Hot Flashes & Coffee

For about a week now I've had so little sleep that I could count the hours of sleep I've had on one hand. All of my usual remedies like Benadryl, Tylenol PM, two beers, etc just aren't working. As I laid there for hours tonight, trying so hard to fall asleep it dawned on me why sleep has been hard to come by lately: hot flashes! And according to my period tracker app, Aunt Flo is 14 days late. Maybe menopause has decided to come be a part of my life?

Sleep was very important to me especially this/last night because I was gonna wake up at 4:30 am to start getting ready for Mark & I to take Alex & Justin fishing at our favorite pay lake. We wanna be there when they open at 6 am. So at about 3:15 I gave up, turned off my alarm and turned on the coffee maker.

Now, yeah, I could have just slept a little while and leave later for our day of fishing but in a bedroom on the other side of the living room are two excited 11 year olds who would "just die" if they couldn't leave at the ass crack of dawn to put some worms and chicken livers in the water and let's face it - I'm as excited as they are.

Tonight when those hormonal infernos started heating up, I felt like I was suffocating so that started an asthma attack and it's been so long since I've had one it took a second to realize what was happening. Well, thank goodness for that nasty bout of bronchitis last fall because I still had an inhaler in my purse that hadn't expired.

To be honest, I already knew I wasn't going to sleep well, if at all, because just before bedtime, I had to call Mark in from doing guy stuff outside to kill a spider in the hallway. Now, I'm no sissy because I will kill small spiders as long as there not above my head but this was no small spider. I'm not kidding when I say that it's body alone was bigger than my big toe. And I think the damn thing wanted to die because it just sat there on the floor from the time I saw it until Mark came in and squished it. It just sat there. Or stood. Or whatever it is that those creeps do.

Now, how weird is it that I have a writing spider tattoo? 

So if you've read this blog for a while you know that my weight loss conquest has been going on for a while. I'm happy to report that I've lost 150 lbs and I can finally tell that I've lost weight. The funny thing about being the fat girl for most of my adult life, I have had a really tough time seeing anything but that 375 pound person in the mirror. 

The coolest thing happened Thursday. I was getting ready for the day and I pulled out a shirt that Mark's mom had got me. I had never worn it before. I looked in the tag to see what size it was. It was a cute top and when I saw that the size said L with no X's in front of it I was sure I'd have to save it for later. But I put it on. And it fit. Not snugly, not just barely, it fit like it was made just for me. I cried! Tears of joy. Here's me wearing it:

I told you it was a cute top! I haven't worn anything that didn't have at least one X in the size since before I got pregnant with my daughter 22 years ago.

I did this without pills, shakes or any other voodoo magic. Just good hard work. If you're on your own conquest, I just want to tell you to not give up. It's so worth it.

Ok, so I've got two cups of coffee flowing through me and I've got lots to do before I wake the men folk up so I'm gonna do it.

Happy Saturday!