Happy Birthday to Me
Tomorrow is my 30th birthday. I haven't thought about it too much, except when I heard this Tim McGraw song on the radio the other day (eating more salads, getting more sleep, laughing more - all good ideas for older people) . I feel a bit like with my wedding where my sister kept saying "Are you nervous?" and I kept saying no for months before, and then 10 minutes before the ceremony was supposed to start, and I started saying "I'm getting married in 10 minutes?!!". My sister said "You are freaking out now?!"
Part of it not meaning much to me has been that I have sort of felt old ever since I got a full-time job in an office. I bet people who work in bars, the music industry, or waiting tables don't feel old nearly as early as someone who has to figure out what blazer goes with which pencil skirt and boots. On the other hand, I still almost always get carded for alcohol, and being married to someone 10 years older than me makes it so for all these past years people have been surprised by how young I am by comparison. HelloGiggles had a good piece about being 29. And also a piece about how people judge themselves on their birthdays. One weird thing about being 29 is that people don't believe you "Sure! How many years are you going to say you are 29?" What? I really am!
Of course people at work make fun of me. They start telling me about what foods to eat to avoid high cholesterol and say that I should start taking a ramp instead of steep stairs so I don't ruin my knees. They talk about grey hair and loss of metabolism. It seems to be the first talk I've heard in connection to me of actually getting old, as opposed to older. I found this with the wedding too - it seems the first time in your life that you acknowledge your own mortality ("til death do us part!"), and it makes the whole thing feel more serious. It reminds me of how I feel that bachelorette parties, though technically are there to mark the end of one's single days, usually happen long after those days are over. To say "Oh my god it is the end of your twenties!" - well I might say the spirit of someone "in their twenties" seems to fade around 27 or when you get a job you actually care about keeping. Yesterday someone called me "The Martha Stewart of our staff", and I ask you what is young about that?
Well, anyway, according to Ani DiFranco if you aren't getting happier as you are getting older you are messing something up. Most of my goals seem to be to keep things pretty much as they are - and if your goal is to keep your situation the same - you must be doing something right.
Anyways, we are going to the Melting Pot after much deliberation. We'll have to try The Bears another time.
Part of it not meaning much to me has been that I have sort of felt old ever since I got a full-time job in an office. I bet people who work in bars, the music industry, or waiting tables don't feel old nearly as early as someone who has to figure out what blazer goes with which pencil skirt and boots. On the other hand, I still almost always get carded for alcohol, and being married to someone 10 years older than me makes it so for all these past years people have been surprised by how young I am by comparison. HelloGiggles had a good piece about being 29. And also a piece about how people judge themselves on their birthdays. One weird thing about being 29 is that people don't believe you "Sure! How many years are you going to say you are 29?" What? I really am!
Of course people at work make fun of me. They start telling me about what foods to eat to avoid high cholesterol and say that I should start taking a ramp instead of steep stairs so I don't ruin my knees. They talk about grey hair and loss of metabolism. It seems to be the first talk I've heard in connection to me of actually getting old, as opposed to older. I found this with the wedding too - it seems the first time in your life that you acknowledge your own mortality ("til death do us part!"), and it makes the whole thing feel more serious. It reminds me of how I feel that bachelorette parties, though technically are there to mark the end of one's single days, usually happen long after those days are over. To say "Oh my god it is the end of your twenties!" - well I might say the spirit of someone "in their twenties" seems to fade around 27 or when you get a job you actually care about keeping. Yesterday someone called me "The Martha Stewart of our staff", and I ask you what is young about that?
Well, anyway, according to Ani DiFranco if you aren't getting happier as you are getting older you are messing something up. Most of my goals seem to be to keep things pretty much as they are - and if your goal is to keep your situation the same - you must be doing something right.
Anyways, we are going to the Melting Pot after much deliberation. We'll have to try The Bears another time.
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