Well I really hadn't been looking forward to turning THE BIG FIVE O this year. For the last eighteen months I've probably fought it harder than most. Partly because I feel to young to be 50, partly because I'm a grandpa now and the rest because honestly I fear the result of getting older. My father passed away at 52 so I've resisting this inevitable progression of age myself. Running, self improvement, peaceful minded activities.....on and on. That isn't the point of this blog post. I'm also just now posting this because I wanted to be selfish and keep this gift to myself for a little while and cherish it. So now it has been 50 days since my birthday do I can share.
So fifty days before my birthday you can't imagine what my wonderful wife did......she began celebrating my birthday! Every day for the fifty days leading up to my birthday she gave me a gift. All different kinds, all different sizes, all different ways to tug on my heart strings.
It has been fun each and every day waiting to see what she has planned for me. Little or big they are all a fun surprise. Sometimes it is as simple as a salt and pepper shaker......I love S&P.....I don't know why but I have a nice collection. I hav received a song a few times. Songs that encourage, songs that remind me of our wedding day. Yes, I remember the songs that were sung that day so many years ago.
My wife says that she isn't creative, that she isn't thoughtful. I'll tell her right now that that this is the most creative thing and the most wonderful gift I could have ever received. It is truly awesome. I'll never be able to match it.......so I guess I will spend the rest of my life trying to. Thank you sweetheart for your wonderful caring gifts!
Getting older isn't always the most exciting thing...unless you are young then it is great. Once you get past a certain age you really don't want to celebrate birthdays anymore. Like not having a birthday party will prevent you from aging. However getting older is better than the alternative!
I can honestly tell you that last couple of birthdays that I have had were very much unwanted. I was certainly feeling old and did not appreciate it at all. Yesterday I turned 47....almost a half a century, almost five decades....anyway you look at it, it is just a number. It is what you feel like and what you think about in your mind. If you mentally think of yourself as old, then you are.
This year I have taken some serious steps to improve my health and it has all started with losing some weight. To date I have lost 41 pounds. Yes I go up and down but not by much. I started running again, something I am not really that great at. However I have been plugging away at the miles and slowly working my way up the miles. My half marathon I did was over 4 years ago. So far I have only worked back up to 10 miles. Yesterday I gave myself a birthday present. 11.4 miles......okay I was actually pushing for the half marathon distance of 13.1 but honestly I was dragging a bit. Regardless I am beating my goals I established for myself at the beginning of the year. I will certainly have the 13.1 distance down before January.
My family got me the perfect gifts of winter running gear....I hate the cold. But I am determined to keep running all winter long. Thanks to my family and thanks to all those who have been reading my blog posts and facebook posts encouraging me along the path. I plan on DOMINATING old age!
Ok well, just passed a milestone of 46 years of age. Not sure where on the scale that puts me but I do feel and bit OLD many times. Kids are mostly gone now and living their lives away from us. No hair on head, all grey in goatee. Too many medicines, chiropractor and too difficult to exercise. Over weight, hard of hearing, cannot see with my glasses on or off. (constantly taking my glasses off to read my iPhone and then putting them back on to see further than 12 inches away from my face....what is the deal with that.) Achy in the morning, achy in the afternoon and most certainly if I wasn't so tired in the evening I would recognize that I am also achy before bed.
I understand (and relate)too much of the commercials on television about 'going and going and going' or Happy Bob (sorry too much information), blood pressure medicine, depression medicine.....and even medicine for medicine. My exercise exists in watching other people exercise on TV (and that makes me tired watching too). A treadmill sets in my front living room to remind me everyday of what I need to be doing. (An early birthday gift from my wife...at my request). Chores around the house are so exhausting, for that matter walking is exhausting!
This morning my knee started to hurt.....one spot that usually doesn't hurt surprisingly with all my knee injuries from football, baseball and powerlifting. My theory is that it is telling me it is about to rain or the weather is going to change. Yes, I know, it could be that it is 33 degrees this morning. Just one more thing that aches.
Thursday was my birthday. Cannot really do anything during the mid week due to work schedules etc. Supposed to have a birthday dinner on Saturday evening. Excitment really doent exist somewhere after the 35th birthday. Anyway, nothing special planned on the day, except having to go to the dentist the first thing in the morning.....oh yeah, add that to the list above of things falling apart or OUT. My mom called me at 6:45 my time, 5:45 her time, while I was still in bed....awake always by 6:00 or earlier...this morning was 4:30, to wish me a happy birthday. A text from my son going to work real early in Colorado and a mountain of Facebook posts from everyone....one of the best features of Facebook. A few meetings, a card from my employees and then out of the office a bit early. Thought about going to a movie with my wife....oh, wait this is only Thursday, new movies don't come out until Friday....scratch that idea....ok just dinner out. Oh of the same 'ol places and same 'ol selections off the menu (don't need to look at the menu I always get one of two things there). And then home!
Here is the clue that tells me I must be OLD.....I fell asleep at 7:30 on my birthday! Yep.....oh how exciting is that?....all I want for my birthday is to fall asleep! And I did. My clock is all screwed up. my calendar is all screwed up...I am only 46! That shouldn't be old! Wake up body! Get moving!......okay maybe later after I have another cup of coffee, go pee and take a nap.......oh brother! I see it now...just a few years away......in bed early by 7:00PM, with my walker by my bed, bottle thick glasses on the nightstand right beside the teeth in the water glass (that is just gross) and out like a light ready to snore the plaster off the ceiling (ceiling is falling in but not because of snoring) due to my fat little tummy....(by the way I hate it when my wife wakes me up when I am snoring only to tell me to go back to sleep...her gentle touches are probably more ignoring than just one huge shove!)..........oh brother! Maybe I will go back to sleep and wake up 20 years younger......yeah right, Dream On!
