The Most ADHD Things of September '24

It's time to have fun whilst raising ADHD awareness! I'm joined by my husband 'Big' to read @adhdafpodcast follower's 'Most ADHD Thing' entries of last month. Each Saturday I ask on socials 'What is the most ADHD thing you've done this week?' to encourage listeners to connect for Peer Support, to laugh at the things that would usually make us cry, to raise ADHD awareness, break the stigma and to eradicate the shame so many of carry after a lifetime of unidentified ADHD.

Please note that ADHD presents differently in every individual and SELF DIAGNOSIS IS VALID, and in a system so broken you could be waiting the best part of a decade for life changing - and in many cases - life saving diagnosis and treatment, it bloody well has to be!  Lean into the community and drop that shame!

It's ALMOST ADHDAF DAY! We invite you to join us online THIS FRIDAY: 25th Oct for the THIRD ANNUAL ADHDAF DAY! In which we paint the world leopard print to raise ADHD Awareness. Simply wear at least one leopard print item on 25/10/24 to stand in solidarity with the leopard print army and post a selfie or video on your socials sharing the special message you want the world to know about ADHD, then tag @adhdafpodcast and #ADHDAFDay and I will reshare your messages for the world to see and hear us at a time of ADHD diagnosis crisis and medication shortages.

TW:  mentions of toilet mishaps memory issues, self worth issues, harsh critiques, accidental injury, menty b's, loud laughter and too-muchness.

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BIG LOVE & GRATITUDE  Hope to see you online in Leopard Print on Friday!
LEOPARD PRINT ARMY!
Laurax

Transcript

 So the full moon absolutely has had my pants down for about three days now. I'm so exhausted, I can't even think straight. How are you? Yeah, yeah, I'm tired.  I don't know why, I shouldn't be, but I am. Yeah, it's the full moon. There's been a lot going on though as well. Full moon fuckery is afoot. Yeah. So it is that time of the month again.

Oh, actually, I don't mean that.  I mean, it's time for the ultimate shame eradication segment of ADHD AF podcast. It's the most ADHD things of September. I'm joined by my glamorous assistant. Hello. Bonjour. Introduce yourself. I'm Big. Jonathan. Oh, Jonathan. Jonathan. Jonathan, that's it. That's how they say it here.

Even though I've got an A on the end of it. Don't go away. I'm not going anywhere. Thank you. So we are, so we are in France.  At Jonathan's parents, we're recording the most ADHD things in a, yeah, different environment. This is the first time we've recorded together here on Francais. It is. It is ADHD Awareness Month.

The theme for this month is awareness is key. What the most ADHD thing episodes about has always been ADHD awareness and about breaking the stigma, opening people's eyes to the ridiculous situations that ADHD can end up getting us into. in. Each week on a Saturday, I put a post up asking what is the most ADHD thing you've done this week to get followers of ADHD AF podcast to speak to each other, to support each other.

And I take all of the entries each month. Can't always fit all of them in. But share some of our favorites to help raise ADHD awareness and to let people know that they are not alone in these ridiculous situations. One of my favorite things about the creation of the most ADHD things is when somebody gets themselves in a pickle, the most ridiculous of capers that ensue, that normally would just be heaped on that stack of shame that all of us have been dragging around all our life, not knowing that we have ADHD and just thinking that we're not good enough.

Irresponsible, et cetera, et cetera. They tell me that they were just about to have a meltdown and then they realized it was their most ADHD thing. And even if they weren't able to laugh about it in that moment, it did eradicate the shame and they remembered to go and write it down on one of the most ADHD posts on socials and yeah, we all get to benefit from it.

So it's a, it's a good thing. It's a special thing for the community of ADHDF podcast listeners. If you are thinking to yourself, well,  I do this or that, I don't see why that's the most ADHD thing,  all of us will experience ADHD like symptoms, whatever kind of neurotype you are, but it's the frequency, the severity, and the impact that it's having on your life.

