Wednesday, February 24, 2010

In remembrance

My Grandmother. . . 

As she was . . .  


HAY, M. Maxine

Of North Highlands passed away quietly on Saturday, February 20, 2010.  She was surrounded by loving family on the eve of her 67th Wedding Anniversary.  She is survived by her devoted and loving husband, Jack L. Hay; daughters Carol Palmer, Pamela Anderson and husband Rick, Judy Gorchinski, Joan Gannaway and husband Wayne; sisters Frances Kreizenbeck and husband Vincent, and Marjorie Ellsbury.  She is also survived by ten grandchildren, six great grandchildren, and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Alva and Verna Smoot of Galt; son Raymond L. Hay; sister Patricia Morris; brothers Donald, Robert, Kenneth, Richard, and Merle Smoot.

Maxine, as she preferred, was born in Sacramento on August 2, 1924.  She graduated from Galt High School in 1941, married Jack in 1943 and they began raising a family.  She worked 19 years at Mc Clellan Air Force Base, retiring in 1975, but family was always her primary focus.  Over the years, family activities included camping, boating, water skiing, traveling, RV-ing, luxury cruising, and doll making. She was an incredibly strong, loving, and inspirational woman and is deeply missed.

Visitation will be Friday, February 26th, 4 to 8 pm.  Funeral services will be held on Saturday, February 27th, at 2 pm at East Lawn Mortuary, 5757 Greenback Lane, Sacramento.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Cottage Way Christian Church, 2117 Cottage Way, Sacramento 95825.  


And as I knew her . . .  
Well, this is eight years ago - 
and I think I'm behind the camera - 
but I don't have any other good pictures on my computer. 
In the back, my sister M
My Aunt C, Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Ray
Mom, Aunt P, and Aunt J
For now, that's all.  




I will write more . . . about E, JR's broken arm, 
and all of the other chaos around here . . . eventually

Monday, February 8, 2010

Date Night, Part One

So, those of you who know my from  . . . wherever . . . and see me post on Facebook . . . you know that I'm behind in my blogging.

Saturday night was my first date night in . . . forever!  Well, maybe not forever, but it almost feels like it.  My HS Bestie drove in to town and wanted to get together - and meet E.  I got a babysitter.  That's just about the hugest part of Saturday night!  I got a babysitter and went out without my kids!  Woot, woot!

Okay, so the evening deserves a blog.  I know it does . . . but I'm not ready to write it yet.  I'm doing lots of homework, trying to catch  up to my online class and no go crazy.  I'm also studying for three finals in my Pharmacy class.  I'll write the real blog about our double date night after my finals on Wednesday. 

Just a little tidbit, though.  The boys behaved amazingly well, and we all had a great time! 

 
So here's E and I, at the restaurant.  For now, that's all you get.  
Gotta wait for the rest of the story.  

So, I'll post this much, and then I'll be off until sometime Wednesday or Thursday.  I'll be back to blogging after I take the finals and have a chance to recharge.  Wish me luck and send me a prayer.  My finals in Math and Pharmacy are going to be the toughest yet!

Until then,

~ J

Sunday, February 7, 2010

Friday again . . .

So it was Friday, and bowling I went.  This week it was a little bit late, but I got a lot done in the morning.  And also, it was only about 10 minutes late.  There are five minutes of "practice" bowling before the league bowling begins.

On my team, there are only two of us.  This week we were playing against a team of three - but only one showed up.  So our bowling moved pretty quick.  When I got to my shoes, got a ball and made it to the lane, they were bowling me "blind" and already in the third frame.  Bowling blind is what they do when someone doesn't show up.  The computer is programmed to enter in a score for each frame that will equal that player's average.  My average for last week was 80.  Luckily, when I showed up, they were able to erase those scores and I got to start all over again.

The first frame I bowled a Strike!  I was so excited . . . thought maybe it pays to show up late!  Because I was behind, I was up for another turn.  How did I go from strike to two gutterballs?  I don't know.

That first game ended scored at 68.  Game two, 87.  Game three, 98.  Really?  A thirty point improvement?  And I almost broke 100.  That's pretty good.  Strike total : five, spread between the three games.  Not bad.  But it gets better.

E was the first one to take me up on my offer of coming to bowl with me.  It was easy since he had Friday off this week.  He got to the bowling alley just at the end of our third game. . . . Oh, yeah.  Right after I threw a strike - on the wrong lane!  Let's not talk about that, though.

We were done pretty early, since there were three of us.  I already mentioned that most teams are three people.  That means six bowling together.  Takes a little longer that way.  When my grandma and her team were done, we wandered down to say hello.  And I introduced E . . . as my boyfriend.  I think that was a first for me.  Our relationship just became public (to me) last week, when I told my parents, and then let "everyone" know here . . . So my grandma was the first to meet him.  We had a nice, quick conversation.  And I was going to walk grandma to her car, but I was wearing those lovely rented shoes and couldn't leave the building . . . So E carried her bowling bag to the car!

E got shoes, and we got all set up on a lane.  I was a little nervous, afraid that I wouldn't do very well - I was a little tired, and getting hungry . . .

But I didn't get worse.  I got way better!  Game one:  136 to 89!  Really?  Holy Cow!  Four strikes just in that game . . . and yes, I jumped up and down, excited after each one.  But 136!  I was ecstatic . . .  but also a little nervous that I would end up bombing game two and kill my joy.  So game two wasn't that bad.  103 to 102.  Two spares, one strike.  But E didn't want to let me win by one point.  And even though I was getting hungry and pretty tired, I thought I was still doing pretty good, so he went to get us another game.  Game three, 73 to 94.  Still better than I started out with the league that morning, but I was disappointed.  Six gutterballs in a game.  We'll just say my concentration - and excitement - weren't what they were in the beginning.  I think I remember that E wanted to say that we weren't too far apart on our scores.  So I sat down and figured out that the total was 312 to 285 . . . or average 104 to 95.

