I’ve been told (I’ll start that way so as not to appear arrogant, which I am not) that I am both a left- and a right-brain thinker. And I do know this to be true. But what got me thinking about it for this post is our speaker at my networking meeting who was one of those same types of people – able to converse with both the art and business worlds with equal skill and appreciation for what each side of the fence has to offer. I was impressed with his well-roundedness and well-spoken, at ease manner with everyone in the room and it got me thinking that those are perhaps things I overlook about myself, or under-appreciate. I take for granted that I can see the whole picture when talking with a client and understand the technical idea they are trying to communicate while being able to visualize how to best communicate that idea. For a long time, I didn’t really realize that not everyone was like this. I was often puzzled when I met people who were extremes in one direction or the other, like how was it possible they couldn’t see the other side of the proverbial coin? And sometimes I wanted to be more like one or the other, wishing I could be all artsy-fartsy, to heck with timelines and just go marching to the beat of my own drummer OR more organized and focused without falling victim to procrastination to meet a deadline. But I can’t operate in extremes – I’m a whole brain kind of gal. And I can prove it, I took an online test (totally, inarguably accurate – right), here are the results:
54% left brain | 46% right brain
To recap, right-brain = creative/artsy; left-brain = logic/math. At the office I do both graphic design and our accounting/bookkeeping. I’ve always loved math, English and art, though not the biggest fan of science (despite wanting to be a doctor until my freshman year of college). Growing up I wanted to be both an architect and a doctor and now I dream of writing a novel or a screenplay. I definitely lean a little more to the left as I value realism over fantasy. I love to read and write and I’m a list-making fool. In decision-making, I opt for a realistic solution that follows my intuition (this strong bent towards intuition often leads me to make snap decisions about whether or not I’ll like someone – this is sort of a flaw as my gutt instinct is hard to overrule, though it is often a pretty accurate indicator).
I really find it all fascinating and exhausting at the same time. Sometimes it would just be nice to only consider one aspect of a matter, rather than be influenced by everything. But for today, I’m appreciating my whole brain way of thinking and my brain in general, as long as it keeps working, I’ll be happy.*
Take the test yourself, see how it turns out for you.
Random thoughts, not to be confused with total brain dump… they are so very different. These are all the things that have been floating in my head that I thought, I should blog about this and never actually did, or they aren’t long enough to be a whole blog in themselves. But bullet-list them together and watch out…
Liam had is first ever soccer practice last week. Given that he’s missing his second practice and first game, the jury is still out on how this will all go. At one point, all the other kids were lined up facing one direction and Liam was standing opposite them, helping Keila with her ball. I’m quite certain this is indicative of his being one of the children who will score in the wrong goal.
After soccer practice, I was lucky enough to snag a new-to-me elliptical for a happy-to-me price. It just fit in the minivan – both boys’ seats were so far forward that Liam had to straddle my seat, but it fit and is now happily at home in our basement next to the recumbent stationary bike (it’s getting to be a regular old gym down there). Liam likes to work out on the elliptical, I like the challenge. After ten minutes on it, Liam commented, “That machine makes your face really red, mommy.”
Liam’s a great workout buddy – though a bit of a water hog (photo edited to cut out the large quantity of boxes we have stored under our basement stairs in a hoarder-eque fashion).
I decided to try the Couch to 5K program but since I don’t have a treadmill and can’t train outside without a stroller attached to me, I’m attempting it on the elliptical. This may or may not work but I did the first day and only wanted to die a little. Talk to me on weeks four and five, at least that’s what Sandy says.
After a two-week break (thanks to C’s pukies in Costco – the horror, for Sandy, not me), I got to walk with Sandy and her boys again last night – it was lovely! Our boys were only moderately whiny which made us only moderately grumpy.
Liam loves kindergarten, though I am anticipating a time when he won’t be quite so excited to be there (a.k.a., when he realizes this is a long-term gig). He told me yesterday that he has a new friend named Casey who has long hair and looks like a girl, but is a boy. I suspect that Casey might actually be a girl, but I cannot confirm this.
Does anyone else Google the parents of the kids in their child’s class? I like to know who I’m dealing with but Simon thinks this is strange. I prefer to be informed. Hopefully other people do this and if so, “Hi there, welcome to my blog!”
I’m happy to report Liam played the Wii last night and did not throw the remote at my head when I told him it was time to be done. He only got a little angry-faced but that was it. Later when I praised him for his good reaction, he said, “What I really wanted to say to you was, ‘You’re mean!'” But he didn’t so perhaps he can be trained after all.
