I guess my icon this time should be a sheepish grin (I'm not sure which that is). This posting is about the aftermath of making my last posting. You may remember that about six years ago I was diagnosed as ADD. That would be consistent with my cluelessness regarding time management and priorities.
I came out of the basement, where my computer is, to discover two angry, glowering women (my wife and our 18-year-old daughter). It was 7 pm. They expected dinner to be served, and I hadn't even started. Nor had I cleared and set the dining room table. Fridays (Sabbaths) I make roast potatoes and chicken and sauteed garlic spinach.
It turned out well, though. We ate in a small, quiet, local Italian restaurant that serves excellent and authentic food (and I promised to make the chicken for tonight's Patriot game--don't let me forget!). The talk was important covering many of the issues in our lives.
At one point, when the daughter lamented the passing of her birthday, my wife said the entire month of January was her birthday-girl month, until February which is my wife's birthday-girl month. I asked which was my birthday-girl month, and they turned on me, saying "You don't get a birthday-girl month." That led to a discussion of my weirdness. It felt great to talk about it openly.
Finally, they agreed to share a dessert. My wife wondered if it would be too much, and my daughter responded: "That's why we bring Dad along--to eat what we can't." And that is one reason I need to keep working at UPS.
Celebrate our strangeness (and keep kids alive and lively),
Simone