I SWORE I Put My Keys on the Counter or….The Mystery of My Aging Brain
It’s no medical secret – as we get older our brains, like our bodies, need exercise. So like most baby boomers, I do my best to keep those remaining brain cells active and alert. And it’s funny (or not!), family and friends seem to give us gifts with this aging theme! I get the distinct feeling they are trying to tell us something!!
Case in point, we got not one, but TWO Ravensburger 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles, this one a scene of Times Square. I’m not sure why, but I associate jigsaw-puzzle-doing with old people, sitting alone with their cat, yet when I look in the mirror, there’s no one old looking back. Yet.
To add insult to injury, we got a one-year subscription to Lumosity, the website of brain games and brain training. It’s actually fantastic, for those of you are contemplating trying it. Their speed memory and attention tests are the best.
We played Banangrams over Christmas and Mr. EOS won every time.
Of course, no better brain exercise than Jeopardy which we watch every night we are home. My Bucket List includes appearing on the show, but hopefully NOT ending up like Cliff Clavin. 
But for me, the scariest scenario is seeing someone whose name I can’t put with their face. Two weeks before Christmas, in the supermarket, I ran into TWO people who knew me but I hadn’t a clue who they were. Now, if you are an old-time EOSRedux reader, you’ll know this has happened to me before! Uh-oh, I’m seeing a disturbing trend.
from theanimatedwoman.com
The first person I didn’t recognize was leaving, phew, but I didn’t have as much luck with the second person. It happened, the worst kind of awkward moment, both of us in the same aisle, reaching for the same product. I had to acknowledge her. She LOOKED familiar, so I, in my usual personable manner, stuck my hand out and said my name, hoping she’d do the same. She did. Nothing. I truly couldn’t place how I knew her.
She didn’t look like a parent of any of my children’s peers who I might have known long ago when they were in school.
I don’t think I did any volunteer work with her. Or that she might own a store I frequent.
So now what do I say? How the hell are you or how the hell do I know you? I decided to ask how she had been (fearful that she’d respond, hey you dope, I just saw you last week at ….). We parted aisles, me saying how nice it was to see her again (lying through my teeth) and praying our shopping patterns were divergent the rest of my time in the market.
Sooooo, the jigsaw puzzle it is today, minus the cat on my lap, to make my brain cells do jumping jacks. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll remember who the woman in the supermarket was. Just as long as I don’t forget my own name, I think I’ll be okay.
Now where did I put that sweater?
Do the NYT crossword! That’s how I’m staving off early on set whatever might early on set me. Doing crosswords makes up for all the wine I drink, according to me. And I have always loved jigsaw puzzles. I have one out to start this weekend and it wasn’t even a gift, I just buy them. Hope this helps or I may have just alerted you to the fact that I’m a big fork. Or dork. hahahaha
The puzzle. I forgot (how appropriate?) to add that we do do the NYT puzzles.
As for the wine, that’s supposed to be GOOD for the brain, so as far as I can see, you are two on the plus column of staving.
Who are you again?
Hi,
Wow that is a huge puzzle, have fun.
I am also not good with some peoples names. Why is it that some people can meet you once at a party or whatever and months down the track remember your name, this has happened to me it is just amazing that some people have this ability.
Fantastic memory of the Jeopardy clip. But that’s not short term memory.
What did you eat 2 days after Xmas? (Hint: tuna) That’s the real test. Or, did you take your pills this morning?
Reading EOSr is a sufficient memory stimulus in itself.
Best wishes for making it through to publication of the 2014 Calendar (Reminder!) Desk Appointment Book.
Good point EarthImage. The short term memory is often the problem. For me it’s silly things…. like the final Jeopardy question…..retelling it one or two days later. Or retelling a good joke a day later.
Happy New Year and the reminder for the calendar is officially logged. Just don’t ask me two days from now.
My goodness EOS that is a huge challenging beast of a puzzle. I look forward to watching the progress…
I think we all have trouble with names and faces. I do and I console myself with this “When you have Alzheimer’s you don’t know you’re being forgetful.”