Just call me Dory!

So, my grandmother at the age of 85 was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. 

Is it genetic? 'Cause I'm thinking that I might be pre-disposition-ed to have it?

I kid you not.

Here are a few examples:

#1 

I can't find my car in a parking lot.

I've mentioned this before on my blog. I walk out of the store, and just pretend I know where my car is and walk forward with a look of confidence all the while my brain is going "Where in the heck did you park?" I don't have a key less alarm on my new car. (I use to just start pushing my lock and listening for the little chirp on my old car) so I'm out of luck unless I"m shopping with a husband or child that instinctively knows where the car is parked and I just follow. I have also taken to always parking on the same side of the church or the gym. That seems to help. It's the grocery store and shopping that really does me in! You can never get the same place twice so it's always a roll of the dice.*

#2 

I lose things. 

I had a little schedule of the hours the Jordan River Temple was open and made a mental note to put said little schedule in a safe place so I could find it later. Well, apparently the place was so safe, even I couldn't find it!! I kept racking my brain. "Where did I put it?" I know I put it somewhere safe. Nope. Didn't find it. Went to the temple with Amy and she handed me a new little schedule and I went home and decided once again to store it in a safe place and flipped to the first safe place I thought of and there was the FIRST schedule....right where I had left it! Grrr...

#3 

Thoughts escape me.

The other night I was brushing my teeth. Something crossed my mind that was perplexing. Seriously perplexing. Something that made me think, I need to look into that or figure that out or something but by the time I was rinsing my teeth, the thought had vanished. I remember feeling perplexed but for the life of me have yet to remember what it was. Seriously?

#4 

I say the wrong name/word.

I never call my children by the right name. I think I should have named the girls KamDevRy or just call the boys "A" which will suffice for both Alex or Austin. Because although I know perfectly well who I am talking to, the wrong name always comes out! Often times I say the wrong word for things too. For example, I will THINK "Go put that in the fridge." and I will SAY "Go put that in the tub." I will get strange looks until I realize what I just said. Grrr....and I use to be so quick witted! 

Not good I tell you. 

Not good. 

I feel a lot like this little fish:

Dory, from Nemo. 

Which is funny because her song is one of my life long motto's "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming."

But I think if things don't start improving I might forget how to swim, or what order my clothes go on, or what my blogger password is!

Anyone else have memory issues? Is it my age? The number of children I'm responsible for? The inversion? My mom says stress. Blah. I don't feel stressed. I feel forgetful! James say's I'm just going to fast. I need to slow down. Whatever. I don't have time to slow down.(Secretly I think he just wants me to slow down to match his pace - which is a lot slower than mine - and often times drives me crazy!)

Maybe I just need to see if I can get an Rx for the patches my grandma is wearing to slow down the effects? But that would involve remembering to call a doctor, remembering the appointment, and then of course remembering to fill the Rx and wear the darn thing. That's FOUR things to remember! What are the chances?

*Note: Talking about cars in the parking lot reminds me of a story that I don't think I shared on my blog yet? (Maybe I have? Again, memory's not as good as it use to be.) So, late one night in December I went to Wal-mart (which I try hard to avoid) because I had been earlier and James had asked me to pick up a couple of things for him and I had totally forgot. (Very appropriate to document on this post as further evidence of my deteriorating state of mind?) I walked out to the parking lot and went to what I thought was my car (I was driving James car and we had only had it for a couple of months) and notice three people sitting in it. Oops. Not my car? I glanced at the license plate as I walked away and felt a bit confused. I think that's the letters on our plate? (The letters are OMK. I remember it only by thinking it stands for Oh My Kids) But quickly shrugged it off thinking I must have remembered wrong. Obviously, because there were three people sitting in the car and I saw the brake lights come on as they started it. I moved farther down the parking lot and found the very same make and model but slightly newer car and realized that I was NOT crazy! Those three people were in the WRONG car! MY CAR! Again, it  was late (like 11:30 pm?) and raining slightly. My mind is racing as to what to do? I don't feel like I'm in grave danger but then thoughts flash through my mind of all those crazy stories on the news about people jacking cars or taking people by gunpoint to ATM's to withdraw money so, I try to think rationally. I need a witness. I need someone to see me get pulled into the car and call 911!  I grabbed the first and only person I could find, a toothless Wal-mart worker that was out gathering carts, and asked him to accompany me to my occupied car. He grunted, nodded and grinned (I'm not sure he was verbal and as I'm returning to my car, I'm thinking that he many not be a very good witness?) I softly knocked on the drivers side window, not wanting to freak the driver out - as I am easily freaked out when people knock on my window. The car had yet to move or start. A very cute, young, Asian guy looked up at me with wide bewildered eyes. He rolled down the window and I, in my nicest voice, explained that I think he is in my car? The car's occupant's burst in to laughter and shot out of the car faster than a Chinese Fire Drill (and I don't mean that in a derogatory, ethnic comparison but truly a comparison of how fast they vacated my car!) They explained that the key fit but it wouldn't start (hence the brake lights I saw) and they were just about to call a mechanic. They laughed and apologized profusely as they gathered their bags out of the back of my car. The Wal-mart worker just stood their grinning. I excused him and told him I was sure I was safe and thanked him for accompanying me. The cute Asian youth were laughing so hard they could hardly catch their breath. I was laughing too, almost to the point of hysteria. Whew. I wasn't crazy and better yet I wasn't being car jacked or kidnapped!