That's my Myers Briggs Type Indicator result. Introvert-Intuitive-Thinking-Judging. Fascinating shit. We have no end of self-scoring MBTI tests at work, and I think I've taken it 3 times in the 5 years I've been with the firm. Once I must have been in the worst mood, ever, because on the thinking vs. feeling category, I scored not a single point in the feeling column. Heartless wench? /me raises hand
People tend to be surprised that I'm an I, though. And in all fairness to those around me, I do test closer to borderline, usually only a 1 or 2-point difference in my introversion vs. extroversion scores. But while this little bit of public journaling might say otherwise, I am an introvert. Solidly. I don't care what that test says. It's not that I don't like people. I just generally don't want them talking to me. ;)
Why am I saying this? Because today we had a block party. While I admit the whole idea is quaint and I am pleased at having chosen such a civil, friendly place to live, the thought of having to spend hours talking to my neighbors brings out my introversion in it's purest, capital-I form. I can't say that I really know any of my neighbors well -- I work a lot, and when I'm not working, I'm playing with Alex, or running the myriad errands necessary to keep our household functioning, or doing something for myself (which doesn't involve socializing with the neighbors I don't know), or sleeping. Doesn't leave a lot of time for standing on the sidewalk and shooting the breeze.
I will say one thing about our block parties -- at least they aren't at 6pm on Friday nights any more. Those were tough on me as they required me to race home from work and prepare a meat dish and side dish (this is what everyone is asked to bring). I'm going good to get home by 6pm as it is. And while today was very cool (chilly, even), they did have a firebox set up at the end of our dead-end street where people congregate for these events.
How bad is it that more than once I wondered if I could take my knitting to the party? Search as I might, I couldn't come up with a way to rationalize such an act and instead faced the small clutch of neighbors without the protection of my bamboo circulars. As it was, I spent most of my time corralling the kiddo, lest he roll around in one particularly large puddle or wander into any number of nearby houses. I even managed to smother a small, giddy laugh when, out of the blue, he laid in the street saying "I tired." Never has a mother swooped in so quickly to cradle her child in her arms and carry him home -- to those walls that carve out a little personal space in the midst of all those people we live along side of.
I would like to report that he went right to sleep and I worked diligently on my Klaralund. The truth is that we snuggled on the couch under a quilt until both of us fell asleep, and by the time the phone woke me up, the block party had more or less ended. The husband, an ESFP, reports that everyone raved over the sesame seed chicken.
Otherwise, it was a quiet weekend. Bought groceries and any number of other small but fun and unnecessary items, like "Ghostbusters" on DVD. I went to both Michael's and AC Moore and didn't buy any yarn at all. Tonight I procrastinated an important work task, instead chosing to continue reading A Girl Named Zippy. Haven Kimmel is a terrific writer. And, well, anyone whose first word was "magazine" is A-OK in my book. ;)
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