The last ever day that I can say, with all certainty, that I am 24 years old.

Oh God, let it not be so, I know that the only alternative is death, but really, 25? Honestly? You're really going to do this to me? You're actually going to force me to wake up on a day when I have to be one quarter of a century old? A quarter of a century?

It actually hurts a little bit.

I have this conversation all the time with people, how do you feel about getting older? I ask this because it really, really bothers me, and it bothers a girl I work with who turned 29 a couple of weeks ago, and it bothers someone else I work with who turns 50 later this year, we often sit and whinge about the passing of time and the advancement of the odd grey hair that peeks through when we're NOT PAYING ATTENTION. However, I haven't got a single friend who it bothers. They just look at me like, just get over it, what are you going to do about it?

LIE

That's what I'm going to do about it, I am going to be the Dolly Parton of Management Consultancy, I am going to be 24 every single year from now on.

I like being 24, 24 feels like the age I should be, old enough to be taken seriously, young enough to have a lifetime of opportunity in front of you, It's a GOOD AGE. Nothing is expected of me, none of this marriage rubbish, none of that baby stuff, I earn a nice salary for my age and I am not expected to have really advanced any more in my career than I already have. This is where I like it. I can still drink tequila, I can still listen to radio one, I can still tick the 18-24 box, I can still wear a mini skirt (should my brain explode, we all suddenly appreciate the fashions of 1984, and I actually become imbued by the spirit of Dolly Parton). I can watch T4, I know who the bands are on Popworld, I can say "I am a graduate" and not have people think 'dear god,it's time to let that go now', I can paint one of the walls in the bathroom deep purple if I want to, Ok, that's going a bit off topic but just picture it, white suite, chrome taps and fittings, white tiles, white walls and then the wall opposite the bath in a deep, dark, purple, with four little round mirrors in a row across the middle, wouldn't that look nice........?

AND I DON'T SEE WHY I SHOULD GIVE THAT UP.