A NEW REASON TO PARTY!

We just had a 50th birthday party for a co-worker this week. She used to work at fairs, so we had a fair theme. Sausage and meatball sandwiches, elephant ears, cotton candy, fries....we are REALLY good at this kind of stuff at work.

Well this morning I came in and moved my calendar page to October and realized HEY - this is it - one year since my last menstrual period! I am OFFICIALLY IN MENOPAUSE! So I sent an email to my co-workers suggesting that they throw a party in my honor to honor this sacred time in my life! And they took me seriously and are now planning my party!

Since I pride myself on being a good investigator, I googled "symptoms of menopause" to see just how far I have come. I found a website that lists 35 symptoms of menopause. I shouldn't have googled this. But I found that I can blame a lot on menopause, and for this I am somewhat grateful...

I knew about the old hot flashes. A sympathetic co-worker gave me a small battery operated fan last year. The battery died within 2 weeks. I was overjoyed to find a 6 inch electric fan that fits perfectly on my desk - I got it at Marcs for $6. This is honestly the best purchase I have EVER made.

I can now blame these disturbing feelings on menopause: irritability, mood swings, trouble sleeping, "crashing fatigue", anxiety, and feelings of doom. And I thought I was losing my mind.

I knew about the memory lapses. I no longer use names or words to describe things. Instead, I just describe them because the words escape me. So instead of stove, I'll say "the thing you cook food in." It takes me much longer to get my point across. And it has happened more than once that I'll be sitting across from a friend having a nice lunch, and as she's talking, I'm not listening, cause I'm frantically thinking "what's your name again?"

And the physical symptoms - yeah, I recognized most. Hair loss, irregular heart beat, trouble sleeping, gastrointestinal distress, aching joints, and weight gain.

I had recently diagnosed myself as having attention deficit disorder, but now I see that listed as a symptom. I have to take continuing education classes, and while co-workers are so happy to find an 8 hour class so they can get it over with sooner, I'm declining their invitation to attend, saying sorry, 2 hours is my limit. And 2 hours is pushing it.

I think there are 5 symptoms that I have not experienced. Some are too personal for me to include on a blog, but the non-personal ones include gum problems, burning tongue and tinnitis. By this time next year, I'll probably have added them to my list.

So October 13th is the tentative date of my party. I'll let ya'll know how it goes.

(P.S. We had our party today. Lori made pasta with chicken and broccoli, Marsha made a salad, and Donna brought a wonderful Mama Jo's strawberry pie with cream cheese. A nice break for someone who eats lunch at her desk everyday.0