Some of us will experience these symptoms, not just multiple times a day, but just Reoccurring throughout the day, back to back. And once again, it is all about self identification. So if somebody sees this as their most A DH, D thing, it's the most a D, H, D thing to them. No two people experience a, D, H, D in the same way. 

And what else? I was gonna say something else then I forgot what it was.  But at least I'm on brand. Let's go. Let's go. Okay. Donna Donny Good, our Donna on Facebook says when working with my colleague and good friend, I lost a few things in my bag during the short period together, showing him how frustrated I get and how long it takes to find these items, keys, purse, reading glasses on a daily basis.

Seen it in real time. Kirstie Kirstie Mason. I was up on time. I was on top of things, fed the cats. I fed those cats, haven't I? You have, we fed the cats. We fed the cats, they're lovely cats. Ate a banana, showered, did my face care, had some time, so did a couple of urgent things on Insta and replied to folks.

Was about ready to leave. Still was in dressing gown and hair. Up in hair, banned from washing face, panic mode and chewed and was out of sync all day. What the actual fuck? My dressing gown is a bright yellow Pikachu Pikachu Pikachu. How'd you get him on a bus?  Pokemon,  right? Sorry. So these are from Instagram kitty thing.

I can't remember if I have a different pair of work shoes or not. I think I do, but I don't know where they are or what they look like. Oh, wow. Magical Work Shoes, let us know. Um,  Eleanor Amy Wilkinson. Today was my most ADHD day. Oh, I don't know where to begin. Not remembering to shut doors at work. Not thinking about that when you put a bench down to fix a door.

You can't use the door to get into said place as a surprise. And then not knowing your body in the space when you are performing. And so when you run with a broken leg. Puppet and you have a mic pack. Hate it when that happens. Oh my God, this is insane. What do you do, ? This is . Very interesting. Turns out when you don't fix it to something, it tends to fall off.

My executive function steps in and my brain didn't wanna work today, and that's okay. That is okay. It happens to us all. Red punk social. Oh, I love this one. Oh god, they've been random. This. Found a lettuce leaf in my pocket, which had been in there from when I was in the garden hours earlier. I can vouch for the fact she sent me a picture of the lettuce leaf in her pocket.

Found the dishcloth in the fridge. Being up since 3am, caught up in many, many side quests this morning instead of doing what I was meant to, like organizing the laundry cupboard, painting, feeding a stray cat, hanging artwork, oiling all the wood, furniture in the house, and lord knows what else, because it's 8pm and I can't remember.

Today has been long. It is long day. Abby Lash Brook, I went on a few runs, emphasis on the few part because I was procrastinating buying my gym membership yesterday. I signed up for a half marathon in a week. It's on Sunday  . I'm just trying, sorry. I'm just starting to think this was a silly idea, but we'll do it anyways as it's for a good cause.

Wish me luck. Good luck. Luck, luck. That's amazing. Two weeks ago, we hope the half hour. Oh yeah. Tell, let us know how it went. I'd be last book, let know. Ingrid Devlin 83. I did have a significantly larger than usual number of bruises of unknown origin this week. But one thing I remember doing, because it was today, was this.

I had to sand a piece of wood about 50 by 60 centimeters. It was raining, so I thought I can do it inside if I keep the Hoover nozzle right next to the sanding machine. And so I did. I sanded the front and back of the panel with the Hoover nozzle close to it. When I was done, I realized, The hoover was still turned off.

Oh no. Hester ADHD put the wrong postcode in for a mattress delivery. Swore blindly it was their mistake. Definitely their fault. Told them their drop down menu was the problem as my address obviously had the wrong postcode. Turns out there is no drop down address option. So I did it wrong. Now don't get the mattress for another day.

I had to pay 30 for the privilege. For fuck's sake. Yes, uh, yeah, I feel that. Ian dot Hepworth came out of the post office and got really cross because the central locking on my car wasn't working. I was wiggling the handle trying to get it get in when I realized the handle felt funny. I then realized that the car I was trying to open wasn't mine.