When I started league bowling last week, I thought the score didn't matter because I was just here for fun.  I think a good score makes it more fun . . . and so do the people that you're with.  I know that my grandma has fun bowling.  She wouldn't have been doing it so long if she didn't. . . . but I don't really know anyone on the league yet.  I had more fun bowling with E, and not just because I got a 136.  We were talking and joking about the bowling, school, and everything else.

After we were all done, we ate lunch, which was more great time spent together.  I'll admit that a lot of my to-do list didn't get done . . . like folding the laundry, doing homework, and going grocery shopping.  But even without those things crossed off, there was something else :  Have a great day!

Thanks, Grandma. . . for inviting me to join the league.  
Thanks, E. . . . for bowling with me.  For lunch. . .  For being you, and for giving me a great day!  

I had a great day!!


That's about it.  Probably the longest post anyone's ever written about one day of bowling.  And it was just Friday.  I still have Saturday to write about, which was even better! 

So, until next time . . .

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

My personality

Today I took a test for my psychology class.  Very interesting.  It's a personality test.  

I am an ENFJ.  Does anyone know what that means?  I had heard of the personality types before, but didn't know my own.  I found it very interesting, and in many areas, surprisingly accurate.

So here's some in-depth information about ENFJ's that I found very interesting . . . What do you think?

Extraverted iNtuitive Feeling Judging

ENFJs are the benevolent 'pedagogues' of humanity. They have tremendous charisma by which many are drawn into their nurturant tutelage and/or grand schemes. Many ENFJs have tremendous power to manipulate others with their phenomenal interpersonal skills and unique salesmanship. But it's usually not meant as manipulation -- ENFJs generally believe in their dreams, and see themselves as helpers and enablers, which they usually are.

ENFJs are global learners. They see the big picture. The ENFJs focus is expansive. Some can juggle an amazing number of responsibilities or projects simultaneously. Many ENFJs have tremendous entrepreneurial ability.

ENFJs are, by definition, Js, with whom we associate organization and decisiveness. But they don't resemble the SJs or even the NTJs in organization of the environment nor occasional recalcitrance. ENFJs are organized in the arena of interpersonal affairs. Their offices may or may not be cluttered, but their conclusions (reached through feelings) about people and motives are drawn much more quickly and are more resilient than those of their NFP counterparts.

ENFJs know and appreciate people. Like most NFs, (and Feelers in general), they are apt to neglect themselves and their own needs for the needs of others. They have thinner psychological boundaries than most, and are at risk for being hurt or even abused by less sensitive people. ENFJs often take on more of the burdens of others than they can bear.

TRADEMARK: "The first shall be last"

This refers to the open-door policy of ENFJs. One ENFJ colleague always welcomes me into his office regardless of his own circumstances. If another person comes to the door, he allows them to interrupt our conversation with their need. While discussing that need, the phone rings and he stops to answer it. Others drop in with a 'quick question.' I finally get up, go to my office and use the call waiting feature on the telephone. When he hangs up, I have his undivided attention!

Extraverted Feeling

Extraverted Feeling rules the ENFJ's psyche. In the sway of this rational function, these folks are predisposed to closure in matters pertaining to people, and especially on behalf of their beloved. As extraverts, their contacts are wide ranging. Face-to-face relationships are intense, personable and warm, though they may be so infrequently achieved that intimate friendships are rare.

Introverted iNtuition

Like their INFJ cousins, ENFJs are blessed through introverted intuition with clarity of perception in the inner, unconscious world. Dominant Feeling prefers to find the silver lining in even the most beggarly perceptions of those in their expanding circle of friends and, of course, in themselves. In less balanced individuals, such mitigation of the unseemly eventually undermines the ENFJ's integrity and frequently their good name. In healthier individuals, deft use of this awareness of the inner needs and desires of others enables this astute type to win friends, influence people, and avoid compromising entanglements.
The dynamic nature of their intuition moves ENFJs from one project to another with the assurance that the next one will be perfect, or much more nearly so than the last. ENFJs are continually looking for newer and better solutions to benefit their extensive family, staff, or organization.

Extraverted Sensing

Sensing is extraverted. ENFJs can manage details, particularly those necessary to implement the prevailing vision. These data have, however, a magical flexible quality. Something to be bought can be had for a song; the same something is invaluable when it's time to sell. (We are not certain, but we suspect that such is the influence of the primary function.) This wavering of sensory perception is made possible by the weaker and less mature status with which the tertiary is endowed.

Introverted Thinking

Introverted Thinking is least apparent and most enigmatic in this type. In fact, it often appears only when summoned by Feeling. At times only in jest, but in earnest if need be, Thinking entertains as logical only those conclusions which support Feeling's values. Other scenarios can be shown invalid or at best significantly inferior. Such "Thinking in the service of Feeling" has the appearance of logic, but somehow it never quite adds up.

Famous ENFJs:


Abraham Lincoln   
Ronald Reagan
Oprah Winfrey 
James Garner

Sean Connery
Dick Van Dyke
Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive)
Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean)
Julia Louis-Dreyfus ("Seinfeld")
Matthew McConaughey (The Wedding Planner)
Ben Affleck (The Sum Of All Fears)
John Cusack (High Fidelity)

I know there are more tests out there.  The one that I took was 72 questions. . . and only had "Yes" or "No" answers . . . but if you're interested, follow this link and take the test yourself!  If you take it, leave me a comment and let me know what your type is.  I want to know more about the other "types" and who they are! 

Well, that's it for now.

Until next time!