Long, Long Ago

Been a couple things lately that made me go "holy crap, I'm 26!"

The first actually happened about a month and a half ago, when into the store wandered someone who looked vaguely familiar, and yet unfamiliar. I watched the guy meander through the store for a few minutes trying to relax and let my brain cough up the reason I thought I recognized him.

I still hadn't figured it out when he got to the register. I did my usual patter, eying him discretely out of the corner of my eye, and I could see he was doing the same sort of thing. Weird.

Finally he raised one eyebrow and asked "You're FarmGirl, right?" (using my full real name, of course.)

My brain chose this moment to finally kick into gear, superimposing my memory of him at thirteen on his twenty six year old face. The reason I had so much trouble is that when I knew him, he was a clean cut young early teenager, and now he's a long-haired man. I mean really, the change is a complete shock. I did Knowledge Bowl (an academic competition in which we would be handed problems to solve, in three "quarters" we just had to solve the problems, in one we had to solve the problem AND put on a play about it. Think RPG's only geekier.) and Rocketry with him.

I remember on the bus to Knowledge Bowl meets we would drive the chaperons nuts singing stupid songs, until we got about half way there, then we were just as noisy, but we were discussing strategy and how we were gonna kick butt and take names. That's what set the knowledge bowl kids apart from the jocks, they goofed off ALL the way to their stuff.

Back then, he looked just like you'd expect a kid doing academic competitions and Rocketry to look, short hair, glasses, usually t-shirts and jeans unless it was picture day then it was a button down and jeans. He was skinny and angular and had a sharp sense of humor.

He moved away after that school year, and it was one of those lost touch things.

Now, he's filled out and lost some of the angles, his hair is longer than mine has ever been and he looks like he belongs shirtless playing bass for a garage band gone big.

Of course he said I haven't changed much. Well, it's true, I still look pretty much the same, just older.

But after he left, I texted R, giving her the scoop and telling her how shocked I was at the change. She came back with "what do you expect, you haven't seen him in twelve years."

Twelve. Years. Wow. The mere fact that something happened to me twelve years ago that I can reasonably be expected to remember that didn't involve a major natural disaster or an injury to myself has me a bit flabbergasted.

The other thing was a conversation in the GBC IRC channel concerning tattoos. Dixie said something along the lines of "you won't find anyone with just one tattoo for very long, they're addictive."

I started to compose a retort saying I'd had just one tattoo for a while now, and thought a moment to tote up years. Ten. Ten years I've had my tattoo.

Seriously?!? I swear it was just a couple years ago I got it... or it feels that way. There's no way that I've been considered adult enough to permanently mark my body for ten years. Well, technically, I haven't, but Farmmom and Farmdad signed off on the tatt because Bro knew I'd been wanting one, and he paid for it for my Christmas present that year.

But still. I'm thinking in decades now, and it's only going to get worse from here on out. Those "omg" moments will continue and grow as the years extend.

I'm not afraid of getting older, I won't delay my 30th birthday, I'm just worried that this means I have to admit that I'm a grownup now....

I don't wanna!