Eight women, one cabin

Inventory for a weekend to be spent in the woods:

Women - 8
Tequila - 1 Litre
Board Games - 5
Books to read in the hammock - 4
Bottles of bug repellent - 4
Computers - 0

Scrambled eggs

My body has served me well over the past 50 years. Unlike many other baby boomers I've never hated my body or wished it to be other than it is. But now I've decided that it would be just-fine-with-me-thank-you if my body stopped producing eggs. I don't need them anymore. Menopause, I welcome you.

I've never considered menstruation to be "a curse." My cycles are regular and my periods have always been brief and pain-free. All forms of birth control worked for me with no side effects. And when I wanted to get pregnant, I did, immediately.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not interested in losing my ovaries or uterus or going on hormone replacement therapy. I'm just ready for the estrogen levels to change and stay changed.

Six word novel

From Utne magazine:

"Ernest Hemingway was once challenged to write a story in six words. The result: For sale: baby shoes, never used."

A portrait of the blogger as a young woman

A college friend just sent me this photo from "back in the day." See if you can find me. (Click on the photo for a larger view.)

No, we didn't dress like this all the time. We were going to a costume ball ... most of us dressed as gansters and molls.