A DAY IN THE LIFE OF AN ADDER GAL.....

[DANA]

You will NOT believe what happened to me last night when I attempted to re-read a hysterical post that our friendly neighborhood ADDer Feller, Steve, wrote last December. While I was attempting to read and respond to this previous Christmas card blog and enjoying every minute of it, suddenly, I began to experience a series of interruptions, distractions and obstacles. OH NOOOOOO, A FULL BLOWN "ADDER MOMENT!"

That's right.....While reading about our ADDer Feller, Steve's, own "ADDer Moment" with continual interruptions, not to mention, feeling horribly challenged to complete the tiresome task of sending out Christmas cards on time, I began to experience a FULL BLOWN ADDer MOMENT! Instantly, a flood of distractions got me side tracked! (Don't you hate that!? Grrrrrr!)

As an ADDer mom of three ADDer kids, getting through an ordinary day WITHOUT forgetting something important, losing something important or arriving to an appointment on time is quite a challenge for me!

Here is the "real life" of your neighborly ADDer Gal:

It was a cold Autumn evening, when I planned on re-reading Steve's Christmas card blog from last December and writing a new comment for him. With Christmas right around the bend, I wanted to send encouraging words to Steve to possibly help him start his Christmas cards earlier this year. Trust me, kind words of encouragement are very motivating for most ADDer's!

So there I was enjoying our neighborly ADDer feller, Steve's, comical blog, when I had to stop what I was doing to enforce my 11 year old daughter to take a shower. (You would have thought that I asked her to cut off her leg by the way she carried on!) Before my daughter stepped into the shower, she said, "Would you make me some macaroni & cheese?" (Sure, why not? At this point, I am already distracted so I may as well continue going in 10 different directions!)

Like the cool mom that I am, I immediately went into the kitchen to boil some water on the oven to prepare the macaroni noodles. After I placed the pan of water onto my stove, I remembered that I had a load of wet clothes that were still in the washing machine. (Oh, noooo, the never ending laundry! Is there EVER an END to all the laundry???)

Trying so very hard to stay on task (and totally forgetting that I needed to finish my comment back on ADDer World!), I walked downstairs to take the wet laundry out of the washing machine and to place it into the dryer.

However, before I finished, I found myself sidetracked, again! This time I spent time chatting with my 18 year old son, placed some dry laundry into a pile to take upstairs and I finished putting the wet clothes into the dryer. Since I was already doing laundry, I figured that I may as well put another load of dirty laundry into the washing machine to keep things rolling smoothly so off I went to start up a new load to be washed. (Have I shared with you how much I DETEST laundry?)

Finally, I managed to walk back upstairs with an arm full of dry laundry and I put the clothes away. Then I hurried over to my computer to finish typing my comment to Steve, but I was interrupted, again! (Now I am very irritated!)

This time is was the water furiously boiling on the stove. (Oh, yeah, how could I forget that I was supposed to make my daughter macaroni & cheese?) I walked into the kitchen to put the noodles into the boiling hot water to cook. I forced myself to stay right there to stir the noodles continually so they would not turn into mush! (As an ADDer gal, I am known for impulsively walking away from whatever I am cooking to later discover it had burned or got ruined!)

By now, my 11 year old daughter is out of the shower, dried off, dressed in her pj's and waiting patiently for her macaroni & cheese, my 14 year old daughter is ticked off at the 11 year old for switching the TV station and my 18 year old son is asking me if he could have some macaroni & cheese. I finished making the mac & cheese, prepared a few bowls for my kids and called to them that it was ready. (Thank goodness! Now can I PLEASE get back to what I was originally doing?!)

I hurriedly walked back to my desk with full intentions of finishing my comment to Steve, our friendly neighborhood ADDer World Feller. Once I got into the groove of it, I was really on a roll typing, laughing at the funny idea's that instantly popped into my head and spending at least 10-15 minutes getting all wrapped up in my own little tangent!

Just at the moment in which I completed my entire comment (and trust me, it was a long, drawn out hysterical comment!) , I clicked the computer button to add my new comment when out of the blue, for no reason at all, my computer suddenly went on the FRITZ!

