Celebrating M Day! and 15 Random Facts...

My friend and fellow blogger Nancy Stordahl writes a great blog about breast cancer and is a two-time author of books on her experiences with cancer.

Today happens to be a very special day for me, a day of celebration about a milestone in my life.

Today, July 13, 2016, marks the exact day I officially have arrived at menopause.

They say after you have not had a menstrual period a full year, you are considered to be in menopause, and today is that day. YAY!

I am happily and unapologetically celebrating this milestone in my life and moving forward into this next phase of my life. This is what menopause looks like. No makeup, no dye, no fake.

This morning I slept in late, then drove up to Estes Park to do some hiking and a few live videos in some beautiful spots.

Then I came back to town and stopped off to eat lunch at my favorite sushi place.

And while I was there the owner, who knows me, without my even having to tell her that today was a special day, brought out this little treat after I was finished.

I don't know why, it must be a woman thing, unspoken, we are clued into each other? I didn't say a thing.

So now I am enjoying my afternoon, after doing quite a bit of thinking on some marketing challenges I am having, and blogging, and making videos from the footage I shot in Rocky Mountain National Park this morning.

I am scheduled for a DEXA scan next week if my insurance will pay for it. I want to see how my bone density is, going into this, because the years around menopause can be among the worst for losing bone mass, once you have that drop in estrogen. I'm pretty sure I've been low in estrogen for quite some time, though, thank you. I don't need anyone to tell me that, since I seem to have my own personal sauna installed.

So...let's get on with the 15 random facts this year, some things you might not have known about me: (see last year's post here)

Fifteen Random Facts About Me for 2016

1. I have already named our next generation of Australian Shepherd puppies, due sometime this winter. I cannot wait for those baby girls.

2. I absolutely detest the smell of perfumes and colognes. It feels like someone stuck daggers up my nose and it is so offensive to my sinuses. I find it so offensive that I don't even like to be around a person in the same room if I can smell it. I'd rather smell B.O. or even poop, even GI bleed poop, than perfume. I'm not kidding. Why people can't just be okay with smelling like humans, I'll never understand. And why, oh why, do they have to use that stuff when they're about to workout? Why do they insist on sharing their stench with the rest of the world? I can smell people on the trail as they go by, and sometimes it's enough to knock my off my feet. What's wrong with fresh air and pine trees? It's even worse when you're in a race and you get stuck behind someone who stinks, and you keep having to run through their cloud...Ugh!

3. I only like to go to Las Vegas for the sushi at Sushi Koma. We're driving there later this summer and I'm not looking forward to any of it except for a visit to the Neon Museum, which Dennis has never seen (he's never even been to Vegas!), and of course, Sushi Koma. Both ways!

4. I want a kayak. A simple, lightweight, one-person, flatwater kayak. I saw a really cool inexpensive one up in Buena Vista last month and wanted to buy it, but we are saving money for the puppies.

5. I would do more activities on the water, like kayaking, but I get very seasick, easily. I'd have to pre-medicate myself for days with meclizine, and it makes me spaced out and drowsy, and I can easily sleep for 14 hours at a time, which I hate, so I don't do much on the water. Sort a of a bummer because I do love kayaking.

6. I like glazed donuts. I didn't remember this until I re-discovered them by doing the long runs that led to Donut Friday runs. Now I look forward to Friday morning donuts. Bad. Very bad.

7. I have a bad habit of biting my lip when I'm stressed. I hate it when I do that.

8. I have discovered Facebook and You Tube Live and I really like them, I'll be doing a lot more live video both at work and in life in general in the near future. I always consider myself an introvert, but I like being on video and I like public speaking. I have to work hard and rehearse, I'm not too good at being spontaneous, but I'm working on it. I know, I'm weird.

9. I make kickass margaritas. No, I don't use mix. I make them from scratch with real stuff.

10. My bachelor's degree is in Forestry. I worked for two years after college doing forestry work, living in the back of my truck, doing a type of forest survey measurements called stand exam. Eventually I got tired of it, covered with spray paint and sticky pine sap, and one shower a week when I went into town to re-supply. I also got tired of eating what we called "fart swill", a thick mixture consisting of beans out of a can, peppers, onions, cheese, and salsa, that we could stir up fast over a camp stove, and a can of Coors Light for dessert. I also discovered that ski towns were a great place to hang out in the off season.

11.I lived in Steamboat Springs one winter, and in Crested Butte for 2 1/2 years, but I am not a skier. I ran through the winters in both places. Even though I don't like the cold, I loved running up there.

12. Speaking of extreme temperatures, I have lived in Gunnison, Colorado and it was 46 below zero one day, and I walked to work. And I lived in Arizona, and of course, have run in Death Valley. The hottest temperature I've ever experienced is 133 degrees, in Death Valley in July of 2003, while pacing my friend Ken Eielson across the valley floor.

13. I don't go to movies very often because I hate the Hollywood template...same plots, and how they portray women. I prefer documentaries or independent films. But my favorite trash movies I can think of were Tank Girl and Fried Green Tomatoes.

