Thank you for bearing with me as I ruminate on things that are both far more complicated and infinitely less controllable than personal finance.
So I’ll get back to you when I have it figured out (in 50 years, when all computers will be implanted in our heads and we can write our blogs by PROJECTING OUR THOUGHTS). In the meantime, it’s really nice to hear feedback from so many people that I don’t even know (virtual wave: hi!). I love writing this blog, and 90% of the reason is because I have such awesome readers (yeah, you guys) who take the time out of his/her (mostly her, it seems) day to comment and share.
So… thanks. I mean it. I guess I feel like I’m in an “in-between” state – can’t go back to being a kid, but I feel like I should have more things in order before I can properly feel like an adult.
Things that make me feel like a kid:
1. Going to Disneyland, eating funnel cakes before riding Space Mountain
2. Going home to do laundry
3. Taking Mom’s leftovers
4. Reading my favorite young adult books: Witch of the Blackbird Pond, The Little House Series, True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle***
5. Having sorbet, and only sorbet, for dinner (actually, maybe this should be classified as a privilege of adulthood… what do you think?)
6. Eating cake. Lots and lots of delicious cake with chocolate and cream frosting and fruit filling
7. Watching Sailor Moon, DuckTales, and Capitan Planet clips on YouTube***
8. Leaving work at 4:30 on a slow day. Feels like school is letting out early
9. Cartwheels
Things that make me feel old:
1. Talking to my high school friends and realizing that I’ve known them for over EIGHT years
2. Taking the SAT when it was on the 1600 scale instead of the current 2400 scale
3. Having guides on asset allocation and negotiations on my bedside table
4. ***Realizing that I first read those books and watched those shows OVER A DECADE ago
5. People talking about “the 90s.” When did it stop being “a couple years ago” and become “the 90s”?!
6. Working on weekends
7. Getting stuck in traffic with road-raging drivers as we all try (but fail) to make our way down the parking lot formerly known as a freeway
8. Going to get an annual physical and actually worry that there may be something wrong
9. Seeing the complete set of Encyclopedia Britannica in my parents’ living room
What’s on your list?
P.S. How could I have forgotten about MINESWEEPER?!?! It is the best game ever (along with Solitaire & Hearts & Oregon Trail).
No related posts.
I was out to dinner recently and saw a group of high schoolers wearing their prom dresses and it hit me: it’s prom season. I haven’t been to one in so long I totally forgot it existed.
I was listening to old Bill Engvall CDs on my iPod last month and realized: he’s talking about being glad the 90s are over. Oh. My. God. That was nearly ten years ago!! And remembering that I was given copies of those CDs just that long ago, by a coworker who has long since moved away and had two kids. Dear Lord.
I was just thinking about this stuff over the weekend…. odd how you’ve been reading my mind lately!
10 engagements. 5 people I know now have children. When I meet a cute guy, I no longer think, “Maybe he has a girlfriend”, I think, “Maybe he has a wife.” I hosted Thanksgiving dinner for my family at my apartment this year. The last of my college friends is graduating in a month. I have business cards.
Maybe some of these are just me. I graduated pretty much on time from college in August.
Buying a BBQ made me an adult. I don’t know why, I’ve bought more expensive things, but somehow getting a BBQ made me feel like a man.
I love DuckTales! The only show that probably surpassed it in awesomeness was Gummi Bears. Or maybe Kids Incorporated. That show made me feel like a super star.
I don’t feel old nor do I think I ever will. Growing up I was the youngest in my family so I really saw only a handful of ages in people – those younger than me, those my age, those my brother’s age, and those older then them. It is kind of weird, but everyone still fits in those categories to me. My brain just lumps them all together even though an infant and a high schooler are very different people I still only see them as younger than me. Man, I’m a freak.
>>Having sorbet, and only sorbet, for dinner (actually, maybe this should be classified as a privilege of adulthood… what do you think?)
Yes, but *wanting* sorbet and only sorbet for dinner classifies as kid stuff!
Something i am still suffering from too. When i move out in a few months, i am going to be back to Mars Bars dinners every now and then (who am i kidding? Every.damn.night.).
Don’t think I’ll ever stop feeling like a child – inexperienced and acknowledgeable about all these social rules there seem to be. Don’t think i want to grow up either. I’m happy spending my lunch-hour searching for retro trainers online and watching Thundercats. HO!
I was talking to a friend about “True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle” but I had fogotten the title. Seeing it here gave me an “aha!” moment.
My brain is relieved, has stopped pondering this, and thanks you.
Things that make me feel young:
-Hearing everyone talk about having kids and getting married, and knowing I won’t be doing any of those in a while.
-All my co-workers are way older than me (still the baby there!)
-Living with my parents
-Obsessing over pizza
Things that make me feel old:
)….and they were at their prime when I was in Kindergarten!!!!
-I pay for my own health insurance and doctors visits
-I now voluntarily go to the dentist (kind of)
-Watching 6 year olds use computers like they were coloring books (in other words, with ease)
-My boyfriend’s 12 year old brother doesn’t know how to respond to “Who you gonna call?” (Answer: Ghostbusters!)
-The “New Kids on the Block” are now old men (no offense to anyone
-Watching favorite childhood movies, and realize how ridiculously silly they were!!!
