Where in the world have I been?

I looked at the date on my last blog and simply could not believe it was over two years old! WHERE IN THE WORLD HAVE I BEEN? Well, for starters, I've been navigating my way through the wonderful world of perimenopause!! For those of you who do not know what this is, it is the 'trial by fire' years before a woman is actually free from the curse that Eve put upon us when she just HAD to have that fruit! There are flash floods of intense heat that hit you exactly at the wrong time, such as when you are getting ready to sing your solo for worship service; or when you are walking into an important meeting; or when you have just walked through the metal detector at the court house! Believe me, a face that turns bright red quite suddenly gives others pause to wonder what in the world you are up to! Not only do you look HOT, you look hot and guilty! Then there are the dreaded night sweats where you wake up soaked to the bone, hoping against hope that just because you went to the bathroom in your dream doesn't mean you actually did in your bed. After reassuring yourself that there is actually 'way more moisture than any bladder could ever produce, you either have to raise the entire household by turning on lights and taking a shower and changing the bed, or you have to put on a clean, dry nightie and quietly sleep in your chair for the rest of the night! And they wonder why we have mood swings! Speaking of which, a perimenopausal woman just can't seen to stay dry, no matter what. Your body leaks all night and your eyes leak all day! The smallest thing will set off a flood of tears that just go on and on. Yes....I've been travelling the road to menopause and it's been a long one! I have also been journeying on the rugged path of elder caregiver. My mother-in-law is accelerating in her dementia and you just never know what is going to happen on any given day! My phone my ring at 2:00am with a quavery voice on the other end of the line demanding to know where her dinner is??!! It's 2:00 and not there yet! Or my phone may ring in the middle of the day and I hear a frantic voice on the other end telling me she has pooped TWICE and what is wrong with her; shouldn't we go to the doctor? And then there are the 'boys' that live with her that she never sees and they never eat and they never use the bathroom and they don't come home at night and she's just worried to death about those boys!! Convincing her that there ARE no boys has become a dead end road! So, that is where I have been! Life can get crazy at times and these days seem to be the craziest of all. But we laugh all we can and cry when we can't laugh and just keep right on going, knowing that one day THIS road will come to an end and we can turn the corner and leave it all behind!