You know, having the dog has made something work for me in the mathematics of our household. We seem to have the right number of living creatures in the pack now, and I’m going to credit Hoo for one of the first not-sad-this-week-out-of-the-month I’ve had in about five years. Puppies are babies, after all, and I haven’t begrudged the little guy one early morning. In fact, I’ve been setting my alarm to make sure I get up before his bladder does.
Hoo has been sleeping in his kennel, in Thor’s bedroom, and Thor finds this development suitable. He told me he would still rather have a brother to share his room. I told him that ship had sailed. He said, “It’s all because you refuse to lay any more eggs, isn’t it?” I blinked at him, remembering the couple of frank where-babies-come-from talks we’ve had, shrugged and agreed. Yes. I refuse to lay any more eggs. I guess we’ll revisit that whole birds and bees thing at a later date.
While Hoo gets some credit, I should probably also credit my decision to take some control over having felt emotionally out of control for a while. Whereas the emotional angst of PMS used to hit me for a couple of days out of the month, it had progressed to the point that it was taking up 7 to 9 days on either side of the M. I had gone to the vitamin store and read the backs of forty bottles claiming to help just that thing, but ended up with a multi-vitamin and a B12. Since I’m giving credit, it was probably the multi and the B that kept me from going down like the castle walls of Helm’s Deep when the flu bug hit. (I was more like a Flaming Ent than that. Just a lot of flapping and wailing.)
I finally asked my mother what advice she had to give, and after two weeks of dosing myself with the above and Wild Yam and Chaste Tree, Evening Primrose Oil, and Nutri-Calm, I’m not sobbing over free burritos for wounded warriors. Just in time for the holidays! I did not melt down crying once over the holidays (which I normally do), and those holidays included a puppy, an unexpected snowfall/ice hazard, and a trip to the ER with a dehydrated child.
I am skeptical enough to think that at least some of it is a placebo effect, but faithful enough to holistic healing to believe I’m doing something good for my body and reaping the benefits. Either way, I’m not beside myself with suffering to match my early teen years, so I’m not going to knock it.
The Outside Lane 