It was white and it had four wheels, but it was an entirely different make and model to mine. Brilliant. taught you vital, ignored all studies and felt guilty.  Well, don't, it's okay. It's okay. And that's the thing. That's why the lazy stereotype never holds up. Because if you were relaxing and having a lovely, lazy old time to yourself, you would be relaxing and enjoying yourself.

But instead it's paralysis because you're either procrastinating or you're literally stuck. Well, Both amount to the same thing, but it's definitely not fun. No, and we're definitely not lazy. Miss Melly, not smelly listening to the most A DHD things of August. Got super excited when you read mine out. Hope you're excited again.

Continue listening, thinking, man, I've heard these before. How have I heard these before? It was driving me crazy. Then I realized I had read all the comments on the posts.  , L nine Din. Found my phone in the fridge. Boom. Brilliant. The Warrior Tales of Santana shouted out, Take a shot! When the other co chair said, And if anyone talks about environmentalism or climate change, Of my eco community organisation.

Brilliant. Torti Vitae got really mad and upset, Knowing I'm on a three year wait for diagnosis. Oh god. Telling my partner I can't live like this anymore. Major meltdowns. Then boom, period. Hit. And apparently it wasn't the end of the world after all. It wasn't the end of the world after all. Still very shit though, lovely.

I hope that time flies and you've got support in the meantime.  Barefoot Becky, running late to drop my four year old at ballet and managed to do a perfect parallel park in one go. Was just telling my partner how I should get an award for my excellent parking skills when he pointed out that I had in fact parked across someone's driveway.

Damn it. A neurodivergent individual. Feeling a bit rubbish, I turn to one of my safe foods for dinner. It involved cooking three things. Breaded chicken, rice, peppercorn sauce. With my brain operating at an even lower capacity than normal, I focus as hard as possible to make sure I didn't fuck anything up.

When everything was cooked, I went to serve up. I cooked the wrong drawer. In my air fryer, and the frozen chicken was still frozen.  I understand that reference now, because, well, we finally used an air fryer. Yeah, we used one. We're late to the party, aren't we? What sorcery is this, eh? It's magic, isn't it?

Yeah. Nev Lobo, The Adventures Of. Book cinema tickets for Beetlejuice on Friday, turn up to the cinema in Hull, only to realise I'd booked for the cinema in Barrow, two hours away. Luckily, it was showing at the same time in Hull. Oh. Well, at least you got to see it because we went to see it at the cinema and we loved it.

It was brilliant. Malakoti Legadala. Lost my bank card, got a new one two weeks ago. Oh no.  Steve Weave. Oh, I wonder if it's Stevie Weavey. I think it  could be Stevie Weavey. Well, anyway, either way, this lovely person says, Getting ready to leave the house to walk the dog, I unlocked the front door on the inside, but then realised I'd forgotten the dog treats.

Got those, but then couldn't find the keys. Looked upstairs and everything, finally noticed them still in the door where I'd left them. Frustrating. Ah, I feel your pain. Yeah. Uh, kate.  kwssr. I put my iPhone into the washing machine with my clothes. Oh no. I realize it half an hour into the washing cycle. I bought the phone three months ago and well, they ain't cheap.

Took it out. Everything works perfectly. So it's ADHD resistant. Won't change the brand. Yes. I've been dropping mine a lot this week. I keep just throwing mine at the floor for no good reason. Again, let's blame the moon. Maz.  Poke, drop my purse outside KFC after eating alone, may I add, which I was so proud of.

Anyway, I didn't realise my purse was even gone until two days later, and even on the day I was due to go and collect it, I still forgot. How is that even possible? Oh God. Oh, this one's having a mare. Small bohemian ferret. I dropped my hot chocolate in the bath.  No!  Okay, so these are from Discord. Discord.

Discord. So we keep those anonymous. So these are the ADHD  AF peer support community, who you can hear many of in the most recent ADHD Awareness Month special episodes. So, I've been meaning to put this here for a week, but anyway. Last week, I didn't go pick up my bike at the metro station because it was raining.

And the next morning, I couldn't find my bike keys. I had just lost them about six weeks or so ago, and had to order new ones. All the legends on Morning Body Doubling were there with me, and I found my keys inside my unlocked bike, and it was still there! After a day at a busy metro stop, that was beyond lucky.

