Signs that I am getting older

I am sitting here laughing at myself. I have been very busy with school, kids' activities, my reading cohort, and nursing a migraine. Winter has hit Chicago and it has hit my sinuses hard. Thus, the migraine. Not much I can do about it since I can't take the migraine meds. I can only take Tylenol or Vicadin. I can't take the Vicadin unless I plan on sitting on the couch with a loopy smile and doing nothing else. Well, I finally am catching up with things - some emails and posts to my various Yahoo groups.

I was typing messages in various Yahoo groups. I was squinting at the screen wondering if I had just typed a period or a comma. I can still see letters and words but not punctuation in a normal font. I have been avoiding the font change for awhile now. I just sucked it up and have gone to the larger font size in both my laptop and for the internet. When the font sized changed, my eyes went Aaaahhh! That is so much better! This is while I am wearing my tri-focal glasses and not my contacts. I laughed at myself.

I am getting older. I don't normally feel like I am. I am going to be 45 in January. Growing old is not an issue for me. I am actually more comfortable now than when I was in my 20's. I look at the new teachers in my school who are literally half my age and think that I don't want to go through all that again. Not the fresh out of college thing. No first dates any more. No getting married again. No being pregnant (twice) and throwing up until the 5th month. No more diapers or no more wiping dirty butts. I love that my 6 yro can get in and out of her car seat by herself. She doesn't need me to put on her seatbelt. Looking back, my 30's was okay.

I do need to wear tri-focals now when I don't have my contacts in. My hair started turning grey when I was in my early 30's. I highlight every so often so you don't see the bright grey hairs against my black, Chinese, stick straight hair. I automatically move my head up and down to adjust the tri-focals. The font size on my computers has gone up. I need a second to see small print.

I wear the same size now that I have been wearing for the past 15 years or so. I am a size 6 still. I used to be a 4 in my 20's. Size 6 is better - easier to find that size. I have noticed that my waist is thicker. My hips - I actually have a bit of that now. I am filling out my size 6 out more than before. Some of you might say why I am complaining at all. I am not complaining. I am just saying. I am just noticing changes that were not there before. I am noticing that I am getting older. It just kinda creeps up on you.

I have to wear a bra now whether I like it or not. I am not big on top, but I don't want what I have to be more saggy than it has to be. I have had two children beat the crap out of them while breastfeeding. They have a tendency to face south now. No, I am not wearing granny underwear. No need for the industrial strength bras or dual straps. I told you that I am not big on top. I normally do not wear underwire bras either. I was once in a car accident where the seatbelt locked up on me upon impact. The force was so strong that the seatbelt+underwire bra fractured my ribs. TMI yet? TMI is too much information.

I don't recover as quickly when I am sick. I have more chronic issues than ever before. I used to blame it on my 2nd pregnancy - that is when most of them popped up. Now, I just think it is age. I have had allergies and asthma since 4th grade. I do have reflux now and IBS. I get migraines from bad sinuses. I already did the surgery for that. Migraines don't hit me as hard now or as often as they before the surgery. Maintenance drugs are a wonderful thing nowadays. I am feeling pretty good most of the time. I am not a complainer or whiner about not feeling 100%. Unless I am deathly ill, am very contagious, or cannot drive, I still trudge off to school. I don't tell people when I don't feel well or have a migraine. I just whine to my immediate family.

I find that I don't eat the same stuff now. I don't eat a lot of french fries now. I used to love them. Especially the McDonald's fries or the really fat ones that are fried up brown and saltly. Yeah, I still eat Red Robin fries whenever we go there. I usually opt for fresh fruit now or some other side rather than fries. I don't eat stuff like donuts or cake much now. I would rather have a bagel or english muffin. I did have a few of those small donut gems the other day that are covered in white powdered sugar. It is impossible to eat those things without getting it all over you. I tried to pop an entire one in my mouth. My mouth is not big. I closed my mouth and a puff of white smoke came out of my mouth. I don't drink as much pop as I used to either. Nope, I don't have any cholestrol or blood pressure issues.

Some of the things that I look forward to now:
My first cup of coffee in the morning
Seeing CSI and Fringe
I admit, I watch Dancing with the Stars
My kids going out somewhere with their dad - me home alone
Reading a new book
art time
a meal without someone drooling over it (my kids)
knitting when it gets cold
sewing while watching TV
winter, spring, and summer vacation (teacher thing)
my kids being old enough so I don't have to go in the water with them!
a hot cup of tea
a crispy pizza - hungry now

Okay, I have blathered on long enough now. I promise my next post will be about art.