I'm sitting typing at the kitchen table because my desk is covered in fabric that I've been trying to shape into a collage of Calgary Bay.
It's 10 a.m. and I'm still in my pyjamas because yesterday I got exhausted and decided that today I would take it easy.
When a new book comes out, the nervous tension drains me. It's wearing for Dave, too, but he's well used to my being peculiar and is always patient and sweet.
But none of that is what drove me to the blog today. I know that some of you are in the same age bracket as me, so I want to ask you...Can you feel your capacity for short term memory ebbing away?
My brother rang this morning, asking if we'd finished the weekend crossword. What was the solution to 2 down: Sneaky, as most female athletes are essentially? (15)
"Oh," I said breezily, "I can't remember now. I'll fish the paper out of the recycling and email you the answer."
I fetched the paper which I had tidied away yesterday, and was amazed to see we had not finished the crossword. We ALWAYS finish the crossword, and if it's too hard, we leave it out on the coffee table or the kitchen table until we have. When I tidied it away yesterday I assumed we'd completed it. I had no memory whatsoever of breaking off and our saying to each other we'd finish it later.
And here's another thing... Have you ever had a discussion with someone about something and reached a decision about a task that needed doing and then two days later when you came to do said task, you'd forgotten what was decided?
Have you ever had an engagement in your diary for three months and then when it came to the day itself, forgotten all about it?
Have you ever told the person producing your book cover how many pages are in the book and then after they'd done most of the work, realised there were 32 unnumbered pages which you hadn't counted, and this would have implications for the size of the spine.
Yes, folks, I'm on the way out, and it ain't pretty.