Shit - when did I get old??

[nadine_mn]

Ok, I realize that turning 40 this year is not exactly ancient but please hear me out.

We went out to eat with my mom (60 yrs old but looks a good 10 yrs younger) for mother's day and we were at a restaurant that is a college hangout. We were in Minneapolis by the U of MN, also we were going to a play.

When I am with my mom, I feel like a kid and it truly seemed like only yesterday my mom was visiting me at college and we were eating at the local diner. We have no children (well furry kids - 2 dogs and a cat) of our own so its easier to feel younger I think when you don't have offspring reminding you daily that you are old. As we were eating, I realized with quite a shock that my husband and I were old enough to have college aged children - ack that WE should be the ones visiting our kids and my mom should be a grandma.

This of course led me to want to have a beer (they have several wonderful craft brews) but then hint number 2 that I am old hit me - if I have a beer, then I will have to pee and I don't want to have to get up during the performance of the play.

What??? I used to drink beer w/out a worry.

Then we got to the theater - very early, we were some of the first ones there - along with other people our age and older. That's when I realized - older people arrive early - to make sure to get their seats, get good parking, use the restroom before hand - all stuff we did. 20 yrs ago I just would have showed up minutes before curtain.


You know how most of the time you don't really feel your age and then suddenly reality hits? Yeah, that's what happened to me yesterday. I need a nap. And stay off my lawn.

[WillParkinson]

1. Oh, Nadine....you should have had the beer!

Last edited Wed May 16, 2012, 01:01 AM - Edit history (1)

That's what Depends are for, after all. May as well get used to them now.

[Kali]

26. BWAHAHAHAHAHHA!!!!!! OMG!!!

[woodsprite]

2. I'm right there with you!

I turned 49 last month and hubby turns 50 today. He made sure he took off from work so people wouldn't 'rub it in'. Ha! I'm doing carrot cupcakes, bran muffins and prune danish for him on Wednesday! We both work the same place. HE CANNOT GET OUT OF IT!!! His secretary is going to fill his office with black balloons.

Another thing that shows our age is that we have to remember not to take arthritis-strength Tylenol if we want to drink. Soooo, I can either be creaky and tipsy OR mobile and the designated driver.

[Trailrider1951]

18. Oh no no no, don't ever mix alcohol and Tylenol!

I've known several people who have self-inflicted liver damage (not repairable!) from doing just that! Please don't take any alcohol with anything containing acetaminophen, use aspirin or ibuprofen. Take care.

[woodsprite]

23. That's why I'm so careful.

I love my liver, and am particularly fond of my kidneys. I had an uncle die from cirrhosis.

Thankfully, we're not really much into drinking. I'd rather have pain-free knees than anything else. The only time we differ from our average of 1-2 beers a week between both hubby and I is when we're on vacation, we may have a drink (wine or beer) with dinner or after dinner when we're playing cards/boardgames, etc.

Some people in my extended family think I'm crazy since I always err on the side of caution. Meaning, if I can't remember when I took my previous dose of something, I start counting the 8 hrs (or whatever) from a point I *CAN* remember. If I know I'm going to have a drink at a party, I don't take a dose, and conversely, if I had a drink, I treat it the same way as a dose of meds and wait for it to clear my system.

Probably a little anal, but whatever works. And it hopefully sets a good, responsible example for our munchkins (19 and 12).

[blueamy66]

3. I'm with ya too.

I'm 45.....sometimes still get carded though.....feel like I'm 30.....

But I can't see a f***ing thing!!! Have reading glasses alllllll over the house. Have great nieces and great nephews!!!!

Where did all the time go??

Hope you had a wonderful time at the play!

[emilyg]

5. I'm 73 - have

post it notes all over with my name and address. Sometimes I forget. Wait till you hit the Golden years -

[RebelOne]

9. I am 73 also. And actually, I do not feel old,

except when I get those strange aches and pains. But 40 in this day is not old at all.

[blueamy66]

20. if I make it that far!!!!

sometimes I need a post it note to remind me why I walked from the bedroom to the kitchen

[emilyg]

25. Glad it's not

just me - lol

[nadine_mn]

10. I had to laugh at the "can't see" - there was an older woman

at the play who whipped out a huge magnifying glass to read the program. At first I laughed - not at her, but at the size of it! Sherlock Holmes would've wrestled her for it, not one of those cheapass plastic things AARP sends you in the mail. My second thought was "good for you" - she knew she needed it and wasn't going to be hampered by "vanity". I have known too many people who needed hearing aids or glasses and refuse to wear them for vanity reasons. I aways felt like telling them - you aren't fooling anyone by shouting, saying "huh? what'd he say?" or squinting.

I don't know how time goes so fast!

[blueamy66]

19. I just don't care anymore.

I can't see.....plain and simple

When I try to read the horse racing program, I need the magnifying glass. I whip it out and use it.

[geardaddy]

4. Where did you go?

Were you in Dinkytown or Stadium Village?

