I'm home, I'm home, I'm home

Can you tell I'm glad to be home. It's a wreck that needs major cleaning, but I'm glad to be back. I hate traveling during the holidays. The traffic is terrible. We did okay except in Birmingham where some guy didn't check his blind spot and almost took us out. My husband blew his horn and I think the guy almost had a heart attack. He was half way into our lane before he realized he wasn't alone. It was very close. At least my husband did the smart thing and took his foot off the gas and didn't hit the brakes. We would have had a multi car pile up in the middle of I-65 just from being run over by everyone behind us. Oh did I mention at the time I was turned around giving my daughter her asthma meds and didn't know anything was happening until my husband blew the horn. So the guy in the other car wasn't the only one holding his chest.

Happy Thanksgiving.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. We're driving south so I'm hoping it will be a tad warmer than here. We are going to spend Thanksgiving with my parents (they get us this year) even though they live here they went to Florida for the month of Nov. so we have to travel anyway. Can you tell I'd rather stay home. I keep reminding myself that Destin has kick ass outlet stores. Can you say shopping?!!!

I don't normally shop the weekend after Thanksgiving, but I will probably make an exception this year. Of course the reason I don't shop is because I worked retail for so many years. But since I worked commission I always loved the holiday season. Most sales people make very little and don't really want to be there. So the next time you see a salesperson who is looking wiped out smile and wish them a happy holidays. They say it way more than they hear it. Don't get nasty with them just because you are tired trust me they are wiped out. After working 60 to 80 hours a week for the next four weeks you would be too. Remember smiles are infectious and they really are working as hard as they can to help everyone. Though if they are standing around chatting and ignoring their customers that's another story, but that doesn't happen much during the Christmas season.

Okay, guys I took my firt dose of meds

Well, I took my first dose of meds a couple of hours ago. According to my son's Dr. that is all it takes to notice a difference and I do. I'm on a very low dose for now we will up it I feel the need. I go back in a week and a half to discuss it with him. I was going to wait until tomorrow to start but then I realized if I did and it upset my stomach then a road trip isn't the time to discover that. LOL. So I started today.

The feeling of calm is very different. My mind is literally holding steady. I don't feel the need to race through several thoughts at once. It's very strange. I actually started to zone out earlier and my mind immediately pulled back. It usually takes me a minute to realize I'm zoning. This is common among women with ADD. We zone out easily. I'll let you guys know how it's going.

off to visit the Dr.

Well I'm heading off to the Dr. today. Besides generally feeling like crap I intend to talk to him about some other health issues like no matter what I do I can't seem to lose any weight. I going to ask him to check me for other conditions that could cause fatigue. I want to rule them out before I have another sleep test which is currently scheduled for January. My sleep Dr. thinks I still have some sleep apnea going on, but I'm not so sure. Anyway, I'm hoping to figure this out soon.

Then my next step will be to go see the psychologist about treating my ADHD. This morning my husband was complaining about my getting frustrated. You would be frustrated too if you were into doing something and got interrupted by someone asking you something they could take care of themselves. Namely him. My son was ready for school so I decided to do some much needed housework. This should be a good thing, right. Oh well. One of the drawbacks to my having ADHD is that I will hyperfocus on something to the point of ignoring the world and get aggravated when the world wants in. Hyperfocus can be good, but this morning it wasn't.

kleenex, kleenex everywhere

Can you tell from the title we're sick around here. My daughter and I have been stuffy and coughing all weekend. I don't think I have ever thrown away so much tissue before. We would leave these piles on table next to the sofa and bed so I figured I better clean them up before they take over. We have also been drinking cough syrup by the gallon.

My daughter is so cute with the tissue. She would go and find one when she needed one. Thank heavens. Sometimes she "blows her nose" by making a pbbpt sound with her mouth. She hasn't figured out how to do it for real yet. I had to make an addition to this post. The other day when I went to put my daughter down for a nap my husband, who had been holed up in the other room watching football, came out and stood there wanting to ask me why there were toys everywhere but wouldn't talk until I stopped coughing even though I wanted him to just say whatever it was. I just couldn't stop coughing. I finally just looked at him with this you have got to be kidding look. Maybe, if I hadn't been coughing so hard I would have reminded him he owed me one and told him to go clean them up. I hope everybody else out there is healthy.

My husband owes me.

My husband owes me big time this weekend. I'll start from the beginning. Last Saturday I went to a local flooring store and ordered enough tile to redo the flooring for our kitchen, utility room and master bath. I had no idea it would cost is much as it did, but we are going to save money by doing it ourselves.

