50; No Softball

So here's a magazine cover from fifty years ago, on the day I was born...

Or if you're a little less highbrow, like me...

50. Yikes. So far it isn't really any different from my 40s. Except I can join the AARP and start benefiting from my advanced age. (And dammit, why can't I find a video of this Grampa Simpson clip?)

Anyway, if you've ever checked out my Twitter profile page you've seen what I wrote for a bio, at least since I began my job in October: "I may have a job now but I will still spend way too much time online, on Twitter, Facebook, etc. Oh, and blog. And play softball..." But I've made a change. It now ends with "...but not this year." The softball league's season begins this weekend, weather permitting. However, this year I'm not playing. I had been planning to, but there was a problem with my team's practice schedule that led to my not making it to practice. (We talking about practice! Not a game, not a game, not a game -- we talking about practice!) I won't go into the gory details; suffice it to say there was an exchange of negative emails and, had I decided to play, I probably would have preferred finding a new team.

But I got to thinking (which is always dangerous). If I did play I wouldn't be as effective pitching as I've been in the past. One of the things that spurred me to rejoin the league in 2008, after a 20-year hiatus, was the fact that I had been dieting and lost a lot of weight (eventually the total loss reached 50 pounds), so I felt more able to do things without overtiring. Unfortunately, since then, slowly but surely I've been gaining it back. And if anything, with the stress from my job schedule and commute to and from work, I've probably eaten worse over the last 6 months.



So with the added weight and my lack of practice time, I felt I'd have more trouble pitching, fielding, even more trouble running the bases -- not so much hitting; except for a little stretch at the end of last year I've never hit consistently well. I want to be in better shape so I can perform better. And yeah, I know it's slow-pitch softball and not something rigorous that you have to be in shape to do. But this is how I feel.

So I think this is the right time to take a break and recharge. Plus, it now looks like I'll be done with work for the season in just one week. As it stands now, the program will come to a close by May 14 and they're asking for volunteers to go into non-pay status on April 30. If there aren't enough volunteers they'll choose people based on reverse seniority. I'd be either the first or second to go, since I was one of the last two hired.

What I need to do, once I've got my free time back (oh, I can't wait!), is take the time to eat better and to get some regular exercise. (And hopefully find a job that will make my life and schedule a little easier, although the job I have -- if the politicians don't kill off the heating assistance program -- is a good fallback in case my job search is fruitless.) And then, next spring, perhaps I can return after just a one-year hiatus instead of 20.