guys can be that way, grant learned his lesson last spring when he got so sick. he missed all that work. it was so bad. he was glued to the couch. i so love this group of people!!! so caring for each other!! oh becky i tell ya the best thing i ever did was go to sallys beauaty sallon and buy one of them wax thingi's for 19 bucks. and then i bought a small thing of wax for like 13 i think. then i use strips of crappy sheets. LOL ya know. the one's we keep using. but they have the strips there for i think 6 bucks. and i also use pop cycle sticks. alot cheaper to use them!! i use olive oil afterwards to make sure all the stuff is off my face. it makes me nice and soft!! LOL so all in all. under 40 bucks to get your stuff done in the middle of the night or whenever you want it done, and no one can look at ya afterwards if ya want, LOL like after ya get it done by someone else. LOL but that's just my opinion. LOL i did my chin and my sides (of my face) just make sure to leave enough pull room!! LOL :')) i wanta go back and see if they have any almond massage oil. then i'll be happy!! yep!! so we went t the store today. grant and i did not mesh. at all. we argued the whole time!! of course he said it was my fault and i say its his fault and bla bla bla. then on the way home we didn't even get out of town and he told me sams club lets ya get cash back, apparently i musta made a face, he was like what was that disgusted face about?? all attituded out. well that was it for me so by now i'm yelling in the kia. and i'm like what? what? i didn't do anything! do ya just want me to draw some eyebrows on?? will that make it all better for you?? will it?? cuz if it will i will!!!! and for your info i don't have a problem with that!! thats just your own problem or guilty consience or something. and i was done!! didn't talk all the way home. and baby that's over 40 mine. a long time for me!!! LOL i think at that moment i actually hated him more than anything!! but we get home and we get inside and its like nothing ever happened. i'm so not kidding!! we got along so good!! i think its just that he's so used to shopping by himself and the stress of spending the very little he got off of his last check from the one job. and he just told me citibank told him that they are gonna repo our house if he doesn't pay them our payment by the 22nd. by now, i'm almost in hestarics inside. that's the reason i didn't want to morgage our house. cuz up til then we owned it. so i calmly ask. honey. are ya gonna be able to pay it?? he say's yes. i'll get paid by then. then i freak!!! I'm bad about that!! but that's no excuse for today. imo. i don't know. it's been crazy!! LOL hope ya'lls day went alot better!!

Jeanne: There's nothing wrong with brainstorming.That's how things get accomplished. Problem is, my brain is almost wore out. LOL I did think of the goldish glittery idea last night as I was trying to fall asleep and though I still need to "try it", I'm thinking of a strand of gold beads with a line of glittery tulle and maybe ivy running the length of the table with the huge open roses I already have in red and yellow. Like allot of things, it sounds ok but I won't know till I see it. I want to avoid multiple small pieces if I can to keep a clean line. I have thought of starting a second thread to keep this one from getting to long since there won't be much else really to share until after the wedding. Perhaps "Wedding Part II"?.. Lynne: As you are, I'm not big on having people on the cake but in our case we're going to have both. I didn't plan it that way but the Grooms Dad was so excited to see his only son and first born child finally getting married (he's enduring a battle with Cancer so it's fortunate that he's still with us to enjoy the moment), he ran out and purchased the beautiful Lennox couple cake topper that is above and gifted it to us. It wasn't my first choice at all but I don't have the heart to let him down so on the cake it will go and the little flower arrangements will trail down the steps of the cake as a color accent. I don't like fondant at all! either. I've only tried it once at a wedding and the only thing I can refer to the taste as is ... well... dirt. *lol* Thank you for your lovely comment on my dress It really is my favorite piece. I'm making myself work out more and staying stern on the very careful diet I started at the first of the year to ensure it continues to fit. 17 pounds lost so far. Whooot! Luvs: I really am enjoying myself and feeling very good about the way things have come together. I decided that the first cake option , though I love it, wasn't fitting in with the clean lines and less "fluffy" style that we're tending towards so I figured better change it while I can than regret it later. The tie came in today and it's absolutly perfect in color. Yay! 113 days and counting. Almost to the bouble digits and still a ton of things to do.. lol

