I went to my first official Toastmaster's meeting Wed. night. I was a LOT more nervous and anxious than I thot I'd be. After all, I'd been there as a guest 3 or 4 times. I'd even participated at those times and found it not too bad.
But this was 'official'. Now I was one of the group. I don't know why or how I manage to make these things so stressful to me!!! We had to give a one minute speech about 'new' and besides not remembering a word the 3 people ahead of me said (which was awkward as we then had to rate the best topic speakers), I only managed 20 seconds - yes they time it too!
The sane part of me says that now I have a base point from which I can measure my improvements and that as humans the learning curve is not all fun and games. The irrational side is just wondering why I want to do such a thing in the first place! That since I'm only a few years from 50 and am NOT planning to lead any companies or churches, the probablity that someone will come to my house and ask me to give a speech is rather remote! But Karin just can't let it be. She's a twit that for some reason decides to do awful things -and even PAYS people for the privilage of doing these things instead of just enjoying life within the pages of her books.
(See what I have to deal with??!)
They- the writer of the agenda for next meeting wanted me to give my first speech at the next meeting. I managed to volunteer to give the 'word of the day' instead, where rather than making up a speech about my life, I only have to find a really cool word and give the definitions. Something I can handle... except the perfectionist part of me which is already wondering which word would be 'perfect' for the evening. Which word is going to 'wow' them all.
I think this club will be good for me for more than I origionally thot it would!
Now for the topic of the day: ERP
Thot Record that will hopefully calm me down.
Note; Bruce phoned my dad to see when their last mouse episode was and according to Bruce it was a while ago. I felt better for a few minutes. Then the 'reassurance' thing hit. Maybe I should call my dad and hear it again? I didn't want to call myself in case he tells me all sorts of info that will just rev up my already freaked out mind. I figured Bruce could give me the watered- down version- just the facts. I am NOT going to call my dad myself, or Bruce for that matter for reassurance... BUT I REALLY REALLY WANT TO!
Situation: My dad sent me some dvds he made so I can watch them. I think he also wants feedback,
so I can't just throw them away. Also sent me a card which is now on the table under
some pokemon cards and headphones. So I can't touch that stuff either. The disks fell off the couch onto the floor where they have now contaminated a book from a Goodreads giveaway that I am supposed to read and review. At first when I got the package I was OK with it. OCD hit in about 5 min. later, after the stuff was already on the couch and table.
Mood: 96% anxiety and fear
Automatic thots: MICE (what else!) Dad had mentioned they'd had mice in our last phone
conversation, but didn't mention exactly WHEN, so was it a week ago?? What if he
cleaned up the mouse stuff and didn't SHOWER after wards, but ONLY washed his
hands?? Am I contamination my house/ stuff?
Rational thots: I guess washing hands after cleaning up mouse stuff is probably sufficient. (notice
how little i agree with that statement :). Bruce said it happened a while ago and anyway
none of it happened near the dvd recorder. Dad also opened a new cylinder of disks to do
this with too. I bet Fantine (of Les Mis) never worried about mice- she had bigger
worries than that!
Mood now: anxiety 86% but i will do it anyway.
Please, someone, save me from this illness!!!
Friday, January 18, 2013
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Noticing the Little Things- Cause They're the Nice Things
Lots has happened since before Christmas even. Most are little things I've noticed about myself. Like I used to be afraid to touch the basement door to the garage in case of contamination or radiation burns or something :P but I did let everyone else touch the door without washing. In fact, I'd wipe the handle down on a weekly basis while doing the garbage and wiping off the garbage can. But one day, not too long ago, as we were going to the garage to get into the van, I just opened the door myself! No big deal- nothing happened. Yeah!!! Have done it again too! It was one of my- sneak-into-it exposures. I knew it wasn't dirty, but still wouldn't touch it. Watching others, tho, helped my mind to acclimatize to it without ME having to do anything.
And then there was the 'big one', that happened last weekend while I was at my brother's house. Brother had gone out and while he was gone someone had vomited on the floor, so Other Brother and I went looking for paper towels to clean up the mess. I found some under the bathroom sink on top of a bunch of cleaners. (YUK, already contaminated by the cleaners- because cleaners have poisonous chemicals in them). Other Brother used them anyway but instead of putting them back into the cupboard, stuck them on an empy paper towel holder on the kitchen counter. I told him about my thots on that but he didn't agree with me (nicely) and left them there. When Brother came home, i told him about it too (you know, IN CASE he thot it was gros too, but he didn't either) and also left them there. I decided since it was his house, not to get upset, but to just tell my daughter NOT to touch them. Unfortunately I didn't get around to telling her fast enuf (because how often do kids really play with paper towels anyway?) Well that morning there was a spill and cousin gave Katrina one of THOSE paper towels to wipe it up with. Figures. So i told Katrina to wash her hands but before we got to the bathroom I changed my mind and told her not to bother. Why? Because if I made her wash her hands, I'd also have to go after cousin who also touched the paper towels and I couldn't do that because cousin's dad was Brother who said the paper towels were fine. So, in that case, I'd have to think the whole house was getting contaminated with cousin running around touching all sorts of stuff- toys, furniture Katrina etc. That would not be the best use of my brain. So Normal Brain told OCD Brain to knock it off. Normal Brain also figured out that by the time the vomit was cleaned up off the floor, all the paper towels left on the roll would be clean anyway, having not touched the cleaners. OCD Brain left, without a fight!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I got to enjoy the rest of my visit, rather than clocking all the things that everyone contaminated.
