Reality Check

For the last few mornings I've been waking up in the middle of the night (for various reasons) and have noticed that my right hand is throbbing and stiff. I am able to fall back asleep, yet the pain is still there when I wake up. It seems to be worse first thing in the morning, it's literally painful to open it up. This is the same hand that I broke in a car accident, the same hand I type on a 10-key with for hours on end every day, so I attribute it to a mild form of arthritis. It may be a self diagnosis, but I'm not sure what else if could be, especially with the stiffening of the joints. I figured I was a little young to be having arthritis issues and decided to try not to think about it.

A few minutes after exiting the warm bed I stumbled to the upstairs bathroom to tame my tumbleweed-like hair. As I started to part the mess of hair, I involuntarily let out a "nooooooooo!" at what I saw; my first grey hair. It was plain as day, and it wasn't just a little grey, it was plain-as-day bright grey.

By this time Jory has made his way to the base of the stairs, asking me if I was alright. The only thing I could think to say in my hormone induced frustration was "I'm falling apart. I'm an old lady at 27".

Then reality hit me. I'm not a young little spring chicken anymore. Granted, I'm not old and I'm completely active with many years of fun ahead of me... but I now am starting to realize that this is when you have to start taking care of your body, that the days of body abuse with quick recoveries are over. My body will probably not bounce back after the baby is born, it will take work now. If I'm going to stay lean I have to work with my new metabolism, which is not eat-whatever-you-want-and-remain-30-pounds, anymore. It takes exercise and discipline to stay in shape and it takes patience. Just because Jack-in-the-Box has "free taco night" doesn't mean I should take part in it. Part of me likes it and part of me wonders how the hell we become adults so fast. I feel like I was dancing until sunrise with Maggie only a couple months ago, when it reality it was 10 years ago.

After this baby is born I fully intend to jump back into my normal routine. I hope to be back in spin, walking multiple time a week and hiking as much as possible.

And I'm keeping that first gray hair to remind myself that it's important to take care of myself.

Oh, life.