A big ol' slice of monotony

Have you ever noticed how much of our lives we hurry through? Monday through Friday we count down the days until the weekend. We wish away 5/7s of our lives. That’s over 70 percent, people!

And it’s not just weekdays we wish away. As children, we all long to be adults. At least I did. I wanted to be old enough to make my own decisions, have my own things and operate on my own schedule. I don’t know how many times I glared at my parents, secretly (or maybe not-so-secretly) wishing I was out of their house and making my own rules.

And now that I’m actually here, doing all of that stuff, I sometimes wish I was still just a kid. Because as an adult, I have bills, house work, yard work (which I admittedly do very little none of) – and I have to be accountable for all of the decisions I make. And that’s not always fun, is it?

Sometimes, I just want to curl up on the couch with a bowl of Chef Boyardee and watch Fraggle Rock.

Or read The Boxcar Children.

I want to get excited over T.G.I.F. shows on Friday night and wake up early to watch Saturday morning cartoons.

I miss the Pound Puppies.

And Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

I want to make crazy designs in my Lite Brite.

Being an adult has proven to be pretty boring in comparison to all of the great stuff I got to do as a kid. I think I’ve just let my life become too routine. I get up, go to work, go home, watch TV, eat supper, go to bed, then do it all again the next day. Talk about monotony! I’ve been throwing exercise in the mix lately, so that breaks things up a little – but I need some excitement. I need to spice things up a bit. Maybe if I found more things to entertain my time, I wouldn’t feel like being a grown up is so bland.

(Um, excuse me... but I think someone forgot the seasoning on my little slice of adulthood. Could I have some salt, please?)

Of course, given that the majority of people living in my town are senior citizens, I don’t know how much I can find to do. I hear there’s a weekly Bingo night. And a polka night (no joke). And I could always take my neighbor up on her offer to let me join her water aerobics class. I wonder if I get a neat little swim cap to keep my hair dry.

No matter what I do, I’m going to try to stop wishing time away. I’m going to start living in the now.

Besides, time goes fast enough as it is. I need to preserve my youthful appearance as long as I can, right? The quicker time goes by, the closer I am to wrinkles Botox and gray dyed hair.