Getting Older

I had lunch with a really important person in my life a week or so ago. She sort of reminds me of my Grandmother. I remember having to go grocery shopping with Grandma, and it taking her FOREVER to make her selections. I distinctly remember her selecting each green bean from the big bin, one at a time, inspecting each to make sure it was not blemished and nice and crisp and fresh. While searching for the perfect beans, she would lecture me on what characteristics each vegetable and fruit should possess to be considered worthy of taking it home (her advice was apropos to men, as well, as I determined in later years). I would stand there, shifting from foot to foot, squirming, trying desperately to listen politely and attentively, when all I really wanted to do was hitch onto the big metal shopping cart and race up and down the aisles in the brightly lit store, jump on the cart and have the ride of a lifetime.

I was grocery shopping today and as I stood in front of the bin of green beans, I couldn't help but laugh at myself because I was picking each bean, one at a time and making sure it was good enough to bring home. I guess getting older brings more changes than I realized. Sure, the physical changes are evident, but the things that make you think 'Holy cow, I'm an adult now - how did that happen?' well, those changes are hard to accept, too. Now that I'm older and grown up (sort of) I often wonder about such life changing challanges and questions, such as:

• when did beer get so expensive?
• why does the Juniors section at the Belk suddenly sell Barbie doll like clothes that even though they are my size, look absolutely ridiculous on me?
• why am I even thinking about re-landscaping the yard?

It's like all of a sudden I have morphed into my GRANDMOTHER! I have missed turning into my parents (who were pretty cool) and have gone directly to the geriatric generation. Which really rots, because all I still really want to do is hitch onto the big metal shopping cart and go for a ride!

Shopping for Thrills

I've noticed that one of my symptoms of my mid-life crisis is my overwhelming desire to spend lots of time and money shopping for all sorts of stuff. I think I am using shopping as a substitute for such meaningful pursuits such as painting the hallway in my house, organizing the shed in the back yard, achieving inner peace through meditation, etc. (hey - can you blame me?). My shopping lust isn't limited to your garden variety department store buying, either. I have actively sought out the more unlikely buying opportunities, such as on-line shopping for soap. Now, while my smallish hometown does not offer a huge variety of, let's say, clothing choices, there certainly is no lack of cleaning products here. However, I am driven to seek out new and unusual types of soaps to fill the huge apothecary jar in the hallway bath. Somehow, having this jar filled with lushious imported hand milled soap gives me a feeling of satisfaction; that life is not only good, but downright great!

Fortunatly, I don't actually buy all the stuff I see. I am not that deep in the morass of mid-life crisisdom to make some of the more ridiculaous purchases I have seen, such as "The Canine Genealogy Kit", available from Hammacher Schlemmer for $59.95, plus shipping and handling. Even if I had a dog, I cannot imagine pursuing this as an interest...
Another item I have not purchased, despite my ongoing love affair with the sea is an "Underwater Pogo Stick". I am also passing on the "Adjustable Reading Valet", which is a gizmo that holds your book for you, even if you are lying down and allows "hands free reading positions". The description actually suggests that while utilizing the "Adjustable Reading Valet" I may elect to cook or perform hobbies (their words). Hmmm, can I fit it into the boat cockpit and read while I drive?