1. Eyesight is getting worse. It’s hard to read in dim light, and driving at night can be rough.
2. Takes my body longer to recuperate from anything that it doesn’t like - injuries, alcohol, upset stomach.
3. Age spots. I thought they were just freckles but my dermatologist says they’re age spots. I’m only 43!

Aging is funny, because there’s always someone who thinks you’re ancient, and there’s always someone who thinks you’re still super young. I was at a bar a couple weeks ago, and these two dudes were complaining about how old they were getting… so I asked, turns out they were the ripe old age of twenty-eight. Which made me laugh a little, because 28 is still pretty young. And when I told them I was 43 they couldn’t believe it. I guess in my twenties I didn’t have an accurate idea of what people in their forties looked like either. Conversely when I made some comment to my parents about being middle-aged, they laughed at me because “you’re in your forties, you’re not middle-aged!”. So it’s all relative. My dad said something that stuck with me: you may feel like you’re getting older, but when you’re my age (he’s 75) you’ll realize how young you still were, and how much energy you had. And that’s helped me be aware that even though there are some aspects of aging that I really hate, there are plenty of good healthy years left.

I didn’t know you could botox that!

Oh man I hear ya in headlights and dashboard lights. NIght driving is getting to be pretty rough for me.

Interesting! My google apps all changed to French, I wonder why yours didn’t.

I’m a native English speaker but my phone and fitbit are in French. I minored in French in college and I’m trying to shake off the rust.

Call the BeeGees?

Such a good book

Some things I’ve noticed in my early 40s:

• You talk about things like property taxes and 401k contributions more often than you ever thought would be possible
• You seriously weigh whether a drink is worth the bad sleep and headache it’ll cause you
• Your pop-culture references are lost on younger folks
• You start referring to college-aged people as “kids”
• You need reading glasses but you’re in denial about it
• Injuries take longer to heal
• Those of your peers who haven’t taken care of themselves are starting to have serious health issues
• You care more about flossing, skincare, fiber, and hydration
• You still rock bottom eyeliner like you did in high school
• You’ve seen fashion from your high school years go out of style and then come back as “retro”
• You see the utter confusion on your nephew’s face when you explain that you used to keep a quarter in your bike pouch in case you needed to call someone, because he doesn’t remember a time before cell phones and his generation isn’t allowed to just roam around unsupervised on their bikes
• You have strong opinions about things like laundry detergent brands
• Birds become fascinating
• You have no problem spending a few hundred dollars on a new kayak paddle, but the price of cold cuts these days is just unacceptable