Not Old Yet. But, It's Happening

Like the title says, I'm not old yet, by any means, but there are tell-tale signs that it's happening. Each day when I look in the mirror, I look just a little bit older. My skin is just a little bit wrinklier (is that even a word?!). My hair is just a little bit grayer (I used to be able to count the gray hairs, but there's too many now).

It's happening whether I like it or not, and believe me, I do not like it. Not one bit!

Take for instance, when one of the kids is listening to their music and I tell them to turn it down. They look at me like I'm crazy when they tell me that the volume is "only on 2". Or, how about when I tell them that same music is incomprehensible. "I don't know why you listen to that crap. You can't understand a word he's saying!" That right there is my mother, flying out of my mouth before I realize what I'm saying. It's classic, and I can remember (believe it or not!) her saying the same exact thing to me when I was a teenager. Yep. Old age has its foot in the door.

Of course, there's the physical side of getting old, too. It doesn't just happen overnight. It creeps up on you so slowly, you don't really know for sure that it's happening until it has. I'm not talking about the gray hair or wrinkles. Those are typical, and expected. I'm talking about the physical things that happen behind the scenes, so to speak.

Boobs. It's not just women, either. I'm 38 years old. Like I said, not old. But, over the last couple of years, I've noticed things starting to head south, if you know what I mean. The word perky is no longer in my vocabulary when it comes to describing anything on my body. Perky personality, maybe. Perky breasts? Afraid not.

Getting out of bed in the morning is another problem that has presented itself as of late. I used to wake up in the morning feeling refreshed and ready to face the day. Now, when I wake up, the first thought that crosses my mind is how bad my back aches, or my hip aches, or that whatever I'm laying on aches. I sit up, groaning at the tightness of every muscle in my body, and throw my legs over the side of the bed, grimacing at the shooting pains in my knees. It's Arthur coming to visit already. It runs in my family, and he's decided to make a home with me early on. Yep. Old age .

Then there's the fact that I get up in the middle of the night to pee now. I NEVER used to get up at night. Once my head hit the pillow, I was unconscious until the alarm went off the next morning. Not anymore. The days of sleeping straight through the night are over. I get up once a night to pee, and could probably get up twice, but force myself to remain in bed until the alarm because my knees hurt too bad to do it again. Old age.

It's happening whether we like it or not, that is for sure. I guess it's how we deal with it that counts, though. They say you're only as old as you feel. Some days I feel a hundred and fifty, but most days I feel 38.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go rub some Ben-gay on my knees and take my Aleve before I get into bed.