I'm a pretty optimistic person who has led an incredibly charmed life! Despite some big challenges and some even bigger blessings that came out of said challenges, I have always viewed my life as uniquely wonderful. I had amazing parents, a strong relationship with God that began as a child and has seen me through everything I have ever faced in life with relative ease, wonderful siblings and great friends. School came easily to me and I have been offered almost every job I have every interviewed for ... plus I have truly enjoyed every job I have ever held. Now they were really diverse jobs: shoe sales, word processor, secretary, legal assistant, Fedex driver, and now McDonald's franchisee. How did I end up here? No college degree, no real management work experience, no fast food history ... but about 12 years ago my husband and I applied to become McDonald's owner/operator's, and we got accepted!! I took to it like a duck to water and, a year later, finished the program and bought the first store a few short weeks after my 40th birthday! Hector stayed home, took care of all four kids, and kept paying the bills with his job as a geophysicist (he's no slouch, that man of mine), while I drove 80 miles each way to our foundling store that was a virtual "outhouse with arches". Hard work, great people and God's blessing turned the store from a $1.2 mm dive into a $2.1 mm thing of beauty in 2 years. Sold that store and bought two stores only 8 miles from home, WOW!! My 40's were rocking. Back up a decade, to my 30's ... I met my husband at church while working at the Information Desk in the lobby. He was in his 30's, handsome, educated, articulate, erudite and employed!!! I hit the jackpot with this one -- I had been married in my 20's and after three children and a few indiscretions on my ex-husband's part, I cut my losses. I met Hector three years later and we fell in love on our first date which happened to be on Valentine's Day. WHAT?!?! Does that really happen? Yes it does. We were married that October, and my 30's were AWESOME. I had a son with Hector and we had a busy, hectic and wonderful decade. My 20's were turbulent, exuberant, fruitful and despairing at times ... kind of describes me as a person. I was married young, had three children, tried hard to make a toxic marriage work, and decided to cut my losses all by the ripe old age of 27. Got a great job driving for Fedex during a time when jobs weren't out there, had massive support from my sister, mom, grandma and the rest of a loving family. All things considered, my 20's ended up being pretty wonderful, even with all the messy drama.
Enter the 50's. What the crap!! Issues with our franchises, healthcare reform, economic upheaval (I don't care what the news is saying about some supposed economic recovery, it's all b.s.), and I could handle all of that if my body wasn't going straight to hell!!! THE HOT FLASHES, OMG. And the sky may not be falling, but everything else sure is ... my jawline (I never thought that would bug the crap out of me), eyelids, every part of my body, my spirits and my hormone levels. Oh, and to add insult to injury, I've been diagnosed with cataracts and inflammatory osteo arthritis. I secretly think I already have dementia because I can't remember anything. ENOUGH. I've only been 50 for 9 months and I'm so over it already. So, here is the crux of it, I am going to try to reverse some of the damage I have heaped upon my body through ADHD medicine (a.k.a. speed), 8 cups of coffee/day, stress, too much exercise, not enough exercise, not enough sleep, too much sugar, too much artificial sweeteners (what can I say, I like it sweet), too much red meat, too much red wine (is there such a thing?), not enough time with God, too much time with my iPad, not enough time with my kids, not enough time with my husband and WAY too much time with IDTV (Snapped, Wives with Knives, Blood Relatives, etc. -- I may have some latent anger issues).
So this is the year of exploring freaking juicing, organic, non-GMO, gluten free, maybe dairy free (can anyone say joy free), moderate red wine consumption, and maybe even some homeopathic or Chinese medicine alternatives. I will be blogging this journey and what I learn, how to make it fun and tasty if possible, and where to find my joy in the middle of my hippie menopausal change of life.
Should be fun!!
