Forget It. Consider it done.

I've waited a long time to have kids. Partly because I tend to gravitate more towards animals when it comes to nurturing (I call it misplaced maternal instincts) and partly because I really wanted to avoid all the symptoms that come with pregnancy.

Morning sickness, labor, having to pee all the time, constipation, labor, hand & foot swelling, heartburn, labor, stretchmarks, gaining 100lbs, the resulting baby, and have I mentioned labor? For years I've had to listen to my friends yap about every thing pregnancy related under the sun. There wasn't a horrible thing I hadn't heard of that I didn't in some way wish to avoid. But there was one thing no one warned me about. The absentmindedness. Well, maybe they did and I forgot.

Of all the things I have experienced so far, none of them have been a bother at all except for this last little detail that no one has ever bothered to stress. I can't remember crap.

I have driven to work in the morning, and by the time I left in the afternoon/evening, I've forgotten how I got there. (Road construction, different place every day.) I've left my clipboard full of asphalt tickets laying on the paving machine overnight because I forgot to give them to the supervisor. I've gone to the Dollar Store with the intent to buy Press-N-Seal FOR A MONTH and forgot to get it every time.

I've even forgotten names of people I've known for years. The other day I wanted to remember my friend's name but couldn't think of it. I knew it started with a vowel, was three or four letters long and ended in "a". Ana? Aida? Etta? No, none of those sounded right. I bounced this dilemma off of my best friend, (who's name I luckily could still remember) who began right away to help me think.  "Ida?" YEP! That's it! Duh.

I forget what day it is. I even have to think sometimes what YEAR it is. I forget who the vice president is too but probably because he's a forgettable kind of guy anyways. I don't think I ever knew what his wife's name is. I forget how old Gladys (bossy cat extraordinaire) is. I don't remember how old I am and have to ask my husband. Someone (I forget who) asked me when I was due and I wasn't even sure about that. "Um, January....24th? No, no! 21'st? No, wait, I think they told me January 20th. That sounds right..." Another question that makes me put on my thinking cap: How far along are you? I just started saying "about half way" cause keeping track of all these weeks is making my head uncomfortable.

Today I stopped at my dad's to pick up some frozen chicken out of his freezer. He wasn't home so I threw them in my car & decided to stop & visit Gram who lives close to Dad's house. After a nice hour and a half visit we walked out to my car where I was thoroughly surprised about having frozen poultry in the back seat.

As I was driving home I saw a fellow in the distance walking two dogs. Saint Bernards. Wow, I thought, you don't see those every day. Then I thought: the Barton's have Saint Bernards. (The Barton's are the parents of one of our friends, who I really only see on rare occasions and why I remembered they have Saint Bernards is beyond me because I've never met said dogs, and don't even remember why I know they have that specific kind.) Turns out, it WAS Mr. Barton, out for an evening stroll with the canines. HA!

And then I wasn't sure if I should be impressed or horrified. Why did I remember that they have Saint Bernards when I couldn't remember that I had chicken in my backseat? As I was typing this, just now, my skull bones behind my ears started to throb. I put my hand up to rub it & discovered that I was wearing a headband. (I normally don't. I don't know why I'm wearing one now.) See what I'm talking about??