[nadine_mn]

6. over on the West Bank.

Went to the Acadia Cafe and saw a play at the Mixed Blood Theater

[geardaddy]

12. Nice!

[Arugula Latte]

7. I was listening to the Violent Femmes and my teen son called it "old people music"

[nadine_mn]

11. this is another reason I don't have kids!

lol - oh that's funny.

It is old people's music when you hear it on the elevator. Sigh

[Arugula Latte]

15. Yeah, they've started playing '80s "college alternative" music in our grocery stores.

You can listen to the Cure while you buy your organic strawberries.

[geardaddy]

14. Old people music. That's rich.

[struggle4progress]

8. I'll let you in on a secret: being young for a long long time

will make you old

We could debate why that is, I guess, but in my experience it just never fails

[Populist_Prole]

13. 40 aint old. Interesting theory about how being childless delays the realization of one's age

That's a very valid theory.

Funny thing is that turning 30 rattled me the most. Turning 40 not so much. Turning 50 ( which just happened ) not at all. I have no idea why. The only nagging thought that bothers me ( when I get to thinking too much ) is that knowing how the last 25 years more or less just flew by; and so the realization that the next 25 will be all there is left till "lights out" and may well seem to go by faster.

One thing that has helped is that over the last 10 years I've been living/eating healthier and I'm in better physical shape and feel all-around much better than I did 10 years ago ( minus the need for reading glasses ) and I wish I had done so much sooner. Some of my friends ( who are around 10 years older than me ) basically just threw in the towel when they hit 40, and I have a suspicion that they secretly try to sabotage my diet and level of activity out of jealousy. Always telling me how I'm getting old and "you just wait till.... ( this or that malady occurs ) .....". It's like misery loves company or whatever.

[Archae]

17. Agree with you there.

I'm 52, and while I had some heart trouble, I really don't feel that much different from when I was 30.

[TheCruces]

21. I'm 29 and recently I've noticed...

that I'll be talking about concerts and shit that were 10 years ago and they feel like they were just a couple years ago. Also, while I still party quite a bit, I think back about how I was when I was 20 and am appalled at how I pulled it off.

Now I'm like, "Oh I can't party too hard, I have work at 11am" and it used to be close out the bar and show up to work at 6am. It was rough, but do-able. It'd probably kill me now. Plus, my present work schedule is an aberration of 2-10pm shifts and shifts that start at 7:30am. Tomorrow's 11-7 is designed purely to confuse me, I feel. I wish all my shifts were 2-10, because I get bonus pay for those.

[harmonicon]

16. It just sort of happens, doesn't it?

I'm in my 30's, but my brother will be 40 this year, and one of my best friends just turned 40. One of my cousin's kids is in college now and is getting married this year. When my mom told me that, my brain broke a bit. That girl is about 5 years old in my mind.

I think what really did it was when I was in a bar a year or two ago, and friend introduced me to her younger sister who was 19, at which point I realize that I have t-shirts that I still wear (I was wearing my Ministry '91 or '92 tour shirt at the time) older than people who are drinking in bars.

The real problem is that I still try to live like I'm 21. I can do that for a day, but then I need a day off.

[TheCruces]

22. I totally understand that

All my favorite t-shirts and hoodies are ones that I wore in HS. I'm 29. And I'm sad that my favorite t-shirts are getting too many holes to be able to wear them to work.

[lunatica]

24. I remember being your age as the good old days

I'm 63. But I don't feel a day over 62.

[WCGreen]

27. Every time I look in the mirror....

[Bake]

28. 40??? You're griping about 40??

You're just a kid. Now get off my lawn!



You're NOT old. 40 is the new 30, or something like that.



Bake

[nadine_mn]

30. I know - but its one of those milestones that just kinda hit you

when you suddenly realize you aren't "young"


It was a gut check that me made go ack!

[Myrina]

29. Speaking of 'old' .... gotta rant ...

I caved in to the Borg and bought an iPhone last week.
O
M
F
G
what a monumental pain in the ass for essentially a useless accessory to my life.

Can't connect to my 3G network most of the time, have to 'authenticate' all of my web passwords/usernames and GOD ONLY KNOWS where those authentication emails went because they're not in my inbox OR in my text message file ... and have to manually import all of my phone contacts from my old phone (different carrier).

It will be a damn lucky device if it's not drop kicked across the house and flushed down the toilet by the end of this weekend.

Whatever happened to the good old days of a land line where you picked it up, dialed a number and talked to someone? When did all this damn data convolution cloud crap take over? I don't work for NASA.

Jeeebus.

[nadine_mn]

31. I don't have a "smart" phone - they make me feel dumb

I really don't need to take pics (my regular cell phone takes pics and I have a lot of pics of my pocket or just dark pictures), I don't need email or internet or any of that crap.

The only reason I have an ipad is because my husband got one free. He works in IT and he has every fricking gadget.

I just want to crawl into my little hole and send snail mail.