Thursday, May 30, 2013

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


48 comments:

  1. I'm with ya all the way!

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    1. Hi Cindy,
      Glad to know somebody has the same problems as me. I still can't leave a comment on your blog because of the Google + or whatever it is. Sorry.

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  2. I'm only 27 and this is already my life! I'm screwed!!

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    1. Hi Kate,

      I think you've got a long way to go before you get what us older folks have.

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  3. Been there, done that. *sigh* I fear I have been a victim for some time.

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    1. Me too but at least now I have an official name for the condition :)

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  4. Replies
    1. I don't know if I believe you young girls for a minute. How could you be having my day when you still have all your gray matter in tact! :)

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  5. and this is exactly why I leave the water trough running over for 6+ hours when I try to fill it and multi-task. (I always get in trouble!) Now I'm just going to explain it can't be helped because of AAADD!
    - The Equestrian Vagabond

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  6. I've got B.I.A.D.D. - Baby Induced Attention Deficit Disorder. LOL! I know how you feel. At the end of the day I'm just so exhausted and yet the house is a disaster. It's defeating some days. And it's worse now that the twincesses are crawling. Like, really really worse... oh my....

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    1. Oh my, twincesses! I can't even imagine how much work that would be.

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  7. I have that some days too but fear I'm far too young for it :)

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    1. You are definitely too young for this affliction. Hang in there it might get better when you have less work to do.

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  8. Sometimes it's good to have a title .....and maybe there are ways to sort it out .....I wont say I know what you mean because even though I'm forgetful stuff it's not a problem yet for me ....finger crossed that you get a solution as it would be nice to end the day not tired ......and I simply love the photo that goes with your post

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  9. Ha ha! I think I have arrived. Great post!

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    1. Welcome to my world Lori, good to have someone in the same boat.

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  10. This is hilarious! I do this too. Add in my obsession with making lists to try and corral all of this brain activity and there I am, in a nutshell. :)

    A tip for the Previcox, if it's the 227 mg tablets. My vet showed me that if you put it on a hard surface and use your two index fingers you can just snap them in half and then in quarters by pressing down. I wouldn't have believed it unless he had taken one and showed me.

    One good thing - the Haagen-Daaz is always in the freezer. Just keep that in mind and let all the rest go. :)

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    1. Hi Billie,

      I've actually stopped making lists, because I don't remember where I put them. Always have a list for the grocery too but then I forget to bring it with me!

      Tanks for the tip on the Previcox, I'll try it.

      There does seem to be a Vanilla Swiss Almodwith my name on it in the freezer. Thanks for reminding me.

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  11. At least I now know i'm not alone. Although I do eventually finish a task - just takes longer. Enjoy your ice cream! I just had some Ben & Jerry's cookie dough.

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  12. I just got on my computer to rewrite my To Do List, which I found in my horse trailer to remind me of which training techniques to use with which horses. The list has just been sitting in the trailer and is already obsolete. But, of course, I haven't rewritten the list yet because I got interested in your blog post. Now my mobile phone alarm is going off, so I must go give Midge her insulin shot...

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. Oh no, you sound almost as bad as I do...

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  13. I am right there with you and it sucks although it is hilarious to read about, no fun to have......

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    1. I knew I couldn't be the only one who suffers from this.

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  14. Oh Man, I Cracked Up Several Times, During The Read, As I Tried To Remember From Your Growing Diversion(ASSDD), What It Was You Started To Do....When I Read"Snake Head" All Of It Went Somewhere Else! Gross!

    I've Got This Syndrome In The Family...Trying To Do Anything With My Sister ,11 Years Older, Gets My Goat. It Takes Hours...Because She Can't FIND ANYTHING. I Have A Nasty Saying About It For Her," If Her Brain Wasn't Inside Her Skull, She'd Surely Loose It Too!"

    So In My Attempts To Not Be Resembling That Which I Thought Was A Fault, And Now Have Been Educated,I Somehow Installed An"Override" Voice In My Head....
    Really, I'm Not Kidding....It Says,"Follow Through...Complete The Task!" It's Almost Like A Big Black Circle With Bar Through It, Obscures The Next Thing Calling Me To Fix Or Do, Has It Flashing!

    Sometimes,I Have To Be Rude To Others, Who Think I've Got Power To Remember What I'm Doing, Putting The Override Circle With Bar On Them! I Apologize, Saying,"If I Don't Do This Now....."

    So I've Had It For A Long Time. But Somehow, I've Installed Some After Market Features.
    Can't Day Ass It's Any Less Tiring Though!
    Oh...I've Also Added A Multitude Of Cute Hangers For The Neat Clips I Have For Glasses, Keys, And Sundries That Get Lost...If It Can't Be PuT On, In ,Or By , One Of Those Places....It Get Clipped To My Body!

    Can You Tell...I'm Fighting!

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  15. P.S.
    another Mode I've Employed In The AAADD fight Measures.
    A Note Pad-On My Phone-

    I've Got It With Me Always(A Sickness In Itself)
    So Some Headings Are:
    Grocery List-
    Movies To See-
    Tack Needs-
    Remember......
    Dr Name-
    Referrals From-
    My License Number-
    Passwords-
    Secret Codes-

    It's My Permanent List!

    You Get The Drift!

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    Replies
    1. You're very funny and apparently very organized. Thank you for all the memory tis. I'll have to try them out.

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  16. AnonymousJune 02, 2013

    Great post! I have to confess my AAADD improved once my horses went into livery. Weird.

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  17. Very funny ... with you all the way! Love the quote!

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  18. Hee-hee! But I'm laughing WITH you, not AT you, honest!! Coz I'm there already :D I have bits of paper with reminders littering the computer table & dining table ... why not in a notebook, I hear you ask? Because I can't bear to use my pwetty notebooks for such mundane things!! Tho I do have a notebook purely for writing down the different passwords I use ;o)

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    1. Good idea using a special notebook just for passwords. Right now I try to keep them in my head. So far so good but who knows for future reference.

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  19. This is my life!!! I can't hold a thought for 10 seconds. Great post :)

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  20. Hahahaha ... I'm a little late to the game ... but this is SO me! Too funny!

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  21. I'm so with you on this one!!

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  22. Oh man! I do this too! EEK Glad I'm not the only one :)

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  23. OK this is me. what's wrong with that? haha. although, way in the beginning I would have turned the water on to the water trough, and left it running till tonight when we went in to watch TV (and... possibly till morning... I have gotten in trouble SO MANY TIMEs for that... )
    - The Equestrian Vagabond

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    1. Nothing wrong that I can see! Just makes life more interesting.

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