Love hurts.

Tonight a dear friend of mine got irritated with me after I replied to something she said. She took me completely aback when she said "I was in a weird codependent mood again".

I went through a wide range of emotions rather quickly.

I was confused, hurt, irritated, and did I mention I was confused? She said I'd made a conversation we were having about me. I didn't think I had, and I still don't exactly see it, but I'm actually glad she said something to me.

It definitely made me think. After I cried, of course. (Did I mention they up and fell off?)

I looked up codependency. Everything I knew of it pertained someone interacting with a loved one who was addicted to drugs or alcohol. So I was surprised when I saw the definition had changed, and I saw myself in so many of the symptoms on the checklist.

I'm thinking that this fits the bill so much better than an autism diagnosis.

As much as it hurt to hear, I'm thankful my friend pointed it out to me. It makes sense. And I'll be calling this week to get things scheduled with a counselor of some sort. I'm actually looking forward to it.

I don't want to live like this anymore. It's exhausting.

Ugh!

Up until a few years ago, when someone hurt my feelings, I'd get mad. When I'd screw something up, I'd get angry. I was just angry all the time. It didn't help that I have such a severe case of resting bitch face there is, because I also looked angry even when I wasn't. And I hated it when people would ask me, if I was mad. It irritated the crap out of me!

But my sister, who was always so much softer than I was, told me a few years ago that she always admired that about me. She worked in a very high stress job where showing emotions were detrimental. She said she'd have given just about anything to have the personality that I have, because it would make her life so much easier. It would be easier to be taken seriously, if she wasn't crying every time she got mad or frustrated. 

Several years later, she had relief in the form of a hysterectomy. She said she felt like she grew "a great big pair" the moment she woke up from surgery. She no longer cried at the drop of a hat, and she was able to be taken seriously by everyone. 

Fast forward to today.

I think mine shriveled up and fell off. 

There are days I can hardly make it through the day without just being weepy all day long. It's SO not like me. I'm thinking it has a lot to do with the lack of hormones that come with menopause. I feel weak and incapable, and I hate it! If something happens first thing in the morning that sets me off, it's hard to shake it for the rest of the day. I feel completely incapable of making a decision. In fact, I wrote the last post about 3 weeks ago and just barely published it last night.

It pisses me off!

Which makes me cry. 

Ugh!

Oh Fiddle-dee-dee.

I hate hormones. Really. I detest them. And now that I'm getting older, I'm feeling more like a teen again. You know that age when the hormones kick in and you have horrible mood swings, and you feel like you can't do anything right, and you go from crazy angry to crying jags that last for hours? The kinds of hormones that convince you that something that was said in jest was really said to hurt your feelings? Yeah. Those kind of hormones.

I hate that raging hormones like this make me feel like I've lost total control over my life. I hate that they make me doubt myself and hate myself. I hate that they make me cry. I rarely cry. I hate that they make me feel so vulnerable and exposed. I hate that they make me doubt others and their feelings toward me.

I cannot wait for this decade of my life to be finished. At least this part of it! The rest of it can go slowly. The hormones have my permission to high tail it out of here and NOW!

So. I'm feeling a little better today. Went to the newlyweds' house and finished putting the red gingham shelf paper in the upper cabinets. I'll do the drawers tomorrow, and they get to do the bottom cabinets. My back can't handle getting down that low. Actually, I can get down that low, but I can't guarantee getting back up again.

In the famous words of Scarlett O'Hara...

"Tomorrow is another day."