Checking the Box

Did a survey this morning for a web-based company and was quickly reminded that I'll soon age out of the 18-24 year old age group. 45 days left (yes, I counted). I'm ok with it--I'm not so much a "quarter life crisis" girl, though I bet I could be if I gave it a little effort.

Rather, it's the little things that get to me. Yesterday I was working with my iPod on shuffle, a nice break from my usual routine of show tunes and musical numbers (Rent is exceptional when cruising through Excel), and Vitamin C's Graduation Day came on.

I remember that song so clearly. It came out the year before I graduated high school and we just held it over and adopted it as our own. It's your usual "friends forever" song with the refrain, "As we go on, we remember all the times we've shared together. As our lives change, come whatever, we will still be friends forever." You felt silly singing it then, and silly remembering singing it now, but it's the very first line that gets me:

"And so we talked all night about the rest of our lives. Where we're gonna be when we turn 25?"

Whaaaa? But, I AM turning 25. And soon. Which means, I can actually tell you where I'll be when I turn 25. It's a Monday, so unless I take the day off, I'll be celebrating here at my desk, probably writing an article about wings or beer for our Tailgating section. I can hardly believe that I'm at the age that Vitamin C deemed "the rest of our lives."

Don't worry, I'm not going to have an existential crisis over lyrics by a singer named after the redeeming quality of orange juice, but it did make me think. What do I want for my next year?

I want to volunteer more, work harder at my job, and get settled into my apartment alone after K leaves. I think I'll take some time in the next 45 days and pick a few more things to work on... And maybe that will include writing the lyrics to a hit song that ups the age of "the rest of our lives" to 50, or at least 35.