Assertive Quiz

Lately, I have been working on being more assertive. I found a definition of assertive and it means to stand up for your own rights while being sensitive to the feelings of others. So, I found this assertiveness quiz. I will post it below. The answers can be found in the comments on this post. Please post your results.

Assertiveness Quiz (Answer Yes or No)
1. Do you buy things you do not want because you are afraid to say no to the salesperson?
2. When you do not understand the meaning of a word, do you ask about it?
3. Do you feel responsible when things go wrong, even if it is not your fault?
4. Do you look directly at others when you talk to them?
5. Do people often ask you to speak more loudly in order to be heard?
6. Do you feel intimidated by people in authority?
7. Do you generally have good posture?
8. Do you often feel so angry you could scream?
9. Do you know how to ask for help without feeling dependent?
10. If someone cuts in front of you in a line, do you usually tell them off?
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1. The assertive person is not afraid to say no. She or he feels free to make choices.
2. The assertive person takes responsibility for getting his or her needs met. Fear of seeming ignorant does not prevent the assertive person from asking questions.
3. The assertive person takes responsibility for his or her own behavior but does not take responsibility for the behavior of others or for situations which are beyond his or her control. To feel responsible for things beyond your control leads to unnecessary feelings of guilt.
4. Direct eye contact is assertive and suggests sincerity, self-confidence and the expectation that others will listen.
5. An assertive person wants to be heard.
6. An assertive person does not allow status to intimidate him or her.
7. Good posture communicates a positive self-image. When posture is limited by a disability, good eye contact and facial expression can be used to express a positive self-image.
8. The assertive person works to get his or her needs met and does not let situations build to the point of crisis.
9. The assertive person is able to ask for help without feeling dependent because he or she maintains a strong sense of self worth and self-respect.
10. Telling someone off is an angry, aggressive response The assertive person would state that he or she is irritated by the unfairness and ask the person to move to the end of the line.

Holding Pattern

We are still waiting. We are now waiting on our appraisal. If the bank can't find any homes in our area to compare ours to, we may have to change our plans a bit. Because of the expense of the permit in Liberty Township, it is best to only turn in your plans for approval once. Therefore, they must be final. This waiting game is so frustrating. I remember thinking we would be started in May or June. Now, I am hoping to get started before the end of summer. Argh!

Next Step

We got our plot plan in the mail yesterday. So, at lunch today I'm off to the township to get it turned in for approval.

The House and Students

Well, the house project continues to plod along. I am hoping to get an approval back from the health department and get our plot plan by Friday of this week. If everything comes back to me in a timely manner, then I hope to have our building permit by August 16th. Right now, the bank is having a hard time finding comps in our area. Our house is considered a ranch style (because of the unfinished upstairs) for the time being yet it is more expensive because of the upstairs and the geothermal we are putting in. I hope this doesn't hold it up too long. It takes 10 days for the underwriters to get everything done, but we are waiting for the appraisal. We are also becoming increasingly frustrated with the county and township. They have told us several different things about the right-of-way on our property. We are now probably going to have to take out a few of our mature trees in order to build our house in the proper spot!

I am having great success with voice lessons in this area. I hardly advertised at all and now I have a full evening on Mondays. I certainly wish I could do it another night of the week as well, but I'm just too busy! That's all for now. Nothing very exciting to report.

New Blog

Ok, I was going to keep this blog to myself, on account that I don't want people to think I'm baby crazy (well, maybe I am a little). . . . . but I can't keep it to myself. Their new baby is just too cute. And they have a new doggy as well. babythorny.blogspot.com

We Need Design Help!

We had a great meeting with UBuildIt today. We got the budget reviewed and the next steps reviewed before we can start. We are getting so close! Anyway, our consultant said that we can help to speed up the process a bit by getting a few things picked out ahead of time. We have already finished picking out the kitchen and bathroom cabinets, countertops, and hardware. So our next project is to pick the color of siding that we want. We are having a tough time with this so we would like some input. Please review the colors below (other colors may be available, so feel free to suggest something else) and let me know in a comment which one you like best. Please pick a house color and a shutter color.

Viva!!!!

It is Fiesta time here at work. Actually, I'm not helping with the VBS (techically) but it sure has changed the quietness of this place. Its been great to see the kids and the teachers back here at the church. I just sometimes feel like closing my door to preserve the quiet!

