[Archive] 8/18/04

Wednesday, August 18, 2004
5 / 18 August 2004

Marbles in My Pocket

I was asked by an acquaintance what Adult ADD was like. This was my response.

I’ve been ADD all my life. But I didn’t “know” it until I was in my 50’s! I thought it was some kind of character defect, and I struggled against it for decades.

But I’m now kind of resigned to it – or, more likely, accustomed to it. I admit function best in a *slightly* cluttered environment. If something isn’t “in my face” I forget it’s around or needs to be done. That’s why I have to keep a calendar on the computer and have it pop-up the minute I turn on my computer every morning. that way I know exactly what I need to do. If I put away my current projects, I may not get back to them until they are past due because I won’t think of them. So my desk will always be messy.

I’m the original “pack rat” – I see “something shiny” in the living room, pick it up and trek toward the kitchen to put it away. On the way, I notice “something shiny” in the dining area, put down the first object and pick up the second object and trek toward the bedroom to put it away. I stop by my office to check e-mail, and put the object down. After checking e-mail and playing a couple of computer games, I get up and go out to the kitchen to make lunch. There I see “something shiny,” pick it up and take it with me toward the workshop. On the way, I walk through the family room, and notice one of the GKs left a game out. I put down the current object, start putting away the game, notice the rug needs to be vacuumed, get out the vacuum, notice the floor in the hall needs sweeping, put down the vacuum and go to get the broom. On the way to the broom I notice the game in the family room and get it picked up – but it doesn’t fit on the shelf, so I “jam” it in one way or another, and head to the laundry room – I don’t know why, I just go there. I turn around a few times wondering why I went there, and start back through the family room. Notice the vacuum is out, and hook it up, turn it on and start vacuuming. Notice that there are a few marbles and a chess piece on the floor, and turn off the vacuum to pick them up. Can’t find the box and board for the chess set, so I drop the chess piece in “a” drawer (I’ll probably never find it again when it’s needed – only when I happen to open the drawer and notice it). Put the marbles in my pocket. It is now noon, we usually eat lunch at 11:15 or 11:30, and the poor ol’ curmudgeon plaintively asks me about it. I fix lunch and we eat about 12:30 – not bad, only an hour late – and look around. The living room is not straightened, the family room is a mess, the kitchen is a mess, my office has something in it that belongs in the bedroom, and I’ve accomplished nada beyond vacuuming a 20 square inch area of the family room and preparing lunch. I have marbles in my pocket and I don’t know why! This is my ADD. Someone else may have a different experience.

My dear ol’ curmudgeon is very good about reminding me to do things. He gave up ever expecting a “neat-nik” kind of house. The kids think I’m a “space biscuit” (light and flakey). Long ago they told me, “Mom, we’ll never know if you develop Alzheimers – you’ve been spacey all your life!” This is true! I have very little short-term memory and have *never,* not even as a child, been able to remember names (nouns) or descriptors (adjectives, adverbs). Found out, after several botched “memory courses” that this is probably genetic and has to do with whenter you have access to a particular area of your brain – apparently mine has been in hiding all my life!

I am an “organizational hobbiest.” As my dear ol’ curmudgeon will say, “It’s another vain attempt at organization by the Space Biscuit!” The DKs just giggle and nod. They all know. And it *is* amusing. Thank goodness both the ol’ curmudgeon, the DKs and the DGKs all have a sense of humor about it! They don’t get mad (usually). Just a little exasperated and impatient from time to time, but they quickly get over it, and whatever set them off becomes the latest in a string of “my flake, the Mom” (or “my flake, the Wife”) stories to use to regale friends and relatives.

So we ADD’rs have to make decisions and try to stick to them! We stumble and get side-tracked, but over time, we try to get to where we can handle things better and better. I don’t ever expect to be perfect! It doesn’t happen to anyone! But I can be a success at nearly anything I put my mind and determination to. I’ve managed to (in order):

get a BSN (nursing)
marry
have 2 kids
get a masters
have a third kid
move three times
go through a divorce
go through bankruptcy
marry again
*Convert to Eastern Orthodoxy* – best decision I **ever** made!
move several more times
teach in a university
marry off 2 kids
get a PhD
assistant direct choir
marry off the third kid
manage a complex computer-based Operating Room support system
start and run my own business
Enjoy the 10 grandchildren
enjoy my husband

I still struggle, at well past 60, to deal with my ADD, but I can look back and see that I compensated for it, and I know I will be able to continue compensating for it. It will always be with me, like someone with diabetes will always have that with them, but just as diabetes can be managed, so ADD can be managed. I just have to work a little harder at it than some other people do. But I’m really blessed by God. I have a husband who adores me – and I adore him right back – I have 3 wonderful children and 10 marvelous grandkids (my reward for not strangling the 3 kids when they were teens!). I’m respected in my career.

