It's that time of year: Goat Shearing Week. Ed and I headed to the ranch Wednesday to round up, drench, sort, and help with the goat shearing process. I went fully prepared to "babysit" the new litter of barn cat babies. I love kittens. I spent a good part of the last two days holding, rocking, feeding, chasing, and playing with cats. When I was not playing surrogate to the felines, I was in the main house kitchen with my father-in-law's good friend, Kim.
Kim recently moved to Texas from Connecticut. She has spent the majority of her career in the restaurant and catering business. I enjoyed every minute with Kim that we spent in the kitchen. Kim would like to open a brick oven pizza restaurant in the future. Wednesday night, we gathered around the kitchen table to test three varieties of her home made pizzas.
Ya'll, I about died. Best. Pizza. EVER. I watched her prep the shrimp, sausage, vegetables, sauces and dough earlier that day. She cooks with such ease and makes it look effortless. I love to cook, but I am slow, cautious, and usually following a recipe. It was like watching an artist at work. I love to watch people execute their talents.
My favorite pizza of the night was made on the grill. Atop the crispy thin crust was red sauce flaked with parmesan cheese, generous hunks of Italian sausage, table spoon dollops of ricotta cheese, and caramelized onions, under a blanket of mozzarella cheese. This pizza starts off robust, but finishes with a sweetness thanks to the caramelized onions. Eating these pizzas around a table of great company will go down as one of my fondest Summer memories this year.
Enough about food, lets talk psychology. Kim had Ed and I take the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator test. I have taken personality test before in college which always read the same. I'm inquisitive and creative. I really don't need a test to tell me what I already know. However, the MBTI test is different. It does not focus on your strengths, but gives insight on the dynamics of one's personality, cognitive functions, and what does and does not feed one's energies.
The results: INFJ. Introversion, iNtuitive, Feeling, Judging. These four words make up the complexities of my personality. I knew I would be introverted but holy dang, I scored as an EXTREME introvert. Great, this puts me in good company with hermits and the Unabomber.
What I have learned is that introverts are not socially awkward, we just derive our energy from alone time or in small, intimate settings with people we have screened and accepted to be of value to us. Wow, that sounds a awfully selective. But, I completely relate. I thrive when I am alone or with Ed and my family. This is also why I can count my closest friend on a few fingers.
So, an introvert walks into a bar... My majority of my college years was spent at a very social school in a very social town. Ed loved to go out. I loved to be with Ed. However, I HATED to go out. At the time I couldn't explain it. I felt awful because 8 times out of 10 I wanted to go home the minute I arrived anywhere with large groups of people. Turns out, large gatherings of people literally zap extreme introverts energy. Wow. This explains why I have never felt more exhausted in my life than when I was at a concert, bar, dance hall, game, etc.
"INFJs are quiet, private individuals who prefer to exercise their influence behind the scenes. Although very independent, INFJs are intensely interested in the well-being of others. INFJs prefer one-on-one relationships to large groups. Sensitive and complex, they are adept at understanding complicated issues and driven to resolve differences in a cooperative and creative manner.
INFJs have a rich, vivid inner life, which they may be reluctant to share with those around them. Nevertheless, they are congenial in their interactions, and perceptive of the emotions of others. Generally well-liked by their peers, they may often be considered close friends and confidants by most other types. However, they are guarded in expressing their own feelings, especially to new people, and so tend to establish close relationships slowly. INFJs tend to be easily hurt, though they may not reveal this except to their closest companions. INFJs may "silently withdraw as a way of setting limits," rather than expressing their wounded feelings—a behavior that may leave others confused and upset.
INFJs tend to be sensitive, quiet leaders with a great depth of personality. They are intricately and deeply woven, mysterious, and highly complex, sometimes puzzling even to themselves. They have an orderly view toward the world, but are internally arranged in a complex way that only they could understand. Abstract in communicating, they live in a world of hidden meanings and possibilities. With a natural affinity for art, INFJs tend to be creative and easily inspired."
I never know what to expect at the ranch. Somedays involve dynomite, 4 star generals, and stories of rock legends and ghosts that have called the ranch home. Some involve bottle feeding baby animals and navigating the bumpy trails of the limestone terrain on horseback. Sometimes, it's just good food and good friends. And cats. Lots of baby cats.
(Crap, cat ladies are extreme introverts.)
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