Friday Feast

I just realized that I have been writing in this blog for a full year now! Don't mind the fact that there were three months in which I didn't write anything - it's still been a year and that is pretty darn good for me.

To mark the occasion - I will do a very 'bloggeresque' entry today and answer questions to the 'Friday Feast' list of questions:

Feast One Hundred & Thirty Six

Appetizer- Who is your favorite news anchor/reporter? Why? As I read 98% of my news online, I would have to say that Anderson Cooper is my favorite reporter. I liked his reporting on the war in Iraq. He seems very caring and real - plus it doesn't hurt that he is really, really hot.

Soup - Name 3 foods that are currently in your freezer. Outdated frozen berry cobbler, outdated frozen Hot Pockets, outdated frozen swirl ice cream bars (see a pattern here?)

Salad - If you were to have the opportunity to name a new town or city, what would you call it? Denial....think about it....

Main Course - What will most likely be the next book you read?

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah - this looks like an amazing book.

Dessert - What's the first thing you notice about the opposite gender? If they look like Anderson Cooper or not.

Adulthood

Now that I am a mom, an 'older' mom at that, I have spent some time thinking about the stages in life and what defines these stages.

I have been particularly focused on what marks the entry into adulthood. My search has concentrated on the milestones we reach that upon reflection we say to ourselves "I'm all grown up now" (or more true to reality) "Crap, do I feel old!". I am not discussing adulthood in terms of those 'all but brief' college years when you think you are an adult just because you don't get carded at the bar - I'm talking about real adulthood. I'm looking at the moment when you wake up one day and feel OLD, really old - and wonder: how did I get here?...what happened to me?....for God's Sake, when did I buy a lawnmower?!?

I have narrowed it down to two rites of passage that sneak up on you so gradually, that you don't even realize they have happened:

#1 - You begin to make your own doctor appointments.

There are several factors into why this does not happen until you truly become an adult. First off, in your 20's and even early 30's...you are invincible! Sure you may get an occasional cold, but everyone does! You can't run off to the doctor's office for a cold! Who does that? Unheard of! Besides, he may put you on medication that prevents you from drinking alcohol! Unheard of! Of course the other factor in not seeing the doctor when you are young is a simple equation: no money + no insurance = no doctor. The day you begin to make your own doctor appointments marks the day you become a responsible adult. Period. You have money, you have insurance, you have a sense that "Holy cow, I have to start taking care of my body - or its not going to last". Then, there is a whole other, deeper layer to this milestone - the annual appointment (that you keep). For those who are confused at that....those are appointments you make when you are not sick! Yes it happens, and yes, that makes you old! It's called preventative medicine - Google it..it exists!

#2 - You start to analyze what food affects you in what ways.

Unless your parents have had you medically diagnosed with food allergies when you were young, no child has ever been heard to say..."No ice cream for me please, I'm lactose intolerant!". When you are young you eat food, that's it...you just eat. There is no weighing the alternatives of going to Taco Bell...you just go (particularly after a long night of not being carded at the bar). As an adult - a true adult- you learn that you have to project ahead 8 hours to what you will be doing before you eat something. "Oh I better not have that lasagna, I have to be on a plane tomorrow". You just don't see teenagers parked in the bathroom moaning that they are never going to eat that meat lovers pizza again. Doesn't happen. Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead! Extra spicy, extra salty...cooked in lard? Great, tastes better that way!

Lastly, there is a final, beautiful combination of the two milestones that lets you know you are truly arrived at penultimate adulthood...analyzing the food you eat before going to a doctor's appointment. "Oops, can't have that before my appointment - can't have that blood sugar raised!" At that point, you know you have arrived.

Well, for those of you who have made it, welcome. Have some soy milk and read a magazine, the doctor is running a little late today. For those too young to get it yet, relax...have some Taco Bell, you're going to live forever anyway.