Time's Just Marchin' Right On

So today in 3rd hour, somehow the subject of me as President of the USA (don't worry--the country is safely out of my hands, and always will be) came up. And I said, "Oh, I'm too young to run for President." To which my favorite student, Dylan, replied (with a shocked facial expression, I might add) "You're not?!?!?!?!"

WTH?

Okay, so I realize I'm getting a bit "up there" in years, as they say. But seriously--do I look 35?

Wait. Don't answer that.

Today is my older sister's birthday, which means mine is just around the corner. As the big 3-2 approaches, I just can't help but contemplate the inevitable: getting older.

Why is it that I still feel 18 (with the notable exceptions of my knees and ankles, and the flabby skin that used to hold my uterus in place)? Can I really be as old as my parents were when I was Connor's age? Can my parents really be as old as my grandparents were when I was Connor's age? How is it possible that time has sped up to mach 3 over the last 10 years? (How is it possible that I now use phrases like "the last 10 years"?)

Don't get me wrong. I am not disappointed with how my life has turned out. I've accomplished all the things that I wanted to accomplish (or they're in progress) by this point. I found and married the man of my dreams, and we're still very happy together. At least, I think we are. I haven't really seen him much lately to know if he's happy.... I've got two amazing, beautiful children. (Okay, so perhaps I might have originally wanted more, but I think we all know that neither my patience nor my pocketbook could withstand any more offspring.) I have a good job, that I'm finally starting to enjoy. (I really was starting to believe that we just had to earn days off by suffering through the days on at work.) I've got a decent house and I drive a reliable vehicle (even if it is a mini-van--that was distinctly not one of my goals 10 years ago). I've managed to set some new goals for myself--the triathlon (eventually), getting my masters (even if it is from Cracker Jack University), and one day getting all of this stuff documented in the scrapbook(s).

I think what I'm most disappointed about is realizing that this will eventually come to an end. I'm not talking about my life and dying. I can be pretty morbid, but I'm not going to blog about it (morbidity is definitely not "blog-tastic"). What I mean is, that everything around my life is shifting, except for me. My children will not always be young and small. They won't always say the precious things that just make my day. (Like Riley today in the van, "Let's go find Caleb!" Not "Daddy". "Caleb." My 2 year old is now referring to her father by his first name.) They're going to grow up and have lives of their own. My students do the same. They go off to college and learn more than I could ever hope to learn (some of them do, anyway). They come back to visit, and they're these mature, intelligent adults that I only saw flickers of when I was their teacher. (Maybe I'm jealous of them. I wouldn't mind going back and doing college over again. If I could be guaranteed that I'd still end up with my family, that is.)

I suppose what I'm really saying is that I like my life the way it is, and I don't want it to change. Which is impossible, I know. I just wish I could freeze time, but still live my day-to-day life (preferably with those days being summer days or weekend days). Like Evie on that show, Out of This World. Remember her? All she had to do was put the tips of her pointer fingers together and she could pause time. Then she would go around and "unfreeze" whoever she needed to interact with in order to save the day.

Man, I would so do that if I could.

But I'm not half-alien and I have no super-powers. So I guess I'm just going to have to learn to deal with and embrace change. (Shut up about the old dog and new tricks.)

Speaking of change...by the time the next presidential election comes around, I will be over 35. Maybe I should consider putting my hat in the ring. Maybe the Commander in Chief does have some sort of time-stopping super-power.

Might be worth checking into.