Friday is NOT the New Wednesday

I am so frustrated that I am still trying to figure out how to get a cohesive blog post written the day after the post was promised. It would be nice to say it’s not my fault, but I feel that would be enabling, so I’m not going there.

There are, however, mitigating factors affecting my ability to get these posts out, and personal as they may be, I feel like I can do more good by sharing than keeping my mouth shut. Along the way to preparing for today’s post, I discovered several things to keep things moving. So what you get for today is a list with a plan.

What the hail is wrong with me:

• Adulting with ADHD.

Approximately 80% of all adults with ADHD are undiagnosed. Technically, that includes me. I figured it out nearly 30 years ago, but I have never asked for a diagnostic screening.

• Chronic Vestibular Migraines.

These are migraines accompanied by vertigo; more specifically they are migraines preceded by vertigo. More recently, they are preceded by excessive ear-ringing. A physical therapist added a second diagnosis–cervicogenic migraines. These are brought on by bad posture affecting a very old neck injury from early adolescence.

• Access to reliable cybersecurity.

In the past, I had a combination of Norton and McAfee. Moving made money tighter than ever, so when it came time to renew, I let it lapse. This resulted in a computer virus requiring money to repair. My son-in-law loaned me his laptop, but his security has run out too. I am worried about infecting the borrowed laptop, so I am limited to time at the library when I am feeling good enough to be there.The money situation will get better soon, but it could be a couple of weeks or a couple of months.

• Epiphanies took me down a research rabbit hole.

I was so excited to find my beginning, that I put my research links on whatever file I was working on so I ended up with several timelines in several different folders. I have spent the last two weeks finding my links and putting them into one timeline and revising my bibliography. I was sure I’d be done by now, but I can’t always make it to the library and there’s more to be done than the preceeding factors will allow.

What I plan to do about it:

• Adulting with ADHD.

It’s time to take this bully by the horns. Yes, I meant bully. I have several helpful ways to manage this, but our recent move has compounded the problem making my life management skills look like my research calendars for Mary Davis Skeen. I am organizing everything into a website so I can access it all in one place. Hopefully my progress and insights will help others dealing with similar situations, including marriage on the autism spectrum.

• Migraines

I am already managing them well enought to get four hours a day of pain and fog free work in. I’ll be sharing my solutions on my new website.

• Cybersecurity

This is a money issue, and super uncomfortable talking about it. Suffice it to say that it has to do with all of the above with a spouse on the autism spectrum thrown into the mix,

ADHD and chronic migraines are a huge handicap to job performance and autism compounds the focus on financial discipline. I anticipate a personal budget plan and a home management page on my new website will help.

We’ll get a new PC or fix the old one when we get our tax returns. Cybersecurity and site based training will be included with that.

• The goll-danged rabbit hole.

You might have noticed that StoriesFromThePast.com is in a bit of disarray. I hadn’t looked at it for a while and I noticed that I have 25 unfinished blog posts waiting to be finished. Several of them are from my missing travel report when I visited Austria in 2019. That was just a few weeks before I lost control of my migraines.

Besides the Austria reports, I am still working on landing pages related to family stories from the past including all family stories I have been working on besides my own.

On the days when I don’t have enough progress for a post on The Second Wife’s Story or my Dad’s biography, I will complete one of my daily reports from my Austrian trip and have it ready for that Wednesday.

Looking at all my other projects, I have renewed the idea of a monthly newsletter. The first Wednesday of every month will be a newsletter updating my progress on my dad’s autobiography, The Second Wife’s Story and landing pages of all other family history projects I am updating. This includes Mary Damron’s story and any other family stories I encounter along the way.

Yay!