Menopausal Moments

Okay, so I was blessed with a great generation of ladies (my mother, grandmother and great-grandmother) who go through menopause at an early age. Yes, I am only 40 going through the early stages of menopause. Night sweats (we have clean sheets almost every morning due to me), hot flashes which are now starting during the day not to mention that I can go from the "fairy godmother" to the "wicked witch" in about 2 min or less. On those days I just pray continually for patience and good thoughts. It is amazing what prayer can do.

Recently, I was in an interview with my bishop talking about primary things and then all of the sudden, here they come. HOT FLASHES. I started fanning myself and told him to not worry, it was just hot flashes. He didn't skip a beat and continued on. I think I will keep a fan close by for those times. Yes, I am taking estroven and calcium and magnesium. It does help but let me just tell you what happened recently. I received a letter from the preschool that Ainsley will be attending in the fall and it was addressed to: The Parents of Ashlynn Waters. I signed my 5th grader up for PRESCHOOL. When I told Ashlynn what I had done, Ainsley said "Hey that is not fair, preschool is for me not her!!!" We all had a good laugh and I called the preschool office and explained to them what had happened. They laughed as well.

The other day we couldn't find my cell phone anywhere. We tried calling it and going all over the house trying to listen for it. Doug came home and opened the refrigerator. He said, "is this the new way of charging your cell phone?" Okay, but the next one tops the list.

I went grocery shopping by myself. What a treat. I went to two grocery stores (loving this new program where you save tons of money by cutting coupons and seeing who has the best deals -- check it out: http://www.southernsavers.com/ .) Anyway, as I was putting the groceries away at the last store I was so interested in getting my grocery cart back to the proper place that I left my purse in the smaller section in the cart. I drove home (only abt. 2 min. away) and then discovered that my purse was not in the van. I panicked. I drove back to the store as fast as I could and saw one of the grocery guys collecting the carts. I quickly got out and explained what I had done. We looked but there was no purse. My heart dropped. All I could think about was how much money I had saved that day but how much money I was going to spend or lose by leaving my purse in that cart. I prayed as fervently as I could and as fast as I could. He went inside and came back out without my purse. I decided to go inside the store to call home and hoping that someone had taken it home with them and was calling my home number to let me know they had it. I know, but that was all I could hope for at the moment. I went inside and the same grocery guy came out of the manager's office with my purse. Wallet, credit cards and cell phone still where they were 10 min. ago. (I never carry cash so that wasn't even a consideration.) I can't tell you how grateful I was and am for honest people. I went home and got down on my knees and thanked my Heavenly Father for once again watching over me. Now I will have a pattern of putting my purse in the car and locking it (with keys in hand) before taking the cart back to the cart area. I just saw a cute quote: "Yes, I am hot . . . it just comes in flashes." Here's to all of you who are "flashing." Thank you again Heavenly Father and please bless me with a better memory . . . soon!!!