By the way, Gummi Bears rocked!!! And I think I heard (a rumor?) that they were turning Charlotte Doyle into a movie (with Dakota Fanning?). I barely remember what it was about, but I know I loved it!
Darn, my comment didn’t post the first time! Here it goes again…
Things that make me feel young:
-Hearing everyone talk about getting engaged, married, and having babies…and knowing I won’t be doing any of them for a while.
-My co-workers are all much older than me (Still the baby here!)
-Living at home with my parents
-Obsessing about pizza
-Obsessing about ice cream
-Picking out library books from the kids section (ahem, “young adults” section)
Things that make me feel old:
)….and they were in their prime when I was in Kindergarten!! (Plus, we no longer have a tape deck to play my sister’s old NKOTB tapes!!!)
-Filing taxes
-I pay for my own health insurance and doctors visits
-I go to the dentist voluntarily (kind of)
-My boyfriend’s 12-year old brother doesn’t know how to respond to “Who you gonna call?!!” (Answer: “Ghostbusters!”)
-The “New Kids on the Block” look like old men (no offense to anyone, I was a fan too
-Watching favorite childhood movies, only to realize how ridiculously silly they were!!!
By the way, Gummi bears rocked!! And I heard (a rumor?) that they were turning Charlotte Doyle into a movie (with Dakota Fanning?). Anyone heard about this? I loved that book too!
I felt like a grown up when I donated $120 to NPR a few weeks ago. Funny – I don’t feel grown up for listening to NPR (because I grew up with it) – only grown up for having the money slash choosing to spend my money by donating it to NPR.
Charitable contributions, wo-hoo! What’s next… an itemized tax form?
Thanks for making me laugh with several of those! I needed it!
And wow, did you make me feel old! When I thought about friends from high school I have known for 20 years now! And when the heck did they change the SAT??!! Yikes! Thanks!
Aww, I loved “The True Confessions on Charlotte Doyle.” I still have it, I may have to read it again now. Yeah, I feel young when I get leftovers or do laundry at my parents’ house. I feel old when I go to school. I am going for another degree, Engineering this time, and while there are students older than me in class, there are a lot of kids right out of high school. Realizing they were in elementary school the first time I was in college makes me feel old. Seeing little lines on my face and realizing I will be 30 in less than a year makes me feel old. I still look younger than my age and most college kids think I am the same age as them, but the attitude between me and them is completely different. Listening to the radio makes me feel old, especially when the 90′s are played as “retro” music. What????? Seriously, Nirvana is now retro? *sigh* I miss the days of grunge.
A new grad, I’ve only been out of high-school for four years, but geeze, when I see the way girls dress, I feel OLD. I feel old because I like what I wore four years ago, it was modern then, but now when I walk through the mall, I look out of fashion. That’s sad! I just can’t wear what the young girls wear anymore.
Does “never heard of The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle” make me old?
Cami – uh, yeah! Remember on Pretty Woman when Julia Roberts couldn’t get helped on 5th Ave because she dressed like a hooker? Now all those stores are full of that exact same hooker-ish garb! Ugh. Take a look in the Limited Too and it looks how Victoria’s Secret used to look. Of course now VS looks more like Frederick’s of Hollywood used to look…
I too loved True Confessions of C.D.! Forgot all about it. I also love the Chronicles of Narnia and reading/watching Harry Potter. Wearing jean skirts makes me feel young, and getting excited over a boy, and playing Monopoly with my sisters at Thanksgiving.
Making me feel old is going out to bars and being SO ANNOYED that they’re full of young “college students.” And filing taxes. And that my college-age sister just went to a party themed “the 90′s.” When I was in school the 80′s was as recent as theme parties got!
Ugh, I’m so with you on the going-home-to-do-laundry thought. Everytime I visit my mother, I cook, I clean, and I do laundry, just like I did before I moved out
Also…DuckTales!
Oh my gosh, Confessions of Charlotte Doyle was my FAVORITE book in middle school; I can’t even count how many times I read it!
And Sailor Moon on YouTube? I know what I’m doing tonight!
Thanks for the walk down memory lane
Hahaha, I just saw the P.S. about Minesweeper. I’ve recently been on a retro-game kick and I just installed Minesweeper and Tetris applications on my iPhone. Soooo addictive and great for passing the time in waiting rooms, airports, etc.
-Bacon
My friends getting married and having babies makes me feel old….I can barely care for my plants!
My friends have been getting married left and right for the past two years and there’s more to come. I’m 27 and I’ve known some of these friends since elementary school so I definitely feel old. I’ll feel even older once I tie the knot!
Love-loved Duck Tales! I also liked Chip and Dale’s Rescue Rangers–so cute. One of my friends loved Sailor Moon in high school and had posters all over her room.
My list of things that make me feel old would include:
- The Babysitter’s Club book series–is it still around?
- Sweet Valley High book series (not as hooked on it though as on the Babysitter’s Club)
- Highlights magazines at the doctor’s/dentist’s office
- The fact that kids who used to watch Barney and the Power Rangers are now in college/graduating from college
Kathleen: Did you know they went to Sweet Valley College after the HS series?? That reminds me of being a kid too ….
Msminiducky, there was a Sweet Valley College? I don’t remember that at all. I must have been too old at that point to be following the series. Goes to show how old I am.