Last night I made these No-Bake Energy Bites (which I referred to in a text as energy balls and then my 13-year-old-boy self giggled). They came recommended by Heidi, whose opinion on food I find without reproach; we are food soul mates. The energy balls are very good, if you are at my MOPS table, you’ll be getting them on Thursday morning. Enjoy. Everyone else will have to make their own. Unless you come to my house tomorrow night, in which case, I’ll make an exception (also, I won’t be home).
Jack’s developed a booger-eating habit. I do not approve of this new habit. I told him not to eat one and he responded with, “I will… I like it!” There is nothing I’ve done to cultivate this new behavior so apparently it is inherent to his personality. He’s a booger-eater. Woe. [I’m also appalled that I’ve had to use booger twice in this paragraph and now a third time. Ick.]
A new bakery opened very close to my work. They make delicious stuff. At least that’s what I’ve heard. I would not know personally. Ahem.
Tomorrow is the first program of the year for the communications/networking group of which I’m the board president, hopefully we have good turnout. Being the president of the board makes me feel old and distinguished… neither of which I am, relatively speaking.
Thursday is our first MOPS meeting of the year – I’m exponentially more excited about this meeting than I am about the one in the previous bullet. I posted of my love of MOPS here.
Also, our upstairs shower was leaking into the ceiling of our stairway – that was a bummer. But hopefully Simon has it fixed and soon he can repair the gaping hole in the ceiling, though I will miss Jack pointing to it when he goes up the stairs and saying, “Uh oh, it broke!”
And for the record – it is nearly halfway through September, how in the heck did this happen?
In no particular order, the things I love about fall:
1. Apple orchards
2. Donuts at apple orchards
3. Cider made with apples from the apple orchard.
4. Wearing jeans and sweatshirts.
5. Leaves turning color. God’s quite the show off in the autumn (at least here in Michigan).
6. Crisp, cool mornings and evenings – void of humidity (a.k.a., the bane of my existence)
7. Making things from apples at the apple orchard.
8. The general feeling of excitement about back-to-school and starting new things.
9. Work is usually busier and carries us through to Christmas – I like this because busy work = year-end bonus! And who doesn’t like money (I use it wisely and generously, never you fear).
10. ArtPrize, Fallsburg Fall Festival and Saturday mornings at the farmer’s market picking up squash and apples.
All weekend I’ve been reading people’s blog and Facebook posts about their memories of 9/11 and of course have been thinking about my own.
Like the majority of the Tuesdays for the last 10 years, I was at work on September 11, 2001. I used to come in to the office very early because I liked being the first person there – the quiet of the office gave me time to make coffee and check my personal email (these were the pre-laptop and smartphone days for me). So I’d guess I’d been at my desk close to 2 hours when my coworker got a call from a friend of hers who sounded sort of shaken up. I put the call through to her and after a few minutes made my way around to her office to see what was up (we were all nosy like that). Sherrie was already online, checking out cnn.com – which would become our tenuous connection to what was happening in our country for the next few hours, that and the radio since we didn’t have a television in the office.
We did not see the planes hit either building and for that I am so glad, because it’s shocking enough to watch it ten years later, knowing what’s going to happen. Instead we each sat at our desks, frantically refreshing our web pages, hoping for new information and reports that would tell us it was all over. I remember wondering when it was going to end and what this would mean for our country.
Another coworker came in to the office and hadn’t heard anything so I quickly told her what was happening and urged her to call her daughter who lived in NYC with her family.
We gathered in one office, sitting on the floor and listening to the radio, hearing Dan Rather’s voice crack as he reported the first tower’s collapse. I remember feeling disbelief that this was actually happening, thinking it couldn’t be real. Terrorism was brought to our doorstep in the worst, most unimaginable way. We would each steel ourselves away to call family and friends, checking our computers for more updates. I was on instant messenger with my SIL in Texas when the second tower went down. Again we wondered when it was going to end.
After that I don’t remember much. I’m pretty sure we went home early, unable to concentrate on work or think of anything else. At home we watched the news, seeing and hearing all the reports in real time, not having to wait for a website to update or for a server to allow us access to the information.
The next few days were just a blur. We were all in shock and we were so far removed from the epicenter of what happened, I can’t imagine what it would have been like to be closer to what happened. My coworker’s daughter was safe, no one I knew directly was in NYC or on a plane that day. Yet, I moved through life feeling dazed, unable to compute what happen, to believe that there were people in the world so filled with hate and so driven to bring ruin that they would so these things. People die every day, natural disasters happen and kill larger numbers of people, but this was different. This was calculated and motivated by hate and so, so senseless. Pure evil.
I remember the silence of the skies overhead. Our office was fairly close to the airport and we were accustomed to hearing planes coming in for landing or taking off and for days it was quiet, aside from the fighter jets going to and from a nearby Air Force base (hearing those jets still makes me shudder). A friend got married the following weekend and it was a welcome couple days of happiness and celebration – we were all grateful to forget about the rest of the world and get wrapped up in something so joyful.
