I’m pissed. I don’t want to sound like every other 44 year old out there who is finding out how frail the body is, but really, there’s no way to prepare for this. I have been walking 12-15 miles a week for 9 years now. Nine years! And I’m not talking about strolling—we sweat, we get breathless and sometimes when we are feeling complacent, we jog. But even so, I recognized that that wasn’t enough. My knee needed a little repair work that required surgery about 20 months ago. Ok, that wasn’t so bad. I started yoga and pilates twice a week. This summer, I have been working out with a (paid) personal trainer once or twice a week and she’s kicking my ass but good. I’ve been doing this for three months and I can feel the burn in my abs as I write this (I worked out just two hours ago). I’m wearing shorts I couldn’t fit into two years ago—and they are loosely comfortable and my butt is, well, almost tight. I’m happy about all of this even if I have to spend 10 hours a week to achieve these results (like that’s going to keep happening once school starts), but…
My eyes are betraying me. One month ago, everything is great. Two weeks ago, I’m struggling while stitching one evening and as my husband walked by, with his reading glasses hooked into his shirt, I get an idea.
“Hey—hand me those, will ya?”
OMG! OMG! The holes in the fabric suddenly bloomed to sizes heretofore never seen. Stitching resumed at breakneck speed. Absolutely amazing! But what has happened to my eyes? Why is the world fuzzy? Why can’t I go to the gym and do some eye rolls and pupil lifts and see like I always have? And I know this is going to cost me lots of money. I already have contacts and now I’m going to have to get new ones. I did buy reading glasses at Target for only $9, but I know I’m going to have to buy more. One pair for school, two pairs for home as I’ll be like my husband, always searching. Cripes! It pisses me off. And my elbow hurts. And my brachial-radial pruitis is back in full swing, but that’s another post. I could have made this much longer.
About Me
Apples & Queen Anne's Lace
One of my favorite cross-stitch pieces. Completed in 1999.
6 comments:
I hear you... I hear you. Getting old is not for the faint of heart and all that.
Got my eyes checked last month and he said I was fine - but, (duh, duh, duh, dunnnnn), I'd probably need bifocals in a year. "A year *or two*?" I asked hopefully. "Probably next year."
Great. No wonder there are so many mid-life crises when people start realizing that their parents and adults back then weren't sh*tting them about how much it sucks and how fast time goes. :)
It sounds like you need an eye exam to figure out where things stand. I probably need one too--I had one over a year ago and was diagnosed with an astigmatism along with everything else, which was causing me to have problems seeing at a distance. Got expensive glasses which fixed that and suddenly, I can't see the closed captioning at the gym again. Time for another pair, I guess.
But my feet are worse. I just had to order Birkenstocks for arch support and a $60 arch insert so I don't have to wear Birkenstocks all the time.
Welcome back to blogging!
...but you look fabulous, so there's that.
I imagine we'll all limp and scrape and feel our way through the parking lot in a week or so. It'll be like the beginning of Thriller. You know, before the good dance moves begin.
you know what they say about working out, girlfriend. No pain, no gain!
By the way....Boomer...You really may not be a Boomer. Among other traits I read that Gen X'ers change jobs more frequently. Professors don't switch from University to University very often so you get a false reading thinking you're just like dear old Dad (31 Yrs at Ford.) I am Generation X.
The same is happening to me, and I'm only 41. So far, I haven't been on an expedition to find the recently purchased readers, but I'm sure that's not far behind.
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