Well, That’s what Adult ADD is for me. I have marbles in my pocket and I don’t know why!
[Originally] Posted by Elizabeth at 8/18/2004 08:35:00 PM
2 comments:

Anonymous said…

Those marbles in your pocket are mine! And I want them back! LOL!!!

Andreas
10/30/2007 11:50 PM
Elizabeth said…

LOL! I’ll mail them back to you – or even better, “come an’ git ‘em!”

Elizabeth
10/31/2007 5:38 AM

Two Remarkable Women

I am continually puzzled at the seeming war between so many mothers and the women their sons marry – or women and the mothers of their husbands. What is this? Why is it?

I suppose the reason I am puzzled, is that I was blessed – utterly blessed – by the two remarkable women who were my mothers-in-law. J-2’s mother, C, was the oldest girl in a family of 9 siblings. We called them the “Fab 9.” Eight of the “Fab 9″ received Master’s, PhD’s or MD degrees. Their parents struggled as all parents do – juggling work, housework, child care, the varioius chiodhood illnesses (that we seldom see anymore). To prevent the spread of potential infectious agents, The mother of that family insisted each child use only his or her own towels and washclothes, which were washed regularly twice a week. I couldn’t do that with only 3 kids! Meals were times to discuss politics, science, law, literature. A certain amount of time was to be devoted to reading.

C and her husband J-1 raised J-2 and his siblings similarly. When J-2 contracted polio, he was treated and given physical therapy ala Sister Kinney’s therapeutic model. Both C and J-1 worked with J-2 to help him learn to walk again. They used hot packs, they used massage, and they used splints as necessary to help him walk again.

J-2 became a hiker and camper with the rest of the family. He was an Eagle Scout, spurred on by his father, who was well-known in Scouting circles. C stayed home with the children until they were in school, at which time she returned to college to obtain a Master’s Degree in Librarianship. She began working at a local community college library and ended up revamping their entire cataloging system. She was respected in her workplace.

When J-2 and I married, she was never snippy or snappy, never took sides. She shared recipes that J-2 liked, and made some really good suggestions about other things. We had a cordial relationship – one which I treasured.

After J-2 left me and the 3 children, I was devastated – not only because I was losing him, but because I was losing his family and extended family. I loved having aunts, uncles and cousins – even if only by marriage. When J-2 married shortly after our divorce was final, C came to the wedding. But she stayed with me! She went out to dinner with me, the Ol’ Curmudgeon and his mother as well as visiting with my mother in the nursing home. She was a gracious lady, who never lost contact with her grandchildren. She and J-1 brought them to visit one by one – in order to spend more time with each of them, and to get to know them individually. But, beyond that, this remarkable woman continued to keep in touch with me, personally, and enjoyed conversing with the Ol’ Curmudgeon.

About 20 years later, a choir conference took the Ol’ Curmudgeon out to the west coast near where she and her wonderful husband lived. We called them as soon as we knew we would be going, and asked if they had time for us to drive over to visit with them for a little while. They actually invited both of us to stay with them for 3 days. We had a wonderful visit with them. I’m so glad we went, because they both died only a couple of years later.

The Ol’ Curmudgeon’s mother is the second remarkable woman. Although she thought at the time it was a mistake for him to marry me, she never said anything to me about it. We went shopping, we visited, we had lunch together. Nary a word. Just good conversation and enjoyment of each other. I made sure to ask her for all the recipes the Ol’ Curmudgeon had enjoyed as a child so I could fix them for him. She gracioiusly shared them with me.

