Your Period - Yes, There's an App for That

A friend of mine and I and our kids spent the day together Monday. We visited a place that was an hour to an hour an a half away, the kids mostly entertained each other in the car and my friend and I got to talk during the ride. As it is with most women, there are no taboo topics and we eventually got on subject of our periods.  My friend told me about the period app she uses.  I had no idea one existed and never thought to go look for one.  Like most apps, she said there was a free version, that provided everything she needed, and a paid version with extra bells and whistles. You can input when it starts, stops, flow levels, pain levels, cravings, etc. And, once you start tracking your period in it, it will predict when your period will arrive for the next 12 months!  I went to the App Store and downloaded it right there in the car so I wouldn't forget.  Later that night, I sat down with my wall calendar and entered into the app the start dates of my periods this year so far - that is the ones I remembered to mark on my calendar.

According to my calculations, my period was due this past Monday, the 15th; based on the info I've entered, however, this app tells me I was due Tuesday the 16th. Pa-tay-toe, pa-ta-doe. So late Tuesday morning, B and I are working on American History and we both here this musical, "TA-DA!" from somewhere in the house. :o/  B asked what it was and I had no idea. "You must have made a new noise on your phone and forgot you did it," said B with a sigh. Obviously, the child has long suffered with my memory issues and knows better than me. ;o)

So I went looking for my phone and, sure enough, there was a push notification from the new app - "Your period is due today - yeah!"  Um. OK. I have lived with stage IV endometriosis for 30 years that has planted roots in my bladder, uterus and intestines, preventing doctors from removing it, causing excruciating pain during my periods and infertility.  But let's go with "yeah!"  Twenty-four hours later, my period, strangely, still hadn't come, so I hadn't indicated anything within the app. My phone, therefore, emitted another musical sound. I can't tell if the sound was more "Ta-Da?" Or "Um, hello?", but it was probably thinking, "This rookie just needs a little reminder to check in with me and we'll be just fine."

This morning, that app meant business. Around 11am, the house was blasted with, "Dum, dum, DUUUUUUUUUM!!!"  I find my phone and it says, "Holy shit, you' re three days late! Do you have ANY idea what this means?! This is NOT funny. If you've gotten your period already, for the love of God enter it into the app!!!"  OK, it didn't really say that, but I felt that's what it was saying, between the music, the push notification and the exclamation point. I wonder what tomorrow will bring - a big, red dot banging on the front door with a marching band and a pregnancy test?  :-P

My Great Day

I had a great day today. Not because B and I went to a free movie or because the three of us laughed a lot or because I made a kick-ass dinner. All of those things are wonderful blessings that occurred.  But this particular day was great because of three things B said to me.

1. We were in the kitchen and B was rolling out dough for whole wheat pitas.  "I love cooking and baking. It's so interesting and fun."
2. We were discussing the recent Paula Deen issue that has caused her to lose sponsors.  "You should be a politician, Mom. You explain things so I can understand. But you come up with great points, ones nobody else thinks of. You should help be in charge."
3. Today was Day 2 of 5th grade and we are covering American History for the 1st time. Excitedly, B asked this morning, "Do you have any more interesting documentaries for me to watch today?"  Nope.  Sorry.  "Oh," was said with dejection. Let's recap what we learned yesterday.  "Okay!" Face lit back up again.

Yummy Dinner of Broccoli Patties, Chicken and Homemade Bread!

FIrst of all, I want to say that dinner pictured here, is in a bowl.  That is not a dinner plate completely filled with saucy chicken to the rim.  It's a soup/cereal bowl.  This dinner was sooooo gooood.  I didn't plan it to be this good; I was going to serve the saucy chicken over pasta and just serve the broccoli patties with it.  But the hubs reminded me that I had made a loaf of whole wheat bread yesterday and that we should have a slice of that instead of the pasta.  Good call, hubs!

I found this fabulous recipe for Broccoli Bites For Kids on Pinterest a month or so ago and decided to try it today.  Easy to make and a hit with all 3 of us.  I cut the recipe in third and made 4 patties for us.  The loaf of bread is The Master Recipe from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day, the sequel to Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day which got me not only baking bread but loving it.  So simple!

The chicken I just made up with what was in the house and needed to be used up.  I sautéed half a sweet onion, half a red pepper, a small shallot, 2 cloves of garlic and some "use or lose" mushrooms in equal parts butter and oil for about 15 minutes.  BTW, you can make this with whatever veggies you have on hand/you like or no veggies at all!  I removed them from the pan to a bowl.  I chopped up 2 chicken breasts, sprinkled them with salt and pepper, cooked them in the same pan then put them in the bowl with the veggies.  I added 1/2 tbsp of butter to the pan and, after it melted, added approx 1.5 tbsp flour.  Whisked that around together for a couple of minutes to burn off the "floury" taste and added chicken stock.  Continued to whisk until it thickened somewhat and then added a splash or two of half & half (I had no heavy cream.  You could also use whatever milk you have in the house or just use the chicken stock.)  Once everything was the thickness I wanted, I seasoned with a little more salt & pepper, turned off the flame, added the veggies and chicken to the sauce, married all those beautiful flavors together and ladled it into a bowl.  Finally I added a broccoli patty and half a slice of buttered, homemade, whole wheat bread and then moaned through the whole meal!