I turned 50 on March 16, 2021. This year has been a complete wild ride so far! I have so much to say, but rather than giving updates on all the things we did, I will direct you to my Instagram feed for that. We’ve been busy, which is why I haven’t been around writing much.
I do feel I need to write more. I need it to help keep up with my mental health. I’ve realized the more I put self-care on the back burner, the more anxious and restless I get. I need to go on daily walks, do the yoga, drink my water, eat healthy food, read all the books and relax… Writing does also help me get some of it out of my head. Putting things on paper is very therapeutic for me. I will admit to writing a lot in paper journals when I’m feeling especially stressed.
One thing I’ve chosen not to talk about on IG is our family’s vaccine status, as it’s a very charged discussion in this country and, I don’t want to get into it on social media. We are a fully vaccinated family. Tom and I were done first in the April timeframe, our daughter Phoebe as soon as she came home from college in the beginning of May, and the boys as soon as they turned 12 at the end of May. I feel very privileged to have access to vaccines and we will take it! It’s both for the overall community benefit, but also for selfish reasons about wanting to be able to get back to life outside of our home.
My work has had us going to the office 50% of the time starting mid-July, with a few visits to check out technology the month before. I thought they might talk about going back 100% with the ways things were going, but with the Delta variant, we are back to wearing masks in common areas at work. Only taking our masks off at our desks. I’m OK with that too, if that is what it takes to get back into the world. I go into the office every Wednesday, Thursday and every other Friday. It’s pretty manageable.
The boys start middle school (7th grade) on August 23rd and are looking forward to it. Our state is not mandating masks in schools as Pennsylvania is a huge state with a lot of rural areas, but I believe our boys will be wearing them when they are in class and the bus, if they are on it. I haven’t decided if they are taking the bus yet. The school is only a 15 minute drive from our house and it will give us some time to catch up on the day. They don’t really talk at dinner time, no matter how many questions I ask them.
The other big update for me that I don’t really share on social media is menopause. I have not had a cycle since August 22nd last year. That means by the end of this month, I will officially be in menopause. Although my primary doctor said my bloodwork 2 years ago showed that to be the case. It’s kind of an odd place for me to be, as I used to have another blog where I discussed infertility treatments when I was in my 30s. This is especially why I want to write more now about where I am, how things are going, and where I’d like things to go. I have lots of goals I want to achieve still with my life and I really feel like I have a lot of living left to do. Kind of nice to do it without a monthly friend that never really did me any good!