But in case you think my life is OCD free, my dad sent me some dvds that I haven't touched because he mentioned that sometime last year they had had mice. Or maybe I misunderstood and it was just 'in the past' they had had mice. Either way, their whole house is now contaminated and I don't want to touch anything until I find out when and where the mice were and how far that was from the dvd's he sent me. Problem is that I'm afraid to call him and ask, in case I learn more than I wanted to know because for some reason people LIKE to talk about their mouse problems to me. I just don't like to hear it. So Bruce is supposed to call and ask my dad all the questions and only tell me the relative parts of the conversation in case what he says gives me more Yuk's. Hasn't happened yet, so still haven't watched the dvd's. There are also pokemon cards and head phones that are sitting on top of a note he sent with the dvd's. They haven't been moved either.
Oh, and one of Katrina's library books had a piece bitten out of it. Naturally 'Mice' was my first thot, even tho some of the teeth marks looked like dog or little person. Put it and the books it might have touched in a seperate bag and had Bruce drop it off at the library. Kept 1 book because we hadn't read it yet, but it's still sitting on the shelf waiting for either a wipe, or an exposure. Right now I'm just ignoring it.
I've joined toastmasters and tonight is the first meeting of the season. I'm not giving a talk, but will have to soon. Probably in 2 weeks, unless the agenda person forgets to ask me and I can put it off another 2 weeks. :)
And then there was the 'big one', that happened last weekend while I was at my brother's house. Brother had gone out and while he was gone someone had vomited on the floor, so Other Brother and I went looking for paper towels to clean up the mess. I found some under the bathroom sink on top of a bunch of cleaners. (YUK, already contaminated by the cleaners- because cleaners have poisonous chemicals in them). Other Brother used them anyway but instead of putting them back into the cupboard, stuck them on an empy paper towel holder on the kitchen counter. I told him about my thots on that but he didn't agree with me (nicely) and left them there. When Brother came home, i told him about it too (you know, IN CASE he thot it was gros too, but he didn't either) and also left them there. I decided since it was his house, not to get upset, but to just tell my daughter NOT to touch them. Unfortunately I didn't get around to telling her fast enuf (because how often do kids really play with paper towels anyway?) Well that morning there was a spill and cousin gave Katrina one of THOSE paper towels to wipe it up with. Figures. So i told Katrina to wash her hands but before we got to the bathroom I changed my mind and told her not to bother. Why? Because if I made her wash her hands, I'd also have to go after cousin who also touched the paper towels and I couldn't do that because cousin's dad was Brother who said the paper towels were fine. So, in that case, I'd have to think the whole house was getting contaminated with cousin running around touching all sorts of stuff- toys, furniture Katrina etc. That would not be the best use of my brain. So Normal Brain told OCD Brain to knock it off. Normal Brain also figured out that by the time the vomit was cleaned up off the floor, all the paper towels left on the roll would be clean anyway, having not touched the cleaners. OCD Brain left, without a fight!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I got to enjoy the rest of my visit, rather than clocking all the things that everyone contaminated.
But in case you think my life is OCD free, my dad sent me some dvds that I haven't touched because he mentioned that sometime last year they had had mice. Or maybe I misunderstood and it was just 'in the past' they had had mice. Either way, their whole house is now contaminated and I don't want to touch anything until I find out when and where the mice were and how far that was from the dvd's he sent me. Problem is that I'm afraid to call him and ask, in case I learn more than I wanted to know because for some reason people LIKE to talk about their mouse problems to me. I just don't like to hear it. So Bruce is supposed to call and ask my dad all the questions and only tell me the relative parts of the conversation in case what he says gives me more Yuk's. Hasn't happened yet, so still haven't watched the dvd's. There are also pokemon cards and head phones that are sitting on top of a note he sent with the dvd's. They haven't been moved either.
Oh, and one of Katrina's library books had a piece bitten out of it. Naturally 'Mice' was my first thot, even tho some of the teeth marks looked like dog or little person. Put it and the books it might have touched in a seperate bag and had Bruce drop it off at the library. Kept 1 book because we hadn't read it yet, but it's still sitting on the shelf waiting for either a wipe, or an exposure. Right now I'm just ignoring it.
I've joined toastmasters and tonight is the first meeting of the season. I'm not giving a talk, but will have to soon. Probably in 2 weeks, unless the agenda person forgets to ask me and I can put it off another 2 weeks. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)