OMG! You can only imagine how frustrated I felt when it became obvious that my computer was having technical difficulty and I could lose every single word that I finally finished typing! (This is when I wish that I were computer savvy......Or at least MORE patient......Or had the ability to NOT over react by screaming out a few "choice words!")

Trying to not lose my temper, I began to "troubleshoot" in effort to figure out what was wrong with my computer. Unfortunately, by now it is very late, hours have passed by with one distraction after another and I am feeling quite frustrated. (Do ADDer moments wear you out to literally exhaust you mentally & physically?)

WHY DOES EVERYTHING FOR ADDER'S HAVE TO BE SO MUCH WORK!?

Regardless that this was a post from one year ago and I had already re-read Steve's hysterical Christmas card blog countless times, I was sincerely disappointed that I was not going to be able to add my comment or even save everything that I typed. (Sniff! Sniff!)

So here it is.....an entire day later and I am back at the computer, again! I may have been distracted and constantly interrupted last night, but I REFUSE to allow myself to not complete the task that I had intentionally set out to finish! As I always say, KEEP ON KEEPING ON!

What I have come to learn on this cold Autumn afternoon is that when I do make up my mind to do something, I STICK WITH IT and GET IT DONE! Sure, I may experience serious distractions, I may end up getting sidetracked over a dozen times, I might get extremely frustrated in the process, but as an ADDer, I will NOT allow bothersome distractions, interruptions and crazy mishaps to PREVENT me from completing my project!

Perhaps, I may be just a regular ADDer gal who impulsively finds myself running in 10 different directions, completely caught up in my own creativity, excited about the new idea's that flow smoothly from my mind, challenged with my short-term memory loss, ticked off that simple tasks take me WAY TOO MUCH TIME to complete or experience moments of little "HISSY FITS" (Is that even a "real" word?) when I struggle with one obstacle after another, but as I ponder a day in the life of an ADDer Feller, with a huge grin on my face, I am confident that somehow and someway EVERYTHING will work out alright.

[DANA]

Penni,

We are two of a kind, sister! What you wrote about yourself is just like me! You said, "Trying to keep my emotions in check when I feel like I'm being pounded and/or overwhelmed for one reason or another is very challenging for me (but I'm working on it). I just have a tendency to become a little dramatic, impulsive, emotional, and/or angry when I'm feeling frustrated, irritated, and/or overwhelmed that it's a huge struggle for me to keep my mouth shut - I just blurt out things and say things without thinking first. And sometimes I have (or throw) HISSY FITS!!!"

Yes, that is most certainly a good description of myself in the exact situation described up above! My husband jokes about my "hissy fits" being like a rattle snack ready to attack! (Scary and funny at the same time!) LOL!

Your typical day running in a million different directions sounds much like my "usual" day, too. It is enough craziness to make me feel dizzy! Yes, it is downright exhausting at times! No wonder we may feel the need to spend "quiet time" alone more often. How else could we stay sane????

The paperwork involved with your job would take me over the edge! How do you keep up with all that paperwork? That is one thing that I try to stay away from if possible, but most jobs do require paperwork to some extent. Less is best for me! Ha! Ha!

[spacecatpj]

Dana - I got such a kick out of the definitions of "Hissy Fit" that you found and shared with us that I had to print it off (the definitions) because it made me laugh so much (probably because it hits home, it you know what I mean). Trying to keep my emotions in check when I feel like I'm being pounded and/or overwhelmed for one reason or another is very challenging for me (but I'm working on it). I just have a tendency to become a little dramatic, impulsive, emotional, and/or angry when I'm feeling frustrated, irritated, and/or overwhelmed that it's a huge struggle for me to keep my mouth shut - I just blurt out things and say things without thinking first. And sometimes I have (or throw) HISSY FITS!!! Hahahahaha! I laugh about it because I'd rather laugh about some of the ADD struggles that I have rather than to continue to beat myself up over them, which I still have a strong tendency to do. Right now, all I can say is that I'm a "work in progress" as I'm still trying to understand ADD and it's impact on me..

