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I'm Older Than I Think

The tooth is starting to feel better, except it�s pretty sensitive when I bite down. Of course, I sleep every night with my teeth clenched extremely tight, so I woke up this morning feeling a bit Linda Blairish again after clenching down on the tooth for 5 hours.

First thing I did was stumble into the bathroom for a fresh bottle of Advil.

You should have seen the look on my face, the utter joy and Christmas morning sparkle in my eyes when I saw the arthritis cap. Holy smokes, I haven�t been this excited since I opened my first train set! I don�t have arthritis, but I do have a lot of pain in my hands and wrists from years of tennis. I�m not exactly pleased that I�m a 25-year-old with arthritic hands, but at least I can tell myself that it�s a sports injury to protect my manly pride. It is a bummer to have to feel so old though. Every morning I wake up to creaking joints and sore muscles, and it�s a toss up whether I have to run to the coffeepot or the medicine cabinet first.

I lightly rested my fingers on the cap and felt the pain-free ease with which it slides open, and then:

Sealed for your protection. Bastards. If I couldn�t get the regular bottle because my hands hurt so much, how in the hell am I supposed to get through that? I can�t get those things off on the best of pain-free days.

Luckily, with age comes not only pain and tooth decay, but also wisdom. I used my analytical skills and grabbed a fork to unleash those lovely pills, which I took while reading my emails. The first was from a sweet friend of mine, who I don�t email enough, who stopped her day shortly after midnight to wish me a happy birthday.

Oh crap! I had forgotten. I�m no longer a 25-year-old with arthritis. I�m a 26-year-old with arthritis.

No wonder I feel so old.