I’d never really been concerned about my age until this year.

Turning 16 was another birthday. I was living in Germany at the time, and the age for an American to get a (US Army Europe) driver’s license was 18. However, off-base I could legally buy alcoholic drinks. Big deal. I didn’t drink. (I was quite the rarity!)

Turning 18 was kinda fun. Though still in Germany, I didn’t bother to get my license because I would shortly be leaving for the States. 18 did mean that in addition to being able to vote, I could now purchase alcoholic drinks on military bases outside the U.S. Big deal. I still didn’t drink.

Turning 21 meant nothing. Like I said before, I didn’t drink, and even if I wanted to, I’d had the ability to do so for years.

Turning 25 was ok, ’cause it meant I got a nice discount on my car insurance. But, that’s about it.

I’m now 26 and 1 month, and getting depressed. Why? Because I just filled out one of those little online registration forms for a product I was installing, and when it asked for ‘Age,’ the categories were “18-25,” “26-30,” and I didn’t even bother looking at the rest. *sigh* I had to pick the second option. I’m in a new age category now. I’m no longer in the “fun 25 and under” classification, but trudging wearily into dull zone between youth and middle age. It’s sort of like being 19 years old. You’ve passed one big milestone (18), but now you’re waiting on another (21).

The thing is, what if I don’t want to reach another milestone in my age? I kinda like being in my “mid-twenties.”

Tonight was my (work) team’s party. This event has apparently been put off since before I began working here (February), but now it was definitely going to happen. And it did. And, to my surprise, I had a lot of fun. I even think Dale enjoyed himself some, which is impressive.

My manager had rented a party barge and we spent several hours out on Lake Travis. A party barge, for those of you who don’t know, is a large rectangular flat-bottomed boat with an upper deck. Both decks had built-in cushioned seats, and we had extra tables and chairs. The boat even had a slide off the upper deck! (Usable only when the boat’s stopped, of course, as the slide dumps you only a few feet from the propeller.) And, our little 4 Hour Tour was catered by Rudy’s, some of the finest BBQ in Austin.

Swimming, of course, was part of the activities, but Dale and I didn’t bring our suits. Mainly ’cause the last thing I want to do is show off in a bathing suit. However, this is Austin, and even though it was early evening it was quite hot. Dale and I, and Shannon, finally succumbed and swam in our clothing. Which, of course, meant a soggy drive home. But, it was worth it, and probably the only thing that kept Dale from being bored the whole time.

We got home late, soggy and tired, but I was happy.

Yesterday I received a call from the Women’s Center. The results of the blood work I had done on June 30th were in. To my surprise, my glucose was high. Not too high, but high enough. The doctor wants me to see one of the clinic’s dieticians as soon as possible. I was given names and numbers. I called the number I was given, and with the usually efficiency of the clinics, the dietician gave me another number to call to make an appointment.

Though it was never said, the word “diabetes” kept echoing in my head. I got online and looked at a couple of sites about diabetes. Though my husbands insists I don’t actually have the disease, and that I just have “high blood sugar,” I don’t know if there’s a difference. I guess I’ll learn that soon, as my appointment is in 30 minutes.

*sigh* Great way to end a holiday weekend, eh?

McClinics, part 3

Well, I had to sit and wait for a bit, but the meeting with the dietician took less time than I expected. Still, I was gone for about an hour.

The dietician was nice. While she wasn’t able to confirm whether or not I was actually diabetic, she did explain a lot to me and she really worked with me to create a meal outline that suits my lifestyle. That was a refreshing, since I was expecting to hear, “Get up at 7am every morning. Jog 3 miles. Eat half a grapefruit for breakfast. Etc, etc.” Instead, she found out when I ate and snacked, and just worked out a lower calorie, low carbohydrate/sugar diet that still let me eat and snack at those same times. Anyway, it’s just going to be a matter of watching what I eat now. (As I should anyway!)