When did I become an adult?!

At some point, I became an adult…I think…by society’s definition I definitely am an adult. I remember being young and cool, being a new, young math teacher, and I would go out…like to do social things! Crazy, right?! Do you remember those days? Now when I have a night off I’m excited to…wait for it…do nothing and go to bed early, or stay up late and watch Real Housewives. Not so cool. In the midst of things, I graduated college, started teaching high school, started dating Mike, became a Georgia Force cheerleader, became an Atlanta Falcons Cheerleader (this still kept me cool, but I thin

k this is where the course turned), got engaged, bought a house, got a dog, got married, had a son, got cancer, beat cancer, had another son, then got cancer again. Now, I do not feel cool. I mean, I’m not driving a mini-van, so I feel like I’m holding onto a smidgen of cool by having an SUV, but truth be told I am not nearly as cool as I once was.

I try hard to look put together each day at work. I teach high school kids, so they can be a tough crowd; but when they compliment an outfit then I am feeeling SPEEEECIAL! Often times I’m told by other faculty, “Oh hey! I thought you were a student!” and I always think, “hmmm…does that mean I’m dressing too young? or can I take that as a W since I’m 35 and passing for 18?” I usually take it as a W.

So, all of this being said, for my recent 35th birthday I needed a pill box. Yes, a pill box. I am 35 and need a pill box. My husband knew better than to give me one as a gift, but I sure did go buy me one. All of this cancer crap is making it a challenge to keep up with all my meds, so I need to get them organized. Usually I glance at this pill box with a little bit of annoyance, but this morning I looked at it with some positivity! I am on day 14 (out of 14) of my chemo round, and the Saturday pill boxes have a lot less meds in them…I’m a happy girl! It’s crazy to me that just a few years ago (right? it was just a few years ago) I would be excited because we had a big night out at Wild Wings Cafe planned, and now I’m excited because my pill box looks empty for the weekend. So, yes, I’m an adult. I’m a mom, wife, homeowner that has responsibilities and can’t drink like I used to. This does not mean that I don’t love life and can’t have fun. My definition of fun has just changed.

Cheers to surviving (well, getting through…surviving sounds so dramatic!) another round of chemo! My goal was to try to work both weeks on this chemo round, and I did it. I didn’t take a day off, and now I can enjoy a weekend with my family as I recover from the fatigue that this cocktail of meds causes. Funny, I used to drink cocktails, and now I have a cocktail of meds…this is not how I pictured my adulthood.