P had been a “spinster school teacher” at a University in the Atlanta area for years, when she met her husband. He was a post-WW II student on the GI Bill. He worked days and went to school nights – totally exhausted. One evening in her English class, he was sprawled across his desk in total exhaustion, when she said, “Mr. R, how would you like it if I sprawled across my desk in such an unseemly manner?” “Miss H,” he replied, “I’d purely love it!” They had a whirlwind courtship and married. Now, professors did NOT marry their students – it was called “moral turpitude,” and just WASN’T DONE. Even at the college level. So he used to spend a lot of time hiding in the bathroom when her friends came over – so no one would know! He once remarked he would write a book entitled, “My Life on the Toilet – Or My First Six Months of Marriage!” When she became pregnant, they moved post haste to another state, many states over, and didn’t move back until the Ol’ Curmudgeon and later his sister were born. By that time, any scandal pertaining to their actions had died down, and she returned to the same college (now a University), picking up where she left off. She taught there for over 40 years, and was beloved by both students and faculty, and, incidentally, administration. She believed in education, but believed it had to come from within the individual rather than be imposed externally.

On the weekends the children were visiting with their father, we used to go over to her house and have breakfast on Saturdays. We attended the same Church and went together. After we converted to Orthodoxy, she attended a few times, but never caught on fire. She admitted she thought it was the true Church, but just couldn’t “deal” with the services. It was a sadness for the Ol’ Curmudgeon, but he gave her her own decisions just as she gave him his. No recriminations.

After the Ol’ Curmudgeon and I had been married about 5 years, she admitted that she hadn’t thought it was the right thing to do, and that she was glad she was wrong. She believed at that point that we were very good for each other. She “adopted” my children as her own grandchildren and made no distinctions between them and her bio-grandchild. She loved them, and she made no bones about it, she loved me and was proud of me.

When I was teaching in SC, the Ol’ Curmudgeon couldn’t find a job up there, so he moved in with her during the week, and came home on weekends. Not a way to run a marriage, but it worked for us because we were determined to not allow the separations affect us. I look back on it now, and I’m so glad he had this time to spend with his mother – she died about 18 months after he started living there. He speaks fondly and wistfully of the evening conversations they had.

She died long before I was ready to let her go – but isn’t that nearly always the way? I miss her to this day. Just as I miss C and J-1.

Memory Eternal!

[Archive #15]

Wednesday, August 18, 2004
5 / 18 August 2004

Marbles in My Pocket

I was asked by an acquaintance what Adult ADD was like. This was my response.

I’ve been ADD all my life. But I didn’t “know” it until I was in my 50’s! I thought it was some kind of character defect, and I struggled against it for decades.

But I’m now kind of resigned to it – or, more likely, accustomed to it. I admit function best in a *slightly* cluttered environment. If something isn’t “in my face” I forget it’s around or needs to be done. That’s why I have to keep a calendar on the computer and have it pop-up the minute I turn on my computer every morning. that way I know exactly what I need to do. If I put away my current projects, I may not get back to them until they are past due because I won’t think of them. So my desk will always be messy.

I’m the original “pack rat” – I see “something shiny” in the living room, pick it up and trek toward the kitchen to put it away. On the way, I notice “something shiny” in the dining area, put down the first object and pick up the second object and trek toward the bedroom to put it away. I stop by my office to check e-mail, and put the object down. After checking e-mail and playing a couple of computer games, I get up and go out to the kitchen to make lunch. There I see “something shiny,” pick it up and take it with me toward the workshop. On the way, I walk through the family room, and notice one of the GKs left a game out. I put down the current object, start putting away the game, notice the rug needs to be vacuumed, get out the vacuum, notice the floor in the hall needs sweeping, put down the vacuum and go to get the broom. On the way to the broom I notice the game in the family room and get it picked up – but it doesn’t fit on the shelf, so I “jam” it in one way or another, and head to the laundry room – I don’t know why, I just go there. I turn around a few times wondering why I went there, and start back through the family room. Notice the vacuum is out, and hook it up, turn it on and start vacuuming. Notice that there are a few marbles and a chess piece on the floor, and turn off the vacuum to pick them up. Can’t find the box and board for the chess set, so I drop the chess piece in “a” drawer (I’ll probably never find it again when it’s needed – only when I happen to open the drawer and notice it). Put the marbles in my pocket. It is now noon, we usually eat lunch at 11:15 or 11:30, and the poor ol’ curmudgeon plaintively asks me about it. I fix lunch and we eat about 12:30 – not bad, only an hour late – and look around. The living room is not straightened, the family room is a mess, the kitchen is a mess, my office has something in it that belongs in the bedroom, and I’ve accomplished nada beyond vacuuming a 20 square inch area of the family room and preparing lunch. I have marbles in my pocket and I don’t know why! This is my ADD. Someone else may have a different experience.