It didn't keep me from leaving the fucking keys in the fucking lock while I was at the supermarket less than two days later, though, because the stupid lock works in the way that you need to keep the keys in it to drive, but take them out to lock it. To quote, or perhaps misquote, because I can't remember things, who in the neurotypical fuck invented this system?

Absolutely.  Uh, it's my wife's birthday. She wanted me to bake some cupcakes and shortbread, which I started to do. At the same time, the cupcakes needed 180 milliliters of milk and 60 grams of butter. So I proceeded to add the 180 grams of butter and no milk.  The mixture looked weird. Of course it looked weird.

Realized my mistake. Fuck. Okay, so I will make up three whole batches. All good. Tip it all into the mixer. It's too much, guys. Mixer did not want to mix. So I used a hand mixer. All good, right? Yep. Anyway, so I'm baking them all in the oven. I forgot to set a timer. I burnt them. Also, the oven was set too high.

I have a fan oven and did not correct it. Fuck. So I binned it all and cried. No more ingredients for more cake or cupcakes. Long story short, I made some really nice shortbread today. I don't know why there was also two cake tins and a muffin tray that required washing. Weird. I'm not un I'm not at the laughing stage yet.

Well, neither am I, and that wasn't me laughing.  Well, we hope you're at laughing stage now. And it's the effort that counts and wonderful shortbread. There are wins to that story. Sometimes I think I'm not that ADHD. To then have been bought a nice bag today to only leave it by accident outside. Walked past it, not once, but twice, and my flatmate was like, Oh, that looks like your bag.

And I go into it, and from the contents, I'm like, Yeah, how did that happen? Just arriving home earlier without my bag. Lol. Empty water bottle and hydration fizzy thing, so nothing of value worth taking. Lol. Oh goodness. Slowly tidying room, splitting hoarded tat from crafting into new boxes, acquisition to help with this task.

Getting into bedroom, already an issue now as filled boxes are by the door. Also can't face getting boxes up to the loft, which has been cleared at least to accommodate. Of course I know these boxes are here, I'm stepping around the boxes. But, last night, stepping became tripping and smashing face, oh no!

And a bruised eye of the sort that raises questions in public. What a mistake. Oh, goodness me. Uh, so when asked what on earth happened to you, the reply would be, I happened to me, me. Injured by intention and mishap and ADHD. Will these boxes get into the loft today? Ha, as if. Oh, bless you. Sorry about that, that's awful.

We hope that you are healed. Yeah. Are the boxes in the loft? Talking to my 15 year old daughter and she disclosed that she liked a boy. On further probing, it turns out it is her dad's very recent ex girlfriend's son, who she met a few weeks ago. I laughed and said, that could be awkward if you get married, meaning my ex husband having two exes at the wedding.

She said, on both sides, as you went out with his dad. I remember his dad from school, but I have absolutely no recollection of going out with him. I have even asked my best friend from school, who confirms that I did indeed date him at school. Must have been very short lived, as I cannot put Any memory of this, which is unusual for me.

I am normally pretty good at these bits of random information. Gosh, that would be an awkward wedding, wouldn't it? It would be an awkward wedding. Do you know what? That is quite a common trait. The amount of people that I speak to that are like, I cannot remember anything from school. Yeah, I'm, yeah, I'm pretty close to that.

I can, I can remember loads of stuff for some reason. You have that memory, don't you, of all sorts of stuff like that, yeah. Yeah, but not useful, immediate things. No. Uh, so, oh, it's your go, sorry. The problem of having to hide the iPad from the child in a different place every night is that you need to remember where it's hidden.

I cannot. Things I've forgotten today to collect child from school to put with it. To put wheelie bin out about an appointment tonight about an appointment tomorrow that I've made as a stupid  time for us Why the fuck is the fucking iPad? Oh, I'm with you. Yeah, where the fuck is my fucking jewelry? Oh gosh.

