21 Comments

I got a chance to chat and mingle with three retired male astronauts last week. In my head, astronauts are larger than life. In reality? They were wee! I’m 5’7” and I was as tall or taller than they were. I guess they have to be compact to fit into tight spaces but I just didn’t think about that. So funny!

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Hah! That’s cool. Did they participate in any missions? Did they say?

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Yes! One was a shuttle commander, one was a shuttle pilot and one was a former senator/congressman who went up on a mission. One became a pilot for Southwest after retiring!

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Hilarious! Did they have that "short-man" complex?

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Unlike my ex-husband (3 inches shorter than me), they did not! They were uniformly lovely.

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I only learned of my high school senior’s college commitment and intended major when she posted it on Instagram last week.

This feels like a very specific GenX parent/ GenZ child challenge.

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I can totally relate. Like, when I ask them about something and they reply with “Did you see my stories?” 🤦🏻‍♀️

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Exactly! Gotta check those stories for the real info!

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Has Gen-X now supplanted Baby Boomers in the midlife / menopause conversation? I mean, I'm technically a Boomer, but I still consider myself midlife. Yah, I know, I probably won't live to 120 but if I'm not midlife, and I don't qualify for social security, what am I?

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I'm 49 and would LOVE to join the menopause conversation! I'm stuck in perimenopause purgatory (siiiigh)...

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It's tough. I was working full-time and not sleeping...ugh. I reccomend Jen Gunter's book, The Menopause Manifesto. I wish I had known more than I did about the symptoms. Also, come on over to my substack. It's new, but my aim is to cover all the topics for midlife women (except diet and beauty and anti-aging b.s.)

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Anyone ever had hyperparathyroid surgery? I gotta do that in a week and a half and am starting to become anxious.

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Good luck! I hope it helps

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So here's an article that I think nails those of us who like me were born at the tail end of the Boomer generation and just before Gen X folk. For me and many of my peers "Boomer" just didn't sit right, not because of the implied insult but because we just couldn't relate to much of what is supposed to define Boomers. Check it out, quite possibly some of you early Gen Xers might feel the same way.

Why People Born 1955–1964 Aren’t Baby Boomers

https://medium.com/atta-girl/why-people-born-1955-1964-arent-baby-boomers-6afdebc5c3ba

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These are fun! There's another reason why those of us born in 1964 and even 1963 don't think we're boomers: because those years weren't always included in the Boom demographic. I specifically remember reading, in my teens, that my 1964 birth made me a Gen-Xer. Recently, when sites such as TueNight started saying gen X started in 1965, I went digging for the source of my knowledge that Gen X included me. I found several Chicago Tribune stories, dating between 1982 and 1986, defining the Boom as 1945-1962. What is odd is that the Census Dept had all the birth data already -- so why and when did they redefine the boom to 1946-1964?

Besides which, I don't remember the Beatles as a together band, and I don't have clear memories of the Vietnam War. Culturally, not a boomer.

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May 1964... I feel this so hard, Fran. I'm not a fan of the label wars (been through the whole Working Mom vs. SAHM bullshit thrown at us by the interwebs back in the early 00's) but if I had to I'm okay with identifying as an elder Gen-X? 🤷🏻‍♀️

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More distinguishing observations - https://www.facebook.com/reel/1600964173714667

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What do you all wish you knew about perimenopause or menopause when it started for you?

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I wish I knew where to go for information — to stop ignoring/dismissing my symptoms; it's okay to ask questions; GET RELIEF!

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Indeed, Liz! I was just saying to a client yesterday that I am so grateful to be part of the first generation in to be talking openly about menopause. Our mothers were denied any form of relief through community/conversation and hormone replace therapy. It makes me so angry.

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I can’t sleep at night anymore.

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