You can take the girl out of her 20s but you can't take the 20s out of the girl

I just finished watching the Canadian Men's Olympic Hockey team win a gold medal and it was terrific. I was so excited for the team and for Canada. Not soooo excited that I wanted to pack my bags, sell my house and register my kids in school in Toronto, but proud nonetheless. I can't remember a time in my life that I couldn't skate and hockey was a big part of my youth. (But that's a story for after I am long gone; one of my old friends will have to tell it on my behalf after I buy the farm.)

Immediately after the game was over I ran to my computer to begin reading all the game analyses out of the Canadian newspapers. I like to see what the hockey aficionados have to say. And what was the first article I saw? Bars fill up early as Canada goes for hockey gold.

My first reaction was "who in their right mind would get out of bed at 6:30 am to make their way to a bar so that they could start drinking in time for the first face-off at 7:00 am?" And that is when a little voice inside of me said: "well, you, for one." Man I hate those little voices.

Let me clarify: there is no way I would consider doing that today. I need my sleep and on the off chance that I have a morning where one of my children doesn't need a ride somewhere at 6:30 am or an equally disruptive wake-up call, then I would prefer to stay snuggled up in my toasty, cozy bed. But there was definitely a time that I would have been in a bar raring to go by the time the first puck hit the ice.

I probably would have been wearing a big Icelandic sweater (all my friends had them back then) and flannel pajama pants because I think that fashion dictates very casual attire at that time of the day -- I still think that, but my husband monitors my early morning clothes choices now and he would have surely nixed the socializing-in-pajamas-thing. Plus my friends who would have been with me (you didn't think I would be there alone did you?) would have all be similarly dressed. And if a waitress had found her way to our table, I am sure I would have ordered a Caesar with celery (vegetables are a must at 7:00 am).

So now I am wondering two things:

1. When did I stop living that carefree life?
2. And what other habits did I leave behind on my road to adulthood?

I am not going to answer number one because we all know when THAT change occurred and I do not want to point fingers at the people I now love more than anyone else in the world.

As for number two, I will only list a few things that I am willing to put into print. Once again, those of you who knew me then can fill in the blanks (quietly and among yourselves):

1. I no longer eat day-old donuts for breakfast
2. Nor do I eat day-old pizza that looks like someone else might have already taken a bite out of it
3. I definitely do not drink in the morning, unless there is an almost finished bottle of wine that I want to recycle when it is empty
4. I do not sleep in my clothes, get up, and wear the same clothes all the next day
5. I do not wear my pajamas under my sweat pants just in case I have time to squeeze in a nap later in the day
6. I do brush my hair before I leave the house every morning
7. I no longer throw away expensive things that I was party to damaging -- particularly when they are large and not mine

I think that's enough for now.

But one thing I will apparently do until my dying day (April 16, 2048) is cheer from the bottom of my heart when the Canadians play hockey. It will always remind me of a time gone by.