Maintaining Focus

 

" Do you see what I see"

AAADD

KNOW THE SYMPTOMS

Thank goodness there’s a name for this disorder. Somehow I feel better even though I have it!!

Recently I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D.

Age Associated Attention Deficit Disorder.

This is how it manifests:

I decide to water my garden. As I turn the hose on in the driveway I look over at my car and decide it needs washing.  As I start toward the garage, I notice the horse’s supplements have arrived and I’ll need to put them in the feed shed. I decide to do this before I wash the car. I lay my car keys on the table; head out to the feed shed with the supplements.

Once in there I realize Dusty’s Isoxoprine pills need to be counted out and put in her divided pill boxes (a.m.- p.m.), also Mellon’s pills for Cushing’s need to be done along with the Previcox for some of the herd. They need to be cut in quarters and halves. Alas, I can’t find my knife. Bet I left it in the tack room.

Check the tack room and find the knife. But the leg wraps and saddle pads need to be put in the washer so I do that. I also take my saddle and Dusty and Blue’s bridles down to clean them after I sort out the supplements.

As I head back out toward the feed shed I notice Blue standing over the automatic waterer just staring in it. On further inspection I find a tiny snake head floating in there, hmm, no wonder he’s not drinking from the bowl and staring at me like I have the answer to his dilemma.

Go into the paddock, empty the snakehead. Our resident crows sometimes wash their lunch in the waterers. Guess their bounties haven’t bathed yet and they take offense to that.

After consoling Blue for a few minutes about his water I leave the paddock and notice the riding arena needs dragging. So I head down to the tractor garage to get the drag. Well, the door is locked and the keys are up in the house garage. It’s a long story but someone has been sneaking in at night and stealing our diesel fuel kept in a tank inside the garage. Hence, the locked door.

I head back up to the house to get the keys and decide since I’m hungry it must be lunchtime. I find the can of soda I’d been drinking. I grab a granola bar and put it in my pocket. I’ll eat while I’m dragging the ring. Brilliant idea on my part to save time.

I’m going to drag the ring but first I decide to put my soda in the refrigerator to keep it cold. As I head toward the kitchen, soda in hand, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye. They need water. I put the soda on the counter and discover my reading glasses I’ve been searching for all morning. I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I’m going to water the flowers. I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly spy the TV remote. Someone had left it on the kitchen table.

I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I'll be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it’s on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs.  But first I’ll water the flowers. I pour some water in the flowers. Quite a bit spills on the floor. So I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill. 

Then I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.

At the end of the day:

The car isn’t washed.

There is a warm can of soda on the counter.

The flowers don’t have enough water.

The arena hasn’t been dragged.

The supplements haven’t been put in their proper drawers.

The tack hasn’t been cleaned.

I never found the time to groom or ride even one horse.

I can’t find the remote.

I can’t find my glasses.

I don’t remember what I did with the car keys and my knife.

There’s a load of wet laundry that needs to be put in the dryer.

And I have a squishy granola bar crumbling in my pocket.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done, I’m really baffled because I know I was busy all damn day, and I’m really tired.

I realize this is a serious problem, and I’ll try to get some help for it.

Don’t laugh – if this isn’t you yet, your day is coming!

Until next time…I think

Quote for Today

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.

Mark Twain