Testing, testing

I love taking these quizzes! Must be the teacher in me. I'm never sure how accurate they are though, and sometimes the answer choices don't give an option I'm totally comfortable choosing. But this one was fun!

Your result for The Best Thing About You Test...

Intelligence

Intelligence is your strongest virtue

Intelligence (also called intellect) is an umbrella term used to describe a property of the mind that encompasses many related abilities, such as the capacities to reason, plan, and solve problems. And you? Your brain shines. All 7 virtues are a part of you, but your intelligence runs deepest.

It is likely you're a smarty-pants. And it's likely (but not necessary) that your discipline score is high also. It takes a certain resolve to maintain all those neural thingies.

Intelligent famous people: Einstein, Shakespeare, Da Vinci.

Your raw relative scores follow. 0% is low, and 100% is perfect, nearly impossible. Note that I pitted the virtues against each other, so in some way these are relative scores. It's impossible to score high on all of them, and a low score on one is just relatively low compared to the other virtues.

YOUR VIRTUES

40% Compassion

56% Intelligence

13% Humility

33% Honesty

50% Discipline

43% Courage

33% Passion

Take The Best Thing About You Test at HelloQuizzy

From Church to Knitting to Church -- All in A Weekend

I've been on overdrive since I got home from work Friday. Left school at 3:30 and did a few errands, ending up at the church to meet up with my co-worship planner for next Sunday. We are pastor-less right now --- our settled pastor left 2 years ago, and our interim resigned a month ago. Our search team has just put our profile out into the denomination, so we hope that in the next 2 or 3 months, we can find a new settled pastor. Meanwhile we either get a "supply" pastor, or create some lay=led services. Next Sunday is a one such laity service. It's Reformation Sunday, and we will also be acknowledging All Saints' Day a week early. (We're participating in a joint service on Nov 2nd with a neighbor church) So my co-planner and I spent almost 2 hours mapping out the service and locating resources. We decided early on to focus the children's moment on the gifts given to the church in memory of our previous "saints". We'll set up the communion table which was purchased in memory of a beloved deacon, and place various other gifts - candlesticks, lecturn Bible, carillon tapes, hymnals, etc. The joint sermon (which has yet to be written) will somehow tie the birthing of the Protestant church and our Puritan "saints" to all the "saints" and personal spiritual heroes we all have. We'll ask the congregation to write the name(s) of their own personal spiritual heroes on sticky notes, and bring them forward to stick on some beautiful posters from the church school curriculum of Moses, the apostles, and other spiritual leaders. Got home late and made myself a grilled cheese sandwich and soup for dinner since my husband wasn't home.

Saturday my Knitting Friend and I boarded a chartered bus for a 3 1/2 hour drive to Rhinebeck at 6:30 am. This was our first trip to the NY State Sheep and Wool Show, and we had a blast! The weather was chilly but otherwise perfect for a fall show. The place was mobbed too. I drooled over many skeins of hand-dyed yarn, especially the gorgeous skeins from Ellen's 1/2 Pint farm. But Knitting Friend and I have made a pact not to buy any yarn unless we have a specific project in mind. We both have a long, long queue of projects all set to knit, except for having the time to do it. I did buy an Addi Turbo lace needle, size 7, for a project I started but have been having problems with because I didn't have a sharp enough needle. I also bought a pattern from Foxfire Fibers where we met Melissa Morgan-Oakes which was really cool! This was our first time here, so we just really enjoyed the day. We got home about 10 pm, and then I had to do some typing for my husband who had to have it done before he left on business at 8 am this morning.

Today has been busy with church - I was lay reader, and then I had to moderate the church council meeting. That was an interesting experience, since I'd never done that before. (I was recently appointed as vice-moderator). And something happened today that I've never experienced. One of our older members fainted during the Prayers of the People. The guest pastor was wonderful as 911 was called, and the ambulance crew showed up. He kept everyone calm, led us in prayer for her and her family, and didn't blink an eye. We think she's all right, but they are going to be running some tests. Then, after church, I had to do the grocery shopping since my husband wasn't around to do it! So now after some relaxation, I have to start my school work for tomorrow. Definitely no rest for the weary.

