In May, my Granddaddy turned 91. Every year up until this point, I’d ask him, “How does it feel to be [insert age here]?” as if he was supposed to wake up that morning and instantly feel different. He’d always chuckle and tell me he felt the same. This year, he half-jokingly responded with, “Can’t see. Can’t hear. You tell me...” I laughed with him, but knew he was secretly serious about some of the major shifts that had taken place over the last year. It made me wonder if 91 was going to be the age where I wake up one morning, and BAM! I feel my age, and I wondered if I’d be fortunate enough to reach 91 to see for myself.
I have news for you. I don’t have to wait until 91. It has happened at the ripe ole age of 28.
- Suddenly, indigestion is a thing. Spicy food, tangy food, fatty food... basically all the foods cause this horror called ‘indigestion’ I’d only before heard about in tall tales. Now I've come to realize those tales weren’t so tall. Thank God for antacids.
- 9 p.m. is late. I used to stay up until 11:30 or later on work nights, finishing projects, reading, hanging out with friends or watching movies. I now prefer to be home early on work nights and I change into pajamas as soon as possible--aka earlier than is probably appropriate for someone still in their 20s.
- Television is no longer hypnotizing and magical. For my entire life (until this point), if a TV was on, I was awake. Fascinated by the bright, shiny box of entertainment, I loved having stories told to me by actors on the screen. At sleepovers I’d be the last one awake, watching (even horrible) movies until the bitter end because no one turned off the TV and I just “had” to see what happened. Traveling with friends who fell asleep to the TV used to mean sleepless nights as I stared blankly and fixedly at the commercials and infomercials, unable to shut them out of my mind. Now? Well... Now I’ll be laying on the couch at 8:30 p.m. watching a TV show and the next thing I know, I’m startled awake by a loud commercial 20 minutes later.
- Travel is wonderful and exhausting. For the last several years my mother has claimed that the day after travel, she is wiped out. I would roll my eyes in response, sure she was exaggerating. My punishment, apparently, is to have that happen to me at 28. Case in point: After an overnight trip to Atlanta this weekend, I was in bed on Sunday by nine and Monday night I didn't attend my usual outing with friends in lieu of my couch and an early bedtime.
- Cooking has not only become easier and more fun, but necessary for budget and waistline requirements. Don't get me wrong, I've always enjoyed cooking and experimenting with new recipes. Sometimes, however, it was a bother. I much preferred dinner out with friends versus cooking at home. Now that I'm older and wiser (go ahead, insert joke here), I've realized meal planning is necessary to avoid the temptation of spending more money and eating unhealthy foods.
What have we learned from the process of becoming 28? Apparently growing older increases the desire to sleep a lot. So if you have 28 looming on the horizon (::cough:: co-blogger, Emily ::cough::) you have that to look forward to...