Different people have different travel habits. I have not been one to travel much, but when I do, there is a group that I like to stick pretty close to. However, I have friends that travel so often, they usually go alone. This group that went to Banff had both personality types. There was one in particular that like to wander off on his own because he isn't used to groups actually sticking together. We often had to ask where McKay was so he didn't get left behind.

It has been established that Paula quite loves people. She likes to flirt and show off and she certainly brings out the extrovert in me. So when she only has a small, select few to show off for, she has to make sure everyone stays close. She has to keep an eye on them or something. Paula might be a bit motherly, but that is yet to be seen.

When Sam wandered off on his own, there was no one watching him like we were with McKay, and with international travel, we tried to use our devices as little as possible. Instead, we opted to use other resources to find Sam. Once we were ready to go and noticing Sam was not with the group, Rachael turned to me and said, "Paula! Call Sam!"

Now Paula usually has a mind of her own. She does not come on demand like that. In fact, she has been known to chew out the person trying to give her directions and tell her what to do. However, we were surprised at that instant when Paula willingly agreed and let out a loud, "WAHHHHHHHH!"

While that did not bring Sam back to the group, Rachael and I about died laughing. This was a new experience to have Paula willingly comply with directions, but of course the command she would obey would be calling a boy.

Flirting in Canada

Paula has always been a bit of a flirt. She not only has a winking tic, but her affinity for showing off comes off a little strong sometimes, especially around guys. This is great for me since I am not typically one to flirt much, if at all. Just like flirting in real life, it can cause some trouble when others take things too far or those tics are misinterpreted. And as typically follows in book genres, sometimes it gives a good yarn like this April Fools Day prank I played in 2017. It is certainly one of my best posts, even if it wasn't true.

Maybe this is the reason for her being so active in Banff during my vacation. I went with a group of six guys and one other girl; all of them are wonderful and amazing people. Upon arriving in Calgary, we stopped by a grocery store to pick up a few days worth of food. On the way out, Sam started talking to a guy who was driving a motorcycle about what a great bike it was.

Photo by Joshua Reddekopp on Unsplash

As they wrapped up the conversation, the guy on the motorcycle started his bike and drove away. As the distance began to increase, Paula decided to pop out. This was fortunate that the poor stranger didn't have to hear it and get confused. Or take it the wrong way. She cat-called him. Screaming out the common whistle or shout of, "Ow-ow!" as he drove away made me turn a little bit red.

At least it gave us a good chuckle. But seriously, Paula needs to get a little bit of control of this flirting with strangers thing... Sometimes it doesn't end quite as well and results in a rant from me.

At least she knows that I will always be there for her. Usually to clean up her messes, but at least she is willing to give me some credit sometimes, too. I can only shake my head at her, although usually, that's her, too.

Acceptance of Neurodiversity

I love it when Paula shows up around new people. Especially if they are people that I've already met and they haven't gotten to meet Paula right away. It always ends up being a great story. Take for example the meeting of Bryce. We have a few mutual friends and are occasionally seen in the same social circle. So we had been at a few social gatherings, but yesterday was the first time we had really talked to each other. After a good 20 or 30 minutes of chatting, Paula decided to show up. Our mutual friend, Rachel, acknowledged Paula and there was a bit of back and forth for a bit.

Bryce had looked confused when Paula first showed up, so I backtracked and asked him if he knew what was going on. He might have heard about Paula, my reputation does have a tendency to precede me, Paula does like social gatherings, so she might have gone off in another setting and been talked about, even if I wasn't present for that.

Once it was acknowledged that he had no idea what was going on, I explained, "So I have Tourette Syndrome..." I didn't get much farther than that, because his face lit up with a large smile and said, "YES!" At this point, I just started laughing, that is not a typical reaction when admitting to having a neurological disorder. And while I may have the same joyful exclamation (as does Paula), it's not often that it is shared by someone on the first meeting of Paula.

It turns out that he has another friend with Tourette Syndrome. I don't know much about this friend, but I am grateful that he is the kind who would make it something to be excited about. Times are a-changing. Little by little and story by story, Tourette Syndrome is coming to be more known and more accepted. While there is still a long way to go in the direction of neurodiversity and acceptance, this one small moment warmed my heart and gave me encouragement. It's good to know I'm not alone in this cause.

