Seems to hit me with lack of attention. Another thing I've noticed lately is totally spacing what your talking about....in mid sentence sometimes. That's scary!
So, wish I was in the 1/3 of the women, with no symptoms. Wouldn't that be great?
Hope you shoulders heal quickly.

Brenda, it's not you at all! I have been riding the hormone hayride for about the past 4 yrs, and due to really heavy and lasting periods my gyn recommended a uterine ablation last year, that lessened everything until it all stopped in Oct. 04. Since then, can't really do HRT, been trying my best to cope but my electric bill is out of site since I have to have it so cold every evening, the moodiness and the crying (over things like commercials!! and the like, all small potatoes. The hurricane in NO made me just bawl like a baby, those poor folks). No girl, it's not you, it is just kind of what we went thru before puberty (God bless our parents, they put up with teenaged girls) and the whole lot of life. It is hard, but from what I have read, it will pass in time (hope I can not make my family desert me before then. 50 should be an age of discovery, but sometimes it is an age of just putting up with stuff.

Dianne, reading your post made me laugh - my first time, we didn't have any supplies on hand, so Dad had to go to the corner store and buy the whole "rig" and he was so embarassed (Mom didn't drive, plus she had 2 more kids to get off to school). That little blue box in the cupboard always made me think of Dad and his red face, from anger or embarassment I was never sure. The info came from the 5th grade "special info for girls" afterschool program, part of our hygine program, the boys had theirs on the same day. We all looked at each other in such a sheepish way for a time after that!!

Tampons? No tampons were allowed in our house. Mom and Dad had four daughters and I don't think a tampon ever crossed the doorway. Nosirree. Pads were the only thing for us Catholic school girls. Isn't that a hoot?

Dianne, do you have a lot on your mind these days? That's when I find I start walking into tables and doorways. Sometimes I have bruises and I can't even recall where they came from. Maybe we need to s l o w down.

No, Dotsie, I was referring to the Kotex box!! The small tampon box didn't grace our Catholic house either!! LOL on this one! Do you remember the elastic belt that held the doggone things on! They cost all of 89cents at the corner store! And such a pleasure to be wearing. Too doggone funny!

I am beginning to think there was a sin taught somewhere only our mothers knew about in Catholic house holds, me too with those Kotex thingys...hated it!

No, not to be disrespectful, but the mode of the times made everyone wary of their bodies as a whole. I always felt as if I were part of a sorrowful sisterhood, in some vague way. Wish that I could have had a celebrationary aspect - "Welcome to the World of Womanhood!" or something like that.
We always had things printed in the church bulletins targeted for teens- one memorable one was "I am Worth More Than A cheeseburger". It gave young women a take on dating, and the dire consequences of being a fallen woman. To this day, and I am over 50, I remember this one - we had it stuck on the counter for a longgggg time. The baggage you carry and the laugh of some of it! Thanks again!

I am worth more tahn a cheeseburger. I never saw that one.

Of course I remember that hideous belts. Now their underwear looks like that.

Judy, I tease about the messages sent by the nuns, but you know what? I still beleive in some of those messages.



I think wise choices about relationships create healthier young adults.

[ September 15, 2005, 11:50 AM: Message edited by: Dotsie ]

Some may laugh at the things the nuns taught and stood for but those things are what kept me a virgin much longer than I would have been if I hadn't had their wisdom and common sense instilled in me. After a Catholic school for 8 years high school was like going to Mars or something. The one really thing I took away from that Catholic school was my own self worth...It was lobster or nothing for me boys. LOL!!!

Oh, I never think what they taught was a "bad" thing - I thank God I had a good solid Catholic upbringing when I was young.It made me a better person, despite the 60's and early 70's if you get my drift. All those CCD classes. Cracked up, Dotsie, yes, the new undies look like that hideous belt. As if anyone over 20 could wear one!! LOL there. Actually, the message of the bulletin I totally remember (thinking on it for the past couple days)was "I Am a No-Neck Girl" and the first aspect of it was not selling ourselves out for a cheapie date, not indulging in urges and all. We had that one posted on the counter for so doggone long. But, I have to tell you, I sift thru the good messages and they always relate to life and self today, but some of them have always aspected a bucketload of the "self" messages as baggage I've carried these many years. I am glad of my stern Catholic upbringing, wish I were a stronger person to follow thru and adhere today. I wish I were as good as the Church wanted me to be. I took the sacrements seriously! My parents were strict Catholic, and I remember the Catholic paper's ) giving my folks input as to which movies we should or shouldn't see, which books we should or shouldn't read. Catcher In the Rye was on the list, and of course I wanted to read it.And I did, and loved it, and started to question things. All a part of becoming an individual and and learning there was "other' stuff out there. I was a child of pre-Vatican II, learned all the Latin and made the sacrements then. To this day, when I watch Mass from the Vatican, I can still give the Latin response! When it went to the Priest facing the congregation and English, I was really astounded and not at all pleased, even at that young age I was sensing a major rift in the fabric of my life. I have attended Latin Masses in the past and feel right at home, but they are hard to come by these days, and as an aside, I married a Methodist so I don't attend so regularly. I have become a holiday Catholic, which I really hate in my core of being. Lordy. I think a lot of the baggage we carry is stuff we gather ourselves. Anyhoo. You are right, ChattyLady, those earlier teachings are worth their weight in gold, maybe we cringe some but we know our true worth. Thanks for all your input, love this site and a place to chat about My place in life today. Thanks!!