Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Maybe it's Menopause


You know the jingle
"maybe it's Maybelline"?


That's what we sing around here, but we change the words..

"maybe it's menopause!"

I just sang it a few minutes ago in the kitchen.

It's the 1st of July.
Weather.com predicting a high of  82 degrees today, with humidity in the 3,498% range,  and I'm up in the kitchen making vegetable beef soup.

I'm sure Glenco and Aaron can't wait to get their mouth up on a bowl of hot, hearty beef vegetable soup on a steamy July day such as today.
Maybe I'll bake a pumpkin pie.

What would possess me to make a pot of this today?

Perhaps it's that my veggie drawer in the fridge is starting to resemble a morgue.
I'm going to call Glenco to the fridge soon to see if he can identify some of the contents.
I'll cover the veggies with a paper towel and somberly pull it back as Glenco looks on in horror.
 'Yes!  I recognize that leek! The last time I saw it was at the Piggly Wiggly -
 that had to be over a week ago'.

It's time to make some soup, y'all!

Last night I made this for dinner, and it was a hit.


Recipe  HERE

Strawberry Poppyseed & Bacon Chopped Salad

The only problem was that Aaron ate all the bacon up on me. 
I was perplexed, as I'd cooked it before I left for the day, only to find it mysteriously missing when it was time to assemble the salad.
Aaron was also mysteriously missing.
See?
He knows better. 
 I could have flown into a rage when I noticed the bacon missing!
Or started crying.
Maybe it's menopause!
(seriously - I never fly into rages, I really don't.)

As delicious as the salad was without the bacon, I can only imagine (and trust me I did) how great it would be with that divine salty crunch.

In other news, we had some pretty hardcore storms hit the area last night.
I lost a potted plant.
I shall rebuild.

In other other news - I found out that I have a torn meniscus in my right knee, and some bone on bone action there as well.  Couple this with the tendinitis that is still in my right shoulder and forearm - I'm a hot mess.
I could barely raise my right arm today.

As I stand out in the garden with my fork...I feel like I'm standing at the ocean with a Dixie cup.
You just have to laugh, you know?

I do promise to post some pictures of the carnage that is my yard.

I cannot tell you the grieving process I've been in over it.
Literally - all the steps.


I in no way mean to make light of the loss some people have experienced, but loss - is loss.
Yes, the loss of my garden doesn't compare to the loss of other things - but I do believe that we need to even grieve and process the small losses in our lives.

Shock:  How did my garden become such a hot mess?

Denial:  Wait, I can do this.  Sleep is overrated.  We don't really have to do anything else this summer other than yard work, do we?  Order a pizza and let's get busy!

Anger:  Why won't anyone help me?  Don't they like yardwork?  Who planted all these stupid plants!?  Why do things keep growing!?  I want to move to a retirement community.

Bargaining:  OK, OK - I can do this.  I should just make it a LITTLE bit smaller - I mean come on - look at all the time you've invested in this.  It's so lovely!  Everyone will miss your gardens.  Maybe you could just mass plant - yes - mass plant - that would be easier than the cottage garden.

Depression:  All is lost.  I have no life.  Who am I without gardening?  No one will ever like me again.  Why would anyone want to come here?  I'm such an idiot!  I've created a monster!  I'm old!  I'm crippled!  I can't do this anymore!  I don't want to do this anymore!  Is there really life outside the trowel?  I'm going to move to Florida and take up Zumba and macrame.

Testing:  This is where I am now.  Making peace with simple.  Making peace with a little well done.

Acceptance:  Stay tuned.  : -)

As always - I encourage you all to love your family hard today, live a little slower today, and be grateful for.every.little.thing.

Like hot soup in July.  

Til soon.

xo


17 comments:

  1. You crack me up, Coopkeeper :) Please publish something. Pleeeeese!

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  2. ha! Okay, this made me laugh b/c I feel the same way about our garden. We had to put it in an area surrounded by trees that get SOME sun, at best but we were so... HOPEFUL. And you should see how sad it is now. Stemmy tomato plants that look more like cucumber plants. (With, uh, no tomatoes) So sad!

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  3. I actually have some soup in the making. You are not the only nut in the basket.

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  4. Oh my gosh!!! I have been having difficulty sleeping and woke up at 4 a.m. this morning, went back to sleep at 5:30 a.m., had horrible dreams and woke up thinking "maybe this has to do with menopause ... I should ask Jayme" and voila'! You write about menopause. Funny, not so funny...I am a weary 51 year old. UGH! Enjoy your soup. Sorry about the bacon. :)

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  5. I am also in this grief stage........poison oak and weeds are my best grown plants...:( The rain has tripled the sizes of all of my shrubs (that need trimming) and bugs are running rampant. I......can......not.......keep.......up.........and do quick books for my husband at the same time! I would much rather bury the busy-ness of the busi-ness but I also like to eat and pay the light bill so it looks like it's funeral time for the yard. It was a good yard.....I'll always have fond memories.

