5:24 p.m. - 2004-02-27
Sudden Onset Adulthood
Good lord, time flies when you don't update your journal. I think about things I could write about all the time, but I never quite seem to manage to actually sit down and write anything. I don't know whether that's because my life is kind of dull at the moment, and not exactly worthy of lengthy updates, or whether I'm just not in a journal mood lately. There seems to be a general downswing in journal updating lately. I think I choose to blame the February blahs.
February is fast drawing to a close, though, bringing my birthday only a week away. (March 6th, for those of you who don't keep a calendar of my significant dates on your desk.) 23 doesn't seem like much of anything in most respects, but the one thing about it that made me stop for a moment is the fact that it's now been five years since I turned 18. Five years that I've been legally allowed to drink (God Bless Alberta - the only advantage of a province full of rednecks is the low drinking age!), five years that I've been allowed to vote, five years since that first trip to the bar. Six years, now, since I was applying for university, more than five since I started. I am now closer to my high school reunion than I am to my high school graduation.
This doesn't really bother me - believe me, high school wasn't so fabulous that I'm not happy to put some distance between me and it - but the signs of true adulthood are suddenly everywhere. Earlier this week, Jamie and I were sitting around at his house. He was reading Macleans, a Canadian news magazine, and reading out the interesting parts to me. Add to that the fact that he was wearing a sweater over a polo shirt with the collar pulled neatly over the sweater, and he was the picture of middle age. What was I doing? Knitting. Suddenly, without even realising it, we'd become my parents.
Yesterday, I got an RRSP. Retirement savings, right here, thank you very much. What the hell? When did I get old enough to have or NEED retirement savings? Last time I checked I was worrying about how to get home from the bar, now I'm worrying about having enough money for retirement? Good grief.
Plus, I just spent five minutes muttering to myself about the two boys running around the library with suction cup guns, shooting each other. I believe the phrase "kids these days" may have flashed through my mind. If that isn't a sign of old age, I don't know what is.
Still, I am planning on going to Chuck E Cheese for my birthday, so perhaps all is not lost. Whack a Mole, here I come!