Yeah. Well, I do not know where my jewelry is It will turn up one day I promise I haven't hidden it well  Not got a great track record on this podcast. No. Tell it to the judge. I'm hoping it'll just turn up on a cushion in the middle of the room later. That's what happened, isn't it? You're not supposed to do it to me too!

No, I know. Right, go on. Oh, it's me. Uh, Saturday evening, poured out two glasses of water to take up to bed for myself and my partner in case we get thirsty in the night. Alright, I'd had a couple of beers but I definitely wasn't drunk. Told partner I would take the glasses upstairs, went upstairs, picked up a magazine and was flicking through it.

A few minutes later he comes upstairs and says, Did you bring the water up? I look around and can't see it on either bedside table and also don't notice that he's carrying two glasses of water because I completely forgot about them. Luckily he saw the funny side. Well I knocked the bloody glass of water off the side this morning.

Smashed. At 4am. Yeah. It's always when I'm trying to be quiet,  clatter her out. Whoop, going on holiday. We packed finally. So far today I have locked both me and my partner out of the flat and had to have the landlord drive round, gave my cat mouldy treats by accident, made us two hours late to leave and accidentally set fire to the restaurant menu.

Oh no! And this is day zero. Not even at the bloody airport yet. We're only at the airport hotel. I am a complete liability. And should probably check that travel insurance covers rampant ADHD. Oh bless you. We hope you had an amazing trip. I rarely go out but my granddaughter had a birthday and wanted to go shopping as a birthday treat.

During our break for lunch, she said she was desperate to go to the loo. Needed to go myself, and we went to the toilet block. I was leading, and gravity was taking over, so I rushed into the toilet and sat down to do my business. No, not paperwork.  Being an older woman. Once finished, I decided to re pad up, but I had forgotten my handbag which was still beside our table.

I called my granddaughter and asked her to go get it for me, explaining why I needed it. The dutiful girl she is. I heard her leave the toilet block. A little while later, I heard the door open again. Clearly she had returned with my bag. Imagine my embarrassment when I heard a man's voice apologise for taking so long, because he did not know which table I was sat at and had to ask for my handbag.

Five other groups before he found the right one. He then pushed the tenor pad under the door, saying that he did not think it was appropriate to ask complete strangers for my handbag, so had asked them to get the pad out of it. I had entered the men's toilets and had not noticed the urinals on the wall.

My granddaughter, being much more observant, had gone to the ladies. Wow,  that is, uh, Yeah, but what an, what an experience.  Just showed up to my psychiatrist's appointment a week early. It's correct in my calendar, and I wondered why they hadn't sent a usual reminder, but instead of trusting that and double checking in my calendar, I just trusted what was in my mind.

Why would I ever do that? It's beyond me. Oh God, I hear you. Yeah.  I asked the morning body doubling group how long to cook my chicken. They did the maths and I went, it says math actually because she's American, but it just didn't come out right. And when I took it out, it looked burnt to the core, like all dark meat.

Well, turns out I'd bought a baby duck and not chicken.  I hope it was delish. The best, yeah. Um, the most ADHD.  thing I have ever done in my life was to fill up the water tank in my mobile home with diesel. Oh no. I wondered why I ran out of fuel half an hour later. I phoned my husband to tell him there must be a leak because I just filled up with 80 quid of fuel.

While waiting for help to arrive, I made myself a hot drink with the water from the tank. I had no idea. Oh my god, you nearly drank hot diesel. Oh goodness. 

On a long car journey, my husband was putting air in the tyre and I was putting water into the water sprayer. Whilst trying to put the water hose back onto the holder, accidentally squeezed the trigger and sprayed my husband's back and pants with cold water. Watched with horror while it dripped down his bum.

Lovely husband though, he still drove me to Nottingham to see my family. That's good of you. Managed to book a non refundable hotel room a year in advance instead of the same day  when we found out after I arrived in Glasgow and tried to check in. Oh no! No!  Just discovered lurking at the back of my wardrobe was a single shoe last worn to the first ADHDF  London event.

