Crazy things you've done in the face of old age?

[Severine]

I know, you're all laughing! But I'm curious, what crazy things have you done when you felt the ticking of those passing years taking a toll on you?

I've always been a little crazy and rebellious anyway. Like 1 month after I got married, I got a tattoo (even though hubby wasn't really in favor) as a way of maintaining my separate identity. Or the fact that periodically, I cut all my hair off and go with a really short 'do. (Then let it grow out again and start all over several months to years later with the cycle...)

My "old age" thing? 2 years ago I got my left nostril pierced. DD was 9 months old at the time, I was 28.5 years old, and I was feeling *old*. (I know, it's all relative...) I recognize now through hindsight that I was trying to feel younger, show that I was still hip. I took it out for my MRI last month and it closed up. I kind of miss it now. :(

The other thing I've been toying with for a few years is doing something really shocking, like dying my normally very dark brown hair a crazy color like hot pink. :D Been thinking about it again... Heck, I'm a SAHM. It's not like I have to worry about a "professional" appearance. I'm just lucky to be showered and dressed most days as it is.

I'm so lucky hubby loves me in spite of my craziness!

Anyone else care to share?

 

[ski now work later]

Old age at 30? Now that's funny!

I'm trying to adopt the "my body is a temple" philosophy. Good, healthy food in reasonable amounts, exercise, rest, drink lots of water and tea, vitamins, that sort of thing. As I'm getting older (am 48 now), I find that the fuel that goes in me makes such a huge difference in how I perform, and that exercise is imperative to keep my energy up and to fight gravity. :D

I'm always afraid of dressing too young, so I try to balance a mature, more conservative look without getting too stuffy. My two cutest girlfriends are both Boston attorneys who are the best dressers I know, size 4, and super pretty at ages 53 and 60. In fact, I'm going to see both of them tomorrow as I'm heading to Boston for the evening to attend a professional function! Since I have so many daughters who have great figures, I enjoy seeing them wear all the cute styles (and bikinis) and just try to look my best while not trying to look like their older sister.

Crazy things I've done? Some would say my new obsession with skiing is kind of crazy, but I think it's the best thing that's happened to me since I remarried in 2004. I guess when it comes to appearance, it would be the amount of time I spend to wear my hair long (washing at night, and flat ironing the following morning) after many years of swearing off "hair styling." I've worn my hair long most of my adult life, and it's just "me" so now I've got to work to maintain it.

 

[NannyMin]

Or the fact that periodically, I cut all my hair off and go with a really short 'do. (Then let it grow out again and start all over several months to years later with the cycle...)

I do the SAME thing! In fact I got my hair all cut off to jaw length a week and half ago. I love it, and yet I know I will go through the same cycle I've been doing forever and grow it out again!

 

[Robyn]

I do the SAME thing! In fact I got my hair all cut off to jaw length a week and half ago. I love it, and yet I know I will go through the same cycle I've been doing forever and grow it out again!

What?!?!?! Pictures, ma'am pictures!

 

[NannyMin]

What?!?!?! Pictures, ma'am pictures!

Ha ha! I look pretty craptastic right now! Once I'm back in a state that isn't quite so scary I'll post. :ROTF: :ROTF: :ROTF:

 

[Robyn]

Deal. I remembered after I posted that you probably don't want photographic evidence of your current state.

 

[Shellski]

I've always been a little crazy and rebellious anyway. Like 1 month after I got married, I got a tattoo (even though hubby wasn't really in favor) as a way of maintaining my separate identity.

Cool.. I am about to get one of those to celebrate my upcoming milestone birthday. A snowflake on my lower back.

 

[SnowHot]

Severine, I want to be around when you turn 40!!!

I will admit, that I was living a fun, day to day life. But it had been 18 years since I'd taken a vacation.
When I turned 40, I had been on EpicSki for over a year, and decided to take a ski trip by myself. I went to my first ESA!!!
I will admit, I was a tad intimidated about the whole idea, and I sooooooooo appreciated Lola, and Phil, who helped settle my jitters in a huge way.

From that I ended up taking two more ski trips alone, and gave my husband a huge shove to start traveling!!!

A mile Stone in our life that has turned wonderfully!!!!

 

[ski diva]

A mile Stone in our life that has turned wonderfully!!!!

SnowHot, this is for you:

And Sev, old when you're thirty???? Give me a break!!!!

I've never wanted to pierce any body parts (other than my ears) or get a tattoo; I'm far too squemish for that. And my hair gives me enough trouble without being pink (besides, I'd just look silly!). Though I do wear it long; I just look crappy in short hair. If I could, I think I would cut if off.

The crazy thing I did? Start this forum, sell my house, move to VT, and pretty much devote myself to skiing (yes, I'm a ski bum now). I attribute it to not getting it out of my system when I was younger and rushing headllong into marriage, career, kids, mortgage (not that I'm sorry). And not having small children now definitely makes this easier to manage.

