Thank you so much for your kind words of encouragement yesterday! I have to say that I felt a little silly complaining about lack of sleep and weight gain when there are so many bloggers with much more serious problems out there. I did manage to get a good night's sleep on Sunday night (with a little help from Advil PM). I also got some exercise and a shower yesterday, and managed to get a little cleaning and decorating done, which made me feel a lot better. I guess the key is to take every day as it comes.
But reading all your comments was the best part of my day. Just knowing that I'm not going through this alone made a big difference in my outlook. Thank you so much, dear bloggers. You are the very best! :)
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Mary,
ReplyDeleteYour photos are so lovely and bring so much joy to the rest of us that you should never feel blue yourself. :) Have a wonderful day today!
Glad the day was better!
ReplyDeleteGood morning Mary.
ReplyDeleteWhen my mom has trouble sleeping (and she's had a lot of it!) she takes just 1/2 a Tylenol PM and it works. I've done the same. Glad you found some relief.
Besides the sleeping part, I tend to feel the same way you do lately. It feels like this past winter has aged me but that may be the hormones. Hopefully some warmer weather and greener views will energize and revitalize us both! Making us want to clean. lol!
My best to you. Beautiful photos on this post as well as yesterdays : )
Sharon
Yes, everyone has their own crosses to bear but seeing you sad made me feel badly for you. I don't think I'd be handling my life this well if I didn't have the blog and the support. It's wonderful, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteAnd I've heard that Tylenol PM works wonders.
enjoy your photos always...have a great day.
ReplyDeleteRead yesterday's post and glad to see you are feeling better. I think it's important to allow ourselves some "down" days--and not beat ourselves up about it. The trick is not to let it last too long and get out and do something for someone else. Nothing feels better than that! Just found your blog!
ReplyDeleteSo glad you are feeling better! Hope today is a good day as well!:-)
ReplyDeleteI think it's the lack of a good night's sleep that finally wears us down at this stage of life! (well, and we're having a long string of gray days here).
ReplyDeleteYour photo, as always, is lovely. I just so enjoy your photography, and I'm so glad I found your blog. It brings a bit of joy and sunshine into my day. Thanks for sharing your photos.
Glad to hear you got some rest! We moms are so used to taking care of everyone else, we forget to take care of ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad to hear you are feeling better!!! We are all allowed a bad day now and then. I love Susans comment about doing something for someone else...always seems to do the trick!!!
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful day today!!! I will be thinking about you!!!
XOXO
Cathy
You go! Every day is a new adventure. A new chance for a sore muscle or two;) That's my motto. Oh, and some chardonnay at the end of it all.
ReplyDeleteSo sorry I missed your post yesterday, I am cutting back on blogging a little bit. I read everyone one of your comments from yesterday and have to say what a caring lot the bloggers are :) It's why I will never stay away too long....
ReplyDeleteIt just plain "sucks" this menopause thing...but everyone seems to survive so I guess we will too huh ??? I have never had to diet in my LIFE but lately the clothes are a bit snug...I refuse to buy new jeans so I have started exercising and walking more, I joined a gym, but I hate gyms I am not one to go there without putting myself together...too much of a pain, so I am using CD's and my treadmill.
I rolled my ankle back in the Fall so that didn't help I could barely move around...thank God it is 95% better...
Sorry to go on and on but you struck a cord...I don't mean to be Debbie Downer...
Glad you feel somewhat better today, know that we are here for you if you ever need to email etc.......
Thank YOU for this post, nice to know we are not alone !!!
All the best,
xo Kathy :)
I too, don't know what I would do without the support of dear friends here in the blogging world. It helps at times to know I'm not in this alone. YAY for sleep and peaceful times.
ReplyDeleteHi Mary,
ReplyDeleteCount me in as another menopausal woman, but I'm not terribly miserable, thanks to my bioidentical hormone patch. Hormones aren't for everyone, but I wouldn't be able to work and function without mine. I take the lowest dose.
Check out this link:
http://www.power-surge.com/
for some help/support and for suggestions from others who are going through the same thing.
Exercise is essential for me...daily. I know nobody wants to hear that but it's true!
Can't wait to see more of the bedroom. Love the sihouettes!
Hi Mary!
ReplyDeleteIt really is some sort of cosmic joke, that so many things converge on us in our 50s -- looming empty nests (which are an emotional upheaval even though we know it's coming), menopause (proof that God really IS a man), slowing metabolisms, random aches and pains, aging or missing parents, and I won't go on because I've cheered you up enough already. . . .
And even though you are right that some people have it much worse -- that is true of everything, and it doesn't change the fact that this is a tough time for you, and for a lot of us. We are coping with physical changes, losses, re-evaluations of our lives -- and there isn't any blueprint for getting through this.
I suspect from what you share through your blog that you are a very competent woman; feeling at a loss is not your usual state. It's not mine either, but yikes -- I did not expect all that hit me in the last few years, and I was not prepared.
One of the gifts of blogging is that we feel less alone -- it's like holding up a mirror and seeing ourselves reflected.
Meanwhile I wonder when I'll have energy again, when I will actually finish things (or even BEGIN them!), when I'll stop missing the tumult of kids at home, when my life won't revolve around my ailing parents, when I'll take care of myself again, when I'll SNAP OUT OF IT.
Baby steps. Today I will finish painting the half-painted upstairs vanity; I've had the can of paint in there for 3 weeks.
I'm glad today is a better one for you. I am sorry for this long rambling rant -- you struck a chord! Here's to a good night's sleep for everyone (aided, in my case, by an OTC herbal supplement; it works).
Hang in there!
All best wishes... Cass (who is still wondering what she'll be when she grows up)
Glad you are feeling better. You don't realize how exactly your words struck with the same way I was feeling yesterday! Yes, this menopause thing is not the highlight of our lives. Excuse me while I go turn the fan back on until the "real" me comes back out of the furnace.....
ReplyDeleteI'm right there with you! But I admit I take Premarin and all the help I can get. I also take Ambien CR at night. I was a lifelong insomniac before menopause. So think of me now. I also don't get enough exercise. I just now got out for a walk. It truly does help. Just hard to get motivated. You're a very good photographer, by the way. So there's a plus on your side!
ReplyDeleteBrenda
You missed the part about waking up soaking wet! In the dead of winter, with the covers OFF!!!
ReplyDeleteSee, you're not alone!
Low Estrogen causes insomina.
ReplyDeleteI have had insomina for 30 years!
I am up and awake till 4 am.
Occ. I take 1 Tylenol PM
Pamela in NE Ohio
Mary
ReplyDeleteHey, we are all in this together! :0)
See, your honest expression of your condition brought out so many kind comments that encourage the rest of us who are walking thru the valley of menopause!! Who can sleep? Hot one minute, cold the next! LOL! Hang in there and be encouraged as I am that this too shall pass!!!
ReplyDeleteI missed your post yesterday. Sorry to hear you were not doing well, but Glad to hear that you are doing better. laurie
ReplyDeleteHI Mary,
ReplyDeleteI have been enjoying your blog for so long and am inspired by it everyday. It has brightened my spirits even on those down days. Just so that you know that I am indeed touched by your work I even purchased a camera.
~Tricia