The 16 year old me would be horrified by the 39 year old me.

Do you remember the song "Everybody's Free (To Wear Sunscreen)," that came out in 1999? Had lots of nifty life-living advice in it and was NOT written by Kurt Vonnegut? Yeah, that's the one. One of the lines in it is "You're not as fat as you imagine." When I was in school, I considered myself to be fat. I tried to wear long shirts to cover up my gut and I never wore shorts, so I wouldn't expose my thunderous thighs to anyone. But the song is right, and has been proven by the old pictures of me that have been posted on Facebook by my school friends. What the hell was I thinking? NOW I am fat, or at least overweight, and it's a lot harder to do something about it these days. Sometimes I actually pine for the days of mandatory twice-a-week aerobics.

The other day at work, I went into the bathroom about halfway through the day. I then noticed that I forgot to brush my hair that morning, and I wasn't wearing a hat, which is de rigeur for me. I couldn't brush it then because I didn't have a brush with me. So I said "meh" and went back to work. This would have been INCONCEIVABLE to me in high school. I always took a shower in the morning and blow-dried my hair, in order to get it to do what I wanted (which rarely happened). I always had my brush sticking out of my back pocket, and I spent copious amounts of time in front of the mirror in the assistant band director's office trying again to get it right. You would think with a hair obsession like mine, that I would have caved in to men's hair products, but I never did. Nowadays I can't be bothered with a blow dryer or carrying a brush, and the only time I use a product in my hair is when my hair is getting too long and I'm too lazy to make a haircut appointment, so I put some Frizz-Ease on the sides so I don't look like Wolverine. But you know what? I'm the only one who cares.

If you read this, then you'll know that I hated working in my dad's bakery when I was in high school. I would rather have been spending time with my friends. I guess MORE time would actually be correct. You wouldn't have been able to convince me back then that I would still be a baker 20 years later, plus the fact that I love doing it and I put everything I have (and sometimes even what I don't have) into it. I was planning on becoming a rock star, thank you very much. Rock stars don't bake. Well, not in that way.

The only tolerable thing about my loathsome job was the money. I always had money, and I always wanted more. This wasn't just in high school, it lasted well into my 30s, which I think was because I didn't have as much as I did when I was a teenager. I don't know what caused my turnaround regarding money, but I'm glad it's not as important to me as it was. Don't get me wrong, it is of course important to live and eat and all of that. If we lost all of our money tomorrow, Sarah and I would still have each other, and as cliche as that may sound, it's true. My relationship with Sarah and the rest of our family is much more important than our bank account. You can always get more money, right?

I sometimes think that I haven't changed much over the course of my life. I wonder if I think that because almost everything about me has changed? Good thing too, because I was really obnoxious in high school.

Yes, I'm going with the past tense there, thanks.