Caught!

I have been leaving a trail of forgetfulness behind me lately. For the most part, I have been the only one truly aware of it (though I'm sure my Second Son will vouch for the fact that I'm wrong with that assumption).

I was going along with the illusion that I was wading through the sea of absent mindedness alone until ... I got caught.

Let me rewind the tape:

Thursday night, a friend dropped off a gift in my mailbox. I didn't find it until Friday. Though when I did stumble across it, I was reminded of the conversation that we had earlier in the week, when she called to tell me that she would leave this in my mailbox on Thursday.

I immediately thought "I should email her to thank her and let her know that I received this ..." and then who knows what thought crossed my mind after that. But whatever it was, led me down a trail that is becoming all too familiar these days.

Fast forward to Sunday:

I received a gently worded email from this friend, asking if I had received her gift. I was embarassed and aghast at my oversight. It was simply a case of bad manners! 

I had left her gift on the kitchen table - following the logic that no gift may be used, worn or spent until the giver of the gift has received a formal 'thank you'. I should have left this reminder-to-self on the computer desk to remind me to email her. Immediately!

So I quickly responded with my sincerest apologies for my terrible manners plus an explanation (though that is still no excuse!!):

These days I seem to lose my train of thought in between destinations. I leave the bathroom & leave the light on to remind me that I must vacuum the floor ... then I remember I must empty the garbage too ... so I go to the kitchen to collect a bag for the garbage and empty the garbage from the kitchen too, but first I remember that I must throw that load of laundry in the dryer ... which reminds me I forgot to clean the cat litter ... half an hour later, I walk by the bathroom which still has the light on and I remember "Oh yes!! I must vacuum the floor ... but first, I must empty the garbage ... ...." and I'm off again. This goes on all day!

I didn't 'leave a light on', but I did think to myself when I received this package, "I must thank my friend so that she knows I received her gift ..." But then I may have found a scrap of paper with 'notes to self', reminding myself that I had to update my time sheet ... which reminded me that I needed to update in my cheque register .... and I was off on another tangent.

I have been very conscious of my tendency towards amnesia ever since. I've been leaving myself more notes and clues to remind me of what I need to do, and when. I zipped through this morning's chores and was quite proud of the fact that I seem to have woken up with all of my marbles intact.
 
But I really must end this blog post right here and now. I have left the bathroom light on again. There is something else that I must remember to do ...