Walking on Wednesday ~ You Might Be Getting Old If.......

I am a fan of Jeff Foxworthy's Redneck Jokes. They have seeped in to our culture, and we find ourselves referencing them when the slightest opportunity arises. I even uttered the phrase yesterday, on our road trip to pick up our son from college, when the conversation ended up discussing hubby's dream truck after passing a beefed up pickup truck.

He spoke with that dreamy longing. "I wanna get the biggest diesel truck, raise it up on the biggest tires, get those KC lights and a bar to put them on...." 

Hello....KC headlights, totally cheesy 80's hun. Wait a minute. 80's. That is over 30 years ago. ugh.

This screams redneck to me. I married a redneck wannabe. I should have realized this when I kept buying him flannel shirts, but I rationalized the grunge fashion sense was really what was going on here. But alas, the phrase that kept running through my head was, You might be a redneck if.....you want a pickup truck with KC headlights on it and dream of driving through the mountains hunting deer with it.

Well the drive continued, we were going to pick up our son from his first semester of college. I thought about the 'you might be....' jokes, and realized I had an angle. You might be getting old if......
You might be getting old if the highlight of your week is a 5 1/2 hour one way drive to pick up your children from college.

We continued driving, searching for a decent radio station. We have not embraced the MP3 Players and iTunes stuff. Finally, we found the radio station whose tagline is "We play everything", meaning they play everything from the late 1970's and 1980's. Even My Sharona! (gratuitous video for you, since I missed Music Monday this week)

Yes, we are 80's products. 30 years ago, dang we are getting old. You might be getting old if your idea of enjoyment is listening to the terrible cheesy music of your teenage years. That is twice I used the phrase cheesy, too. Like, Valley Girl anyone?

About half way through the trip, it started to hit me. My legs hurt. Really hurt. We stopped for gas, and I waddled stiffly into the gas station convenience store to use the restroom. I was walking like a crippled old person, to use the bathroom because I couldn't wait until we got to campus. You might be getting old if your knees creak so loud on the way to a gas station bathroom the nice gentleman behind you rushes to hold the door open for you......

I noticed at the shop the other day too - I make noises when I get up from a seated position. My body gets so stiff when I sit, I make noises when I get up. And last night, after 11 hours of driving, I realized I might be getting old because I had to take painkillers to ease the pain in my legs from sitting so long.

I also realized I might be getting old when my son was telling us about his Biology final exam, and how one question really got him. He said it took him 3 tries before he got it right. He had break DNA down into RNA, then assign the corresponding Amino Acids, and then something else I can't comprehend because I was lost at the RNA step. Suddenly I feel like I can't teach him much more. He is a full fledged adult, studying things well beyond my little ole brain.

huh? 

You might be getting old when your child is suddenly much, much smarter than you.  

It was bound to happen, I just am not ready for it! I will pick up some more hair coloring, hide those pesky grays, and go for a run. To feel like I am not as old as I really am.

Later, I will have to take some pain killers, and probably fall asleep on the couch at 8pm. I might be getting old, but I still don't have to admit it just yet, do I?