Where Have All the Brain Cells Gone.....Long Time Passing

I went to take a paying survey the other day & I barely got there in time. I remember I used to never be anywhere late, I was always on time. Now I have three kids to get settled before I can leave the house to do ANYTHING. My oldest will stand at the door asking where I'm going, what I'm gonna do when I get there & if I'm bringing him anything back. Somehow I don't really think this is all Autism related.

As soon as I get there I sign in & see there are about 5 adults including me. I answer my questions trying to remember the SAME answers I gave over the phone 3 days earlier. (this let's them know you're you) If you don't get it right, you don't get to take the $75 survey. You'd think being a college graduate I could easily recall 5 simple answers I gave to someone a few days earlier. There was sweating & not just from the 100 degree weather we're having. I usually do NOT sweat. It takes full on physical activity for me to sweat & I avoid said activity with everything in my being. Did I mention it's quiet in there? The other four are sitting there waiting on me & listening to my answers. I'm convinced with every child I've had, there are numerous brain cells lost during pregnancy AND child birth. I think brain cells must gravitate to the placenta during pregnancy & when you give birth & they push the placenta out-all 9 months of accumulation of little grey cells go too. Could be why it's so painful.

So anyway, I finally get all answers correct, finding out later one dumb guy had to be told one of his answers because he couldn't remember either. Maybe men lose brain cells through hair follicles? Just a theory. We go into a conference style room & sit down with something I haven't seen in years. A scantron. Not even one sheet, this was a booklet! A memory of tests taken long ago in college start coming back to me. Coloring in the correct bubble or if you don't know, making a pretty picture. Surely this can't be too hard! I'm home free-an easy $75 bucks right? HA! I've been out of college almost 10 years. I DO still know how to use a pencil & color in the dot, but there is a certian finesse to it I had forgotten.

We are there to listen to song sound bytes. Right up my alley! I love music & this is one of my favorite two stations. (oh & the guy that missed that one question in the pre-test, it was what was his favorite radio station....I was looking smarter by the minute)
Okay so what you realize pretty quickly is, there's only a couple seconds to fill in your answer, you have multiple combinations of anwers, and not just one. You can choose: DK for don't know, 1-7 of rating the song, and NA if the song doesn't fit your station. They complicate things by telling you that you CAN color in up to 4 bubbles for each song. Of course I can! In seconds I'm sure that's plenty of time, because I know a lot of songs. After years at home & just working off & on with children, it's nice to know that someone is asking for me to put forth some brain power. I can do this, easy $75 bucks! Oh & don't ask me what the fourth option I can color is, it's been a week & I'm sure I've already lost the brain cell that recalls that information.
I did feel smart once by having to help the "dumb guy" write in what radio station we were doing this for. It'd only been 5 minutes since he'd been told in the check in process. (I did notice later dumb guy colored his hair-badly. I would contemplate hair color sucking his brain cells out but I'd have to fess up to some loss too then.)

Okay back to the survey. Let me just say, I went through 6 pencils. We had ONE break that was 10 minutes & that was only after we listened to the first 348 songs. Yes, you heard me, 348 SONGS! Granted they were sound bytes. In case you're wondering, your hand does lose muscle tone after college if not kept in peak scantron form. There was cramping I won't lie. It was embarrasing since I was the youngest person there & the guy next to me was missing a couple of fingers. Okay knuckles but the finger part was GONE. My neck hurt, my back hurt from hunching over trying not to let dumb guy copy. But THE hardest part was NOT singing along with the songs or continuing. That really WAS a rule! You just THINK you've got a song stuck in your head right now. Try listening to 825 songs in 3 hours. I CAN still remember the last song I listened to was "Straight Tequilla Night". I think.

What's To Come

In the recent weeks & month I've had the opportunity to get back in touch with several old acquaintances & friends. Out of nowhere I've spoken to, received calls from & gotten emails from an ex-boyfriend, college roomates, cousins, friends & even a best friend from 6th grade.
My life is usually rather plain & boring. Just the perfect speed for me & the laid back life-style my husband & I lead. I like my life in it's comfortable bliss.

But I think my comfort zone of life is having a shift is causing confusion. I think my mind is grappling with the switch back to people I haven't seen since college or my wedding. It's hard to know what feelings to have. You're happy to see that person & you have good memories there, but neither of you are the same person. There aren't the same conversations really. You've both moved on to more in your life. It's not too difficult to pick back up where you left off, but the feelings come with the memories. Then you start to realize those feelings & memories don't really fit this part of your life now. The people DO, but you have to start over with the friendship almost. There IS history but there ISN'T the same bond over day-to-day things anymore.


So we all go off & get married, or don't, start jobs, careers & children. We grow up essentially.
My question is why are all these people back in my life all the sudden? What purpose does God have? Is it just the internet age connecting us all finally or is it a purpose that only God knows for what's to come. Maybe there will be a time or situation that we'll need those people from our past. Will only those people truly understand or remember what we were & are now. Maybe those are the people that know our true selfish selves. After catching up with all these family members & friends, I've decided to let God worry about why they are in my life & just go with the flow & enjoy the friendships I've reconnected with. I don't want to come across as not enjoying the reconnection with friends, I just started to wonder what was to come when 10 came out of nowhere. It's hard not to think God placed these people here to help me through the rough spots of this year. Maybe I should consider these blessings & not ask questions. One lesson I've learned is a good friend is worth starting over with no matter when they come back into your life.