F U Aunt Flow!

Today has been one of those days...you know the kind where you get so pissed off that you can't clean your house that it makes you crazy? Of course my good ole Aunt Flow has come to town. I hate her and I tell her so each time I see her, but it matters not. I never was all that fond of her before, but now she's unbearable! The added pressure and cramps just make things so much worse! So, during these trying times and for the sake of my marriage, here is how I cope:

• heating pad (a must have! I alternate using it on my back and my lower stomach while catching my evening time flicks.)
• ice pack ( I use this close to bed time to get my back nice and numb so I can go to sleep and catch some healing zzz's.)
• extra clean diet (On occassion I will cheat a little on my diet, but when on your period it is not recommended to cheat at all. There is already enough inflammation going on inside, no need to add to the tally!)

The other problem with my period is that it leads to the inevitable use of feminine products (aka the life raft pad). I read just the other day that a bleaching chemical agent, that was used for deforestization during the Vietnam War, has been converted to use for bleaching our pads and tampons. A wonderful idea that credit can only be given to our government for! Anyway, guess what this chemical has been linked to? If you guessed 'ovarian cysts' you just won....well nothing, but good guess! So, what am I to do? It is worth mentioning that I live in the sticks and I am pretty sure if I asked an employee at Wal-Mart for chemical free pads I would be given a look like I am some new-age freak and left with making my own pads from material (that sounds clean!). I am sure there are websites to purchase what I am looking for and at some point I am sure I will be compelled enough to do so. But, right now, let's be honest...I barely have enough funding for my radical (read: nutritional) diet. I guess that means it is 'good to know' information that will simply have to haunt me once a month, around the 6th, until further notice.