My dear ol’ curmudgeon is very good about reminding me to do things. He gave up ever expecting a “neat-nik” kind of house. The kids think I’m a “space biscuit” (light and flakey). Long ago they told me, “Mom, we’ll never know if you develop Alzheimers – you’ve been spacey all your life!” This is true! I have very little short-term memory and have *never,* not even as a child, been able to remember names (nouns) or descriptors (adjectives, adverbs). Found out, after several botched “memory courses” that this is probably genetic and has to do with whenter you have access to a particular area of your brain – apparently mine has been in hiding all my life!

I am an “organizational hobbiest.” As my dear ol’ curmudgeon will say, “It’s another vain attempt at organization by the Space Biscuit!” The DKs just giggle and nod. They all know. And it *is* amusing. Thank goodness both the ol’ curmudgeon, the DKs and the DGKs all have a sense of humor about it! They don’t get mad (usually). Just a little exasperated and impatient from time to time, but they quickly get over it, and whatever set them off becomes the latest in a string of “my flake, the Mom” (or “my flake, the Wife”) stories to use to regale friends and relatives.

So we ADD’rs have to make decisions and try to stick to them! We stumble and get side-tracked, but over time, we try to get to where we can handle things better and better. I don’t ever expect to be perfect! It doesn’t happen to anyone! But I can be a success at nearly anything I put my mind and determination to.

I’ve managed to (in order):

Get a BSN (nursing)
Marry
Work as a maternity nurse
Have 2 kids
Get a masters while working part-time as a NICU nurse
Have a third kid
Work as a Nurse-Midwife
Be a State Nursing Consultant
Move three times
Go through a divorce
Go through bankruptcy
Marry again
*Convert to Eastern Orthodoxy* – best decision I **ever** made!
Move several more times
Teach in a university
Marry off 2 kids
Get a PhD
Assistant direct choir
Marry off the third kid
Manage a complex computer-based Operating Room support system
Start and run my own business
Enjoy the 10 grandchildren [NB - now 11 + 1 foster]
Enjoy my husband

I still struggle, at well past 60, to deal with my ADD, but I can look back and see that I compensated for it, and I know I will be able to continue compensating for it. It will always be with me, like someone with diabetes will always have that with them, but just as diabetes can be managed, so ADD can be managed. I just have to work a little harder at it than some other people do. But I’m really blessed by God. I have a husband who adores me – and I adore him right back – I have 3 wonderful children and 10 marvelous grandkids (my reward for not strangling the 3 kids when they were teens!). I’m respected in my career.

Well, That’s what Adult ADD is for me. I have marbles in my pocket and I don’t know why!

Posted by Elizabeth at 8/18/2004 08:35:00 PM
2 comments:

Anonymous said…

Those marbles in your pocket are mine! And I want them back! LOL!!!

Andreas

10/30/2007 11:50 PM
Elizabeth said…

LOL! I’ll mail them back to you – or even better, “come an’ git ‘em!”

Elizabeth
10/31/2007 5:38 AM

Manic Monday Meme

What’s the best summer job you ever had?

I never really had a summer job, but I had many part-time jobs. While I was in Nursing School, I worked part time in the hospital. This job continued through the summers. This was very exciting and very educational. Didn’t pay much, but it was a great job.

Tell me about the worst date you ever went on.

On on which my date tried to abuse me. I got out of his car and walked home.

Do you think the age for a driver’s license should be raised (currently 16 here in the U.S.)?

I think every teen should go through drivers training classes and get a LOT of experience driving with a good driver in the car there to correct and to praise. At the point at which the student driver has experience enough, and has demonstrated good judgment in a large number of different driving situations, then a drivers license can be issued – regardless of age: 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. Some will be ready sooner, some later, some never.

Yesterday was Monday

I didn’t get my Manic Monday Meme until this morning, so I’ll do it today.

Describe to me your favorite lounging clothes.

Sweat pants and a tee shirt

If you promised to never lie again in your lifetime, in what area would it be hardest to uphold the promise?

Answering another woman when she asks how she looks in something I think is ugly.

Give a one word answer to the question “why is life worth living”.

