an American Girl kick - reading all 3 Grace books, plus Julie, Caroline, Tenney, and Rebecca. She read an Arthur chapter book, a Judy Moody Mini Mysteries book, and a random one from my childhood called Cross My Heart. [affiliate links] Plus a few others I can't remember. Packing up old stuff led to some fun book discoveries. She loved Cross My Heart and I love that it's a Christian book - and a series! We've already placed holds on the sequels at the library. Meanwhile, I have read 3 books and made it half way through my non-fiction pick for the month. Still chugging along!

5. I took an interesting personality test this week: the Clifton's Strengths Finder by Gallup. It was a timed test, offering a variety of "choose this or that" questions. You only had 20 seconds for each question, so it has to be a gut reaction - no time to deliberate. I was actually pretty surprised by my results. These were my top 5:

1. HarmonyRELATIONSHIP BUILDINGPeople exceptionally talented in the Harmony theme look for consensus. They don’t enjoy conflict; rather, they seek areas of agreement.

2. InputSTRATEGIC THINKINGPeople exceptionally talented in the Input theme have a need to collect and archive. They may accumulate information, ideas, artifacts or even relationships.

3. IntellectionSTRATEGIC THINKINGPeople exceptionally talented in the Intellection theme are characterized by their intellectual activity. They are introspective and appreciate intellectual discussions.

4. EmpathyRELATIONSHIP BUILDINGPeople exceptionally talented in the Empathy theme can sense other people’s feelings by imagining themselves in others’ lives or situations.

5. ResponsibilityEXECUTINGPeople exceptionally talented 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.

I was surprised how high I "scored" in so many relational aspects. Harmony as my top trait was especially unexpected. As I took the test, I noticed that I'm a "middle of the road" type person. I very rarely chose "strongly agree" or "strongly disagree" . . . except when it came to questions concerning conflict and confrontation. I strongly avoid both of those things. Haha. I was also surprised by "Intellection." Not only is it not a word (ironic), but I don't consider myself an intellectual thinker. I enjoy discussing ideas and theology, and I read a lot, but I read fluff. I don't like difficult reading or things that make me think hard. Haha. I'll totally own input (blog much?), empathy, and responsibility though. #nailedit

6. Thanks to some generous friends, I ended up with a ton of boxes this week. I've been trying to pack a little bit every day, but it's hard with homeschooling and needy kids and gymnastics class and my own laziness. So today I kicked it into high gear. The boxes are taking over our house, so I knew I needed to fill some and get them out of here. I think I ended up packing around 20 boxes today. It is astonishing how much stuff we have crammed into our tiny bedroom in this old farmhouse. So many random things like party supplies and old manuals and Christmas decorations and frames. Oh, and a few books. I did the shelves in my room and the shelves in Lucy's room. There were at least 5 boxes full of books. And that doesn't include the shelf in the living room, the one shelf I took over of my dad's bookshelf, or the shelves in Lena's room. Hahaha. We're fortunate that my brother has an empty room in his basement (soon to be our basement) where we can store things as we pack them. Despite my hours of work over the past week, I've barely made a dent in all our possessions!

7. Pictures