6-20-10 to 7-4-10

Last week we... did a lot of stuff.
Last Saturday was Joe's housewarming during which there were board games and tasty tasty waffles. I played code 777 for the first time and discovered, to my surprise, that I LOVE it.
Last Sunday we watched the entirety of season 3 of Breaking Bad which is, hands down, my favorite TV show.

Monday was board games which is especially notable this week: Most of you know that I have ADHD. Unless you have it, you can never quite know what this means. It affects everything I do, much of it in ways that are considered socially unacceptable and are generally difficult for those whose brains function normally to understand. I don't know why I am incapable of remembering to turn out the lights every day before I leave work or why I make seemingly careless mistakes even if I concentrate 15 times as hard and am 20 times more conscientious or why if you start talking to me about science fiction books my brain will be on the subject of donut toppings within 30 seconds. Like it or not, it just is. It's the way an ADHD brain works.
On Monday I forgot my ADHD meds and intentionally had some caffeine to at least make up for the lack of alertness. When I got to board game group my brain was a meandering, disjointed, slightly wired, easily distractable, but undeniably fun mess.
In walks one of our newer group members with his teenage son, who I very quickly learn is the same way. He had a hard time sitting still long enough for rules to be explained to him, but he very quickly picked up on the games, played them well, and had several brilliant conversations in between turns. The only time it struck me that I was not talking to someone of my own maturity level is when his dad had to redirect him a few times and when we had a brief conversation about medicine. I said that i was un-medicated that day and dad said that his son was too because he liked to take med holidays in the summer. The "boy" noted that he didn't like medications because he wasn't himself on them. When I said that he could talk to his doctor when he got older about finding something that helped him but didn't make him feel unlike himself he said something to this effect: "I'm talkative and impulsive. The meds make me who everyone else wants me to be. Not who I am." This really struck me because I sometimes work so hard on fitting in to the "real world" that I forget that it is okay sometimes to say "you know what, that's who I am, and I'm not ashamed." Yes, he did need to hear my comments about meds making it so i can function in normal life, yes he did need to hear his father's comments about his behavior and yes, he's a teenager and has a ways to go, but apparently I needed to be reminded that all quirks and kinks cannot be flattened out and that they are what makes you who you are.

Other notable events this week: painting class