Back in my day, we had NINE planets!

I am 45 and my gray hairs are popping up more frequently.  Some time ago, I got my hair cut and colored to cover it up.  Afterwards, I stopped by the store to pick up a bottle of wine.  At the self-check-out, the guy monitoring came up behind me to card me, but when I turned around, he said, "Oh, never mind - you're OK."  No!  Here, look!  PLEASE card me!  Dang it.  It’s been awhile and the gray is creeping back in.  I am toying with the choice to either let it go gray or cover it again.  Mom says it’s not “gray hair”, it’s “wisdom hi-lights”.  OK, we’ll go with that.

I like to think I have natural beauty, but time keeps doing unnatural things to it.  Like adding chins and stuff….  Most of the time I don’t really FEEL old, but I do notice some age things gaining on me.  It seems I’m stuck in a never-ending string of, “What was I gonna do just now?” Some days, I practice positive thinking about all this ‘getting old’ stuff. Other days, I'm not certain that I am thinking.

It’s fun for me to point out things to my daughter that we did “back in my day”, like trying to tape a song off the radio using a bulky tape-recorder, hoping that the DJ didn't talk over the beginning or the end of it.  The other night, someone rang the doorbell.  Em looked out the window next to the door and said, “It’s two old guys.”  When I answered the door, there stood two salesmen……about my age.  SUPER old, apparently.  I realized today that my teenager is not even old enough to remember when we had to share the internet with the phone line!

I don’t look forward to getting old.  Last summer, I tried to do a cartwheel, thinking it was like riding a bike. It’s not.  It’s not fair that my computer is the only one of us getting naps and cookies.  The vision goes; the joints sound like I’m walking on packing peanuts; my energy levels are kaput!  Let me tell you, when you're tired and there is a blinking light on your dishwasher, it does NOT mean you just got mail.

I was once asked what I would regret most if I were to die in my sleep.  I’d have to say – going to bed.  Silly question!  Wouldn't it be great if we could put ourselves in the dryer for 10 minutes and come out wrinkle free?  I will say, I’m thankful that wrinkles don’t hurt, but there are days when I think that growing up and becoming an adult was the worst decision I've ever made!