Cookie - I can easily identify with your post because almost everyday of my life seems to be filled with just trying to "get by" with all of the distractions that seemingly surround me. For instance, one day I was checking my email, and as I'm planning to respond to the e-mail , my phone rings while one of my dogs begins to chase one of my cats around the house because he wants to play. I get off the phone, then it suddenly hits me that I forgot to wheel out my trash container to the street curb to be picked up by the garbage truck for the week, so I rush outside to see if the garbage truck has already been by and picked up the neighborhood's trash, and of course, it has. Damn! By that time, something important that I was planning to write down on a piece of paper so I wouldn't forget it has escaped my mind and I cannot think of what it was, it's as if my mind went blank. Meanwhile, I realize that as I walk by my washer and dryer that the laundry that I was doing yesterday was never placed in the dryer because I completely spaced it off. Uuuuggggghhhhhhh!!!! Meanwhile, it takes me several hours to get back to my computer to respond to the email because I'm struggling with staying focused when the phone rings and I'm being asked why I missed my hair appointment. The whole thing is quite laughable now, but this isn't too far off from being a typical day for me. When I'm at work, I have piles of papers all over the place, and if I haven't done something in awhile, I almost forget how to do it, so I have to look for my directions on how to do it (and who knows where that is or which pile I've placed it in). I am typically running behind time, which drives me crazy (I even have my alarm clock set 1/2 hour in advance so I'm more likely to get myself to work on time). I love spending time talking with the clients and it feels really good helping them out, as I'm a medical social worker and I go inside people's homes and try to help them out whereever they may live, but the never ending paperwork, all of the deadlines that have to be met, my Blackberry ringing out of control, returning all these phone calls in a timely manner, having to prioritize and organize my clutter and my day and then remember how to do things can get to be quite challenging, if not downright exhausting, at times. I'm usually zonked by the time I get home from work, yet I still have paperwork that I must complete due to the deadlines I have to meet. I don't think I'm realistically ever going to learn the fine art of super-multi-tasking and prioritizing when I'm lucky to put on the right shoes on my feet as I'm rushing out the door and praying that I'm not late to work (again) !!!! HaHaHa --- Penni

[Cookie]

OMG, crack me up, sounds like some of my days! Minus the husband and kids. I remember one such day a couple months ago trying to post a response while reheating a cup of coffee while a new pot was brewing. Was distracted by 5-6 other things, 3-4 phone calls, laundry, my mom coming out to chat with me. Circling around in my mind too was that I had to remember to get myself to my counseling appt on time that day too.

Between all the distractions my coffee got cold, had a couple sips of it anyhow, got distracted by something else. Walked by the coffee maker thinking it smelled heavenly so I set down the cup, dumped out the cold, put in the hot, fixed it the way I like it. Picked up what I had in my hands when I got to the coffee maker, went back to where my laptop was at to wrap up my post. Then I realized I'd left my coffee cup sitting on the counter! Grrr!

One thing that my mom does every year (she sends a lot of xmas cards too), she types a note on the computer of what she's been up to for the year, what her kids have been up to, etc and prints off however many she needs. That way all she has to do is sign the inside of the card and address the envelope. Knowing how my chaotic mind works, what probably would happen is that you'd probably forget to include or lose the note under a stack of papers! She sometimes gets so busy she forgets to get them mailed off until after xmas or finds them sitting somewhere a few months later. Hmm, sounds like an ADD mind??

[DANA]

spacecatpi, that is so funny!

Just out of pure curiosity, I checked online to see if I could find a real definition of "Hissy Fit." Here are all the comical answers that I found on a wide variety of websites:

A fit of anger: usually in the phrase have (or throw) a hissy fit.

A tantrum.

Fit: A bitch fit!

A sudden period of uncontrolled and silly anger like a child's.

An occasion when someone suddenly behaves in a very angry and unreasonable way.

A state of being mad, annoyed.

