What's that you say?

Confession: sometimes I have no idea what people are talking about. Often, a person will start updating me on a topic/situation and I honestly have no clue as to the background, but I hesitate to interrupt them because I'm pretty sure they told me before and I a) forgot (which is rude because it shows that I'm not that interested in the topic, or worse, not that interested in them or b) I wasn't paying attention the first time (admitting which, of course, would be rude.) I'm not generally one to ask a lot of questions during a conversation; I tend to let a person tell me what they want to tell me, but not pester for details. I have a friend who is the opposite; she's naturally curious, friendly and smart, and will always react to something with very direct and inquisitive responses. Sometimes it feels like the third degree, and I won't always open up to her if I don't have the energy to handle her inevitable follow-up. ("Were you expecting that? How did it make you feel? What did other people say? What are you going to do now?" etc. )

So sometimes I get a bit of confusing information and I'm stupidly frozen. Today, for instance, I received an email from a friend who is out visiting family on the west coast, and she referenced a recent move she made. Did she tell me she was moving? Did I know this? She tends to ramble a lot on the phone and I know I was multi-tasking during our last call. Do I admit that I am clueless and ask for more info? Sadly, my normal cowardly way of handling these situations is to just play along, hoping I'll get more clues as the other person continues talking. It doesn't always work out, because I'm always trying to catch up. Or my other, outgoing friend, will hear about whatever it is and ask me for some detail I know nothing about. "Oh, so-and-so is moving? Was it because of the neighbors? Did she break her lease?" And I have to admit I don't know, didn't ask, didn't even think to ask.

Do other people have this happen to them?

On the other hand, a former co-worker emailed me something about "signing the contract for the egg book" and I really have no idea what that means, but am 100% positive I have no reason to know. We haven't spoken to each other in over a year, and as far as I recall, there was no book contract, about eggs or anything else, in her future. So this is a mystery worth pursuing...