God

Paschal Message of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow

PASCHAL MESSAGE of His Holiness Patriarch KIRILL of Moscow and All Russia to the Archpastors, Pastors, Monastics and All Faithful Children of the Russian Orthodox Church April 19th, 2009

Dear and beloved in the Lord your graces the archpastors, the all-honourable presbytery and diaconate, God-loving monks and nuns, and all faithful children of the Church,

Christ is risen!

It is with this joyful exclamation that we now greet each other anew. Paschal rejoicing fills our hearts, for Christ’s resurrection is the foundation of a life that has conquered death, sin and corruption. We are called to relive Pascha as the triumph of life not only on this day: every Sunday reveals to us the majesty of the Saviour’s feat, liberating us from death and destroying the fetters of sin which separate man from God. Moreover, each minute of the true Christian is to be replete with Paschal joy.

‘I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live’ (John 11:25). Christ’s resurrection has granted to us genuine freedom and filled man’s existence with meaning and hope. The most important thing is that it has opened up the way to Life Eternal to every one who believes in Christ and who lives in the Church. Therefore there can be no cause for despair, despondency and fear for those who love Christ and follow him in all circumstances of their earthly path, for ‘Christ is risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept’ (1 Cor. 15:20).

The Paschal triumph of life embraces the whole world, all of divine creation, bringing it to life with grace. ‘Christ is risen, and life reigneth,’ says St. John Chrysostom in his Paschal homily. The divine gift of life, trampled upon and defiled by the falling away of the old Adam, is again revealed to us in its plenitude by Christ the new Adam.

Having communicated with the plenitude of this generous revelation of divine mercy, let us, my dear ones, value and preserve this gift. Where blood is shed and people suffer, where the image of God is trampled upon in pursuit of greed, conflict and selfishness, let us come to the defence of this image by fulfilling our Christian vocation. May our knowledge of Christ’s Truth be a firm foundation for bearing witness to the risen Christ before our neighbours and those afar so that they may find life eternal. May the Almighty Lord strengthen us in knowledge of God, in mutual love and in deeds of compassion and charity. Let us zealously endeavour to ensure that not only our individual lives but the life of all society be constructed according to God’s commandments, for it is only in fulfilling them that we will be granted the fullness and harmony of being. It is precisely in this way that we can testify to our love for God, for as he said, ‘If ye love me, keep my commandments’ (John 14:15).

In these difficult times let us reveal our Christian vocation through deeds, let us support each other so that no one feels himself humiliated, abandoned, poor or denigrated. I desire that you all strive unceasingly towards heaven in all your thoughts, actions and intentions by recalling the words of the apostle: ‘If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God’ (Col. 3:1).

Full of joy in Christ who has trampled down death and torn asunder the bonds of hell, I would in particular like to appeal to our young people faced with the broad field of labours, hopes and achievements. Before you lies the task of creating through your own endeavours the future of our nation and our Church. May the powers, talents and abilities given to you by God be used for the good of your neighbours, for the fulfillment of your vocation and for the attaining of God’s holy will.

My beloved! On this ‘chosen and holy day’ I embrace and greet each one of you, sharing my joy with all who confess the name of Christ and with each who is ready to accept into his heart the joy of the Paschal greeting:

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

[Archive #14]

Too Long!

Too long since I last posted anything here! Several friends had bad results from their blogs, and I became “leery.”

One of my DH’s friends sent this to him (it goes around the internet from time to time):

“HOW TO BE A GOOD WIFE
“Home Economics High School Text Book, 1954

“Have dinner ready. Plan ahead, even the night before, to have a delicious meal, on time. This is a way of letting him know that you have been thinking about him and are concerned about his needs. Most men are hungry when they come home and the prospect of a good meal are part of the warm welcome needed.

“Prepare yourself. Take 15 minutes to rest so that you’ll be refreshed when he arrives. Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair and be fresh-looking. He has just been with a lot of work-weary people. Be a little gay and a little more interesting. His boring day may need a lift.

“Clear away the clutter. Make one last trip through the main part of the home just before your husband arrives, gather up schoolbooks, toys, paper, etc. Then run a dust cloth over the tables. Your husband will feel he has reached a haven of rest and order, and it will give you a lift, too.

“Prepare the children. Take a few minutes to wash the children’s hands and faces (if they are small), comb their hair, and if necessary change their clothes. They are little treasures and he would like to see them playing the part.