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Caught Red-Handed

Even before I left for vacation, Paula was excited at the idea. She let out all sorts of happy chirps all day long. My attention span may or may not have been a little shorter than it should have been at work, I confess. So maybe it was guilt for not having my usual laser-focus but Paula seemed to be caught red-handed not  paying attention. But come on, I was headed to Canada in a few short hours! Me, who got a passport for the first time a year ago and has never had a chance to use it, and to a place as beautiful as Banff National Park! So worth it, FYI.

During one of my extremely "focused" moments, Someone called out asking for Barry, who sits right next to me. Before Barry could respond, Paula chirped in with, "Yeah?" Of course, she thinks everything is about her. No one asked you, Paula. Get back to work.

How to Handle Dry Spells and the Importance of Vacations

Fun fact about Tourette Syndrome. It comes and goes as it pleases. It's like the phases of the moon, sometimes you have a full moon, which is like having a lot of tics. No, I'm not a werewolf and no, my tics are not more frequent during the full moon. It's a comparison. Just for the record. 🙂 Sometimes, I won't have many tics, just like how once in a while you have no moon. At least that's visible. Just as the moon is always there, so is my TS.

This makes it a little hard to be consistently writing stories my tics do, when the tics themselves aren't consistent, much less when they aren't new and different during the dry spells. I think I might have been in too much of a good routine because I went on vacation last week (Banff National Park in Canada- it's amazing and you should go!) and oh boy did Paula love it! She was quite active and I suddenly have LOTS of great stuff to write about! Keep your eyes peeled, I'll release them slowly, just in case I hit another dry spell for stories.

In the meantime, here is a great picture to get you excited about the stories to come!

Mirror Lake in Banff. Also, as beautiful as it is, I sure love these people and they are the best part of the picture!

Little Paulas

So this new congregation I'm attending for church... remember how I was so excited about the little kids' reactions because they are always so great? Maybe I shouldn't have been so excited about it. I was asked to help teach the 6-8-year-olds. While I love kids, I haven't spent much time with them, especially extended time like this, so I'm a little nervous, even though I'm sure I'll just love them.

It's just hard because kids are active. They don't sit still, they are rarely quiet and can be very touchy. I was always more of a quiet kid myself and was always an old soul, so it's already different for me. The other thing that makes me nervous is that the older I get, the hard it is to process all of the senses simultaneously like I could before. It's not a bad thing at all, I'm seeing, hearing and experiencing things in more detail. But too many details too fast gets overwhelming. I'm going to have to start taking a fidget spinner to church just to have something to focus on and calm me down.

The final thing that makes me nervous is that maybe I don't want to have Paula show up at church after all. The thing about having an adult yell is the kids suddenly feel like they have permission to yell, too. And they are already plenty loud. This week, even without the help of Paula, they were making lots of noises that made me wonder if they had heard her before. If they actually heard Paula, chances are it will get chaotic. One Paula is enough, I don't need ten miniature versions of her running around.

At least Paula doesn't really run around...

Not What I Was Hoping For

Well, she finally did it! Kind of. Paula finally showed up at church. It wasn't quite what I was hoping for, but it's a step in the right direction. It didn't happen during the first-hour meeting with all the kids like I was hoping for. She showed up in the next class where there were all of nine adults who witnessed that this is a thing.

I'm thinking she must still be a little gun shy, because she even reverted back to one of my earlier tics- the simple little squeak that sounds a little like a hiccup or maybe even a sneeze.

In fact, that was pretty much the reaction that I got. I didn't even realize it had finally happened until there was a small moment of silence, followed by one man bravely acknowledging the sound with a timid, "Bless you?"

After a quick explanation, the class then continued. It wasn't until afterward that the teacher came up asking if he had handled that ok that there were any questions. He had simply said, "Oh. Cool." Which was entirely fine by me. He was so worried that it may have been insensitive and wanted to make sure there isn't something he should do differently in future classes.

People sure are great.