As far as our house project goes, I made the trip to Hamilton on Monday to turn in our septic plan for approval with the health department. It took me one hour and seven minutes to drive to Hamilton, get the stuff turned in (stamped, cataloged, blah, blah) and drive back. I thought that was pretty good timing. The drive was good except I had to drive down Tylersville, which I generally try to avoid at all costs. We have a meeting with UBuildIt tomorrow. My hopes are that they are done with getting the bids and that they are ready to turn that big house building organizer book over to ME!! He he!! Ok, I'm crazy. Anyway, I also hope they got the stuff turned into the bank that they needed too and that we are about ready to get rolling with the finances. After paying Liberty Township, the County, the plot plan guys, and our septic plan engineer, we have been stretched thin (although our Hawaii money is still intact). :)

In other news, Andrew and I have begun helping Jennie and Maggie (Andrew's sister and cousin) sell their scones on Saturday mornings. While the getting up before 6:00 am for the one market isn't that great (I used to sleep until noon, back when we lived in KS), it has been fun to bring home a little extra cash. We haven't done anything fun with it, however. We are saving it up for a disciplinary tool for Dewey. He won't come when called and is starting to run out into the road more often.

More news, I now have three voice students. I got another call from a mom today who wants lessons for her 13-year-old daughter. That should be fun. That is more the age group I have worked with in the past. I am beginning to feel kind of pressed for time. I keep telling Andrew that I need to learn how to have fun and relax very quickly, so I have time to get all my work done. When I spoke to this mom today about voice lessons, she mentioned having lessons in the afternoons and I told her that I also worked full-time. She absolutely could not believe it. Am I really crazy? Sometimes I feel like I am. I don't want to be so busy that I don't have time for relationships and the important people in my life. Hopefully I'll have a good house update tomorrow after our meeting. In the mean time, I am always watching out for good self quizzes. I guess the health one was more fun than the city one! :)

What City Are You?

Since we have all had so much fun with the Real Age quiz I posted on here that I thought this might also be fun. I found it through Amy Doane's blog (link at the right). Take this short quiz to find out what city you are. I'm not sure I agree with all of this. The driven and successful part, maybe. Take the quiz and post your results in the comments section!! :) Enjoy!

You Are New York

Cosmopolitan and sophisticated, you enjoy the newest in food, art, and culture. You also appreciate a good amount of grit - and very little shocks you. You're competitive, driven, and very likely to succeed. Famous people from New York: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Tupac Shakur, Woody Allen

What American City Are You?

The House the Schechters Built

I called our surveyor this morning after faxing him information yesterday. He said, "My, aren't you an impatient one." :) He was joking, of course. I explained to him that the plot plan was the last thing we needed before turning all our info into the county. He said he understood completely. He said that they were planning on sending a team to survey only what was needed for the plot plan (will save us money) tomorrow! He said the plot plan will probably be done by the end of next week! Anyway, I was anticipating a much longer wait. After that is finished, we will be getting everything cleared through the county and township offices. I spoke to a guy at the heath department and I realize that a lot of this government stuff is pretty crazy. We essentially have to get approved twice by the health department. One is an initial approval and the second is a release. Of course, they both cost money. I am hoping to be done with all the approvals from the county and township by August 14th. That might be a pretty hard goal to reach but we can always try. Realistically, I am hoping we will have our basement dug by the 1st of September. We have a UBI meeting next Wednesday to discuss the cost breakdown of our house, which is the final step of Phase 1; Phase 2 being the building Phase. Yeah!

My "Real" Age

I took a "real" age test today. Very interesting. It said that my "real" age was about 19.9. The things I can improve on include: not having so many stressful events in my life (oh, sorry, couldn't help it that we moved, and my grandpa died), increase my weight training to 90 minutes per SESSION, lower my resting heart rate, etc. I got points for having a good marriage, a good car, not talking on my phone in the car, not smoking or drinking, having good family relationships and ties. www.realage.com This brings me to my next point . . . .

I have really been praying, lately, for some friends. I have made several good friends since moving here (mostly through work and our small group from church), but they just aren't the type of girlfriends that I can call up on a Friday night to do something. They are older and have kids or even grandkids. I have really been praying that God would spend me a friend that also really needs a friend like me. It seems difficult to get connected to people through church because I already know all of the Sunday School people (and they are older with kids or grandkids) and the young marrieds don't really have a group. Anyway, I guess I just need to be patient and wait to see what God has in mind.

Our house preliminary stuff is moving along. We had a meeting with our septic engineer last night. He said that he should have the drawing completed by Friday. After that, we turn it into the health department for approval. I have also contacted a company to survey our lot. They haven't called me back yet. Once the survey is done, then our plot plan can be drawn and turned in for approval from the township and the county. We could be ready to go quickly is everyone is as quick as our septic engineer has been. I'll keep you up-to-date.

Things that I like . . .

1) My new cell phone. It's pink and I can leave myself these cool voice recordings. It has helped me to be more organized these past weeks.

2) Our land!! We have a very pretty view out the back of our land. Dewey enjoyed his little exploring adventure there yesterday.