Still, I think that most of my friends who are still in the "real" world think I've gone off my rocker; I'm no longer sitting in an office doing advertising stuff all day long (blech!). I guess it's all a matter of perspective!

 

[SnowHot]

SnowHot, this is for you:



The crazy thing I did? Start this forum, sell my house, move to VT, and pretty much devote myself to skiing (yes, I'm a ski bum now). I attribute it to not getting it out of my system when I was younger and rushing headllong into marriage, career, kids, mortgage (not that I'm sorry). And not having small children now definitely makes this easier to manage.

Ski Bums are Us!!!!

 

[Pequenita]

And Sev, old when you're thirty???? Give me a break!!!!

Despite my "complaint" while at Solitude, I agree!! This actually reminds me of a conversation I had with a work colleague shortly after college, when I was 23...

My co-worker was whining about how it was her b'day and that she was so old (and actually calling it old). She was making such a big deal about it that I finally asked her how old she was turning, and she said, "23."

 

[Severine]

You girls know I was just kidding about being "old" at 30, right? But it clearly is a marching of the years kind of thing for me. Doesn't help that I got my first gray hairs at 16 and now have a pretty good salt-and-pepper going already. And I just don't keep up with dying ... too much time and money. So I look older than I am, thanks to that. Our society is so focused on looking good (and young!) that it's a little stressing to the ego when you don't regularly endeavor to fit in with that mentality.

(Wow, my brain is awake this morning!! )

I do admire those of you who have done bigger things, though. Like giving up the life you were comfortable with to march into new territory and reinvent yourself as a ski bum. Or travel alone and try something new! (And then drag others into the same scary adventure!!! )

Shellski - I LOVE the snowflake! I have a tribal dolphin on my left ankle (the tattoo after I got married) and a Celtic mother's heart between my shoulders (in memory of my first baby, the one I miscarried). I planned on getting 1 more once I was done with having children, in honor of the living ones. I may have to consider something snowflake related for the little flakes in my life.

NannyMin - So glad I'm not the only one with the crazy hair cycle thing! I've been doing that for as long as I can remember. I'm not one to keep my hair the same way for years.

 

[SueNJ]

I wanna be a ski bum!!:Cry:

I'm trying to adopt the "my body is a temple" philosophy. Good, healthy food in reasonable amounts, exercise, rest, drink lots of water and tea, vitamins, that sort of thing. As I'm getting older (am 48 now), I find that the fuel that goes in me makes such a huge difference in how I perform, and that exercise is imperative to keep my energy up and to fight gravity. :D

This sounds like about where I'm at. I've had some "experiences" with body rebellion in recent years, and I'm learning that, the better care I take of it, the better it will behave. As far as food, etc, I can tell the difference just about immediately when I've had one of those all-sugar-bad-carb days. By the afternoon, I'm light-headed and have absolutely no energy, and I have to keep feeding myself more bad stuff to keep going. If I don't get at least 7 hours of sleep at night, I feel like crap the next day and my eating tends to go to pot, too.

For the last couple of years, I've been toying with the idea of getting a tattoo, but I haven't yet found one that's me. That's about as rebellious as I'll get, other than still being willing to try new activities (as long as my knees will allow it). I like the idea of a snow theme.

I'm with Ski Diva regarding the long hair. I look frightening with short hair, so mine will always stay longer than shoulder length. And about 4 years ago, I started to color my hair--my natural color is salt-and-pepper (with a strong emphasis on the salt) and it makes me look 10 years older.

 

[Lilgeorg]

Lets see... I learned to ski when I was 45, hang glide at 50, moved to Vermont from my home in Pa after 35 years when I was 62, and skied my age at 65! But When I am old... hmmm.... when is that again???

 

[SnowHot]

Lets see... I learned to ski when I was 45, hang glide at 50, moved to Vermont from my home in Pa after 35 years when I was 62, and skied my age at 65! But When I am old... hmmm.... when is that again???

Lil, it can't be said enough...............You Rock!!!
Thank you soooooooooo much for the part you played in my, ever evolving, fervor for life!

 

[ski diva]

So I look older than I am, thanks to that.

Don't listen to her, ladies. I've met her. This is so not true.

And Lilgeorg, SnowHot is right. You DO rock!!!!

 

[Kiragirl]

Luckily I've always looked young for my age, even tho it did not get me a lot of dates early on. I don't need to color my hair, yet, but do see a few "salty" ones in there occasionally (snip!).

I haven't done anything "crazy" lately except leave my (now ex) husband 3 years ago, but I don't think that was due to age...he was 8 years younger than me but also a lazy do-nothing bore. The best thing I did was get back into skiing last year, and did I ever. I went by myself to VT when it snowed last April and just kept on going! yea!

