5 THINGS IN MY LIFE THIS WEEK
1- My Sonlight Core C Instructor's Guide came and I am totally overwhelmed with it (or that could be my hormones--more on that later). I started to set it up and then found out that Sonlight will be releasing a totally revamped version in just a few weeks. It has taken me a good week to figure out that: 1) My IG is subject to the Love to Learn Return policy and that I can return it up to one year even if I use the first 18 lessons. 2) I might as well start using it and if I still want to return it and then order the newly revamped version I can do so. I'm still a bit confused with it all but.....
2- I revamped my daily planning page, listing out all of our new books,
see this post for the details. I will use it for the first time next week. I think it will help me in that I now have a row for each book instead of a big wide row for each subject. So I can simply write in page numbers for the corresponding row for Growing with Grammar, Winning with Writing, All About Spelling, Comprehension, etc. Then I have larger areas for Saxon, Sonlight Reader, Sonlight Read-A-loud, Sonlight Study guide pages, science, etc. I also made sections for Abram's Saxon, Abram's Handwriting w/o Tears, etc. We shall see. I guess this kind of thing happens when you choose to re-do nearly ALL of your curriculum in March!!
3- I have finally figured out what HAS BEEN WRONG WITH ME for the last year!! (If you are a male you might want to skip to #4.) Well, I don't actually know all the details but I know the overall umbrella of my issue and THAT IS VERY HELPFUL!! I am now digging into 3 books here at home (listed below) to try to narrow my specific issues down more and find some natural, non-pharmaceutical assistance without needing to drive 80 miles for doctor appointments. Can anyone guess??? Yep! Despite the fact that I am not yet even 39 I have entered Peri-menopause with GLORIOUS SYMPTOMS barraging me without mercy.
I am so excited to have a diagnosis which explains why I have felt like each day is a terrifying roller coaster that leads me through very deep depression, very strong anxiety, frighteningly intense RAGE/FURY and then plummets me into spasms of blubbering tear filled fits for reasons I never can pinpoint. It is not uncommon for me to traverse ALL of those in the course of an hour or two!!! Strangely enough I have had NO HOT FLASHES so my symptoms merely felt like I was going insane and not that I was going through "THE CHANGE."
4- Here are some facts that I have learned so far about Peri-menopause.
Did you know:
* Peri-menopause (literally the time AROUND menopause but most usually refers to the time BEFORE the last menstrual cycle) can last 2-15 years!!! (I'm sure I will luck out and get the 10-15 year sentence!!)
* Peri-menopause usually hits in the mid-forties but can happen as early as the late 20's and the timing runs in families. (Too bad no one in my family kept track of such things for me and that my mother had the unfortunate need for a hysterectomy at 34! *sigh*)
* 10-15% of women go through the change without any symptoms (Praying that will be you!!)
* 10-15% of women experience symptoms that are severe enough to make them incapacitated (This appears to be me!)
* Your reaction to Peri-menopause is often correlated to the severity of PMS and/or Post Partum Depression as well as how sensitive you were to the changes that occurred during pregnancy. (Side note: my first OB who had worked for nearly 50 decades when he met me told me there was only one or two other women he had EVER met who were as sensitive to the changes occurring in their body as I was and that I described really bothersome symptoms to him that most women never even knew were taking place. *sigh* This is a moment when I'd rather NOT be *special*!!)
5- I have been reading the 3 books below (slowly since life just keeps happening around me) in effort to find some solutions for myself. I am trying to keep my chin up and trying to keep my children from hating their moody mother until I can figure out how to get a leash on the monster who is living inside me.
Currently, the girlie is napping and the boys are out tramping in the VERY MUDDY DRIVEWAY. Last week's 12 inches of wet snow coupled with today's temperatures in the 60's is making for a horrifically MUDDY world.
The three books:
1:
The Pause: Positive Approaches to Perimenopause and Menopause by Lonnie Barbach. This is the one I have read the most in since it is a library book and I will eventually have to give it back. It has made me feel like I am *Okay* and that what I have been battling for a year now (which is getting worse) is actually NATURAL AND NORMAL!! Although, just as in nursing school, the hormone talk is utterly confusing to me but then again The Endocrine System nearly caused me to fail nursing school!
2:
Before the Change: Taking Charge of Your Perimenopause by Ann Louise Gittleman. This is the book that was initially recommended to me. I have only briefly looked into it and might not be very happy with it. The one section I saw was how to do a Clorox (yes, the bleach) rinse on ALL OF YOUR FOOD. Umm..... not sure I am in the same camp as this author. Her website is riddled with products and plans to purchase which is another one of my pet peeves. Don't tell me you are educating me when you really just want to sell me something....BUT..... it did head me down the right path and I WILL give it a chance after I read the other two.
*** I apologize to all for the horribly sporadic demeanor of this post. It is the best I can do at the moment but I REALLY wanted to share with some of you what was going on JUST IN CASE you too are feeling like an alien has taken over your body and that your entire world might be falling apart (emotionally and physically) before your eyes as you focus all of your energy at keeping your behaviors "appropriate." There is hope and a very NATURAL reason for it and when I find any solutions that work for me I'll let you know. Meanwhile, if any of you pick up these books and get them read BEFORE ME can you please share what you've learned!! :) ***