The other shoe never made it home. Clearly, I optimistically left it in the wardrobe in a bag for 18 months hoping its pal would return. Ha! Ha! It was on coaching session, came downstairs and my lovely husband had tidied and hoovered the lounge. Went to work the next day, came home and forgotten about it.

Walked in the house and I was like, oh he's tidied up. Sometimes forgetting things is nice. Was emptying the tumble dryer and found some favourite PJ Bottoms in there. I decided to put them on. Got my legs stuck and started hopping around the kitchen, hopped into the open full dishwasher, not emptied, Mondays, obviously, and fell into the corner.

Big bruise, skin off, bruised ego. Ouchie. My bathroom is in a different time and space consortium than wherever else. I went into it last night again and came out after five minutes, but nearly an hour had passed outside. All I did was pee and take my meds and forgot to wash. That's the most relatable post of the day.

That is the most relatable. That's what happens to you, isn't it?  I was trying to get the replacements at 10 p. m. I was Frank Marvin and pooped I got the cheese from the fridge and sliced his I put cheese back into the fridge I looked at the grater and remembered I had not done mine Got cheese out of the fridge and sliced it looked at it for a while and wondered what was wrong Couldn't figure it out.

So put cheese back into fridge Then I realised, so I got the cheese out of the fridge and put the slices back in the packet, which went back in the fridge. Sat down and realised I did not have any cheese, just a plate of salad, pickle and bread. So went to the fridge, grabbed the cheese and started to grate it.

The cheese was a bit soft, but I kept going. Realised I was grating the butter.  Put butter back in fridge, took out cheese, spent 30 minutes looking for grater, gave up, and went to the fridge, could not find the cheese, cleaned out the fridge, sat down, ate my salad, and remembered halfway through that I had no cheese on my plate.

I started to look for the cheese, never did find the grater for the cheese. All the cheese, found grater this morning, it was in the nearly empty cleaned out fridge, still not located the cheese.  So, we've got a runner up. Sally Spaven Hague. Not this week, but recently, I was so uncomfortable all day on my previously comfy clothes, I was getting so agitated and annoyed that I was now getting sensory issues with my clothes.

I just wanted to cry. When I got home, I realised I had my trousers on back to front all day. Criss cross. Criss cross.  That's good, isn't it?  I love it so much. But the winner for this month and actually. It shouldn't be. It should be the winner for next month, but I'm so excited about it that I'm breaking my own rules.

Do it. What is it? Make the rules, break them all because you are the best at doing it. So, the winner of the most ADHD thing, of September, October, and, and possibly ever is, well the most ADHD AF thing anyway, is the wonderful Ian.  Ian went and got himself an ADHD2 tattoo. I will share a link in the show notes, but I cannot tell you the exact date.

excitement when I saw this tattoo, which has got the ADHD AF leopard print. So it's turquoise with pink leopard print. It's brilliantly done. And it's got a laser beam coming out of R2D2 and it's it's beaming out a dopamine molecule  is the coolest thing ever. And what's even funnier. Is that it isn't actually to do with RSD2.

He didn't come to Alien  Nation. No, it just shows we are literally like minded because I made my RSD2. He's made ADHD2 and it's ADHD AF. How cool is that? I'm going to say I'll put a link in the show notes. He's got a whole story about it and I absolutely love it. So go on Ian. I love it. Our combined most ADHD thing is that we have chopped and changed the plan quite a lot of late. 

So, literally massive twists and turns. There's a new plot twist a day at the moment with us. And what's funny is that we'll just both go all the way down the rabbit hole together. Yeah. Should we do this instead? Okay then! Let's do that. Okay then! Yeah, I think that's, I think, to be honest, since um, September, our life has kind of been one long, most ADHD Ha ha ha ha!

To be honest. Well, maybe longer than that, but.  And very much feels like of late everything's been a little bit mostly ADHD thing because we've been through so much of me moving driving living Yeah, changing changing plans realizing things don't mark. Oh good one the reject slip  So I think my most ADHD thing our  I've got loads.

You've got loads.  Look, the short, long, short of it is we've got loads of most ADHD. It's just been incredibly, it's been nuts. I don't, anyway. What the, the most, one of the most silly ones was probably driving our stupidly big van.  Which we don't necessarily need anymore. Because that was a huge waste of time and money.

