today it's supposed to reach 90 degrees. after the driest winter and during the driest spring i've ever seen here in good ole cali, we're getting early summer heat. if this keeps up, real summer is going to be frighteningly hot very early. it usually takes till late july or august to break 101 or 102. but today it's supposed to get to 90. and if that keeps up, i can see summer breaking records. this is bad. we've had next to no rain. a hot, dry summer after a hot, dry winter and spring? cali will be a tinderbox, even with the amount of devastation from last year's fire. we still have places that can burn and if the weather doesn't get wetter soon, it won't take much to send them up. beautiful places like forest falls and lake arrowhead.

probably for the first time ever in my life, i am wishing for rain. i'll take the headache.

the weather and me wanting rain aren't the only things not being normal these days.

in times past i stayed up till 2 or 3 am, stayed awake till 3:30 or 4, and slept till 10. it always took me at least 30 minutes to get to sleep, and that's being generous. on average it would take at least an hour to get to sleep. and going to bed before 1? make that an hour and a half to 2 hours or more to get to sleep. there's a reason i tried to stay up till 2, and being able to actually get to sleep was one of them. generally, so i wouldn't be staring at the ceiling all night, i would read myself into exhaustion.

for the last week it's been very different. i've been going to bed earlier and going to sleep within 10 or 15 minutes (now that is truly amazing!). i still only sleep 6 hours at most, but that still gets me up at 7 or 8 am, an ungodly hour that left me blurry eyed and out of sorts for hours in the past. when i've said that the world doesn't start turning till 10, i meant it. any time before 10 am was just way too early for this night owl, and that seems to have changed. not only am i getting up at ungodly hours, i am functional within 20 or 30 minutes!

a side effect of menopause? or is it the weird weather?

but that's not the end of the oddities. my cycle, which has been being flaky for a good 6 months now (sometimes i have a period, sometimes i don't, sometimes i have nothing but spotting, i mean, nothing that can be predicted - even the timing is wackier than usual), has been "normal" for about 2 months now. i'm not expecting that to last, but it's nice to not have to be up for 60 hours straight to keep up - which, of course, has made me a lot less cranky. and maybe the reduced blood loss accounts for the unusual amounts of energy i'm experiencing. typically in the past my cycle compelte wipes me out for a week. if this keeps up till the end of menopause and not having to deal with the whole thing any more, that would be very nice indeed.

but there's more.

my skin and scalp are drier. i still have breakouts, but the skin has gotten flaky and my scalp itches, and nothing seems to help either. all i know is that where i once used lotion sparingly, i am using it several times a day now and my skin just soaks it right up. i'm still looking for a face cream that works for my skin. the scalp itching, not sure there's much i can do about it, but it's driving me nuts. i'm seriously considering cutting my hair really short, but i'm not sure that would help.

a side effect of menopause? or is it the weird weather?

then there's the worst thing of all: i've lost interest in chocolate! heck, the whole sweets thing seems to have subsided significantly. now, this isn't all bad since i obviously could do without the sugar and empty calories, but to not be interested in chocolate? what the heck is wrong with me?

forget not being the norm, this is just downright strange, even for me.