38 - It's the new black!

Another year older. Still feel like I'm 18 sometimes, except I've noticed things that remind me I'm much older.

• My pants are tighter. Not in a 1980s hair-metal band way, more in the heavier, bigger mid-section way
• There's more gray hair.
• Some days I feel like I can run 100 meters in 13 seconds, but realistically I'm out of breath climbing two flights of stairs on most days
• It hurts sitting cross-legged
• My arms fall asleep when I hold a novel in a certain position for too long
• My short-term memory has gotten shorter

• I have a family that now extends past my parents and sister. I have my own now, and it's growing. In fact, I'm writing an entirely new and exciting chapter in the Plante/Lahey history.
• Some of my closest friends are from high school
• The people I see from high school have families of their own!
• I have the things I thought only my parents could possess (car, house, mortgage, debt, careers)
• I look at teenagers today and wish I can impart all of my knowledge from my youth to them, but deep down I know that they'll give me the same look I gave older people who tried giving me advice.
  
• People actually listen to what I have to say.
  
• I'm actually making a difference in my world.
• I've got a long way to go, and I like where I'm heading
• I'm happy

So, the very best wishes for me on this day. Before, I used to take the whole month of April just to celebrate. Now, I take a moment in the day to be a little introspective, and appreciate all that I have, and realize that the best gifts don't come in wrapping paper and bows - they are there, right in front of me, looking at me from across the breakfast table.