Friends of Friends!

Friendship boasts plenty of joys, that’s for sure.

One is hearing stories of your friends’ friends.

Friends of friends!

You care about them, think about them, even give advice to them through your friend, their friend.

My friend Susan’s friend Blair learned about Friend for the Ride from Susan.

And this fall, Blair left these funky menopause cards on my doorstep.

How cool is that?

Thanks Blair!

What about you?

Have you enjoyed friends of friends in your friendly life?

The Word Friend:  Here’s a fascinating thread on the word “friend” posted on wordreference.com. In most languages, the word derived from the word “to love.” Other root words include “like,” “free,” “beautiful,” and “tie.”

Does a Friend Tell a Friend She’s Got a Chin Hair?

This is one of those TMI kind of posts, a post that when I was thirty-five, I had no clue I would dare write.  Of course when I was thirty-five, I had no clue about the super yucko stuff that was going to happen to me in menopause.  I also had no clue what a blog was.  (Nobody did, yet, according to this fun history on wiki.)

That leads us to the subject of the post:  CHIN HAIR.

I have always liked the story of “The Three Billy Goats Gruff.”  I love the line, “Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin,” and as a little girl, I got a kick out of all that trip trapping over bridges.  And who doesn’t get some kicks out of hating a big bad troll?  (A REAL troll, not an Internet sort of bad person.)

But I didn’t know I would turn into a billy goat!

And the Big Bad Menopause Troll throws you the double whammy that after you get those long, fine hairs cascading off your chin, you can’t see them without a magnifying glass.

So that brings us to this post’s title:   Does a Friend Tell a Friend She’s Got a Chin Hair?

This happened to me.  I was at first mortified.

But on reflection, I was grateful.

So I say, “Yes.”

What do you say?

Photo above is Paul Galdone’s wonderful version of The Three Billy Goats Gruff.

Photo below shows some acceptable chin hairs, because this guy is a real and true billy goat, by the hairs of his chinny, chin, chin.

PS:  My friend Kay has just reminded me that the expression “chinny, chin, chin” is from “The Three Little Pigs” NOT “The Billy Goat’s Gruff.”  My literary bad!

The Girlfriend Gala

Party!  Invite your girlfriends to a gala in honor of menopause (and impending menopause for those not there yet.)  Here are some hostess tips:

Decorations:  Create a tampon garland to festoon the front door.  For an attention-grabbing centerpiece, fill a glass bowl with tampons, pads, a bottle of pain reliever, chocolate kisses, birth control, a paper fan, moisturizer, and anything else that strikes your menopausal fancy.

Refreshments:  These need to shout: “Craving!”  Ask each guest to bring a snack she devoured during PMS, pregnancy, and/or menopausal moments.  You may want to provide more nutritious snacks, since most craving foods are high in sugar and salt. For liquid refreshment, pink punch, since this is all about being a girl.  Spike if you choose.

Entertainment:  Begin by asking everyone to share the story of her first period.  Vote on the most dramatic account and reward the winner with a soothing prize to help her recover from that long ago trauma—perhaps a bar of luscious soap or a bottle of mellow wine.  Then let your girlfriends wax poetic by sharing their feelings about menopause and the period-free years to come.

Favors:  Send your guests home with every girl’s lifesaver, in any stage of life, a bit of chocolate wrapped with a festive ribbon.

Photo:  This isn’t really punch. It’s pink water.  But I bet your real punch will be delicious!