Minivanity, or Perhaps More Mumblings on Age and Such

Minivan.

They bought another minivan. This fact brought great joy to me, that in their retirement age, they bought another minivan.

In made sense while growing up, especially when i left for college. Having had two older siblings go before me, they knew the moving process. I just happened to stay somewhere in that college-esqe lifestyle, pretty much having had to move to a new apartment, even a new state, year after year throughout most of my twenties. They helped me move quite a bit.

but now?

still, its a sweet van though, dude.

(never thought i'd ever utter that sentence in my lifetime)

The side door opens by itself, at the touch of a button. I feel like I possess the Force when i touch the handle, and the door just auotmatically glides open. Not to mention heated seats, control panels for climate control in the back, plush interior, and at least fifteen cup holders. We know, because my sister and i counted them over the holiday.

Oh ye technology.

Its just that they've contemplated getting some sort of "regular" car for the longest time, and time and time again, its a new van. At least four by my count.

but really dude, its a sweet van.

...

They took me to a new Thai place, at my request, as this dinner was to be a celebratory dinner, the celebration of my birthday, though it really is a week away.

I'm always grumpy around my birthday, no matter what, though this year, things are a little heavier than usual in my life, so honestly i haven't paid it much thought.

Though, when i do think about it, i suppose i get a little angsty.

As a friend put it, "who thought that when she was 29 it would all make sense and she would stop acting like she was 17." (in regards to life and relationships)...

In some ways that's so true. I've come so far, but at times, feel I haven't aged a day. Some things i've truly learned, yet, with other things i just fall back into, over and over...

Ok. I lied.

I have been thinking about my age very much this past week.

Too much, in fact.

I digress...

I opened the birthday card i the restaurant, though i asked first if that was ok, only because the card had a strange bump in the middle.

It read, "a long, long time ago..." on the front, and as I opened it, the Star Wars theme blared out from within, and finished with "...you were born."

And I sometimes wonder why I'm attracted to sci-fi and dorkness so much.

They told me stories of job hunting, of the trials and tribulations they went through after move after move, of the hard process, the denials, and sometimes the random luck that brought steady employment their way.

I appreciated it. As i grow older, the more human my parents have become. And I realize all of the hardships and mistakes they made in their past, the choices they chose, though to me, I was just a kid, had no idea what they were going through. To me, it was just another move to another state, new friends, new schools, new locations.

I don't know what i'm mulling over right now. I suppose every year older i get, i feel as if i'm supposed to feel a certain way, now that I've attained this new age, though it always seems looking back on it, I don't seem to know exactly why i felt that way, and that it feels so different upon reflection. Like, "what was I thinking all that for, 27 really wasn't all that bad."

Maybe i just say this every year, about every birthday. Maybe its the current situation. Maybe its the proximity to 30.

In a way i'm glad to be getting done with my twenties. A coworker once told me how he would never, ever, if given the chance, ever repeat and relive his twenties. "What a train wreck that was."

For some reason it just feels as though at thirty, the pressure's off. I'm no longer hip, young and cool. I'm aged.

Sigh. I'll stop.

...

Tomorrow, I go to the Dentist, Dr. T as I call him. Getting two fillings repaired. Ugh.

Historically, i've never done well with the dentist. Root canals are not fun, especially when you go to the local college school of dentistry to save a buck, and "magically" the novacaine doesn't work, and they go through with the drilling anyway. And then you decline the pain meds, because you were straight-edge at the time (sort of).

Friday, i go to the doctor. Kinda nervous about that one. Haven't been in a long time.

If there is one positive about my job now, is that they do offer medical benefits. You'd be hard pressed to find health insurance in the food service industry.