Fun update

I haven't updated here in awhile, so suffice to say that I am really enjoying my new job, my summer class is going well, and in general I feel pretty relaxed despite my tight schedule. Yay!

ADHD strengths

I was diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago, but obviously have had it my entire life. Looking back on things from my childhood, teens, and college, this became quite clear to me. However, college itself was shadowed by depression more than anything else. My hectic college schedule helped me "self-medicate." However, when I tried cube-jobs with long-term open-ended projects, me and my ADHD clashed head on and the depression came back and the shit all hit the fan.

The awesome follow-up to this story those of you who know me are familiar with is that after all this, I took what has been close to a year and a half between jobs to volunteer, study, work on crafts, get outdoors, play with cats, and find my balance. Through that I rediscovered my love for arts and crafts, animals, nature, volunteering, calm and peace, positive supportive people, and healthy eating and working out. And I found out something I wasn't aware of before: one of my strengths is teaching adults technology and teaching children nature things.

To start teaching, I needed a push from very supportive friends and coworkers to venture to try my hand at teaching kids on field trips at the nature center and to help clients at a therapeutic horse-back riding center, but I found that I absolutely love(d) doing this! In fact, because I have a childlike curiosity for the world and can completely relate to kids' energy levels, need for hydration and rest breaks, and need to be able to take a break from learning about habitats to go "hey look, a large snake!", I can channel the energy of even the most hyper group of kids. And I love doing so. I finish field trips so happy and energized!

This is so much going to become part of my career or hobbies in some way, shape, or form. I am going to be mentoring a high schooler for a year and I am really excited to pass on the things I have learned about how it is ok to be a bit more hyper and scattered and how it is ok to lose jobs, seek new ones, have shit happen, get through it, find balance, and work on relationships with friends and family as an ongoing process. And I am going to hold onto the life lessons I have learned even as I begin a new office job, albeit in a different field, employer, team, and geographic area than the one(s) that gave me challenges. This time around, I am going to rock at what I do, and even if I don't, nuts to the world. I like myself and other people like me and that is all that counts. ;-)

This Week's Menu (and some Wegmans-missing)

I wasn't sure what to cook this week, so I decided to browse recipes at Wegmans.com. The only negative to doing this was that many of the ingredients were a bit different (ex: premade Asian slaw will have to be searched for at Sunflower later this week.)
Here are links to the recipes I will be making this week! I am super excited about this cooking plan!

Ambrosia Salad (dessert for 2 nights)
http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10052&catalogId=10002&productId=688035

Fruit Kabobs & Dip (desert for at least one nights):
http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10052&catalogId=10002&productId=347369

Rice and mushrooms and tomatoes:
http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10052&catalogId=10002&productId=732698

Jambalaya:
http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10052&catalogId=10002&productId=732719

Pot stickers with vegetables and stir-fry:
http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10052&catalogId=10002&productId=732699

Singapore Noodles and Chicken (not a shrimp fan here):
http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10052&catalogId=10002&productId=358062

Pork tacos:
http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?langId=-1&storeId=10052&catalogId=10002&productId=714135

Musing of the day

Which is less wasteful? 1) using dishes and washing them in a dishwasher, including some pre rinsing because my dishwasher sucks OR 2)using disposable paper plates and bowls? Cuz I know for a fact that running a dishwasher uses electricity to run it and possibly gas to heat up the water. Disposable dishes use materials and probsbly electiricty during production and it generates trash.

On a side note, I have been pretty successful with not individually bagging my fruits and veggies to reduce the number of plastic bags I bring home. I also try to encourage cashiers to use fewer plastic bags on the (numerous) occasions that I forget my reusable bags. I figure that the bags I bring home can be used to dispose of used cat litter and the rest can be recycled.

Laughing at some lists from facebook "You Know You Have ADHD when..." I'm going to post some of my favorite "holy crap, I totally do that too" ones.

-You are listening to music and pause the song and finally realize 10 mins later that you paused it

-you lose your "train of thought" and get confused for a split second and get mad at yourself

-when you say "you know what I'm saying" after everything you say because nobody really knows what you're saying.

-you have to pee REALLY bad and it still takes you and hour to get to the bathroom!

-you stop mid-sentence and have no idea what you are talking about or what to say next.


-you find yourself wandering around the parking lot trying to look nonchalant wondering where you parked your car.....

when other people make *ME* look organized!

I get perverse joy out of not being the one responsible for a mix-up.

I had to be somewhere at ten and it was a forty-five minute drive there. It was getting on 9:15 (ADD time here) and it occurred to me I couldn't find my keys. I started by looking on the table, where I remembered placing them when I got home yesterday. Not there. Next, I looked in my backpack, basket of keys and miscellaneous things, going-out purse, coat and jean pockets, piles of paperwork, floor, bathroom counter, kitchen counters, bags I brought home groceries in yesterday, desk area, bedroom, floor and table once again.

I thought whether I could have dropped them from my backpack on my way home from school yesterday by light rail, but I was pretty sure I hadn't even taken them with me to class since I wasn't driving there. I wondered if I had dropped them somewhere in the apartment complex or locked them into the trunk, but I was pretty sure I remembered "beeping" the car to prove to myself it was locked.

Then I texted the boyfriend that I lost my keys and got a text message back that he didn't have them. Continued looking, and planning how to laugh off my reason for not showing up to the work event.

Then I got a call from the boyfriend with updated information. "I found your set of keys in my jeans pocket. No idea why I took them with me. Oops, sorry."

Me--laugh my head off privately because I get to be disorganized, but through no fault of my own. I get to call work and tell them "boyfriend took the keys on accident, car sharing can be silly sometimes". I get a valid excuse to work on homework and goof around at home all morning......a reason that has NOTHING to do with me.

And I get to congratulate myself for NOT losing my keys. This must mean I am actually organized!

Funny Websites and My Former Dog's Vajayjay

Haven't posted in awhile.
Here are some funny websites to distract you from work.

http://www.bluntcard.com/randomizer.html <--just click the "random card" button for some really snarky cards

getoutoftherecat.tumblr.com <--cats being silly

http://hungoverowls.tumblr.com/ <--hungover owls

www.coloradogives.org <--Colorado Gives Day 12/6/11 only! give to your favorite charity securely online. If you miss it, I still encourage you to donate.

What's new by me? I'm almost done with school, a cat is watching me blog this, and it's cold here with snow on the ground. It took me two years away from a very snowy East-Coast area before I decided I actually do like snow. But I do now. In limited amounts.

Snarky thought of the day: I had a dream about a dog I used to own and she was in heat and dogs all over the neighborhood were trying to mate with her. Really weird dream. Spay and neuter your dogs! Otherwise my dreams will be weirder than they already are.