Rather than write the "Now I'm 35 and newly old; whaddo I do?!" post, I have decided to write the "I'm still 34 for another hour and I'm savoring the last 'young' age of my lifetime" post. I think that works better; it's more dignified. I turn 35 on May 27: it's now May 26th, 11 p.m. -- Let's savor 34 just a little bit longer. (I have been "35" for the past 6 months in my mind, but anyway...)
35 is the beginning of not being young. It's an age, but it is also a defined mark of standards and maturity. I guess I am where I "should be" - I am married. I have children. And physically, too: I have to wear eye cream and night cream and day cream, which would have left me with a pepperoni-pizza-face four years ago. I have to work out and or diet in order to wear my small-sized clothing, as I do not have a surplus in my budget to buy an entire new wardrobe; two years ago, any regular diet and or exercise regimen would have left me a bit on the "gaunt" side.
If I want any more children, now is the time to think about having them - five years is not the time, not anymore; in fact, if I want to make any major life/career/love change or declaration, now is the time to think about setting my course - it won't be as easy ten years from now, just as it would have been a bit easier ten years prior. None of this is an issue; this is just how the aging process works.
That all said, tonight, I am 34; I am the person that I am, and the person that I am not quite yet in this moment; not five or ten years ahead or behind. I am not doing that year-skip-thing, anymore; living only counts if it is done in the present.
