Getting Older

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This year I turn 33. A few people who are older than me have jokingly said "After I turned 30, everything started going downhill for my body!" (In more ways than one, ha ha!) I have definitely been feeling that this could turn out to be true. This is the year that I found my first gray hairs. I don't think anyone else would notice, but when I look closely, I can see at least 5-10 long, definitely gray hairs staring back at me. Another thing that has started staring back at me are some new wrinkles. I see them on my face, and especially in the space between my neck and chest (what is that called, anyway?!) You know, right where a necklace hangs and draws attention to the "crows feet" that I'm now sporting. Nice. I was showing a friend (who is older than me) my nice wrinkle lines and she said "Oh, I'm sure those are just sleep lines from when you woke up!" Well, nice thought, but it was like 11am and I had woken up at 7. Maybe not.

When I wake up in the morning now, my body has aches and pains. My joints hurt a bit. Not bad, but I do feel a bit creaky. But the worst problem I'm having is with my knees. Last year I fell flat on my face in a parking lot and got a genuine knee injury. It took at least 4 months before I could even stand any pressure on my knee. I couldn't kneel down for anything. I had x-rays, saw a doctor, did special exercises, but the doctor did not see any permanent damage. It still bothers me when I first wake up in the morning but especially after I exercise. But now I have a new issue - to the left of my knee is this tendon. You know the space right next to your knee where you bend it? Well, something in there is hurting me so badly that I can barely stand up. It hits at the most random times throughout the day. Today and yesterday, it was while I was using the toilet. I know, TMI, but seriously. All I did was sit down to do my business, and needed help getting up. I seriously need crutches now. I have no idea WHAT in the world is happening, but it hits me when I'm bending my knee and then lasts for awhile, and then goes away and comes back. What in the world? Am I seriously 80 years old now?

Oh, and that's another thing. I find myself using the word "seriously" all the time. Um, I'm almost 33 now, so I should probably stop that. I listened to a message at church that I gave a few weeks ago and realized that I still sound like a valley-girl sometimes. Why can't my language catch up to my body?   I wonder if I'm going to be 60 years old, still saying "like, no way!" and "shut UP!" and "seriously?!"  

I still feel 23 inside, but each day my body is definitely telling me otherwise.  Have you ever taken that Real Age test? My results were right around my actual age, because I don't smoke or drink or lay in the sun all day. But really, I feel like my "real age" right now is around 40. What about you? :)