Three signs of middle age

Tomorrow is my 56th birthday.  56 - wow!  I am well into the middle age bracket of life.  There is something about being closer to 60 than 50 that is a little unsettling.  I don't mind getting older. It's just a little weird to me.  I don't feel that old in my spirit.  My body - yes, but not in my mind!

However, when I think about it, there are a few behaviors that have crept in. A few signs of getting older. A few things that Soulmate and I never did in our thirties or forties and even early fifties.  I think they definitely indicate that we are in a different season of life.

Sign Number One: Identified chairs
We not only have chairs that we always, and I mean always, sit in.  We refer to them as "our chairs." Common dialogue between us:  "Let's go home and get in our chairs."  "I am so glad that we don't have anything planned tonight except for sitting in our chairs" and so on...
I love our chairs.  I love an evening in our chairs.  I don't like it when others sit in our chairs.

Sign Number Two:  The weather
I lived the first fifty years of my life only marginally aware of the weather.  Sure, if something big happened like a tornado or hurricane, I was concerned or interested.  But other than that, I really characterized weather in one of four ways:  hot, cold, wet, or dry.  That was really it.  Weather just really wasn't important to me.
But now, channel 214 is occasionally visited, while we sit in our chairs, of course.  For those of you without our TV service, that is The Weather Channel.  For whatever reason, the weather has become of great interest to us.  We click on the digital "eye" to check the five day weather outlook, or we catch really interesting shows like "Weather Caught on Camera"  or "Storm Riders."
Better than TWC on TV is the TWC phone ap.  I can be frequently found checking not the five day but the TEN day weather outlook on it.  I work my weather knowledge into conversations with others like the following: "Well, looks like we might get a little break in the weather a week from Thursday."Sometimes I check the weather in places we have visited.  For instance, did you know that on Tuesday in Thessalonika, Greece, there will be a high temperature of  63.  Oh, and by the way, R and R, you may need your umbrella - looks like scattered showers.

Sign Number Three: Our shows
On the nights we get to sit in our chairs and we aren't preoccupied with the weather, we watch our shows.  That's what we refer to them as - our shows.  When one of the kids calls and asks "What are you guys doing?", we say "We are sitting in our chairs, watching our shows."  Sometimes our shows get watched in real time, but even better is when we watch them recorded so we can skip through the commercials.  Our identified shows that we watch together are not many, mainly detective shows, but we like them.  Watching them .... together....in our chairs.  It's not so much that we have shows that we watch - it is the identifying them as "our shows" that seems middle aged.

Ok - I'm going to say it, proudly and without restraint.  I am getting older.  I'm more set in my ways.  Less spontaneous.  I like a routine.  I prefer things more predictable. I even like the weather - go figure!

I am proud to be 56 and all that goes with getting older.  I like this season of my life.  I am blessed.

For now though I have to go.  It's time to sit in our chairs....about to start the final season of Monk...and it's raining outside.  Life is good. Happy Birthday to me!

Love to all of you out there or no one - whichever fits. J