Warm flashes, irritations and pounds, oh my!

I was really hoping I'd escape a certain symptom of menopause. Grace, maybe, for having endured nearly 40 years of on-the-floor-wish-I-was-dead-painful periods.

But oh no, proof, that if there is truly a god, it is a HE, because no female deity would have ever come up with a design so intrinsically flawed.

The flashes have started. They are just "warm" still, not really the "hot" flash I witnessed at a conference a few years ago, turning the woman next to me (who only a moment before looked normal and a lot like me), into a sweat-dripping red-hot being fanning herself as if we were sitting under a magnolia tree in Savannah in August instead of an air-conditioned hotel conference room.

Ironic that my first warm flash was at another organizing conference just this past month. Maybe I'd been having them before, but they started quietly, I think, disguised as just making me think my environment was a little too warm. But this time, I was in a room full of women who were all complaining they were cold and needed sweaters. I was the one fanning myself this time, looking around to see if anyone else was uncomfortable in the same manner. No, they were all still shivering. First official hot flash...Saturday, October 9, in Sunnyvale, California. Not a sweat-drencher, just a scalp-warmer.

I was having another flash just before I started this post, which is what prompted me to write.  And, which prompted what is another apparent symptom of menopause...irritation.

Irritation has actually preceded the hot flashes. I find myself irritated quite often...everyone and everything irritates me easily. Yes, I love each member of my family, but each member of my family seems to be able to irritate me in new and uncommon ways. I know it's not really them (well, sort of...), that this is menopause controlling my brain, but it's still there.  Hopefully they will still be there when this is all over and menopause has taken its last hot, irritating hike. Of course, since I hadn't logged into this blog in quite awhile, it wanted me to sign in. Twenty minutes later I got the right combination of e-mail address and password and it graciously let me into my own blog. Thanks.

Oh, and did I mention the weight-gain? As if needing to lose 20 pounds before all this wasn't enough...another 10 has found its way onto my frame when I wasn't looking. (Maybe while I was having a hot flash or being irritated by my loved ones.) I've never been so active (which isn't saying much, but I have been MORE active the last few months), and I don't over-eat (I don't think), but a solid ten has attached itself to me. I'll be seeing a nutritionist this week to see if I can regain some control over this body that has gone on its own roller-coaster ride with the big scary "M" monster at the controls. I'll keep the blog updated on my progress.

(I've started some food changes on my own--trying some fun raw-food blender recipes for soups and smoothies. I'll post my versions of the successful ones on my "It's a Cookbook"  (http://toservevegetarians.blogspot.com/) blog soon.)

Oohhh...there's another one....I guess I'll save on heating bills the winter, huh?

Ukulele Festival September 11-12

Don't miss a chance to see James Hill and the lovely Victoria Vox at the Ukulele Festival in St. Helena in a couple of weeks...

Allie is signed up for some workshops with Victoria Vox on Saturday.

Here's a little taste of my DD and friends from a year ago. Mine is on the left.

This is not a-musing

My mom gets Time Magazine and I picked up the mail yesterday. This issue was in the mail. This is a photo of a young woman in Afghanistan who ran away from her abusive in-laws. The Taliban said that was a no-no. So her husband cut off her nose and ears while his brother held her down. They left her to die.

All in the name of religion?

She lived.

She is now in protective custody and will be coming to the US for reconstructive surgery.

This is the beginning of a much longer post which I will finish later. But as I read this article (as I suggest you do), so many thoughts and feelings came to the surface...thoughts and feelings that I've had for a long time, but this picture seemed to solidify them and reinforce my beliefs.

Blog Background change--Pardon the dust...

Background and template issues...please pardon how this looks for awhile. I have no time for learning curves right now, so it's just set to whatever I could figure out on Blogger's NEW design template do-hickey.

Arrgh.

Pomplamoose

These two are fun to watch and listen too. They are already a hit on YouTube. (I'm a little late to the party.) Do yourself a favor today and watch them. You won't be disappointed!

They are on YouTube, MySpace and iTunes. And their own website: http://www.pomplamoose.com/

Tons of songs covered as well as originals. Her eyes are mesmerizing.

Vegan Gluten-free bread, Take III

I finally had success with a loaf of gluten-free bread in the breadmaker! Did I think to photograph it? No! I used a Bob's Red Mill package that had all the ingredients in the bag, even the packet of yeast. It rose really nicely and tasted OK. It was fairly dense and a little rubbery compared to bread I'm used to eating. I also realized that I usually eat sourdough bread, which is essentially yeast-free, and I could really smell the yeast in this bread. I also noticed (TMI warning here...) that it seemed to make me gassy. Could it be the yeast? Ironic since gas seems to be one of the main problems that people with gluten-intolerance have.

I enjoyed being able to have toast like a normal person, and even had a veggie burger. I didn't enjoy the gassiness. The price is also about the same as buying a loaf of GF bread in the store--more than $5, so there is no $ savings by making it at home, just freshness.

Do your best? Or just DO!

I've written a longer essay on my business blog Organize in Harmony called The Sour Notes of Perfectionism. In it, I relate what I'm learning in my singing class to the perfectionism I see in myself and my clients around organizing issues.

Here I'll distill that thought....

We often hear people say "Just do your best." Well, I've come to realize that I get stuck on the "best" part and can't get to the "do." If I can't do it "right" or whatever I think right is, I don't want it to be seen, heard, read, whatever.

I'd like to change that to "Just do." (I know, it's awfully close to who-know-who's "Just do it" campaign.)

Just do. Do, even if it's imperfect. Do, even if it's not your best. Just do. Just start, just do and go from there.

Find your comfort around being imperfect, about being human, about being normal. (Whatever that is!)