Holy McMoly I am zonked in the bonk

I am sooooo tired. I have been going in at 8.30 and coming home at 7 all week. I have got to the stage where my head is so full that is someone tells me something then either I forget it within seconds (despite appearing to have taken it in and even had a conversation about it) or I remember it but forget something else of equal size.

But tomorrow is my last day at work. After that I am not back in until Thursday 8 January. I do believe that is nearly five weeks -- FIVE WEEKS -- out of the office. I don't think I've had five weeks out of the office since I started going into the office about ten years ago.

I think the Australians would call it long service leave.

(Thought: I wonder if you can have phantom maternity leave as well as phantom pregnancy?)

I don't think I'm the only one suffering. The other night we watched a programme about people who've lost their memories through illness. It was very sad but also very funny, they were very charming people who did seem to have a decent life and all had a sense of humour.

One guy had been married for 47 years. We were childhood sweethearts weren't we? said his wife. If you say so, dear, he replied.

He got a pager to help him remember important stuff. M is famed for his appalling memory, so we joked about getting him one too. Piss off, he said.

After the programme, there was a trailer for a programme about celebrities who have found god. Michael Buerk is talking to Pamela Anderson about the role religion now plays in her life, they said.

I'm not surprised, said M, I'd find god if I was married to Billy Connolly.

joella