7 a.m. — Just over eight hours of sleep = no backache, woohoo! My bodily aches and pains aren't exactly new — they started when I was 28 — but I still resent the hell out of them. I can't believe I'm old enough for this to have become a regular feature of my life. How did this happen? Is it going to get worse? How do people who are over 40 ever summon up the energy to get out of bed? Backaches aren't my only issue — I also carry all my stress in my neck and shoulders, which means they're always tight and aching. Last semester, they started aching about halfway through the semester. At the moment, we're only two weeks into this semester, and my neck and shoulders already ache like nobody's business. I can't imagine how much pain my grandparents are always in, if their pain only increased as they aged and they started at the level of pain I have now. I stand ramrod straight against a wall as I munch on a slice of bread for breakfast.