Well he told me to get 12 boxes of the tile that will go in the kitchen and utility room so that is what I ordered. Now the salesperson and I figured out there were 14 tiles in a box and were messing around with a bunch of other numbers and when it came time to write down the order she accidently wrote 14 boxes and I didn't realize it. Now this was $100 difference in the cost of our order. When it came in my husband went to pick it up and told them he only wanted 12 and 14 was incorrect they stood there looking at him like "your taking it anyway" and insisting I had asked for 14 (none of them had spoken to me. My salesperson was with a customer.) He called me to verify the order and I told him I hadn't noticed the error. They then insisted I had signed that it was correct, but since their order forms don't have a signature spot that isn't possible so finally they backed down and removed the two boxes.

My husband came home and looked at his numbers again and realized that if he made an error he would have no extra tile. Well he sent ME back to get the other two boxes. He was too embarrassed. He kept telling me he wished he hadn't noticed the error was wrong. So yesterday I went back and explained that I wanted the tile afterall. My sales person laughed and said she knew we would be back because she suspected that 12 boxes wouldn't be quite enough. They were very nice about it, but I wasn't dealing with the other sales people that he had dealt with. I have noticed some of them seem like the kind who only want to help you if you are spending thousands of dollars. Now it is time to put in some new tile.

I thought I would posts info on where to get more information about adult ADHD. Here are two links the first is a link to WebMD's online test the second is an organization dedicated to adults with ADHD. They also feature the test. It was developed by the WHO to help people figure out if they need to see a Dr. ADD.org also features info on the condition.

http://www.webmd.com/content/article/84/98192.htm?z=4055_00000_2207_se_01


http://www.add.org/

the 90 mph brain

I have ADHD and sometimes I feel like my brain is going 90mph. Everytime I'm doing something I realize I am also thinking about several other things that I need to do as well. (right now I'm sitting here thinking how I need to make my daughter's lunch for school, get her dressed, and how the doodlebops play really cool kids music and that I like their show.) sometimes I'm literally moving onto the next task before I finish the one I'm working on simply because I can no longer concentrate on what I'm doing. It doesn't matter what I'm doing if I get bored with it I will walk away and do something else. This can be bad though since I may never go back and complete the first task I'm begining to get frustrated with this because I want to stay on track.

I'm seriously considering medication. I have seen how well it works for my son and I believe it could benefit me. Many ADDer's worry it will put an end to their creative side but that is not the case, in fact, it can help focus you so you can be more creative. That is one of the the problems I have. I need to focus more so I can complete the work. I do freelance photography, but very little. The reason is simple I can't make myself sit down and work out a plan to do more. Many people think you can do it as long as you apply yourself. I've heard this all my life. I have "applied" myself many times over and guess what it still hasn't happened. You cannot make yourself do something when your brain doesn't want to cooperate with you. I am doing some homeopathic remedies and they help, but not enough. Exercise helps the most. That's good since I'm trying to lose weight too. The hard part for me is finding an exercise I can stick with because I quickly become bored and stop. I hate forcing myself trough a routine, and when I do my mind wanders all over the place.


I know it sounds like I live with a constantly wandering mind and alot the the time I do, but sometimes I can focus on something to the point of forgetting what is going on around me. This is called hyperfocus and many ADHD people can do it and it drives the people in our lives nuts they don't understand how we can become so enthralled in something and NOT let go. Last year when we were planning a trip to Disney I really got into planing the trip. I must have been on their web site everyday for monthes. My husband thought it was nutty until we went on the trip and I worked out an itinerary for us.

Well here is our house in the brown. I'm not sure how well you can tell that though. I still have some painting to do on the outside, but that will have to wait until it stops raining. My son told us our house looks brand new. Now if the inside looked like that I would be thrilled.

I did order tile the other day. We are planning to tile the kitchen, utility room and master bath. We already did the hall bathroom. I do plan to put a deadline on when the work needs to be done. It took four monthes to "finish" the bathroom and it still isn't completely done. I can't be without the kitchen or utility room for extended periods.

I had assumed we were doing all this work for us and then my husband started talking about selling the house. He feels like once we do all this the house should sell. Can you say "huh?!" I guess I'll believe it when I see it because he has been telling me for a couple of years now that we cannot afford a bigger house and I have come to accept that and was glad we were fixing it up for us. I'll believe it when there is a sign in the front yard otherwise I'm going to just assume we're staying put.

my house

This is a picture of what my house used to look like. As of last Monday the siding guys showed up and began working on it. We now have new siding. The house went from blue to brown in five days. It looks great and several of my neighbors have commented on how good the house looks. You can't tell in the pictures, but it was starting to look like it needed work. The house is 21 years old and had been blue the whole time so I decided it needed a change. We've only owned it for eight of those years. We still have to paint the front door and paint the base of the house to match. The base is still blue.

When the guys showed up the head of the work crew asked me if my daughter was my grandaughter or my daughter. I told him she was mine. He back peddled quickly telling me his kids were teenagers. All I could think was "do I look that old?" I know I don't, but in certain circles I guess I could be a grandma to a three-year-old.