“Minimize all noise. At the time of his arrival, eliminate all noise of the washer, dryer, dishwasher, or vacuum. Try to encourage the children to be quiet. Be happy to see him. Greet him with a warm smile and be glad he is home.

“Some don’ts: Don’t greet him with problems or complaints. Don’t complain if he is late for dinner. Count this as minor compared with what he might have gone through that day. Make him comfortable. Have him lean back in a comfortable chair or suggest he lie down in the bedroom. Have a cool or warm drink ready for him. Arrange his pillow and offer to take off his shoes. Speak in a low, soft, soothing and pleasant voice. Allow him to relax and unwind.

“Listen to him. You may have a dozen things to tell him, but the moment of his arrival is not the time. Let him talk first.

“Make the evening his. Never complain if he does not take you out to dinner or to other places of entertainment. Instead, try to understand his world of strain and pressure, his need to be home and relax.

“The Goal: Try to make your home a place of peace and order where your husband can renew himself in body and spirit. “

I remember that textbook! (Guess that dates me, hunh?) And I thought it was a bunch of hooey back then!

Well, I love my DH’s response to his friend (he copied me):

“Yeah — I’ve seen this. I prefer a companion with some brains & spunk. Any man that has to marry a maid has serious problems.”

O Joy! what a great guy!

Cheerio!
Elizabeth
Posted by Elizabeth at 6/15/2005 06:51:00 AM

Manic Monday Meme

Do you enjoy brain teasers or do you find them frustrating?

I enjoy some brain teasers, but mostly I find them boring.

Do you have any unusual collections?

Not that I can think of

What do people notice about you within the first hour of meeting you (other than appearance)?

That I talk – a lot! That’s how I got the nickname of “Windy.”

Check out Manic Monday Meme!

If – for Girls

At one time, back in the 40’s and 50’s, I had a framed copy of a poem based on Kipling’s “If.” It was called “If for Girls.”

The frame and glass got broken and the page torn, so it was thrown out. I wish I could find a copy of that again. The watercolor that accompanied it was just beautiful.

I found the poem on the web, and now have it on my computer! I share it with you:

IF – for girls

If you can hear the whispering about you
And never yield to deal in whispers, too;
If you can bravely smile when loved ones doubt you
And never doubt, in turn, what loved ones do;
If you can keep a sweet and gentle spirit
In spite of fame or fortune, rank or place,
And though you win your goal or only near it,
Can win with poise or lose with equal grace;

If you can meet with Unbelief, believing,
And hallow in your heart, a simple creed,
If you can meet Deception, undeceiving,
And learn to look to God for all you need;
If you can be what girls should be to mothers:
Chums in joy and comrades in distress,
And be unto others as you’d have the others
Be unto you – - no more, and yet no less;

If you can keep within your heart the power
To say that firm, unconquerable “No,”
If you can brave a present shadowed hour
Rather than yield to build a future woe;
If you can love, yet not let loving master,
But keep yourself within your own self’s clasp,
And not let Dreaming lead you to disaster
Nor Pity’s fascination loose your grasp;

If you can lock your heart on confidences
Nor ever needlessly in turn confide;
If you can put behind you all pretenses
Of mock humility or foolish pride;
If you can keep the simple, homely virtue
Of walking right with God – - then have no fear
That anything in all the world can hurt you – -
And – - which is more – - you’ll be a Woman, dear.
J.P. McEvoy

A bit old-fashioned, but I believe it contains a number of excellent sentiments for girls – and women – of today.

Manic Monday Meme 032209

Manic Monday Meme

Do you screen your phone calls?

Oh yeah! Very important! I do get back to people, but those 800 calls I just ignore.

When was the last time you lost your temper?

Believe it or not, it was about 30 years ago! I used to have a very volatile temper, but my Ol’ Curmudgeon worked with me to learn to control it. I may still get mad, but I don’t “lose it” the way I used to!

When you’re lost, do you ask for directions?

Of course. But I’m blessed to have “iron filings in my nose” almost like a homeing pigeon. I do very well with even skimpy directions, and if I have a map I’m killer! Love Mapquest, Yahoo maps and Google maps. Especially Google’s satellite maps that rotate into horizontal street views, rather than just aerial views.

It’s amazing how many otherwise intelligent people are totally unable to give coherent directions…