14.For our next generation, Dennis wants two black tri puppies, and I want one black tri and one red tri. I hope I get my way. But I'll love them no matter what color they are. I can't wait for puppy kisses!

15.I have a lot of bad brain days. I don't know if it's hormones, or the medication I take, or what. Maybe I just have too much on my mind. But I have a lot of days when I have the hardest time organizing and concentrating. Sometimes I feel like I have no executive function ability whatsoever. And then the next day, I'm fine. I used to never have this problem, and then, for a long time I thought it was my thyroid. But I don't think it is. I have very few ADHD characteristics so I really don't think it's that, either. When I have those days, I have learned to not get frustrated and just do something mindless, like running. Regardless, I wish I didn't have so many of them. I'm not so frustrated that I want a brain transplant. Yet.

So those are my 15 random facts for the year. What are yours?

Fifteen Random Facts & A Blogging Challenge

I'm back for another blogpost, two in one day, pretty amazing for me lately. Yes I did get out today and did my run for a full hour. It didn't rain, either. Keeps the mushrooms from growing out of my ears.

Nancyand Beth are two wonderful bloggers I have connected with through my work, and Nancy came up with a blogging challenge yesterday, posting 15 random facts about herself. Beth took her up on it, and I decided to join in on the challenge, and I'm posing the challenge to my readers, some of whom are bloggers, to do this too. You can always leave a comment with your 15 random facts if you don't have your own blog.

So here it is, these are fifteen random facts you might not know about me, but you will now.

1. I have 6 blogs: this blog which is my main personal blog and running blog, a food blog, a thyroid blog, an art blog, a nursing blog, and a work blog. How do I keep up with all those blogs? I don't. I haven't posted in the art blog in years, I rarely anymore post in the thyroid or food blogs, and the remaining three are still active.

2. I am very particular about food. My favorite foods are green chile and sushi. I have two food quirks, that I can think of right now. One is that while I like chocolate and I like nuts, I do not like nuts in chocolate. Nuts take up the space that should be occupied by chocolate. I also hate cinnamon in all foods but one: I love the cinnamon roll French toast at the Silver Grill restaurant in Fort Collins. Other than that, keep the cinnamon away from me. That's good because it keeps me away from most baked things. Finally, my food aversions: I hate vinegar and foods with vinegar in them. Mustard, ketchup, pickles, mayonnaise. Ugh ugh ugh. If I can smell the vinegar, forget it. That also includes salsa made with vinegar and barbecue sauce with vinegar. I love barbecue sauce but if I can smell the vinegar, forget it. Mayonnaise, pickles, and mustard especially gross me out.

3. I am a hopeless idealist. I love to dream of what could be. And then I love to work toward it, even if it's way beyond what I could ever hope to change on my own.

4. I love Miranda Sings. If you don't know who she is, better check her out on You Tube. I'm a Mirfanda. Haters back off.

5. I'd love to run across the country someday. I might be the oldest person to ever do it by the time I have the time and save the money to do it, but I'd love to.

6. I'd secretly love to drop everything, live by the ocean, and just spend my days painting beautiful landscapes in pastel. I plan to do that when I'm old. Really old. Haven't figured out the living by the ocean part. Will have to win the lottery.

7. I don't watch TV, haven't owned one since 1996, but I'm secretly addicted to political satire shows- the Daily Show, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver, and now Larry Wilmore. Good thing they keep moving on, because I'd have too much to watch.

8. I actually do enjoy running when it's 130 degrees outside. Really. When it's 10 degrees, not so much. If I have icicles on my face, not a good thing for me.

9. My favorite jobs ever were making fresh pasta as a prep cook in a restaurant and working in a bakery.

10. I am a germophobe, I am easily grossed out by people sharing their slime in public. Don't cough, sneeze, touch me with your unwashed hands, or even breathe on me. I don't like people anywhere near my food when I'm eating, either. I'm fine with the dogs, but not people. But I have no problem suctioning mucus out of people's lungs, cleaning up blood, urine, poop, or other body fluids. Nitrile gloves are my favorite wardrobe item.

11. People think I run all the time but I actually walk at least as much as I run now. I love it just as much, and I think more clearly.

12. Speaking of running, I like to write about it, but I don't like to think about it or talk about it in a conversation. I don't mind occasionally talking to a group about a specific running-related topic, but it drives me crazy when runners casually come up to me on the street and want to talk running. I couldn't be more bored with a subject. That's why I tend to avoid local road races.

13. I like being alone and quiet. I need it every day.

14. I am thankful for the invention of the smartphone technology that allows me to take pictures of everything, as many as I want, all the time.

15. I was one of those people who never knew what they wanted to be when they grow up. Then just recently I realized all the things I've done in my life have led up to what I'm doing now at this moment, it all has a purpose and I am very happy with it.

So those are the 15 random facts about me. I left out the ones that you already know if you've been around this blog for a while, like my tendency to pogo stick, my strong affinity for Australian Shepherds, that I resent corporate greed, and that I love local microbrews.

Now it's your turn. Let's hear 15 random facts. You're IT!