Finally going home. On Monday I had an appointment with a personal shopper at a Chicago-area Nordstrom (a free service they provide) to find a dress for my niece's wedding. I had figured, and rightly so, that having another person pull dress options for me would make the process easier and would be more likely result in a successful outcome. My appointment was scheduled for 11am. At 2pm I left Nordstrom with the needed dress. The appointment was a success. I, however, was a wreck. Both emotionally and physically exhausted, and, if I'm honest, kinda traumatized. This might seem like a dramatic over-exaggeration, but it is how I felt. Here's how things went down: I was greeted by a lovely woman named Diane who took me to a large dressing room where she had at least 20 dresses hung along two walls, as well as 4 pairs of heels, a few accessories, and a bottle of water. She did a quick walk through of what she had pulled for me and then left me to get started. The dressing roo
Welcome to Menopause Mountain, and the Menopause Triad (PeriMenopause + Menopause + PostMenopause). This phase of life for woman can begin as early as 35 (though 40-45 is more typical) and basically lasts until you're dead. Yay! As I have moved through adulthood, I found our culture has talked of this thing called Menopause as though it's the flipping of a switch. One day you're a regular, child-bearing-capable woman, and the next you've hit Menopause and life is over. But that's not even close to the truth. First of all, life isn't over at Menopause. Life metamorphasizes at Menopause. A woman's life becomes something new and different. And second, it is definitely not at the flip of a switch! I've decided to think about this as a journey. Like Bilbo Baggins of Hobbit fame, I was all but dragged from my cozy, humble homeostasis into a perilous adventure. Unlike Bilbo Baggins, I wouldn't be slaying orcs or getting lost in caverns. No, I would be cli