Why am I so tired?

"Look at the pretty flowers!" I said, momentarily cheered as I continued to wipe moisture off my face. "It's so ... hot?" I mused, looking at Rachel for confirmation and she nodded. "Humid, maybe?" I continued, trying to isolate the cause of my problems.

"Miserable." I concluded with a nod. "It's very unpleasant out here."

"But the flowers are pretty." She replied, and trudged over to get a different angle on the historical location we saw today. I watched her, trying to decide if it was worth the extra 10 steps to get a similar picture on my camera, saw a bench and decided that sitting down was a much better plan.

It was actually a good afternoon. I learned a lot, saw something I'd been meaning to look at, and enjoyed the time with Rachel and Amy. Amy is gorgeous, by the way. And 16. I often find myself frowning at her when she tries to explain something to me. Her analogies use references that leave me guessing.

"I don't know who that is." I'd sometimes say. Or offer an "I'm sorry - I don't know what that means." Perhaps an "I'm not familiar with that music - I listen to my iPod more than the radio." That last one would have been OK, I guess, had radio been deemed unacceptable for the truly hip people. Luckily, I don't claim to be hip, but I do like to keep up.

I finally decided on, "I think I'm getting old." when I was confused as to what we were trying to discuss. Rachel did a bit better, but not much. I consoled myself with the fact that I was joking - I'm not old at all! But then I noticed I was a bit achy from being on my feet so much. I'm used to sitting at my nice, cool desk during the day. When we spent our evening doing some shopping, I had to make them stop for a snack so I could sit down. My shoulders were aching from carrying packages - hand soap is heavy! - and my feet were starting to hurt.

I started to feel better after eating fried appetizers with dipping sauces, and sipped my soda gratefully.

"I think I'm good again." I announced happily, pleased that I wasn't too ancient to make my way around the mall.

"Now I'm tired." Rachel sighed. "My mom always said she could work forever, but when she sat down, it was all over. I always thought she was crazy, but now I understand."

"Because we're old." I offered, thinking of how she was trying to have a baby and how I recently figured out my retirement investments.

But that's fine. I'll take the way I felt pretty today - looked in a couple mirrors and smiled at myself for no apparent reason because I'm learning to appreciate how I look rather than pick apart all the flaws - with the less ideal but fervent wish I had a cart to push my purchases around in so my back didn't start to hurt from carrying items around. I have no desire to be 16 again. And today was worth a bit of achy exhaustion. I've really enjoyed having them around.

And I got to see some really pretty flowers.