Turning 40

My biological clock will tick to its most likely halfway point Thursday, when yours truly hits the big 4-0.

I'm okay with it. Really I am. Actually, I think turning 40 is better than turning 30. There's something about leaving the 20s that makes you feel, well, older. I've heard it's a similar feeling leaving the 40s and hitting the 50s, which means I still have 10 years left to enjoy my youth.

Seriously, the only thing that I can sense changing in my life is my ability to reflect. I find myself longing more for quiet times out on the patio, sipping a glass of ice tea as the sun gently goes down and a cool breeze blows across my face. You know, goofy stuff like that.

I have noticed my body not recovering from physical activity nearly as well. I lost nearly 50 pounds over a six-month period in 2008 and have since added about 25 or so of it back. But I still consider myself in reasonably good shape for a 40ish, definitely borderline obese male with a blood clotting disorder and a history of diabetes in the gene pool.

I've had this toe thing going on for the past three months or so. It just won't go away. Originally I thought it was just a sprain, then I came to the assumption that I was suffering from what's called turf toe. But at some point turf toe heals, and this hasn't healed. In fact, the injury has begun shooting up my foot and into the ankle occasionally, so a friend -- an older friend -- mentioned that I might have come down with a case of gout.

I don't even know what gout is, but it sounds terrible. And it sounds like something reserved for old people. Whatever is going on inside my right foot, it hurts something awful.

Then there's the pain in my right arm and shoulder, that usually hits its breaking point about Thursday or so. That's usually the final day of the week that I play three or four games of racquetball, and by then my whole arm feels like it's going to fall off. It takes me at least three days to recover, and when Monday comes and I hit the court again my shoulder is still stiff and sore. Arthritis, I see you coming around the corner!

I've been waking up the last few weeks with stiffness and soreness in my lower back, whereas I go to bed at night with no pain whatsoever. Either I'm doing some sort of weird dreaming thing, or maybe my sleep posture is not what it needs to be. Regardless, the pain requires a double dose of Tylenol with my morning blood pressure medication.

And on top of all of this, my 40th birthday this week brings me closer to the birth of my fourth child in August. Lord knows how I'm going to make it through raising this one; not quite sure what's going on with the third child who's already here.

The kids keep me young I guess. Maybe that's how I should look at it. I won't have time to sit around and worry about growing old. I'll be too busy making sure the chicks get out of the nest with some semblance of life skills.

Okay Father Time. Bring it on.