According to the Free Dictionary By Farlex, the words "hissy fit" come from chiefly Southern and South Midland, U.S. (How coincidental since I was born in Midland, Michigan!) LOL!

[spacecatpj]

Dana,

You crack me up and make me feel soooooo much better about myself because it's as if you're describing things that have happened to me when you are actually describing things that have happened to you, even down to having"hissy fits"and calling them as such (so it must be a word, right???). Hahahahaha!!!

[DANA]

Hi Emily!

I am happy that you enjoyed my post! I LOVED your idea's on how to "cut loose!" You sound like you would be a BLAST to hang out with and have some fun!

What a cool & adventurous idea you had to rent-a-car-and-drive-300-miles-for-a-Halloween-party! Oh, my gosh! I love spontaneity!

Please share more about what you consider fantasy job hunting? Hmmm......For me, I think that I would choose something fun, such as a job in film or theater. Nothing wrong with adding a little drama to play "make believe" as an actress!

I never in my life thought of doing car shopping or apartment hunting in some far away places, but I think that it would be so much fun! Especially looking for an apartment or home in a far away place, such as in the New England states, New York, California or down South. (Let's just pray that I do not impulsively decide to move there!)

Emily, I agree, we need to allow ourselves to lighten up and enjoy life!

[Emily]

Dana,

I only have two words for this post... AMEN, SISTER!

Most of my nightmares go down something like what you described in your post. I know that, when my life starts to feel like my life is just weeks and weeks of one of these nightmares, it's time to shake things up and do something a little off-the-wall to get back to feeling right. Be it a last minute rent-a-car-and-drive-300-miles-for-a-Halloween-party (did that last weekend, AWESOME!) or doing a little fantasy job hunting or car shopping or apartment hunting in some far away places, or even just laying around and reading a Newsweek cover-to-cover in one sitting (hyperfocusing for a whole day usually helps, too), I always feel better when I cut loose and let my ADD show, haha.

Keep on shining, ladies!
Emily

[DANA]

Ariane,

I am actually not doing Christmas cards at all this year. I used to get so bogged down with trying to get the Christmas cards sent out on time that I started my own little tradition of sending American Greeting e-cards, instead. I just love those cards and they have cute custom made cards that you can have much fun with by adding your own words. (If you have creativity and a good imagination, you will enjoy this as much as I do!)

What I was suggesting in my post is for any ADDer's who usually finds themselves running behind schedule each holiday to get a "jump start!" by filling out their Christmas cards NOW. Perhaps, if individuals spend only 30 minutes every day, by the end of November that will total up to 15 hours.

That may appear to be MORE time then anyone expected to spend on filling out their Christmas cards, addressing each envelope and placing a stamp onto each card, but in the long run, you will get your cards sent out earlier than usual. If 30 minutes every day in November is too much to commit to, consider spending one hour four times a week on the days most convenient for you.
( 1 HR X 4 Days = 4 HRS per WK X 4 TOTAL WKS = 16 Total Hours To Complete Christmas Cards!)

A cool idea that my husband has for ADDer's, which I think is a brilliant idea is to FOCUS on ONE CHRISTMAS CARD PER DAY for the month of November. If you begin doing this NOW, you will have at least "25" days, which equals "25" Christmas cards completed by the end of November! What an accomplishment this will be this holiday and I sincerely think it will make your Christmas much brighter!

For anyone that already anticipates challenges, obstacles and conflicts in having time to send out Christmas cards BEFORE Christmas Eve, I highly recommend LIMITING the number of cards to send out and to FOCUS ONLY ON TOP PRIORITY INDIVIDUALS (Your boss, best friend and parents).

Best wishes for successfully completing your Christmas cards on time!

Warmly,
Your Friendly ADDer Holiday Helper Gal

[Ariane Benefit]

Well Dana, you summarized the ups and downs of life with ADD PERFECTLY!

and yes...I'm so grateful...that somehow...when I roll with it instead of fighting it at every turn, it all works out okay.

p.s. I can't believe you are doing chrismas cards already! Now that's planning ahead. : )