3) Dudley Woods! It is a beautiful park that I like to walk in.

4) Having a subdivision accross the street. Some of you may think . . . "Why is that a good thing?" It is because I love to walk there. If you walk the whole subdivision about three times it takes 1/2 hour (that's my usual path). I've even been able to recognize some of the residents. Sometimes I wonder if they are only nice to me because they think I live in one of the 1/2 or 1/4 million dollar homes! :)

5) I like my car! It is small, quick, and has a good stereo!

6) I like the secretary at UBI. She is so nice and has been more helpful than any other contractor, or engineer I have talked to thus far!

7) I like teaching Sunday School. Yesterday, I was only kicked once, screamed at once, and slapped once (she actually didn't pinch or bite today) and only by one child. No one pooped their pants this week!

8) I like earning extra money each week at the Farmer's Market. I was about ready to set it aside and save it for something. After I evaluated everything, this seemed quite silly as we are still in debt and paying interest on stuff, so it will be deposited and paid toward something. Someday . . .

9) I like my job. It is so quiet here this morning. I have gotten so much done already today and it's only 10:30 a.m.

10)I like Grandma Myers' new mower. I am getting quite spoiled by the new mower.

11) I like the colors of our kitchen. I think it will look nice but I am still a little nervous, since I can't really see it. I need a free designer.

That's all for now!

Neat Ministry . . .

After I finished with May Festival, I felt like I should get involved with something. I didn't really want something that was too time consuming with our house project and all, but I really did want to make a difference. I signed up to be a Pen Pal with Prison Fellowship, a Christian organization. I wrote my first letter last month and have corresponded twice now with my pen pal who is a prisoner. There have already been avenues opening up for me to share my faith. This is a neat ministry and many more people are needed to do this simple task. It is really just writing about one letter every two weeks. If you live in the area, I would be glad to mail and receive your letters from my "safe location" (my work place), as they recommend that you don't use your home address. I will include the link below if you are interested. It has really been a neat experience for me already. Feel free to ask me about it or read the letters I have received. I don't mind!

http://www.prisonfellowship.org/contentindex.asp?ID=26

Things I severely dislike!

1) I really have discovered that I dislike money. Not that I dislike having money but I just don't like to feel so controlled by it.

2) I dislike ditches. I like that ditches drain water away from things but . . . well, maybe I should say that I don't like to mow on a slant. I'm a Kansas girl, we aren't used to anything closely related to hills, slopes, or mountains.

3) I dislike my check engine light. It has been on for about two weeks, yet nothing seems to be wrong with my car. Just makes me nervous.

4) I dislike plats and surveys. I understand why they would be necessary but I am annoyed by them right now!

5) I dislike zits. My skin has been reacting so strangely lately. My shoulders have been especially bad and I have no idea what the problem is. Nothing has changed, as far as soap or diet is concerned. Maybe I should try Proactiv. Any ideas?

6) I dislike road kill. . . . especially when I am walking. No one should have to walk past a furry arm here or a little tail there. Aren't there road cleanup services?

7) I dislike leaving my doggy. Really all he requires is food, water, (umm, some minorly expensive vet bills), and human attention. The only time he is destructive is when he is unable to get the attention he craves (or when he sees that chewy stuffed animal that he has a fetish for). He is much better if you let him wander around the house with you, rather than lock him away by himself. Isn't that what we all want? Just a little attention and companionship??!

Mainly this post was to say how much I dislike the way money control's me. It makes me irritable. We need new sheets that don't have rips and that fit our bed, however, with all the things coming up we have to fund for our house (plot plan, septic plan, survey, building permit, township certificate, closing costs, mailbox, a couch, and other hidden costs) sheets are more of a luxury than a necessity!! Ok, I'm done ranting now. I'll try to post a list soon of things that I like. That list will be much longer.

We're Back

We arrived in Ohio tonight at about 10:00 pm. Before this trip, I thought of it as being a fairly long stay in Kansas, but now it seems to short. Yes, I am still up at 11:39 pm this evening with my usual bout of homesickness insomnia. I'm hoping that a little milk might help. I am kind of dreading getting back into the real world tomorrow. Not as far as work goes, but just with the house project and all. I hope things go smoothly and quickly. Well, I've got to try to sleep now. More later!

Blog from Kansas Part #2

We have arrived safely to my parents house. We had an enjoyable day. We had lunch with Andrew's great aunt and uncle in Kansas City and then we traveled on to McPherson to the quilt shop there. We thought it was only going to be open until 5:00 pm (and we arrived at 4:15 pm) but it was a special 4th of July sale (25% off) and so they were open until 8:00 p.m. We then stopped in Lyons for some famous pan bread at Pizza Hut! I guess that is all for now!