When did I get old?

I have to admit that I have never really thought I would get old. No, I take that back. Not that I wouldn't get old, just that I wouldn't grow up. Sometimes I look around and I can't really believe that I'm a college graduate, with a husband and a son, and a job that I've been at for 4 years. I swear I still feel like a kid sometimes. I can't believe how much time has passed, and there are days when life feels very surreal. Now don't get me wrong, I love everything about my life. I'm just saying that every once in a while, I really stop and look around, and forget how I ended up here. Just how much time has passed really catches me off guard.

I still feel like it was a just a couple of years ago that I was in college, drinking every weekend, staying out late, and having a really good time. Unfortunately, that was when I was 20, 21, 22, etc. On paper, 26 (and 11/12ths) doesn't seem all that far from 20, 21, 22...but believe me, it is!

When I met my husband, he introduced me to some classic country, in particular Hank Williams Jr. Now I know that he was MUCH older than 26 (and 11/12ths) when he sang about all his rowdy friends settling down, but at the time, I couldn't really understand the line he said about "the hangovers hurt more than they use to". What does that mean? How could a hangover hurt more than it already does? Today, I found the answer to that question. And boy, was Hank right!

I very rarely "go out" anymore. (To "go out" is the nice way of saying "I'm getting drunk and singing loudly and dancing erratically and taking terrible pictures with my purse camera and scream when I see someone I haven't seen in a while and generally just have a good time.") But, every once in a great while, there is some small town event that calls for a whoopin' and hollerin' time. This such event was the local college homecoming. Unfortunately, when I went home at midnight, I noticed that I was not up to the standards of the college age party-goers...who were all still going strong. I was already beginning to realize what would be in store for me come dawn's early light. I believe the first words out of my mouth when I woke up was "I'm too old for this [insert expletive here]." That's when I realized what Hank had been saying, and it had finally hit home. Which made me think of another country favorite-Garth Brooks said it best: "I'm much to young to feel this damn old..."