Now I Am 42

I celebrated my birthday today! Most of it was a work day, but I got an apple pie, a card, and a song from my co-workers - very cute! Soon after, we mailed a check to the two little old ladies who own the rights to Happy Birthday (are they still alive? Who will inheirit the song?).

After work, Anita, Karen Prell & I drove up to Claim Jumper in Concord and had a yummy dinner. What is Claim Jumper, you ask? Well, it's a chain of restaurants that specialize in comfort food: fried chicken, ribs, mashed potatoes, chocolate cake - things like that, and in enormous quantities. For most folks, it's like being Jerry the mouse in a giant refrigerator (they sell huge slices of six-layer cake for $10 each). I had the beef ribs, a cornbread muffin, and part of an eclair for dessert. Delicious!

I had a hard morning, so Anita got me some extra presents to help cheer me up - (the new) Casino Royale and Borat on DVD, and two super-cute books - Don't Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late! and Just Like Heaven.

How do I feel about 42? Well, I'm not as unnerved as I was when I turned forty. I'm still getting used to my middle-age physique - I've gained a lot of weight in the last few years, which I never thought would happen. I've been really thin for most of my life, so my eating and exercise habits basically suck. My doctor thinks it might be a thyroid problem, so I'll have that looked at when I have my next physical. Fortunately, Anita's only concerned with my health, bless her heart!

On that topic, I'm getting my bike out of the shop this week - I had it fitted with tubes with standard-style valves (that meant drilling different holes in the rims) so I can re-inflate my tires at a gas station, rather than having a special pump with me all the time. Some time ago, one of my tires got soft, and I flattened it trying to re-inflate it on the road. Thanks to work and procrastination, the bike sat in the cellar for over a year! No more of that, hopefully - it's turning into biking weather again - I should be able to bike back and forth to work, at the very least.

The good side of aging is that I feel more centered and confident than I ever have before. I still have tons of issues, but the keel's been a lot more even in the last several years. Some of that is experience, some of it therapy, some of it medication. And of course, Anita's the biggest reason.

Thanks, babies!