 

[Robyn]

I'm definitely not old as I approach my 31st birthday next month but I think there are things that being 30 and single have taught me about myself, what I want in life and what's important to me. I have a lot of people in my department who are younger than me, are already married or getting married and I'm thankful that I've had these years to get to know me and who I am independent of another person in my life.

So, with those lessons in mind I've walked away from a relationship that could have been "fine" but it wasn't special and I deserve special. I've taken skiing back up with a vengence over the last 3 years and I hope to always beat my age in days skied as I get older. That means I just have to keep increasing the count.

In the past I've done the hair cycle thing (including showing up for my co-ed fraternity initiation with my hair 10 inches shorter than the day before!) and I've gotten a tattoo.

The biggest thing I did based on my age was buy myself a beautiful piece of jewelry that is one of a kind. Made to include the diamond chips from my great-grandmother's anniversary band but adding a beautiful peridot and two blue topaz stones. It was created especially for me by a jewelry designer. I am so proud that I have it for myself and everytime I look at it it reminds me that 30 (and beyond) is a good place to be.

 

[vanhoskier]

Lets see... I learned to ski when I was 45, hang glide at 50, moved to Vermont from my home in Pa after 35 years when I was 62, and skied my age at 65! But When I am old... hmmm.... when is that again???

When I met Lilgeorg I decided that I want to be like her when I am her age. And Ski Diva also is a role model. This is a great, thread, BTW....

The hair comments that people made are interesting, because I wanted to ask divas about it.....I discovered my first gray hairs about a year ago and they are starting to multiply. It's not really noticeable to others yet, but I decided that I will not color my hair. I've done it before and I'm getting tired of keeping up with "roots" plus the extra expense. (I don't want to do it myself!) So, I'm just letting it grow out as is....I got it cut quite a bit shorter a few weeks ago and I LOVE it...very easy to maintain. It's also a lot darker than before, and I like that better.

I know not showing gray looks women look a lot younger, but I just don't want to be a slave to my roots!

As far as crazy things I've done, when I turned 35 I got my motorcycle license and bought a motorcycle. Really was into it for awhile (NOT the Harley/cruiser thing....a little sport bike - Suzuki SV650). But now, with the inattention of drivers, I quit riding and am selling my bike.

5 years ago, when I was bicycle racing, I decided to go all out when I got recruited by a coach. I trained on our local velodrome at 5:15AM every weekday during the summer, and that fall, competed in the Masters' World Track Championships in England where I earned 2 bronze medals! That was pretty cool. I did not feel like a woman in her mid-30's!

Now.....I rock climb when I can and I love traveling to harsh landscapes where my will is tested a bit. My DH and I do geology field work in southern Utah every July (not the best month to be in the Utah desert, but it works with my schedule) and we camp the whole time. It's hot, dirty, and hard, but it makes me feel younger. Again, it's the whole "testing yourself" thing. I get to drive a 4WD on these crazy rocky rutted roads with huge dropoffs, and hike up steep outcrops and find dinosaur tracks and dinosaur bones. And hear the coyotes yodeling at night.

Like SNWL, I try to watch what I eat and make time to exercise...right now I trail run because it doesn't take that much time out of my day.

AND....working with teenagers every day keeps me young!

When my DH retires, we have decided we are moving out of PA to a place where we can ski!

And of course my skiing craze is my way of staying young. Not living in a huge skiing area, my colleagues think I'm a bit crazy, but I don't care.

I don't have children because I was not able to, but that's OK. I have 160 16-17 year-olds every year!

 

[Native Vail Gal]

Ah...I love this thread!

"You're only as old as your hairdo makes you look." NVG's Mom!

So, like Ski Diva, I look AWFUL in short hair, and I like long flowing hair (:ROTF: )....so I keep mine long! It's easier to wear braids! :D

Crazy things I've done when I've felt the clock ticking? Hmmm...
* I got married for the first time at 40!
* (Have you SEEN the video of us singing? ) That's a SERIOUS case of "I won't grow up!"
* I started a private practice TOTALLY on my own at 30!
* Got my own home at age 34!
* Incorporated the "Peter Pan" complex for life!! (It took a bonk on the head for me to get perspective...but I did it!)
* Bought and put together a Tricycle with my dad for myself since I can't ride a 2 wheel bike again yet (the BONK caused a balance issue!!)...notice I said YET! We LOVE it!!!

I continue to eat oreos with the frosting first!
I'm a proud lover of Spaghetti O's!
I have re-discovered my love for stickers and use them RELIGIOUSLY!
I sing outloud...and in public...and I'm not afraid of a showtune!!
I THRIVE on making others smile! :D

When God went a little crazy with my "GRAY HIGHLIGHTS" I decided to start painting each strand with a paint brush! Started last Summer and continue as necessary! No need to do the whole head! Just one strand at a time... Mr. NVG does the ones I can't see in the back! We giggle!

SO MUCH more to come in my life.......I can't wait to find out what it is!!!!!!