I was just about to give into them, the Winter Blues. I was ready to  hunker down with as much chocolate, popcorn, wine and hobby projects and just wait out the rest of this winter in my little apartment. Then I started chatting online with a fairly new acquaintance and before I knew it we were exchanging some very intimate and personal stuff. It really struck me, THIS is what’s missing in my diet!

I was about to chock it up to menopause, which is already driving me mad because it’s starting to look like all the things I didn’t get as a teenager (pms, cravings, etc.) I am now getting. It’s Aunt Flo’s way of telling me, “You had it way too easy bitch, you can’t escape all of my wrath before you put me out to pasture!” But it was something more. I’ve been single for almost 15 years now. I’ve had a few flings here and there but nothing permanent. It’s been a fun ride but it can also be a very lonely. It’s been like sitting in a roller coaster car alone when you know you really want to squeeze someone’s hand next to you while you scream your fool heads off. It’s still a fun ride though but imagine how GREAT crushing someone’s hand could have been!

So now that menopause runs my life, I’m dealing with a little less sleep, a lot more sweat, and mood swings that make me feel schizo. One day I’m on top of the moon the next day I can’t find a dark enough hole to crawl into. It’s madness I tell ya! I really wish this would have hit me at puberty instead of now. Makes me wonder if women who did have pms don’t have any of this insanity during menopause. It’s too cruel to make women go through this twice in a lifetime….Mother Nature you’re a cold hard bitch at times. These times!

So I drank myself into a stupor Friday Night. I sat and chatted with a friend online, crocheted some doggie stuff, experimented with a new craft with mugs and watched the last season of The Wire. All in one night! I think I was bored? Maybe? Perhaps? So in my stupor I agreed to meet this new acquaintance for brunch before I realized that I just told the world that I am having a pity party all weekend and most everyone can go screw themselves. If that isn’t meno-bi-polarism smacking me in the face I don’t know what is. It’s definitely some messed up shit . And, being the woman I am, being my word and making the tongue in my mouth match the tongue in my shoe, I didn’t back out. I thought about it once or twice. I rumbled around with the idea of coming down with a migraine and ultimately chose to just be my word. It’s just much easier and more integral in my world.

So, I sat in the house on Saturday night as well. I ran to the studio to grab some gel medium and then back home again in that wonderful snow storm. It was actually quite pretty. I watched some comedies hoping to lift my spirits and made magnets for friends at work. They turned out like crap but I’m going to give them to my colleagues anyway. I could be judging myself too harshly but they are super elementary looking. Oh well, can’t always have a masterpiece happen. I chatted a little bit and before I realized it I made another date with a friend I haven’t seen in a long while. I was like, wtf is happening to me. I’m making dates in the same breath that I’m telling people I’m not feeling very sociable.

Yup, menopolarized! That’s my new word for this Jekyll and Hyde crap going on. I can’t blame it all on Winter Blues but the two are a wicked combo. I didn’t even get fries with it.

So my first galdate on Sunday turned out amazing and I know I’ve made a new trusted friend for life. She really just made me laugh and think and talk..yes she made me talk even if I didn’t want to. And she dragged me through her hood even though I just wanted to crawl back in my hole. And it’s a mighty fine hood.

I’m kind of catching onto myself. My mind and heart openly defying the desires of my astrological signs. All I want to do is crawl into my shell and have a little pity party with the twins. My soul is teaching my mind to ignore my heart. I’m being forced into social activities because deep deep deep inside me, its knows, I need people to feel alive, to stay alive, to feed my appetite for joy and I suspect, dare I say, hope, that whoever is running this show will be victorious!

I have another galdate on Friday and I know it’s going to turn out just fine too because she has aminals!!

Yes, I’m onto myself. I will probably still resist what is good for me from time to time but I’m going to go with the YES more often than the NO and see what happens. Perhaps the winter blahs will get shorter every year.