I just wanted to thank everyone here for being so helpful and sharing your stories about perimenopause. I used to be so full of energy, happy, positive -- all that began to change once perimenopause kicked in, which for me was around 47. The first sign was when I had a period just two weeks after my last one. My period became erratic after that. But the crap really hit the fan when I turned 50. I had always told myself that I would never act/feel frumpy/unhappy like a lot of women I had seen who were in their 50's. Well that's because I didn't know how very difficult perimenopause could be, and no one gave me a heads up about what can happen. I think many women go on hormones and thus do not suffer from much of this. But my doctor made it clear that she did not think they were a good idea. There have been days, though, where I've thought, enough is enough, I'm going to take them. I've experienced almost every symptom that's been discussed on this forum. I've had some truly awful panic attacks, which for me begin with a sensation of vertigo and feeling like I might pass out. My doctor gave me xanax for this, and I take a half or whole pill when the symptoms start. Since I now recognize what's happening, I know it will pass. The panic attacks usually occur when I'm out somewhere -- in a mall, grocery store, etc. Stress does play a big role in all of this, but it's made far worse my the fluctuating hormones. Regarding heart palpitations, I, too, have had them throughout my life, and wore "halters" from time to time to look for rhythm disturbances, etc. Of course nothing was found because magically when I wore the halter I must not have had any palpitations. Fast forward to a few months ago -- one day out of the blue my heart started flip flopping such that I had to sit down. After a minute or two it passed, but it got my attention. My doctor did an EKG which of course found nothing because again, at that moment, I was not having them. My doctor prescribed a low dose of Lexapro to address underlying anxiety. I have the pills but have chosen not take them right now. I've been taking Wellbutrin for the past twelve years to help with depression and it's done a pretty good job. I get them a couple times a day. I will say that since I cut out caffiene (including my beloved chocolate), the palpitations have decreased a little -- but I still have them. On the advice of several friends, I started taking CoQ10, which my doctor said was "unnecessary." I'm taking it anyway in the hope it might somehow help. Sometimes the palpitations start at night when I'm laying on my side in bed. But they can appear anytime during the day, whether I'm dealing with something stressful or not. I"m also trying to eat healthier and drop some weight, knowing that can only help in terms of feeling better. I'm tired of feeling like a sick, old person!! No one in my family understands so I don't talk about what I'm going through. I often pray and ask God to heal me from these symptoms. Sometimes my muscles/joints are so sore it's an effort for me to turn over in bed. I do not sit around all the time, I have three teens and tend to my family's needs, and I am involved in other things as well. My oldest is going to college this Fall, and I can see a time in the near future when I will have to get a job. Given how difficult some days are for me, I dread this thought. As many of the ladies here have said, "I want the old me back!!" And I wonder if that will ever happen. I truly hope so. Back to the heart palpitations, maybe I will try the calcium/magnesium supplements. I think I read somewhere that one should only take these for a certain amount of time. Thank you again to all who come here and honestly tell what's going on. I am very grateful for all the stories, advice, information and support I see here. Hoping and praying we can all move past this phase and get back our peace of mind, good health and happiness!

Disclaimer - This happened in a very rural area in the 1960s. Yes, our dog roamed the countryside at will, but seldom traveled further than our property and the two neighboring farms. He visited one to swim and catch frogs in their pond; he visited the other to herd their cattle. I would have paid more attention to the turtle had I thought he was in any danger --- but I was a child. When I was young I had a beautiful black Lab/German Shepard mix...he was big happy goofball with a mad, rabid protective streak. My dear, sweet Rebel. He adopted a friend, a box turtle. We called them terrapins, but they were the big, boxy, land turtles. He brought it home one evening in Spring and carried around with him nearly all summer long. When he got in his bed on the back porch, he'd put the turtle in there with him. If he was in the back yard, he'd carry the turtle with him, set it down and leave it there while he went about his patrolling, hunting, and herding the neighbors cows (not milk cows) into their barn. When he came back to our place he'd find the turtle and bring it to the house. If he came inside the house we had to make him leave Turtle outside. He'd set it by his dinner bowl while he ate. If the turtle wandered off, he'd retrieve it after dinner. The turtle seemed to thrive all summer so he must have gotten enough alone time to find food. One bad habit of Rebel's proved to be the downfall of the turtle. Rebel's water bowl was a large, three-gallon pail. We kept it by the pump house so it was easy to keep fresh water out for him. When he got a drink, he would sometimes dunk the turtle in the pail, drink his water, then dunk his head under to get the turtle out. By the time we realized what he was doing, it was too late. One day he apparently got distracted while he was drinking and forgot his turtle. It was sad. The funeral was attended by Mildred, the lone Rhode Island Red hen, Ducky Lucky, the wild, rescued Mallard duck, Samantha the Calico Cat (and the best copper head snake catcher in the county), a lonely and confused Rebel, my Grandmother, and a very young version of me. Turtle later had to be re-interred by a friend a couple miles away. Rebel wasn't content to let him rest in peace. He never got another special Turtle, even though there were always several to be found around the place.