This summer’s heat has kicked my butt! And the hot flashes have not helped!

I swore – on my mother and a stack of Bibles – that the very min-ute I had a steady income, I would conquer the world, also known as get 38 books finished, make all the accompanying videos, touch a zillion lives, amass a fortune…

Yet every day after work, I was an exhausted, melted mess. “Oh my God,” went my self-talk, “I am the biggest loser / failure that ever lived….!” I was so-o-o-o frustrated until I started talkin’ to my girlfriends who know about stuff and whom are my age.

“Yes, it’s the heat,” they all said. I was so relieved! I hadn’t been able to understand what my deal was, now that I had plenty to eat, could pay bills on time and had a little wiggle room (also known as bean burritos with extra cheese, annnnn-ny time I want! Whoo-hoo! [and it shows on my waistline, but hey: Eat, Pray, Love!] ).

Yesterday, during another conversation, I discussed with my Cali pal how I set my financial intention everyday and have learned to hear my inner voice more clearly to achieve my money goals … ‘Wait!’ I thought. ‘Let me do the same with my energy level!’ and went to bed. Woke up at 5:30 a.m. to the sound of rain, which meant it was much cooler and for the first time in months, I would be comfortable while driving all over the city! Yeyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!

(I have been 100 trillion percent miserable: soaked within 5 minutes of stepping out the door, then the van’s air conditioning freezes me to death because my clothes are damp and the cold air blowing sears my skin…[boo-hoo-hoo, lol] ).

Got ready with high expectations and excitement; I only needed $73 more to pay this week’s cab rent and buy a few groceries. Logged into dispatch at 6:38 a.m. and went to see if I could get loaded downtown. One hour yielded nothin’, which ordinarily wouldn’t fluster me a bit… yet today, I wasn’t just sad, I was reeeeeeal-ly sad… not to mention that the lower temperature was supposed to make this a VERY HAPPY DAY; precipitation was supposed to make it a very pro-fitable day… but it was stinkin’ to high heaven! What the heck?! Even after I ate a little food, I still couldn’t shake the icky feelings… to top it off, the people that finally boarded my cab (FIVE HOURS AFTER I STARTED TODAY, GRRRRRR!) weren’t very social no matter what I tried and snapped at me for taking the route they told me to take rather than the way I wanted to go…

I dropped them off, started questioning, and it hit me: I just had the heaviest cycle I’ve had in decades, thus, I was low on iron! It was that simple!

So, just know / remember that

1. Nearly every woman our age is sluggish in hot, humid weather (pre-menopause doubles the effect for me!).
2. Recall how energized you are in winter.
3. Be patient; do what you can when you can; your empirical plans ain’t goin’ anywhere.
4. Ask yourself what nutrients you may be missing: the Bs? iron? protein? then consume the best source of them that you can…                                                                                                           – ttys, Hil

http://forms.aweber.com/form/14/1961929014.htm

So, one night (23 Jan ’13, Weds to be exact ;), I couldn’t sleep… then I still couldn’t sleep… not to mention I was out of tobacco (which is still harrowing)! Finally, it was almost time to get up! ‘Might as well go do temp labor,’ I thought.

Got there at 5:30, found someone with nicotine by 5:45. I was so relieved, I didn’t care what happened the rest of the day, PLUS, I was first in line, which sometimes makes a difference in where one gets sent.

I got assigned to go work on the turnpike… unique and different but really not that significant. Waterproof boots, vest, gloves and hardhat were required (rental and purchase cost me $3.50!). Went to take my drug test; passed, of course. Got to the location, had to drive over God-knows-what to park in the grass… One of the supervisers picked me up to drive me to my ‘station’ on the 8-mile project. He tailgated as the sun streamed right into his eyes while I held tightly to my seatbelt!

About 2 years ago, the same temp agency had sent me 45 minutes away to another road project. I was too honest not to confess to the supervisor that I wasn’t certified for the big machine that spews out water in preparation for the mud-smoothing vehicle, and got sent back. Well (!), the guy at the wheel on this day was the same guy from long-ago and, BOY was I glad I had told the truth back when!

In any case, I got dropped off and instructed to pry off cement scraps from the vertical part of the curb as part of the cleaning process before they lay the ‘carpet’, which goes under cement, tar and whatever other layers…

I had assumed that, being between the west- and eastbound lanes of a major turnpike, I would have to focus and tune it all out, BUT, crazily enough, it was very peaceful! I did have a touch of anxiety about the possibility of an out-of-control driver careening into the median, but managed to keep it at a manageable level (not to mention, it was one of the most beautiful days, weather-wise, you’ve ever seen! [which meant that the Port-A-Potty was only half the ordeal it is usually 😉 ] ).

The great thing about day labor work is that you get into a rhythm and because it’s repetitive, you can all but meditate… This particular site is so long that the nearest other worker was hundreds of yards away. I sang, I screamed, I swore and had the time of my life!

Shortly, I was like, OMG! how many times in one’s life does one get to work in the middle of the turnpike?! and started snapping pics. My second task was to consolidate cement scrap piles. This is before I started:

This is after:

By and by the burrito truck arrived and I promise, it was the best one I’ve had in years (kinda like when ya have hot dogs at camp, ya know?)!

Pretty soon, they ran out of stuff for me to do and transported back to my car. I already felt jubilant, what with being outside and being able to fully raise my voice (I would never in my condo [don’t get excited, it’s an efficiency, lol (and all the kingdom I need right now) ] because I don’t wanna disturb my neighbors…). Another part of mustering all my wherewithal to go do what  I usually dread is that, once I’m clocked in, all the screaming about ‘WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO TO PAY BILLS???!!!’ stops because I’m doing it. 😀

The guy who signed off paid me for two extra hours, which sent me further into joy… So, if you ever have a chance, you gotta do it, at least once. Lesson for me: what I feared would be another soul-annihilating day turned out to be amazing, and an opportunity for me to loudly proclaim and express melodies without causing another mental anguish or getting arrested for damaging their hearing. 😉