Grown-Up

It has been exactly 10 days since my 20s ended.  In the past, age milestones have mostly been accompanied by something new I'm allowed to do.  

At 16 I started driving. 

At 18 I got a tattoo and voted.  

... nobody gives a crap about 20...

At 21 I purchased alcohol.  

But 30 feels like a milestone to me and there's nothing new I can do to celebrate it.  I can't even run for President for another 5 years.

So mostly I've just been thinking a lot about how grown-up, or not grown-up, I am at the dawning of this new decade in my life.

On the one hand, I do have my own apartment and pay my own bills.  On the other hand, my parents still have to bail me out on occasion.  

(We always say that it's a loan when in fact I think we all know it's not.  I like to think that if I don't ever pay them back financially, I will repay them by not shipping them off to a crappy nursing home when they get old.)

One indication of the aging process at work could be that one of my current favorite TV shows is a procedural drama on CBS.  But I think it's negated by the fact that I still also watch not one, but four shows on the CW.

I go to bed at 10:00 PM and get up at 6:00 AM all week.  And I'm OK with that.

Sometimes I wear heels to work.  And I own a blazer.

I not only searched for and found a doctor that takes my insurance, I also made an appointment and went to it.  All by myself.  That is literally the first time I have ever done that.  

And the doctor prescribed me vitamin supplements.  That's a old person thing, right?

Also, in case you missed it, I have insurance.

And a 401K.  And a Life Insurance Policy... or something... 

That said, the beneficiary of my Life Insurance Policy, or whatever it is, is my sister.  Because I'm single and childless and giving the money to my cat would be considered insane. 

My favorite part of the weekend is not going out partying with friends, it's going to church and then out to lunch with them.  I don't know if that makes us mature or just lame.

I went to at least two retail establishments this weekend knowing that I cannot afford any frivolous purchases and didn't buy anything but toilet paper.

Alternately, I still like new music.  I'm holding on to that as a sign that I'm still young.  I've even decided that if an N'sync-vs-Backstreet Boys-style allegiance must be sworn as this new crop of boy bands emerges, I'm picking The Wanted.  

Cause they're British.




**After I wrote this I discovered that One Direction is also made up of Brits and they have won the popularity contest by far.  So be it.