Forgetting the little things...

Today I braved the London cold and went out to the bank. I walked since my car was still snow-covered and I had to remember my NY snow training - when the pavements are icy it's better to walk right in the middle of the road since they are usually clear.  I had my silly furry hat on, my scarf, gloves, wooly sweaters, boots and I felt like a five year old in a snowsuit.

I got to the bank, put my card in the ATM and punched in the wrong number. Oh, I thought, I know the right number, so I punched in a different number and the machine rejected my attempt.  By this time I was completely discombobulated.  What the hell was my PIN number?  Kids' birthday?  Address?  My mind was blank and I felt really shaken.  I knew not to put my card in a third time cause then the machine eats the card and doesn't return it.  I decided to have a coffee and give this memory lapse some time to settle.  I searched my mind and found a blank space in my brain where the PIN number usually lived.  Trying hard not to give this lapse any importance I drank my coffee and completed a difficult Sudoku puzzle.  It was pretty important for me to finish the puzzle as it was one of the immediate ways I could convince myself that forgetting the card number that I have had since 2001 was not the beginning of dementia or Alzheimers. 

A bit of background here - my father has Lewy Bodies Dementia (a form of Alzheimers), my uncle had Alzheimers, so did ALL my mother's first cousins and the jury is still out as to the genetic pre-disposition for this illness. I know that one of my cousins had been genetically tested and has the genetic markers for this, but why anyone would want to know this is beyond my understanding.  So you can imagine that I am a little anxious when little memory lapses happen.

Anyway, I went to the bank and asked them to send me a reminder of my PIN. The teller informed me that if I tried the card once more in their machine and the number was wrong they would retain the card and return it to me tomorrow. I figured what the hell, kind of like playing the slot machines, enter the number and stand back; either I win the jackpot and can withdraw some money, or the machine eats my card. Well, I condfidently entered a new combination of numbers that I was pretty certain of, and guess what?  Wrong again, but the minute I punched in those four numbers I remembered exactly what my PIN number is.  100% certain, but now I don't have my card.  At least I still have my memory, if l with a few temporary lapses.  By the way, I know I've written the number down somewhere, but where??

Today's early morning baking was a puff pastry mince pie and the meringue pavlova gets filled with raspberries, passion fruit, clementines and whipped cream and will be tonight's dessert at my friend's dinner. Yummy.