someone asked me the other day how turning 29 (ugh?!) has been treating me. of course, i answered politely. but thinking about it, 29 has been a pretty unforgiving age.

i got a bout of the stomach flu (somehow) on my birthday, driving back from san francisco. 6 hours in a car when your stomach is already flip-flopping its way into vomit-town. that lasted for the better part of a week. and while sitting at home sick, we learn from our building manager that oh joy of joys, a 2-bedroom has finally opened up in our building. there are only about six 2-bedroom units, and we’ve been on a wait-list for about a year now. she also said that we needed to act fast to let her know if we wanted the unit. end of day. what? to move in by mid-september. whaat? so we looked at the apartment. beautiful view. a higher floor than where we currently are. the choice wasn’t too difficult, considering how small our space is and how our neighbors have started a dueling who-can-play-the-loudest-bass-music-late-at-night. the only downside is that moving into a new place puts us slightly back on saving for a wedding. not the smartest idea. but then again, when would we get this opportunity to move into the highest 2-bedroom unit in our building? so yeah. we’re moving at the end of this week.

then i came back to work, where i apparently forgot how to speak during client presentations (stuh-stuh-stutters), which made a poor impression on one of our account people, which made its way to my boss, then resulted in more moping about all of that.

then, in the middle of the debacle, i get a call from my sister telling me my grandpa just passed away. i clam up. this is around noon at work. i start crying silently at my desk. luckily, my desk is hidden away from everyone so no one sees. i realize how i’m not keeping it together so i take the rest of the workday from home. my sister calls me again, then yells at me for crying. how nice. the rest of that week is blanketed in hearing stories about how my mom’s family has put all of this pressure on my mom to put together funeral arrangements, when my mom has also barely been holding it together. and how my aunt refuses to go to the wedding. and how no one thinks we should be telling my grandmother about this. and amidst it all, i keep thinking about how i was supposed to go visit him numerous times over the past month. and how he was in such good shape the last time i saw him. and how much of an asshole i was for not visiting him more often.

so, 29. i don’t recommend it.