On Getting Old... or Not

Awhile back while at a book signing thing with a bunch of other bloggers, I suddenly looked around and realized how freaking old I am! It took me back a minute! That's because I totally FEEL not old, (well except for the occasional ache and pain and the whole how-did-I-get-so-fat thing)  but then when I realized how much older I am than most of these other book fanatics I hang with now and then, I wondered if they think, what the heck? Who invited this middle-aged lady to our party??? Know what I mean?

But for the most part people seem sincerely thunderstruck when they do find out how old I am. I laugh at this because I don't know how to take it! Does this mean I look and act young-ish? Or does this mean I look and act immature? Because we wouldn't want that now would we...

So, as the weekend approaches and I have to add yet another year to my age tally marks, I'm pondering getting old.... yet trying to still "be" young.

Which of course means,  I made some lists. Here's how I know I'm getting old:

-- I remember when VCRs became the thing, and we had to rent them if we wanted to try them out.
-- I remember watching final episode of Mash.
-- I remember when MTV was first popular... one of the first music videos I remember was this one:



-- I went to Star Wars in the theater when I was 12 years old. We sat through it twice and I was completley blown away by everything about it.
-- I also remember LOVING this movie (Flash Gordon) when I was 16.
-- I remember watching Donny and Marie every Friday night, Emergency, Love Boat and Fantasy Island every Saturday night and The Wonderful World of Disney and Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys every Sunday night..



-- Of course I loved Donny... and Shaun Cassidy, and also  Leif Garret, Andy Gibb and Scott Baio

-- We had a class dance every Friday afternoon in 6th grade and I had a little 45 record of this song which the kids begged me to bring for that dance every week:

(I love this clip of it because it has both the original music AND the disco one which starts at 1:26 in.. plus it has clips of the movie! Embedding might not be working, so go on and click over to YouTube!)

 

-- Another song I remember we loved dancing to was More Than a Feeling by Boston
-- I remember watching Roots on TV.
-- I got an electric typewriter for my going to college Christmas present and that was so very very cool.
-- I was already married when CDs become the thing and we freaked out about them
-- I  watched Oprah from the beginning
-- I remember when disposable diapers were the next coolest thing
-- I remember when Ibuprofen was the wonder drug and you could only get it in prescription
-- I was in college when the shuttle exploded
-- I remember when John Lennon was shot... and Ronald Regan... but no, not JFK.
-- I remember when TV shows started advertising their websites
-- I remember first getting the internet and how that AOL "you've got mail" thing was so awesome!
.... and the list could go on and on and on.

BUT... I feel/act/seem younger because....

-- I get into all the new computer stuff
-- I think it's fun to have a lot of celebrity crushes
-- I like to blast music in the car... (my kids tell me to turn down the music all the time)
-- and go to rock concerts.
-- I have the confidence of a teenager... in other words... not much
-- I get excited about weird things
-- I like to read YA books and ponder my own high school years
-- I dress like a kid in jeans and tshirts/sweatshirts and tennis shoes
-- and... I don't know what else.... what else?

Anyway, here's to getting older, but staying young! If you have the secret to that, let me know!