Medicine For The Soul

Fish fingers and friendship.....

Hello, wherever you are ….that does sound rather like back in the day when my friend Becky and I used to put callouts on the CB radio in her parents’ caravan. Did you ever do that? We thought it was all rather hilarious until one trucker told us he had a device that showed him where we were, and he was coming to say hi. You’ve never seen two 12-year-olds scarper as fast in your life! I don’t think we ever dared use it again. Well done Mr Driver, you got those nuisance girls off the airwaves :)

So, all that to say, I don’t know where you are in the world but I’m here, somewhere in the middle of the UK, just outside Stratford-upon-Avon, where Shakespeare hailed from. Yes, indeed, it was absolutely one of the attractions for me when deciding where to start again post-divorce, but that’s a whole other story.

It’s October 11th today and the sky is utterly gorgeous and blue however, we also had our first frost this morning! I saw someone scraping their car windscreen for the first time this year which strikes me as being rather early, don’t you think? Particularly bizarre considering we were basking in 40-degree heat only 2 months ago.

I touched on this in last week’s podcast, this time of year can be so fickle! Freezing cold in the morning but by the afternoon we are in t-shirts. I hope it’s like that today as I forgot to bring the washing in last night. I raced off to a school meeting after recording 3 podcast interviews back to back - not for the faint-hearted and not one I’ll do again in a hurry. I was exhausted. I came home and bunged 5 fish fingers in the air fryer (God bless air fryers!), and then wolfed them down with ketchup. Total shameless comfort food for the exhausted, can’t-be-bothered, don’t-have-anyone-else-to-cook-for-tonight parent that I was last night.

What is it about fish fingers? They have to be bog standard though, no fancy ones for me, have to be the standard type we grew up on. It’s the same with mince pies, I can’t be doing with the posh offerings! Posh - my daughter asked me where the word came from recently. My understanding is that essentially, it means more expensive. ‘Port out. Starboard home’. It was the best position for a cabin when booking international travel back in the days when it happened by boat. Now according to this article in Merriam Webster online, there’s no evidence to suggest it’s true:

This is a great story. It's tidy, it's historical, and it conjures up pictures of women in bustles and skirts swooning onboard ships. And it's an acronym! Who doesn't love an acronym! Great story! But that's all it appears to be.

Pfft. My grandmother told it to me, and that’s evidence enough!

Anyway, while we’re talking about comfort food, can I confess that I’ve already polished off my first box of mince pies? It’s waaaay early on that front too, I usually wait at least until later in November! So, blame it on menopause? That’s what everyone does these days isn’t it? Oh, the washing isn’t dry, bloody hormones! Have you noticed that? I’ve seen a fair amount of menopause shaming going on at the moment because of the pendulum swing, but in my opinion, bring it on! It’s so much better that we are talking about it. Blame the dog peeing beside the sofa on your hormones, for now, it doesn’t matter - it means we are finally giving ourselves and each other the room to discover and understand what the heck is going on, and that can only be a good thing.

If you’ve not yet listened to last week’s podcast, it’s a stark reality check on just how badly hormone change can affect us. It’s not the case for everyone, but equally not to be dismissed. For some, it’s unbearable and unmanageable. About 25% of women will have extreme symptoms caused by hormone change and deficiency for which they need help and support. I prefer to refer to it as hormone change, it feels less stuffy and label-like. The reality is though, it needs a label. Categorisation is necessary, particularly when it comes to defining what’s happening and what’s needed.

So, the weather’s changing and fickle, my hormones are all over the place, my dog hasn’t pee’d beside the sofa however he is ridiculously needy at the moment (perhaps he’s feeling it too?) but speaking of Becky, I’m off to see her later today. I think it’s been at least 2 years, which in the grand scheme of things isn’t that bad. I realised last year that with life whizzing by at a pace, I needed to be more intentional about spending time with people who matter to me. We live a few hours apart and so in the past, years have gone by and I don’t want that to be a hurdle to looking after the friendships that matter. Luckily she’s not too far away this week on a course, so we are meeting for supper tonight. No CB radios but plenty of catching up, reminiscing, comparing notes on marriage, parenting, work …. and ….hormones of course! Good friends are some of the best medicine for the soul…along with fish fingers and mince pies - the cheap ones.

Have a great week - and keep your eyes open for a bonus podcast episode which should pop up in the next couple of days.

Love first my friends

Pipa xx

PS, feel free to comment below. Hormones, fish fingers, friendships - I’m listening! (….reading, I know!!)