The following month friends and I planned a girl’s weekend in Chicago – a tradition of ours – and we happened to get a hotel in the shadow of the (then) Sears Tower during the Chicago Marathon weekend. We had a great time but I’d guess we were all a little freaked out when we heard a plane above us, praying the city would not be a target and that another attack wouldn’t occur.
It’s true, life goes on. We were all affected by what happened on 9/11, whether directly or indirectly, whenever we are faced with our own mortality and weakness, we can’t help but feel something – outrage, fear, worry, sadness, disbelief. A year later, I arrived at work at the same time as my coworker whose daughter lived in NYC; it was another beautiful day with clear blue skies. We got out of cars and met in the parking lot as a plane was flying overhead, having just taken off from the nearby airport and we hugged each other fiercely, both of us sobbing because despite the passage of time, those feels were still so fresh and familiar, forever connected to that day. But things continue to happen – people get married, babies are born and trips are planned – we keep living our lives with the new knowledge that things can change quickly. We survive and come back stronger, knowing what we can withstand. Because we have to have hope and faith that good will win over evil in the end; and that evil doesn’t get the last word.
The Friday after 9/11, there was a television special called America: A Tribute to Heroes that brought together celebrities and musicians in a way I hadn’t seen before – of course since then, it’s happened other times for New Orleans and Haiti. I listened to the CDs from those performances with great regularity since then because the emotion was so raw and the love so evident. Those songs helped heal the wounds I felt from 9/11, because good can be born in adversity and love does win, no matter how strong the hate. Life is hard. God is good. Heaven is certain.
Holy moley… I can’t believe it’s Friday already? Whose idea was it to make the first week of school a short week? I know it’s better than going back to school for one or two days before a long weekend, but boy, does it make for the crazy the first week of school!
1. What ringtone do you have on your cell phone?
Before I got my new phone, I had Florence and the Machine’s Dog Days Are Over. Now I have Adele’s Rumor Has It (the chorus). For Simon, I have a techno beat that he picked himself – because I said, oh, that sounds annoying.
2. What is your favorite memory from this summer?
Going back to the very beginning of summer, I loved our get together with my college friends and their families over Memorial Day weekend. So fun to spend time with some of my favorite ladies but even better to see all the kids playing together and totally enjoying each other.
3. Paper books or ebooks?
I love reading, always have and always will. I’ve always loved owning books, never really liked getting them from the library because I preferred to see them on my bookshelf when I was done but I rarely went back and re-read a book I owned. I am apparently just a book hoarder (though I do loan them out). But, despite my love of books, I really wanted an e-reader and Simon got me one for my birthday and I have to say I love it! I find that I read a lot more now because it is just that much easier to pick it up and read. And my Kindle holds a charge for forever (unlike my phone which needs charging all the time) so I don’t have to worry about it dying on me mid-trip – one less charger to lug around. The only downfall is the inability to let others borrow books. Some Kindle books are lendable but most are not. But soon, I hear, you’ll be able to check out library books with a Kindle and that will be wonderful! So I guess the short answer is both 🙂
4. If you could have one home upgrade what would it be and why?
Just one? Hmmmm… can I say a professional kitchen? One that bumped the outer wall out another 5-6 feet? That’s what I’d want (other than, you know, moving to a completely different house about 10 miles to the east of where we are now). Why the kitchen? Because I love to cook but sometimes it’s frustrating when the kitchen feels crowded and nothing is easily accessible (the stand mixer is in the hallway closet, the crockpot is in the basement). And fancy appliances and pretty countertops would make me so very happy.
5. When was your first serious boyfriend/girlfriend?
Gosh… never kiss and tell, right? (Too late.) My first serious boyfriend was in high school and while at the time, it was the end all, the details are so not important to me now. That’s the one thing about relationships I hope to impart on my kids in their high school days – no matter how life-altering it seems at the time, it’s really nothing in the grand scheme of life. It’s terribly unlikely that you’ll end up with your high school boyfriend/girlfriend (though not impossible since I know someone this happened for) so just chill out and enjoy the rest of life. Not that you shouldn’t date but give the relationship only as much credence as it deserves (which isn’t much). That said, my first serious boyfriend was a very good kisser, that much I remember and that’s all I’ll say.
Hi, I'm Michelle, married mother of two active boys (plus one 9-pound poodle). I'm a proud Michigander, having lived here all my life (besides the 10 months I lived in Chicago during/after college). I love family, friends, God, food, enjoying life and continually striving for improvement.
This post is linked up with Jill at Diaper Diaries.
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