On Turning 50

Yep, I've got to change my profile info in the sidebar. At 4:05 this afternoon, I will no longer be 49.

You know that commercial where the guy finds out his credit score is 619, and then every place he looks he sees that number? Earlier this week I was driving to work, thinking about the post I'd write today. At that moment I looked up and saw the "Speed Limit 50" sign and just laughed out loud.

Last night I had Monday Night Football on as background noise, and again started to think about what I wanted to write. I glanced at the tv JUST as they focused on the 50 yard line.

Unlike 30, which was overshadowed by the birth of my daughter Emma two weeks prior, and 40 which was overshadowed by the birth of my son 9 months prior, this birthday is just hanging out here all by itself. People can tell you it's just a number, but believe me, there's something about 50.

Listen to kids describe an old lady they saw doing something outrageous (you know, like working out). They'll say, "YEAH, did you see that woman? She was like FIFTY!"

Think about rhymes for a second. Thirty rhymes with dirty, forty rhymes with sporty and even (kind of) naughty. What does fifty rhyme with? Thrifty? Nifty? Ugh.

I think I may even be starting to act like a fifty year old. Not in most ways, but in small subtle ways. Like attempting to call 1-800-HOWS-MY-DRIVING about a billion times as I drive to and from work. Garl darned crazy kids.

On the more serious side, I do think about the fact that I'll be 58 when Lucas graduates from high school, and worry about remaining healthy for him at least until he is an independent adult (and beyond, because god knows I want him to be able to enjoy his life without worrying about his dottering old mother).

So, I'm going to try to stay positive, stay young (I'm actually only 15 in my head) and not focus on the fact that I can no longer double my age and fully expect to be around. My mother, in her unique way, sent me a GIANT t-shirt with the GIANT message: "Fit and 50!" (she claims that it was hers, and she wore it. Yeah right. Probably last year.) I'm thinking I'll wait two years and send her one that says "85 and Still Alive!"