Right Now -May 2017

Celebrating: We've had a few birthdays this past month. My Dad's was over a week ago, and my aunt's 80th was over this past weekend. We attended a party for a colleague's 4 year old son and Kate has been singing "Happy Dirthday" since then.

Reading: I finished Insane Clown President: Dispatches from the 2016 Circus by Matt Taibbi. I had a free subscription to Rolling Stone for a year and I love Taibbi's writing style. It was probably the only section I read of the magazine. I also just downloaded Diaper Free by Three on to my Kindle. A friend who is a Urology PA recently posted an article written by a pediatric urologist who concludes that just about every pediatric urologic disorder is the result of potty training too early and he insists the ideal age is between 3 and 4. I've been reminding myself that he is a specalists who justs sees the problem cases and not normal healthy kids, but it freaked me out a bit, so I had to do some back up reading, even though the points in Diaper Free were already stated in the previous book I read (almost on the borderline of plagiarism)

Watching: I haven't yet cancelled my subscription to Netflix, so I'm still making my way through the Gilmore Girls. I had conversations with a few people who felt surprised a what a spoilt little bitch Rory had become in the revival, but then realised she was always like that. I think I found the episode that reveals just how obtuse she was. (Spoiler Alert, Risa!) In season 5, Rory practically stalks Marty (aka 'Naked Guy' from her freshman year) and invites him to hang out with her, even though he clears doeesn't want to. He reluctantly agrees to get together for a Marx brothers movie marathon. She makes quite an effort; dressing in costume, hanging movie posters around her room and offering an array of snacks. There is an awkard tension at first, but the both seem to relax, especially as Rory has her legs over Marty's lap. Then Logan shows up to see if she wants to join him and his friends for Chinese food. Rory knows exactly how Working Class Marty and Spoilt Rich Kid Logan feel about each other as her first encounter with Logan was to confront his disparagaing and demeaning behaviour toward Marty. Nonetheless, she offers little resistance and Logan invites Marty along as "if you're going to be hanging out with Ace, I should get to know you outside your uniform." A pointed dig and a bit territorial. (BTW, the nickname 'Ace' seems really ridiculous as we now know she was a failed journalist) Poor Marty is forced to listen to the rich guys brag about their drunken escapades at their fancy foreign private schools while he watches Logan play with Rory's hair. Then he's subjected to more humiliation as he can't pay $75 for his share as he doesn't have the cash in his wallet nor his bank account. Rory lends him the money just so he can save face (Logan payed for her) which does beg the question why he didn't just give a credit card. Rory is sensible enough to pass up the post Chinese food night clubbing and walks embarassed Marty home, where he admits he has feelings for her and she reveals that she likes Logan, just in case it wasn't obvious. Then she begs Marty to still be her friend, making you wonder if they ever were truly friends, and suggests coming back to finish their movie marathon. Logan has to spell it out for her that Duck Soup is one of his favourite movies and doesn't want that movie to be tarnished with his memories of such a shitty night.

I also finished watching the second season of The Detour. Although the ending was strange, it's a brilliant series and worth watching just for the parody of Hamilton.

Listening: I really don't listen to any pod casts, but when I google searched Insane Clown President to check the spelling of Matt Taibbi's name, I noticed there is an audio version of the book narriated by the author. Almost exactly 10 years ago, I struck up a conversation with the most intimidating perinatologist in our department as he noticed by copy of Al Franken's Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them. A few days later, I was in clinic when he paged me. I was struck with panic. It is never a good thing when the perinatologist is paging you. Except this time he wanted to share that he bought the audio version of Lies after he read a chaper of my book and wanted to share that I had to hear the words in Al Franken's voice. He was right, listening to the audio version enhanced my experience of that book.

Drinking: I've been making my own version of Cacao Almond Milk. Safeway sells it, but at $3.49 for 8oz, it's a rip-off. I read the ingredents and bought some cacao powder, liquid dates, and Himalayan sea salt. Now I can make it whenever I want for much less.

Eating: I've been struggling to find a balance. I completed another Whole 30 in March and my game plan was to follow the Whole 30 rules during the week, but give myself some freedom on the weekends. Sounds easy right? Well I think I've been over doing it on the weekends when I am compliant, or I'll bend a little during the week, as I'm not doing a "true" Whole 30. As a result my weight fluctuates with my eating. If I have an occasional glass of wine, baked treat or Friday night pizza, my weight will balloon to pre-pregnancy digits at 155. If I avoid temptations, I can get down to 151. I have to decide which is more important to me.

Wearning: An old but favourite long sleeve Nike shirt and gym shorts. This is kind of a pervey question.

Loving: So many things, I'm feeling like I have a good rhythm with work and family and I never thought I'd be this happy.

Anticipating: We're going away this weekend to visit our friends Robin and Barney in LA. They have a daughter who is 3 months older than Kate and are expecting their second.

Hoping: Trump gets impeached soon.

Following: I haven't done so yet; but a few of my teammates follow [Olympic Gold Medal swimmer] Nathan Adrian and I'm tempted to join because he posts pictures of his cats.

Wondering: If I am doing the right thing by potty training Kate now versus waiting until later. My instinct tells me that I am, but that article got in my head a bit.

Trying: New recepies, fitting in some more exercise. I've had to miss some swim practices or gym nights due to my work and husband's work schedule. I started a sticker chart and I'm trying to at least get some squats or push up done on the nights I miss.

Planning: I have to figure out meals for the week we come back from LA. We land at 2 PM and I'll need to hit the store and do meal prep

Contemplating: How to best spend my time when I have a parent's day out on the Saturday before Mother's Day. My plan is to clean the deck, so I can set an outdoor play area for Kate. I also should do some gardening. I know I will have unrealistic expectations for what I can get accomplished. I should hit Lowe's earlier in the week so I don't waste time on Saturday.