I'll post a pic of the completed house later right now it's raining and I can't take a picture yet.

meet our visitor

I found this bassett hound wandering my neighborhood yesterday. He is very friendly and loves kids, but nobody around here recognizes him. I have put up signs and I am going to make some phone calls today just in case someone reports him missing. I think he has been an indoor dog so he hasn't taken to well to me putting him outside. I don't have a fence so I've had to put him on a leash. We tried putting him in the neighbor's yard but their dog didn't take to the idea. I'm praying that his owner surfaces today. I can tell he misses his home. To add to this my husband is not happy about me bringing this dog home. I just felt so sorry for him he had followed the mailman around all day and then started following the school kids. He apparently transversed my whole neighborhood and he was worn out.

Well I found out where our doggie visitor came from. Apparently, he was found out in the county and our neighbors are keeping him until they find his owner. That explains why no one in the neighborhood recognized him. He was picked up this morning and my neighbor took him back to her house. They have a fenced yard. The irony is they lost a dog of their own a couple of weeks ago. I'm going to help them look for the owner. Hopefully, they will turn up soon.

Wasps. Ugh.

Have I mentioned how frustrating I find this time of year. For some reason wasps fly into my house through the fireplace. We haven't figured out a good way to stop them either. Since we are having new siding being put on our house this week they are going nuts and flying into my house at the rate of three or four a day. The kids are better at spotting them than me too. My daughter will be playing and suddenly look up and tell there is another one in the house. I think she enjoys watching Mommy chase them around with the fly swatter. Anyway, I will be glad when their done so maybe they will slow down some.

Let's talk ADHD

Those that know me already know this, but I thought I'd write about it anyway. I'm ADHD. I found out a few monthes ago when my seven-year-old son was diagnosed. Finding this out about myself was an eye opening experience. ADHD stands for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Talk about misnomers. I do not consider it a disorder because I consider myself an average person I just look at the world differently and where would we be without people who appoach things from a different perspective. Businesses and schools these days are constantly encouraging people to think outside the box. Well ADHDer's do this automatically yet we are expected to conform most of the time. We are expected to sit still at school or work. When you are feeling the "itch" to move that seems like torture. We just can't do it. We tap our pencils, we move our hands or feet or just generally find something to keep us busy because if we don't do this we will go nuts.

I must constantly be doing something or I just can't pay attention to what someone is saying. When having a conversation people will notice I move alot (it drives my husband nuts) but if I don't I'll wander off and find something else to do. I have to tell people just because I'm cleaning out the drawer or doing something doesn't mean I'm not listening to them. I'm sure they hate it, but it is the way I work. I have decided once a week to share what I'm thinking about in relation to this and what I'm doing about it.

and finally

She's not just sexy she helped fix us dinner too. Of course, she didn't do it alone. Kelly, Lisa, Pam and Jen were also working. It was delicious.

still more

Hey, it's a cake! Happy b-day Kev and Lisa.

more klineaplooza

The first to go to sleep. She didn't get to sleep long though.

Thank you Kelly

I hope the icing tastes delicious. Now how did it get on Kelly's nose?

I wanted to say thanks to Kelly for all the hard work she put into Klineaplooza. We had a blast.

The darn door keeps breaking.

We had fun this weekend. In fact, poor Kevin had to fix this screen door three times. He is now an expert at it.

update on the hair dilemma

I got so frustrated today I was out looking for hair dye to lighten my hair myself. I know this is risky. Going from Medium Brown (yes, it is that dark) to dark blonde might result in orange hair. I had been trying, unsuccessfully, to get ahold of my friend who used to cut my hair so I could find out where to go to fix. it. She no longer works in a salon, but does some people's hair from her house. I finally talked to her today and she gave me instructions for shampooing to help fade the color then she made me promise not to try to fix it myself. So now I will be going to her house on Friday and she is going to highlight it for me. She is really the only person I trust to go near my hair right now. I'm not about to let my regular stylist do it.

My friend said my hair is so porous it probably took the color in ten minutes and their leaving it on for 25 was a big mistake. She said it may be difficult to fix, but she'll do it for me. I have to say guys it is really dark. Have you ever seen anyone one with their hair colored so dark you just wanted to say something to them, but you know they like it so you don't. Okay, I look like that person right now except I DON'T like it. I let you know the final results.

my humor results

the Ham
(47% dark, 57% spontaneous, 31% vulgar)
your humor style:CLEAN SPONTANEOUS LIGHTYour style's goofy, innocent and feel-good. Perfect for parties and for the dads who chaperone them. You can actually get away with corny jokes, and I bet your sense of humor is a guilty pleasure for your friends. People of your type are often the most approachable and popular people in their circle. Your simple & silly good-naturedness is immediately recognizable, and it sets you apart in this sarcastic world. PEOPLE LIKE YOU: Will Ferrell - Will Smith


The 3-Variable Funny Test!


My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:


You scored higher than 43% on darkness


You scored higher than 79% on spontaneity


You scored higher than 40% on vulgarity