What Am I Doing Here Again?

In my heyday I was the queen of the multitaskers. I never was doing only one thing: I was reading a book while I knit and watched television, or I was quizzing Boy#2 on spelling words while I stirred macaroni and cheese and monitored Boy#1's piano practice. But just about the same time I became eligible for senior coffee prices at McDonald's (woo!), I discovered my brain is no longer agile enough to hold two things at once (boo!).

This morning I found myself standing in the kitchen door thinking, "Now what am I doing here?" I had been making coffee, and after I pushed the "brew" button I purposefully strode to the door, only to find I was clueless as to the purpose of the walk. Obviously my subconscious was guiding me like a willful seeing-eye dog with a particularly dense master--but why?

Fortunately, this is not a sudden decline or isolated incident and I've learned to cope by tapping into my keen analytical skills.

Okay, this kitchen door goes both in and out. Was I thinking of leaving or arriving?

Well, since I had already arrived, chances are that I was reversing that trend.

If I were leaving the kitchen, would I have been going outside or somewhere else in the house?

This is not an idle question. Our kitchen has FIVE, count 'em, five, possible exits. One to the living room, one to the dining room, one to the back yard, one to the side yard, one to the breakfast nook. Oh, yes, the house at the corner of Drainage Street and Halfway Down the Hill is not for the easily confused.

I have chosen one of the exits that leads to the back yard OR to the back stairs. Would I have been going upstairs or outside?

At this moment my conscious brain catches up with my pushy subconscious, and I remember: Aha! Water the tomato plant! So I grab the watering can and give my newly-planted future salad a drink.

For one more day, age and confusion are no match for experience and wisdom. This one goes in the win column.