Nothing But A Number (Thursday Thirteen #38)

Blow up the balloons and bring out the cake! (Chocolate, please!)

There's a birthday girl..errr, woman, in the house! Who? ME!

I am 42 years old today. It ain’t nothing but a number, though, because I don’t feel my age, or any age for that matter anymore. I just feel like me.
Rock Chicky RANTastic!

Today is Thursday Thirteen...and here’s mine...

Thirteen REASONS I FEEL OLDER AND YOUNGER THAN MY ACTUAL AGE 1. OLDER: I was surgically menopaused at age 29. Monthly woes seem a lifetime ago away and I’m already so far past hot flashes and night sweats that it seems like kid stuff to me. 2. YOUNGER: I love fashion trends and always want to wear the newest and coolest stuff. I’m not what anyone would call “curvy” and I don’t fit in women’s sized clothing. The best fit for me is in the Junior’s Department and I have to watch myself that I’m not wearing the same things as my teenaged daughters or they might collapse and just die. We certainly wouldn’t want that to happen! 3. OLDER: My hair has been noticeably gray since I was 26. I’ve been coloring for so long that I don’t even know what my natural color is. Oh, who am I kidding? It’s gray! 4. YOUNGER: I love the music my kids listen to and I have to be careful when I’m driving a van full of their friends home because when I hear “Apple Bottoms Jeans...Boots With The Fur”, I start dancing. Their friends think it’s a riot, but my kids get mortified. I know they’ll appreciate my quirkiness when they’re older ;) 5. OLDER: I see lots of people my age just having babies or lugging around toddlers. My 4 kids are teenagers. In fact, my oldest was 17 yesterday and is about to be a senior in high school. Baby strollers and Barney have officially been swapped out for driver’s licenses and being allowed into “R” rated movies. 6. YOUNGER: I’m more of a screw the PTA meetings, I’d much rather go dance to a bar band until I fall over kind of person. I really don’t care all that much if they celebrate the letter “P” day in Kindergarten with pretzels or popsicles. Either way is fine. No need for a meeting in my opinion on that subject. 7. OLDER: Because of my TMJ issues, I’m usually experiencing some kind of pain in my jaw, neck or shoulder. When I moan about it and use Ben-Gay, I feel and smell like I’m about 100. 8. YOUNGER: I am crazy about technology and I was told by my daughter that I am the only mom she knows who regularly sends text messages. Sooooo kewl ;) 9. OLDER: I freak out when I see those crows feet and dark circles around my eyes. Halle Berry, who is only a few months younger than I am, just had her first baby and doesn’t have crow’s feet and circles! 10: YOUNGER: I actually prefer listening to my teenagers and their friends gossip rather than hearing people my age groan about their mortgages or gas prices. 11. OLDER: Because I no longer have hormones of my own, my joints sometimes ache. Especially in different weather conditions. I feel older than my years when I can predict rain because my fingers or knees tell me so. 12. and 13. OLDER AND YOUNGER: A lot of my friends are experiencing mid-life crisis issues, especially over menopause and not having any more children. Do we get rid of the crib and the maternity clothes? Been there done that so long ago, it’s like old news. And while a lot of my friends are experiencing mid-life crisis issues, in my mind, I feel no different than I did in my 20's. I don’t feel as though I’m middle aged or even getting older. Only better, right? :) Happy Birthday To Me!