Peri-Meno-who?

There's a new animal in town and it's called Peri-Menopause. If you don't know what it is, join the other 9.5 out of 10 women that don't either. Until they do.

Peri-menopause is a nasty little jobbie that is so confusing and so many women (like myself) go through it without thinking it's hormonal. They (like me) think they're going crazy. Really.

Here's an explanation of what it is, the signs and symptoms and what you can expect. Knowing what to expect helps. Really.

Peri-menopause is the first stage of menopause and can last 4-8 years. It usually begins to happen around the age of 40 (I'm early, apparently that's common). It's signs and symptoms, though confusing and many, include: mood swings (PMS from HELL), very low/unusually high libido and mistakenly thinking that you're having emotional problems (that was MY big thing)... in this phase, one's estrogen levels are often higher than when we're in our 20s (up to 30% higher, and that's saying something). As high as the estrogen levels are, however, they can't be reliably tested as they fluctuate, wildly at times - which is the cause of the emotional tie-in (apparently if you suffer from PMS or have suffered from Post-Partum Depression, these symptoms can be much worse). Symptoms (during your period) also include difficulty sleeping, migraine and/or tension headaches, heavy periods or night sweats, swollen breasts, water retention/bloating, increased irritability, depression and forgetfulness.

Another little known fact is that the hormone, inhibin (it puts the brakes on the production of eggs in the ovaries) depletes and allows the FSH to increase, stimulating several eggs rather than just one. Scary, huh?

Equally scary is the fact that there is seemingly little or no help during this time - some are treated with mild estrogen, but often this makes symptoms worse. Naturopathy seems to be the most recommended treatment - or you can suffer through. Most women (like myself)are unlikely to become uncomfortable enough to seek help until this period is nearly 1/2 done (no kidding).

Thought you'd like to know.

Inspiration

While reading a book this morning, I came across some amazing quotes by an inspiring man; Booker T. Washington. Before anything even approaching civil rights (in the US) came to be, this African-American man (born into slavery in 1856) worked to improve race relations in the States. Here are 2 of the statements that inspired me: "One man cannot hold another man down in the ditch without remaining down in the ditch with him", and "Most leaders spend time trying to get others to think highly of them, when instead they should try to get their people to think highly of themselves". There were many more, but I wanted to share those with you.

Ah, Sesame Street

As I see it, the real trouble here is that my kids are Ernie and Oscar!

You Are Bert

Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you loveable - even if you don't love them! You are usually feeling: Logical - you rarely let your emotions rule you You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil How you live your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others

The Sesame Street
Personality Quiz

Take it! PS - Thanks for the find, Arwen!

Help!

In an effort to further my program Project Food For Thought, I have recently taken to asking for letters of support for the program from various levels of school professionals. Now I'm asking you! For those of you that are new to this idea, Project Food for Thought is a new organization that will be endeavouring to take knowledge of food, food choices and cooking classes to schools. For free, if I can. More on that in a previous post (I know what I want to be when I grow up).

Please; if you have the time and like the program, take the time to pen a letter of support in Word or any other PC compatible program and attach it to an e-mail entitled "Support". Send it to me at:

info (at) bluepeanut (dot) net

Your letters could actually help me gain full sponsorship!

Thanks!

Family

My parents have been visiting for the past few days, which has been amazing. I miss them when they're not here. Probably makes me odd, but I don't really care! They got to see their granddaughters in Tae Kwon Do class and Soccer, Swimming and preschool and I hope they had as good a time as I did.

They've recently (okay, well only recently if you call the last 2 years recent) taken to looking for a new house - my Dad hopes for one without too much land to take care of (they're moving off of acreage) and my Mom hopes for one that has land and ocean and views and loads of wonderful things that I think we all want. There seem to be so many road blocks for them right now. My Grandparents have lived on their property for well over 30 years now, and they also need to move. Gramps is 101 and Gramma's 90. Yes, they still live on their own and quite well, most of the time. I think that having grandparents close (at least just a car-ride away) is of great benefit. I grew up that way - and loved it.

Over the years, Mom and Dad have become nearly the sole care-givers for Gramma and Grampa; with the exception of the odd drop-in from other families (which doesn't happen NEARLY enough, hint hint if you're reading this). We used to visit at least once a week while we were still on the mainland, though I do digress. Although my sister and I love our grandparents deeply, our true concern is for our Mom and Dad. We do NOT want them to have Gramma and Grampa move in with them. So, Mom, hearing this, began looking at care facilities here on the island. Yay! There are so many locally; many offer care from assisted living (which Gram and Gramps probably are) to intermediate and acute care. I'm kind of keeping my fingers crossed on this one, as it would mean my parents (and, bonus! Grandparents) would be much closer than a ferry-ride away. We'd be able to visit more often and the girls would get to know them the way I know my grandparents.

I KNOW that this is their decision, but dammit! I want them to move here!

That's MY daughter!

My 7 (nearly 8, ig!) year old daughter Casey just makes me SO proud sometimes. Her Dad puts her to bed every night (YAY Dad!) and they have little "talks" before story time. This is a time for her to ask any questions she would like to have answers to - no restriction on subject matter. It's been great - mostly dealing with things like friends and bullys; drugs; peer pressure; school - the usual. Last night somehow the subject of health came up - well, not really health. Plastic surgery. Leon asked her how she felt about it - she said, and I quote, "Plastic surgery is silly, Daddy" to which he responded "Oh...?". Casey then said something to him that made me realize she's got her head screwed on absolutely straight... she said "Surgery is for health, Daddy, not fashion".

*beaming*