Did I mention that it was a gas station in Virginia ...also that they had Merlot, Pinots both Noir and Grigio and a nice Cabernet Sauvignon....individually portioned out in little glasses. Who is buying these ??? "Fill 'er up and may I see your wine list?"... Red with beef jerky right? I will get back to this whole issue later...I do have a point, not that they are selling "fancy" wines in a gas station isn't point enough!
Two things....1) I went on a little vacation with the Mr. and b) I turned 52 since my last blog. Oy....52 is such a big freaking number. At the school where I work, a friend of mine made me a little sign that the give the kindergartners on their birthday..."I'm 5 Today!" a big 5 on a string to wear around my neck...of course, mine had a little 2 next to it. Funny, real fucking funny.
One of the little kids said hey that's mixed up ...it should say 25.....I love that kid!!! Okay nice compliment I guess...but it was coming from kids who aren't really secure with their numbers yet....(question: what is 1 + 1 more? answer: kittens...not the sharpest group of 5 year olds). It is the equivalence of getting proofed at the grocery store when you buy beer. You feel kind of good until you look over and there is someone who looks like that Crypt Keeper fishing through her purse with her bony fingers to find her old ass ID as well.
It got me thinking 52/25 how different is it...Let's see when I was 25 I had one child and one on the way...so I was in Mommy Mode. I still kind of am in Mommy Mode...Grandmommy Mode even. Like now, I was working & busy all the time.. but I probably acted older at 25 than I do now.....I absolutely acted older than I do now.
Case in point: For our little spring break vacation we decided to take the train down to the Outer Banks and spend some time with friends in one of those big beautiful houses. We did that once before and it was really relaxing and nice. So off we went on a long-long-long train ride through most of the day and all of the night. I got to thinking...what's the Amtrak equivalence of the Mile High Club? That's a 25 year old thinking, right? I mentioned it to the Mr. and surprise surprise he was all for it...ALL FOR IT! "WOO WOO - complete with arm pumping like your blowing the train whistle" all for it! K, so we are on the same page with this.
We sat on the train for a while and just when it seemed like the perfect time...in come a huge family with about 25 kids . They were scattered all through the seats of this train.... in every nook and every cranny...where ever you looked there was a "Dugger"...all kind of homeschooly...all whiny...all complainy and their overbearing, somewhat judgmental mother ..total. mood. breaker! But I'm not letting those kids, that scary mom and her spindly little husband ruin my big idea. An idea that seemed much more realistic earlier in the romance novel/soft porn planning stage. That being said...
Let's check out the bathroom...tacky I know...but dammit I will not be a 52 year old AARP passenger on this train eating a butterscotch candy and reading a grown up home and garden magazine with my reader glasses...get the picture..so ALL ABOARD BITCHES!!!!
In the bathroom everything was wet... I mean everything and I'm not sure why, what or how but having used the bathroom on the train before...I have a pretty good idea. Think port-a potty and the people from Jackass . Not the most romantic nor sanitary place.
We change trains about 3 AM ...perfect ...we get on board and we don't have seats together doh!....So I doze off and when I awake we are surrounded by a what seems like a church gospel group ....doh! Sadly...Operation Hoo Hoo on the Choo Choo is aborted and I'm 52 again.
We get to the beach and it is glorious...we have a beautiful house with a deck right outside our bedroom with a porch swing and a ocean view...it is how the other half lives....the half that doesn't have 5 jobs between the two of them. We walked by the ocean and drank beers, ate crab legs and spent time with our friends when we wanted ...basically came and went as we pleased. Okay 52...not so bad....at 25 we were like the only one of our friends with kids and they would be doing the aforementioned activities while we was being mommy and daddy. Not a complaint...just a fact...a fact of my life.
So there it is- this is where I am and I guess I have to accept it and I am accepting it ...kicking and screaming all the way. The vacation, like all unrealistic things, comes to an end ...we head home and I think back to reality ...52!
But then we drove 14 hours straight to get home in time for me to catch the Springsteen concert ...I realized I am not growing up anytime soon -considering this was my 11th time seeing him. I sang and danced and screamed BRUUUCCEEE all on about 1 hour and 20 minutes of sleep.
...And that night when he sang one of my favorites "Thunder Road" that was me screaming the lyric.."so you're scared and you're thinking that maybe we ain't that young anymore"..."Show a little faith" Bruce says..."there's magic in the night"....There is magic in the night ! Maybe not the night we attempted to "do the locomotion" but maybe it was the night we drove home from a vacation and stopped at a Virginia gas station and noticed that they sell individual glasses of wine there. At 25 ...I may have missed the irony of that because of normal parental preoccupations...but at 52... I found it hilarious... Now the big question...how was the wine?...seriously...I'm immature, I'm not stupid...just sayin'