Who ME?!

I am trying to keep my blogs shorter (and more meaningful)...a tip from one of the sessions I attended at the symposium. They didn't say you couldn't just do two in a row instead, so here I am again! I arrived home late last night due to a delay in Denver, and road construction here that brought the freeway down to one lane. However, it did give Taryn more night time driving experience and we can now check off driving in traffic too. She is ready to go get her permit replaced with the real deal!

Today was the first day of school for the kids' and it was very hard for all of us to get moving. It wasn't an easy day for anyone except Gib. Gotta love those laid-back guys. Not having to do hair and make-up helps too. I also had class today....like I didn't get enough of workshops last week! It was for the preschool but in actuality, I chose the class - Sensory Integration Dysfunction - because I just KNEW I'd be learning about me. I'm not gonna lie - love that phrase - if there was a "poster-adult" for this disorder I'd be her!!! When it comes to auditory, tactile, and visual stimulation I hit overload in a matter of minutes. Classic example: The occupational therapist who was giving the presentation had a lovely jingly bracelet made up of large discs. The first 5 minutes it was ok - well, maybe the first 2 or 3, but you know, I was raised to be polite. By 10, I had to comment to a coworker sitting next to me that it was driving me crazy. She agreed, as did my other co-worker next to her. The lady was very much a hand-talker and she moved that bracelet up down, left, right, in circles, constantly! I wondered to my coworkers if it was a test, and I didn't want to be the one to break first. They clearly weren't willing to say anything either. Somewhere between 15-20 minutes, after not hearing a word she was saying, muttering to myself and trying really hard to focus (unsuccessfully), my hands started shaking, I couldn't breathe, and my hand shot in the air, she called on me and I go, "I am soooo sorry, but your bracelet....I can't concentrate on what you're saying...it's sending me over the edge!!" Everybody laughed, except I don't think my boss did (lol); 4 people thanked me privately during the break, and the commentator said that it wouldn't be a good bracelet to wear to work. I guess it wasn't a test after all. How embarrassing. It took a good 5-10 minutes for calm to return although I was able to hear and process the information given right away. I spoke with the lady afterwards, apologized again...but I don't think even if I wanted to be, I would ever make her top 100 favorite audience people list. Oh well, I'll never see her again, but the memory of that jingle-jangle-jingle-jangle-JINGLE-JANGLE!!!!!! will take a long time for me to forget! My 5 co-workers who were there will no doubt remind me of it often.

If you google Jean Ayres, the commentator said she got most of her material from her, and I have a list of websites and books if anyone is interested. You always knew there was something weird about me....now you know why!!