So now it's time to do my homework, not to mention maybe some housework, and then it's time to start the whole workweek again!

A Very Pleasant Day Off

Today is a day off from school. The kids have today and Monday off, we teachers just have today. Today is also officially Teachers' Convention day. Years ago, it was a normal school day like any other. If you wanted to go to the teachers' convention, you had to take a prof. dev. day and get a sub. Teachers would go to the convention because it was one of the easiest ways to earn credit towards recertification. Apparently in the past, so many teachers asked for the day off, the district couldn't get enough substitutes. So it became a "workshop day" and teachers had to either attend in-district training or go to the convention. Kids had no school. Then in a convoluted set of contract negotiations, the day became a "float" day. You could choose to work as one of your contracted days, or you could take the day off, and work that day at the end of the school year. In another set of convoluted negotiations, the local educational association got the right to vote every year as to whether it was a workshop day, a normal school day, or a day off. For the past 5 years, the association has voted to take as a day off. However, we have to work on the official Columbus Day holiday. It makes no sense to me, because many of us have kids off Monday, or spouses off Monday, but we have to work. Our spouses are working today. Be that as it may, today was a very pleasant day.

I went shopping with a friend. We visited Cheshire Goldsmith, our favorite jewelry store, where she dropped off some earrings for repair work. We tried on several bracelets and I fell absolutely in love with a multi-colored sapphire tennis bracelet that I absolutely can't afford. I also found a gorgeous white gold and diamond bracelet that looked a bit like two strands of silver braided together which, although much less expensive, was also more than I can spend. But it doesn't hurt to dream. And I do have one or two treasures from that store that I have received as special anniversary gifts. I really like this family-owned store. They not only offer quality jewelry but super customer service. I inherited an antique ring that's too small for me. I took it into the shop to be resized. The owner told me that it couldn't be done without major risk of destroying the architecture of the ring. He also said that even if the resizing was successful, the alteration would devalue the its worth. I appreciated his honesty and so the ring is now in my safe deposit box for a future granddaughter or daughter in law. Next we visited a great yarn shop, The Knitting Knook. I went in to buy a needle, and came out with the needle, 3 skeins of Plymouth Suri Merino, and 2 tubes of beads to make a beaded scarf that we saw on display. We then headed to the local JC Penney's and took advantage of some great sales. Then it was on to Bed, Bath and Beyond and Borders, to use some gift certificates we both had. We enjoyed a relatively light lunch at the Olive Garden and then headed for the NH Liquor and Wine Outlet to stock up on our supplies. Aside from the fact that I always have a great time with my girlfriend, the only thing we bought that was an unplanned purchase was the yarn. And in our minds, that doesn't count!!! And everything else, including the wine, was on sale.

So, all in all, it was indeed, a very pleasant day off. And, I have 2 more days of weekend ahead!!

Good Thing, Considering I Have to Teach a 6th Grade Math Skills Group!

You Passed 8th Grade Math

Congratulations, you got 10/10 correct!

Could You Pass 8th Grade Math?

Book #86, I think

Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is a terrific book that captures the middle school experience perfectly. It's written partially in cartoons and "hand printed" script, and is the story of Greg and his best friend Rowley. Told from Greg's first person point of view, the novel covers an entire school year. Greg shares his triumphs, disappointments, and most embarassing moments in a chatty format. There is lots of humor, and several of my students who have read the book, mentioned that they found it easy to identify with Greg. The cartoons "Greg" draws are very funny too!


View all my reviews.

Friday at last!

Another week is done, and the weekend is finally here. It was a fairly calm week for a change. I am dealing with a couple of student issues, and progress reports had to be finished this week, but otherwise it's pretty much business as usual. Next week is a 4 day week, but 2 of the days are state testing. There's a lot of pressure on us because we're a school who didn't make AYP in math 2 years in a row.

This weekend will be busy --- bookkeeping for my husband's business, church - I'm in charge of communion this Sunday, and of course, the grading and planning. We're supposed to be going to a play tomorrow night, so that should be a fun evening with friends.

More later.