But anyway, um, we've got it, uh, we're driving that down to Dover, Folkestone. Um, we were supposed to have a cat with us, but the cat went to my auntie's house to be looked after, rather than uprooting her and putting her through lots of stress. So, uh, my relative kindly offered to take care of her. Anyway, we'd booked her on the tunnel with us.

Um, and,  Also, as soon as we got there, we drove up the wrong lane and the person, the thing was like, yeah, you're not this because we've got a big van. I thought we'd be like a lorry and we weren't. Well, it looked like when you looked up at the sign,  it looked like that's our vehicle. Do you drive a big van?

Do this and went up there. They were like, no, you have to go around. So we drove all the way back out and round again. And then got back in the right lane. First of all, they gave us a slip, which was very offensive. Rejected. It said reject slip. A reject slip. And we had reject reason number 17. Yeah. Which makes you think how many reasons for reject are there?

There's at least 17 reasons. There's at least 17 reject reasons. And we got two of them that day. We got two! One for driving up the wrong lane. And then when we got in there, I said, hello, I'm really sorry. He was supposed to have a cat and he went, all right, no worries. And I had to go and uncheck in, check out my cat, which wasn't there.

And he was like, yeah, sorry. It happens all the time. And then we got reject reason number two. And then we got reject reason number two. So we double reject. So we double rejects. Yeah. Yeah. And then we got in the channel tunnel before we got in you started getting stressed that we're gonna miss it even though  they were just going back to back life life tip you just you're essentially just gonna miss your train that's how they do it they just like they line up loads of trains all day and they're like because they're there's because of the double border They're just like, yeah, give yourself an hour, but it takes sometimes more than an hour to get through.

And once you're through, they can't take, you can't tell you to go away. There's people in the next train that comes along, don't they? And then by the time we got on it, I was so desperate for a wee. That I was literally like Didn't know when we could get out of the vehicle, so I was like eyeing up the glove box.

You were, did you have a wee in the glove box? Well, anywhere! I was so desperate, but I managed to hold on and we got there. Yeah, and there was a toilet. So yeah, there's two. I enjoyed that train ride. It was great, wasn't it? What am I? And there's so many, so I've lost all of my jewellery.  It's definitely here somewhere, but I cannot for the life of me figure out where.

Uh, what was my other one? I've literally just forgotten it.  Of course I have. There's another one for you. Keep them coming.  Oh, I have just written my second blog post of the week because I forgot I wrote one on Monday.  So all or nothing. There are weeks where I literally don't have the executive function to write a blog post.

And then there are weeks that I can just about pull together the spoons, even though the full moon is, is messing with my mind. But it's messing with my mind to the extent that actually forgets that I literally shared one four days ago. Yeah. Oh yeah. So Big's mum does an amazing pottery class here in France and she very kindly invited us along yesterday.

No, we did not reenact ghost and yes, I am kicking myself for it, but I was singing Unchained Melody in my head to remind myself to say it and I forgot to say it, so we didn't recreate ghost, but we were both on the wheel and. Big made four things in two hours? Yeah. I made one because my choice paralysis is such that as I'm making it and it starts to change and I'm getting the feel of it I'm like oh it's a vase it's gonna be a lovely vase and instead of stopping at the point of vase  I would go, Oh, now it looks a bit like it's turning into an ashtray.

Now it's an ashtray. Oh no, maybe it's a cup. Maybe it's a cup. And now it's a bowl and now it's a vase. And I did that for two hours until the woman eventually came along and went, okay, let's just stop. Stop here. I'll help you. Cause I literally couldn't decide what to make. I made 50 things, but I only made one in the end.

Yeah. They were all beautiful  and no longer exist. But I think that's part of the joy of it. Yeah. But do you know what? It was so funny because she kept saying to me, just relax. Like you're doing too much. And there was a big sign on the wall that was like, remember to breathe. And I was like, I'm a scuba diving instructor.

