So Much Time So Little To Do...strike that, reverse it

I've always loved that line from a favorite childhood movie.  First one to name that movie gets a mug of rainbows and a basket full of kittens.

Once again, miss waits-a-month-to-post has procrastinated during the busiest activity laden time of year.  

Bullets:

October:
Continued music and movement classes and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd at St. Matt's and the Village
Dad's 58th Kev's 31st bday
Danielle's 3 hr ADD testing
D's 30th birthday----SURPRISE spa day!!!  AND surprise party!!!
Halloween---Kev and I won the adult costume contest as Shrek and Fiona :)

November 
All Saints Day
ADD testing results
7th anniversary
Kathleen's first vows


Now let's flesh things out a bit, shall we?  
I've been giving music and movement classes since the beginning of October and I'm LOVING it.  Music and children are two of my greatest joys. Combine that with enthusiastic playmates and the chance for my inner child to come out and play means a good ole time.  The children and mamas seem to really enjoy it, and it gives me a chance to get back to my music while making a bit of income to help the family.


Kevin's birthday was a nice quiet affair after last year's huge surprise birthday bash.  We got together with my family and a few friends.  We feasted on Mexican shepherd's pie and homemade strawberry cheesecake, at birthday boy's request.

As I may have mentioned a few times, I've been doing a lot of self-reflection about the attention challenges I've faced throughout my life.  From the fairly innocuous (spacing out, perpetually losing important items,  misplacing things) to the more significant (daily time management, sleep trouble, not being able to work to my full potential), this has been a recurring challenge.  Though my doctor felt comfortable prescribing med outright I decided to go get ADD testing with Dr. Onkka here in South Bend.


The testing consisted of 3 hours IQ/spacial reasoning/verbal comprehension type tests.  It was actually quite interesting, and the woman who gives the tests was amiable and kind. More on this later.


So, I turned the big 3-0 on October 26th.  After a few days of pity parties and existential Bon Iver-fueled lament for youth I decided I was going to embrace the new and older Danielle.  Off I went to St. Matt's for my catechesis session.  After we wrapped up for the morning, I walked out of the cathedral center and smack into Kevin and dear Angela.

Whaaaa?????  It didn't make sense, you know, the whole worlds colliding thing?  I couldn't figure out what was going on until Angela whisked me away in her Hondafied swagger wagon to an unknown location.  Thinking we'd be meeting up with girlfrieds for lunch, you can imagine my surprise, shock and tears when we pulled up to a salon.

And Ang told me I would spend the next FIVE hours there.
I just about kissed her feet, people!


My friends and family all pitched in so that I could enjoy a facial (my first), a cut and color, mani/pedi and makeup application.  Ang brought me sushi for lunch, I was basically the only client the whole day (Wed. being a slow day), and I became bffs with my stylists Andra and Liz.

Then, as if it wasn't enough, I arrived (quite late) to my sister's for my birthday dinner only to find a houseful of my peeps and a spread of delish goodies.  To say I was surprised and deeply love is a major understatement.

Kevin's present to me was him donning  a pair of mom jean shorts.  Can't you just see the gratitude?

It was a perfect day and a perfect way to kick off my 30s.  To all my dear ones who made it so special, you know I love you!!

 
The late party crowd:

Halloween followed on the heels of my birthday, and the Haleys went as Shrek and Fiona, a dragon and a pirate.  The Village goes all out with pumpkin carving, then a Harvest party the following day complete with bluegrass band, petting zoo, horse-drawn carriage and costume contest.  Kev and I won for the adult age group!

"I'm a gonna get you Jacob...."

 One of my favorite feasts in our church year is All Saints.  I have always loved the saints, gobbling up the stories and books as a child, especially the lives of the martyrs.  Always one for the macabre, I stood and stand in awe of a faith so full of life that one willingly walks to death for it.  

I imagine on Nov. 1st, the saints dance and sing and flitter about our liturgies, in communion with us.  Encouraging and interceding, they are conduits of grace and hope that we will be together in the flesh, in the Eucharist and ultimately in eternity.

 A few days later, I received the results of my ADD testing.  I demonstrated highly superior capacity in verbal comprehension, hand-eye activities, memory and other related realms.  However, there was discrepancy between that and my spatial reasoning and mathematical skills.  This disconnect has been evident throughout my life, but I've always regarded myself as math dumb, or just dumb in general.  So you can imagine my surprise when Dr. Onkka said I have a functioning IQ of 140.  

Hmm...maybe I'm not so dumb.   :)   

He explained that people with ADD are typically analogical thinkers as opposed to linear.  Basically,  I think in big picture terms trying to see how everything fits together.  This presents a challenge in a traditional school environment that it is not necessarily conducive to cross-disciplinary study.  Instead of following a proof or formula, I want to know why we do it a certain way, who discovered said formula and how it applies to daily life, just for example.


Here are some interesting articles on analogical thinking:

http://eideneurolearningblog.blogspot.com/2005/05/power-of-analogical-thinking.html

 http://webhost.bridgew.edu/adirks/ald/papers/analog.htm
http://www.winstonbrill.com/bril001/html/article_index/articles/1-50/article6_body.html

http://www.jfsowa.com/pubs/analog.htm


I'm thinking and praying about the doctor's recommendation of a fast-release psycho-stimulant such as Ritalin.  Being a controlled substance, I am wary of introducing such a mind-altering chemical into my body.  However, I do know I need to make some changes to improve my ability to process the onslaught of duties each day and the time-management that my brain just can't wrap itself around.  I'm thankful for those who have already shared their experiences, and welcome any others!

Mmmk, almost caught up.  Nov. 6th was our 7th anniversary and we celebrated with a late lunch at Uptown Kitchen (thank God for grandmas and hoarded gift cards), and then a snuggly evening with the kiddos.  
As per our tradition, we watched much of our wedding video with the four of us piled atop the couch singing/crying/smiling along.  You know what our Jacob said, "This is so much fun..."

 Love that kid....

Today, my sister-in-law Kathleen took her first vows as a Carmelite.  She was given her habit (with a beautiful crown of flowers) and her new name: Sr. Josephine Rose of Divine Mercy.  Though Jacob and I were not able to go, Kevin and Ceci joined many other members of the Haley and Grimes families to celebrate the momentous occasion.  Kathleen's commitment inspires great hope in our hearts, as her daily life is a testament to God's pervasive pursuit of us.  Though the selfish corners of my heart want to whisk her away, or crawl through the tiny hole and curl up in her arms, I slowly but surely surrender to the beauty of her fiat, reveling in the peace it exudes.

So much more to share, but sleepy eyes prevent me from doing so.  Please bear with the following photo dump, and---I promise I will try my best to post at least once in the next week.   Baby steps, right?

Oh, one last thing, as people have asked.  Weight Watchers is still going well and Simone and I are etching away at the couch to 5k.  As I'm not a natural runner, this will likely be the extent of my running career.  You marathoners are amazing!


Adieu, mon cherie.

 LOVVVVVVE this one of Ceci and her "Ollila," aka Oliver.