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  6. I am cracking up TOO . . .
    I must be in grief . . . Menopause faded a long time ago . . .
    I have asked the same questions,
    Who planted all of this . . .
    What us my identity if I don't have a zillion gardens . . .
    Is this fun, all I do is weed . . .
    I am in a whine . . . not stopping . . .
    And the landscape help "the hubs" treated me with for my birthday has still not SHOWED UP!
    I am not going to make hot soup or pumpkin pie . . .

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  7. Oh girl! This post was just a recap from the last 6 weeks around my home too. Scary how there are quite a few similarities in this post. I got a late start on edging, tilling and weeding to get things in order with all the beds around here. The hubs did help a bit, but I felt it was mostly on my shoulders as I love to garden, always have and I am home all day now. Oh yes, the wining at first,, guilty, (raised hand). Words of "I'm getting too old for all this", were spoken too! I didn't mention Florida, but I still muttered..."Oh how nice a tiny cottage lake side in lower Michigan would be". Yeah, like I still have the "On Golden Pond " dream in my head. You know, how she sends Norman off to pick berries....and all that Tra la la la la stuff. I'd let the woods and weeds just grow around us and be happy with life and seeing my boys go off fishing...and all that...Ha.. Ok, sorry I was dreaming again.....Oh, and the mystery vegetable game has been played here of late too. Funny you should mention missing bacon and soup. If it isn't my gobbling husband, I have a 22 yr old son too. There are moments of interrogation here, no ranting though either.. I just fried bacon for BLT's last week, only to have my husband request/suggest potato soup. I use a little of the bacon grease for flavor. Yeah, good ol' bacon grease. If that doesn't just add a pound or two onto that little menopausal belly bulge. Mind you I declined to make it, siting all the soups consumed due to the never ending winter. These days I am into eating and promoting a lot of lettuce. Oh, and checking out the garden at this point is difficult as the mosquitoes about carry you away just walking to the back of our acre lot where it is. Oh, didn't we have a summer like this not too far back...REWIND! The torn meniscus, so sorry to hear that and I have been there. A couple of years back while I was doing Zumba. Not fun, put me in therapy for 5 weeks. Talk about trying to show your stuff around some twenty somethings. (smiles). I'd probably do it again. Just a closing share...., so I go out to lunch with a friend today and before munching on greens and yes, (discussing menopause in our shares), we visited a darling gardening center and what do I leave with but 6 pots of perennials......that's right! I must be mad! Smiles at ya Jaymes. Your not alone.

    Debra

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  8. Do you know how many smiles and laughter you bring to us with your blog? Don't ever change. (spoken for many, many friends!)

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  9. You are a breath of fresh air Jayme! Don't worry about the garden, or lack thereof. Its all good. And soup. Soup is one of my favorite foods. If I were there with you today we would enjoy a big bowl of soup, and I'd love a slice of pumpkin pie thank you very much!! God love you Jayme!!

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  10. Perhaps in time 'smallness' will prove to be your lifeline in the garden Jayme, but, I understand the loss so I'm not Pollyanna'ing it one bit. You're crazy-good as expressing yourself and just as crazy-good at harvesting the humour in us.......[a different kind of 'garden' result??] Sidebar, but, dinner tonight was chicken noodle soup -- one steamy bowl to match our steamy Canadian day! :o)
    Take care - we're encouragers from afar!
    Blessings,
    Barbara

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  11. I lost my roof in that storm. Was out of power for three days, but the tomato plants and cukes survived so Im happy! Have a great 4th!

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  12. If you take up macrame will you make me one of those plant holders that hang from the ceiling? My Mom made me one years ago and I left it at the old house during the war (divorce). Stupid, stupid me.

    Cindy Bee

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  13. It's really great to 'see' you again, Jayme. (I've had some veggies staring at me, begging to become soup, too, so I get it.

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  14. Don't fret about not getting to your gardens. Your perennials will be there next year, no matter how much you neglect them! Good to see you posting again, love to read your blog!

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  15. Oh how I can relate to a Post such as this... which is probably why I'm laughing with you, not at you. Glad I came by for a Blog visit and a good laugh to end the day... as I've been moving thru the Grief Stages myself, but for different reasons, and yes, loss is still loss regardless of what we may be grieving and moving thru the stages in... Blessings from the Arizona Desert... Dawn... The Bohemian

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