That's one of the number one things I know how to do is breathe, do less. I can do that. Absolutely. I'm trained to do that. I sit down and I'm like, And completely forget to breathe. I'm just holding my breath and she's like, relax your hands, relax your hands. I'm thinking like, Oh, relax, relax. They were not relaxed at all.

Then I relaxed them. Eventually towards the end, got in the zone. She was like, close your eyes. I could feel out the clay. I was like, Oh, this is great. I'm really getting into this. By the end of it, I was so fucking Zen. I could barely get off the seat. I was so exhausted. I couldn't keep my eyes open. It's so funny, wasn't it?

Yeah, it was. It was interesting. It was very zen inducing. I just turned into a workhorse and just created  man makes drugs, random pottery,  never going to be used. I enjoyed it though. I really liked it. So they're some of our most ADHD things of this month. Thank you so much for sharing yours. And thank you to everybody for all of your support and kind words.

Of the very special episodes with the Leopard Print Army, the ADHD AF online community. They've had amazing feedback and I'm so grateful to have people share those episodes far and wide to amplify the voices of those that have gone unheard for far too long. And one such voice was that of Jodi. I had her mother, Jane Walsham.

Sorry to take down the tone. I know this is more of one of the funny episodes, but the whole point of doing this podcast is because I myself was in a similar position to Jodi and like so many of us on waiting list, approximately, I've forgotten the number. Underestimated at 196, 000 in the UK, waiting in some parts up to eight years for life changing and what can be life saving assessment, diagnosis, and treatment, it is essential that we raise ADHD awareness, that we push for systemic change so that vulnerable people's lives are no longer at risk.

So if you've not had a listen, please do have a listen to those episodes. Please do share them. And if you would like to connect with the wonderful online peer support community, you can do so via the link in the blurb of this episode. If that is not to your budget, that's absolutely fine. There are lots of free support groups out there on Facebook and the like, and I will share a link in the blurb to free and immediate support for anybody in need.

And we would be so, so grateful if you would stand in solidarity with the Leopard Print Army. on Friday the 25th of  October. So this coming Friday is the third annual ADHD AF Day. So you can join us. It's very simple. All you've got to do is wear leopard print, at least one item, please. It can be as small as a scrunchie or a pair of shoes or a bag or whatever. 

Or you can be head to toe, as I will be. You wear leopard print, take a selfie or a video in which you share either in speaking or in the written part of it, What you would most like the world to know about ADHD. Then you tag ADHD AF podcast, hashtag ADHD AF day. And I will share all of the posts and we can paint the world leopard print once again and raise some serious ADHD awareness this ADHD awareness month.

So it's nearly time. Please spread the word, awareness is key, and we need to raise some crucial ADHD awareness. And thank you to everybody for your support with ADHD AF Emporium. We are so nearly there now. Few technical hitches behind the scenes, but it's coming right up. Our marketplace championing neurodivergent makers and small businesses with 10 percent going to  The charity is finally here.

ADHD AF plus and though in its infancy, we have an online presence. You can check us out at ADHD AF plus. org. uk. And though all things ADHD AF will fundraise for the charity. It is an entirely non profit. Separate entity in which our aims are to connect and empower ADHD adults of marginalized genders.

And I cannot wait to get cracking  with the Chazza, but after a short and very well needed break, but we've got a few episodes yet and the grand finale of season three in which the hardest season that has ever been this year has been tough. Season three is coming to a close. And I am trading roles with a very special guest who is interviewing me.

So that'll be out at the end of the month. And I'm just so, so grateful to everybody who has listened and who has shared to help me raise ADHD awareness this month. And the next time that something ridiculous happened, you lose your keys, missed your flight, whatever the hell else, please don't beat yourself up.

It is not your fault and you are not alone in your struggles, come to ADHDF podcast, write it down. Look at how many people are in a similar place to you. You are never alone. We are all in this together. I'll see you next Friday online. Big love. 
LEOPARD PRINT ARMY! 
You were in the RAF say something raffy... 
We didn't do any of that in the RAF, just smoked cigarettes and looked suave.  Leopard print army.