This and that, Part 10002839

I'm on a roll with these lunch & post sessions this week! No real topic today, just random bullets

• I finished 10% Happier this morning. I really loved this book, a memoir written by a total skeptic who learned about, laughed at, and eventually embraced mindfulness meditation and Buddhist teachings and how it changed his life, particularly his work life in a demanding and competitive field. I almost abandoned it early on because, well, he was an asshole. But there is good stuff in here, about the science of meditation and mindfulness, and its written in an easy-to-read and digest manner. I will likely buy a hard copy of this so I can go back and highlight/underline, because there is a LOT of material that I've already forgotten! 
• Low carb: going well, feel fine but no better than usual (i.e. no amazing energy or lack of hunger. yes the bigger breakfast keeps me full longer but its obvious that eating 500 Kcal rather than my usual 250 Kcal for breakfast would have that effect! no magic!). On the plus side, it is inspiring creativity in meal-planning and has broken down my assumptions that I "need" carbs at each meal. Not sure if I will  lose weight or gain it with all the nuts and cheese I am eating. If I end up needing to count calories and be hungry, the whole experiment has failed! Do plan to keep it up for the month with an exception for a date-night.
• A young woman in my workout class mentioned looking for sitting gigs so I am taking her up on it for a date night, hopefully this weekend (waiting for her reply, otherwise 2 weekends from now). Not sure what we will do, even going to a local bar and having a couple of beers & food sounds good to me. We can't be the only ones that feel like we never have time to talk and then go out on date night & suddenly have nothing to talk about, right? Maybe I need to plan topics, the way a med school friend of mine did before dates (he read up on current events, pop culture, etc.. so it wouldn't be evident that all he did was study for a million hours a week in the med school library).
• We (well, I) made a "fun list" for the winter. I listed: ice skating, Children's museum, Science Museum, nearby library, central library, making cookies, something I can't remember. So far we've done: making cookies. Made chocolate chip cookies (this recipe) with the boys Sunday evening.Did not eat any. Ideas for what else to add to this list? 
• Breaking Bad is really good, but freaking disturbing. Their marriage...whoa. I also feel really really lucky to have never gotten into drugs (ha! the thought seems ludicrous, I'm pretty square; but it can happen to anyone). Crack is whack, yo.
• I hosted my book club on Saturday and one of the women brought her famous home-made toffee. I did eat a small square (and then another) and it was well worth it! 
• The boys are so obsessed with Star Wars right now. I bought them Star Wars pajamas and underwear (they needed those things anyways). All they do is play with their light sabers (G made them from rolled up vellum paper & paint) and look at their Star Wars books. We have watched episodes 4-6, and 1. We will watch episode 2 this weekend. They love Darth Vader. I ask why they like the "bad guy" and I get "but he isn't ALL bad, mommy! He turned good in the end and saved Luke, and he was good at the beginning". Wow, nuanced understanding of the grey areas between good & evil, huh? 
• The problem is that they want US to play light sabers with them instead of playing with each other (because one hits the other so the other is "mean" and they don't want to play together anymore). I'm just not the play-light-sabers kind of mom, you know? I can do it, but its...painful. I'll read you a book, do a puzzle or lego kit, play a boardgame, cook/bake with you, take you anywhere in the city but you want me to pretend to be Chewbacca or Darth Maul for half an hour? 
• Patriarchal BS often turns women against each other. (reminder to self)

 OK, I've scraped the bottom of my low carb salad. Back to work.