Gifted AND Talented

For those of you that don't know, I was recently diagnosed with ADHD. I have had it all of my life and to find out so late in life is rare but not unheard of. As I look back at my childhood under the light of this new knowledge I have started to have so many things that I have done or not done make sense. School was always difficult for me. I had a hard time meeting deadlines and finishing projects. I remember having my parents come in to meet with the kindergarten teacher and she pulled out my bin which was full of half-made projects. It was a bumpy start and I always had teachers point out my obvious under achievement. It wasn't that I was stupid I just had a hard time seeing things through.

One year in elementary school my teacher decided that I was too distracted and was having too much trouble getting my assignments in on time and that I should go to the remedial class for an hour a day for a week to see if that would help me to become a better student. This group was called "gifted and talented." Now I don't know what made anyone think that it was a good idea to take me out of my class and put me in a room with 4 misfits from the other classes in my same grade and then have us talk through our feelings. It wasn't like I was disturbing other children in my daydreams and it was like the teachers were saying, "You are having trouble doing your work so we are going to send you to a class for an hour where you wont have to do any work at all." It is just like suspending someone for ditching too. "You don't want to go to class? Here! Have a whole day off...that'll teach him a lesson." (I was never suspended...just thought it was funny that it was the punishment for ditching too much.) :) So anyways, I hated being in Gifted and Talented, I felt like I was a misfit too because I was there. I wasn't slow. I wasn't bad. In fact, I was a very smart child who just had a neurological disorder that made it hard to do assignments.

I was telling Estee about being in the remedial class called "gifted and talented" and she asked if I was sure that was the remedial class. Apparently she got placed in the "gifted and talented" class at her school. Fortunately for her it was really for the gifted and talented children and instead of sitting around in a room with the misfits talking about why someone punched that kid at lunch and how we felt about being abandoned at birth by our fathers, she actually got to do fun, exciting things with all the smart kids at her school, that is really where I would have excelled and I could never understand why I didn't get to do those types of things...I guess it was because of all of my emotional problems from my poor upbringing. (that was sarcasm my parents were awesome.) Do I sound bitter?...I hated that class!

The funny thing was that my mother was so proud of me for being in gifted and talented for a week and I didn't have the heart to tell her it wasn't really a class for the "gifted" and "talented." Unless stealing lunch money from little kids is considered a talent now.

Finding out that I have ADHD was one of the most, if not the most, life changing things that has ever happened to me. I used to cry out of frustration because of the the unexplainable failure I faced every day. You cannot imagine unless you go through it, the agony of feeling like you will never amount to anything while having the intelligence to understand exactly what that means. I cry now with joy as I begin treatment for this disorder and realize what I can become. I hope that more people will become aware of Attention Deficit Disorder so that many more children wont have to go through what I did. I don't blame anyone, there is no one to blame. My parents and teachers were just trying to do their best with what they knew.

Action Names

A few weeks ago I challenged a friend of mine, named Camille, to a duel of whit. We decided to find all the people 's names we could think of that are also verbs. At first we only found three but upon more pondering about it we came up with a huge list of names that are also verbs. Here is the list we have so far. About half of them came from Estee after i told her about the game...firmly placing her in the lead. She is good at this game.

Mary - We are getting married.
Josh - Just joshing you. (as in joking)
Nick - He nicked me with the razor.
Bob - I bobbed for apples.
Phil - I will fill your glass.
Ralph - I think i am going to ralph after eating your lasagna.
Taylor - I got fat and now i have to tailor my pants.
Snoop - Stop snooping around my apartment, CREEPO!
DJ - I am djing the party tonight.
Joey or Joy - I am going to joy in your misery.
Barry - I will bury the hatchet.
Carey - I will carry your burdens.
Briggit - See that gap? you should bridge it.
Bear - I will bare my teeth.
Wade - I will wade through the waist deep water.
Sue - I am going to sue your butt.
Terry - Don't tarry here too long, you will get busted for loitering.
Chuck - I am going to chuck this old pizza out.
Tuck - Will you tuck me in to my bed tonight?
Buck - The horse bucked me off.
Jack - That dude just jacked my car!
Gage - It is hard to gauge how awesome i am.
Jet - i have to jet.
Tell - I am going to tell mom!
Rock - I will rock you!
Tan - I am going to tan the leather.
Cher - I will share my food with you.
Bill - Bill me later.
Rob - Don't rob the bank.
Huck - I hucked the log into the river.
Chip - I chipped the glass
Will - I will.

Honorable mention:
Pete - First i peated then RE-peated the third grade...eh? eh? i am hilarious!
Sire - I know it isn't a name but it is a title and it is a funny verb...look it up.

If you have anything to add to this list please feel free to comment i have had a lot of fun coming up with these with my friends.

The Fall

So today I ran my first half marathon ever. I haven't been in shape for the last 2 years of my life but, notwithstanding, last minute decided to run it with a friend of mine. At the very start she told me to feel free to leave her behind. Even though she was in better shape her legs are about half the length of mine. At around Mile 4 the marathon runners were split from the half-marathon runners. They had us "halfies" turn around and run back along the same road we had just run down only on the other side of the median so that no one tried to skip a few hundred yards to boost their time. As I am running I catch a glimpse of Estee and decide it would be a great idea to yell her name and wave. As i did so she heard and turned her head to look and wave back. Unfortunately the turning of her head coincided with her running into a sign. She narrowly missed hitting her head but tripped over the base and fell to the ground. Luckily she was alright but i can't help but smile and think about how this girl is straight out of the movie Pure Luck with Martin Short. It is a nineties film about a couple who are extremely accident prone and they lose each other because of accidents and end up finding each other by accident again. Its not a great movie but when you see it happen in real life it is pretty funny. I am sure you will see more blog entries about Estee's Antics. Anyways, the half marathon was fun. Definitely a good experience and I am glad i did it.