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I stepped out of the house this morning and quickly realized that I dressed like a UPS driver today!!

brown jacket, brown pants and brown shoes. ugh. I’m surprised I didn’t finish the ensemble off with a brown polo shirt.

what was I thinking? apparently my fashion sense was completely turned off this monday morning. I know, I know, is it EVER on? ..har, har.

Even after realizing what I looked like, I still didn’t have the energy to go back in to re-think my outfit and just went straight to work.

yeah, I’m feeling brown today. what’s it to ya?

I hope you all are feeling better than me right now.

ugh. Thankfully I don’t have anything severe like the swine flu but still- the headaches, body aches, congestion and coughs ain’t a bed of roses neither!!

Let’s face the facts. I’m over the hill. it’s sad but true. But as I get accustomed to being an “old man” there are a new set of ground rules I have to consider.

check out the following:

- Now that I’m over 40, I no longer need to make an effort to impress the young ladies at work. It’s a waste of energy now. now that I’m an old man – I’m way past “desirable”!

- Along the same lines, I’ve got no need to impress anyone. I can dress however the hell I want now. no one really gives a crap about the over 40 crowd. socks with birkenstocks? why not! loud hawaiian shirts with plaid golf pants? hell to the yeah!

- I’m now banned from texting people on my cell phone. and besides I’ve never gotten the hang of typing on the numerical keypad anyway.

- I no longer have to attempt to stay “hip” and “in the know”. So there’s no need to watch the crap on MTV or CW to keep up with the kids. At this age, the gap between generations is just too great.

- I’ve got to bone up on my history, though. As an old man, I’ve got to regularly reference historical facts and start conversations with “awww, this ain’t nothing. Things were so much better back in my day. I remember back when…”

- It’s a known fact that it’s harder to stay in shape when you’re over forty. so why bother, I say! why fight the inevitable? I’m going to go with the “more natural” look. the way mother nature intended!! behold, my glorious beer-belly!!!

- the jury’s still out on whether the over forty crowd should even facebook. I’m on facebook but I’ve started to refrain from superpoking everyone. an old man poking FB friends just doesn’t feel right anymore.

- I’ve now earned the right to purchase a “laz-E boy” recliner for those sunday afternoon football games! hopefully I can find the ones that include a built-in fridge for beer!!

hhmmmm, after mulling things over, it’s not ALL bad. membership has its privileges!

holy crap! I’m *40* now. I simply can’t believe it.

really!

how sad.

It’s ALL down hill from here on out, isn’t it.

..it’s a dark day indeed.

This past weekend, I had the rare pleasure of leaving the wife and kids at home to spend the afternoon/evening with some old friends of mine.

yup, like your typical “whipped” husband, I rarely get any free time outside of my usual household & parental duties.

But my buddy whom I’ve known since grade school was turning *40* this weekend and he invited all his “groomsmen” from his wedding for a sort of reunion at his house. Since I’ll be turning the big 4-0 this year as well, I felt an extra “kinship” with the guy and agreed to make the two hour trek to his house.

It was great seeing the guys again after all these years. I literally haven’t seen some of the guys since my friend’s wedding over 15 years ago. I had a good time for the most part but I soon realized that these types of reunions conjure up all sorts of not-so-pleasant reminders that I’ve tried so long NOT to think about… like:

- how little I’ve actually achieved (in financial terms and status) over the last 15 years
- how ambitious I was back then compared to how run-down and unmotivated I am now
- how my 40 year old friend has much nicer furnishings than I do
- and finally, I’ve realized how bad I am at small talk and at keeping conversations
going with folks I no longer know so well

but definitely the take home message I found myself dwelling on during my drive home was how little I’ve got to show for at the 40 year mark.

Yes, I have a family, a house and a job and such. and I’m thankful for all those things but really nothing to boast or brag about.

and especially at these reunions and gatherings, I’ve got nothing. I suck.

remind me in the future to never agree to attend these sorts of reunions or gatherings ever again!

I had sort of a “wake up call” last weekend. As it so happens, I’m turning 40 this year and the wife and I have long thought we’d better start taking better care of ourselves (physically) before it’s too late. Like your typical parents of young kids, we both “let ourselves go” over the years, primarily focusing on our kids needs and forsaking our own. So taking the time to stay physically fit and such, fell by the wayside. So anyway, since our kids are getting old enough to ride their bicycles beyond our little cul-de-sac, the wife and I bought ourselves our own bikes to ride along with the kids.

Here’s a fun fact for ya: I haven’t been on a bike since college!

So, as you can probably guess, I overexerted myself while riding with my oldest son this past weekend. We were simply riding around our subdivision which sounds harmless enough but I have to point out that it’s NOT COMPLETELY flat around here. There were several “steepish” inclines that we had to go up on during our ride. and obviously my legs weren’t used to pedaling so hard and by the time I got back home, I nearly collapsed. I was out of breath, thirsty and perspiring like crazy. and then on top of all that I had excruciating leg cramps for the next hour. man, I was a wreck.

I didn’t realize that I was overdoing it until after the fact. So apparently I have to take it even “slower” the next time out with my son.

boy, I hope I didn’t embarrass my son too much!!

For our wedding anniversary, I arranged for my parents to take the kids so that I could take the wife out for dinner. Man, it has been a while since we had a quiet evening to ourselves. It was refreshing and we both had a great time out to celebrate our anniversary. Our dinner was delicious and my meal in particular went well with the tall glass of beer I had. the wife had a margarita but couldn’t finish it so being the gentleman that I am, I finished it for her. Yup, I was feeling mighty good at the end of our meal. After a rough year of disagreements and me being sent to the “dog house” multiple times throughout the year, I’m glad to see that we made it through all that and our relationship is surprisingly stronger than ever. whew. Here’s to another year and many more to come…