Miss Thirty-Something

I made it. I am officially in my "early thirties" now ... well, I just turned thirty-one (31) an that's officially crossing the border ... jumping over the fence ... dawn of a new era ...

Turning 30 was already a big hoo-haa. No more in my twenties, but still, at thirty you're still kinda sitting on the fence so it does not hit you, at thirty-one it's like a downhill slide ... gosh. If turning thirty-one feels like this, I really don't want to know how it feels to turn forty-one!

Seeing that I am now moving into a whole new era ... the epic decade of the thirties ... (whoa drama mama) there are some things I need to say about this "promotion" (not by choice mind you).

The general downside of this promotion ...

1. Metabolic rate slows down ... you pile on pounds just by swallowing your own saliva, sigh.
2. Railway tracks, monorail and LRT starts making routes across your face ... here comes the lines ... time to invest in ridiculously expensive wrinkle creams and don't laugh out loud or the entire KL Sentral will be relocating to your face.
3. Gravity grows ... you have to work harder to keep the boobs up, keep the ass high cos everything is just going down from here onwards. Except the scales. Damn.
4. All your friends' kids call you "aunty" and no more "jie jie"
   
5. You hope everyone you meet for the first time will guess your age at 28 max.
6. Having to actually behave yourself otherwise people are going to guess your age at twenty-something and that's not having anything to do with your looks.
   
7. You need to start worrying about mamograms, cholestrol level, biological clocks and all that jazz. Boo.
   

Well, this is where my inbuilt defense mechanism will automatically come up with some really good things about turning thirty-one to buffer the pain and what I have achieved to take with me as I make the big cross-over ...

1. Being blissfully married to the perfect hubby and having a little cosy love nest makes getting older a whole lot more fun.
2. I can now look at the twenty something like they are so naive, innocent, gullible frail creatures, poor little things ... "tsk tsk tsk, come come let Aunty Shortcake tell you about the real world ..."
3. Beaming with pride when the twenty-somethings comes to you for advise like as though at your age and place you're the walking version of about.com and wikipedia all rolled into one cute package.
4. Considerable achievements in the career front makes turning thirty-one quite bearable (not that I made millions or became a dot.com CEO but it's a considerable achievement nonetheless, relatively speaking)
5. I can safely say I can bake a decent cake, make tiramisu, bake eggplant parmigiana and whip up a couple of basic pasta dishes upon turning thirty-one.
6. I have finally travelled to Europe (with dear hubby on our honeymoon), well Italy only, but hey it's a start.
7. I have driven outstation! ALL THE WAY to Cameron Highlands and back ... now for me, that is a major achievement. Major. Major major achievement. What more with 3 other giggly girls in the same car who knows nuts for directions. Like I said; major achievement.
8. Knowing that I am blessed in many many ways, more than I deserve ... good family, good friends, loving hubby, and amazingly loved and blessed by God.
9. The joy of having someone you just met say "you're thirty-one? no way, you're kidding me you are!" (I wish)

Well ... it's gonna be a journey ahead ... I'm not gonna work too hard at being all grown up or something, although I know I should act more my age. Am I in denial? Really? Noooo ... I have no idea. But I'm just gonna continue being me. You know what they say; growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional.