Be Stoic

Calvin first read the book, "the Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking" by Oliver Burkeman, and now I have gotten into it!

We are both particularly smitten with the description within the book of the  philosophy of the Stoics. Here is a quote that sums up nicely one of their main tenants:

"If you accept that the universe is uncontrollable, you're going to be a lot less anxious." Albert Ellis

A helpful exercise the stoics seem to engage in, is to imagine how any situation you fear could be a lot worse. It is strangely calming to use this technique! My genius aunt Barb used this method once when she was driving my sisters somewhere when we were kids and her car broke down. They kept repeating all that had gone wrong that day and then saying "but at least we don't have a lame donkey we have to carry on our backs!" 

Similar to Viktor Frankl's observations in his masterpiece: "Man's Search For Meaning", the Stoics seem to advocate acknowledging all that is outside of our control, while maintaining a clear vision of our ability to choose our reactions. An everyday (non tragic) example given in the book: 

If we don't like how long the line is at the grocery store- we can choose to wait and be a little late or leave. Getting angry no longer feels necessary because you acknowledge you do have a choice. 

My explanation/recap feels very weak compared to the insights found in the book! So far it's been a refreshing read. I highly recommend it!

Milestones!!

Today Gus is sitting up to play completely on his own for the first time! I have to be near by because he still wobbles quite a bit but I cannot believe how much stronger he is than even just a week ago. It is SO cool to see a tiny human grow up close. Here he is:

We just dropped Calvin off at school and are hanging out at home until lunch when we will attend a retirement party for one of the Judges I used to work for. I'm so excited to catch up with my work friends and show them how much Gus has grown. 

And here's a picture of Gus yesterday with his favourite toy- chicken!

Rainy Saturday

Last night the thunder was so loud it woke me up and today it rained and rained! I went to a super relaxing post-natal yoga class and when I came home, Calvin had dressed Gus up in the cutest outfit! I was dying! He's wearing his new shoes that our friend Shona mailed from Scotland:

Since he was all dressed up we decided to go out for lunch and we hit up the new pizza place in Sandy that is actually really really good. It's called Pizzeria Limone. 

Here's Calvin's pie:

Me and Gus:

Then we tried the new (to us??) Bubble Tea place practically next door. I ordered the almond but the owner said her favourite combo is almond/avocado/vanilla bean. So I had to try it. And it is now my favourite (in Utah anyway:) 

And a few more pictures of Gus:

Food lately...:)

Utah peaches are beyond delicious. Was planning to bake with our spoils from the Salt Lake Farmer's Market but realized fresh peaches in cream would be the best way to eat them! Here are the peaches on their own...

And here are the peaches drenched in cream and whole milk, sweetened with stevia.

My in-laws make an amazing tortilla soup with homemade chicken stock and it's Calvin's favourite meal. I didn't make tortilla soup yesterday but I was inspired to make chicken stock.

We ate it with cucumbers on the side and fresh melon afterward. