I've always enjoyed reading Woman's World Magazine and For Women First, so imagine my joy now that I'm writing for www.FirstForWomen.com about perimenopause. Menopause is defined by not having a menstrual period for a year. Perimenopause is defined by the time before that, when a woman is losing estrogen, but is still having periods (if irregularly), and experiencing symptoms such as hot flashes and mood swings. The average time of perimenopause is 4 years, though it can last up to a decade. (Yeah...)

Excerpt from "Perimenopause is Turning Me Into My 15 Year-Old Daughter"

"I can imagine a magazine quiz: Is it puberty, or is it perimenopause? Choose the picture of Gordon Ramsay’s facial expression that shows how angry you become when someone eats the last of the Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia you were saving for tonight. When you listen to Nirvana’s 'Smells Like Teen Spirit,' are you young again, or just young? How many Kleenexes do you need when Sarah McLachlan’s ASPCA commercial comes on?"


I'd love it if you read my article, filed under BEST YOU, titled, "Perimenopause is Turning Me Into my Fifteen Year-Old Daughter," and tweeted it, shared it, or pinned it. And please, let me know what you think! 



Thanks, readers, and happy new year! May you be your best you--in 2018 and always!





It’s December, which means that in between grading English composition papers, reading college creative writing finals, and doing my own editing and writing, it’s time to think about … presents!

Some of my favorite presents to give—if the recipients are willing, obviously; I mean, I don’t give these to people like cough syrup, because they’re good for you—are books.

We’re a “mixed” religious family. My mother was Jewish, my dad Catholic, and my husband was also raised Catholic. In our household, we celebrate Hanukkah and Christmas. I give our daughter a book every night of Hanukkah, “because Jews value reading and education,” I used to explain to her, until my friend told me that sounded kind of bad.

“Bad, how?”

“You make it sound like other people don’t.”

“I was just referring to the fact that when people came to set fire to your house with pitchforks, the one thing they couldn’t take from you was your education. At least, that’s how my mom explained it.”

“How do pitchforks start fires?”

"Hmm?"

Anyway: I stopped with the explanation. But I kept on with the book-giving tradition.

If the books are good, my daughter reads them in a day. If they’re not good, she abandons them after a chapter.

Anyone have any good recommendations for fifteen-year old girls? Or husbands who like to read poetry? (Don’t worry. My family doesn’t look at my website.)

Happy reading and happy gift-giving, everyone!
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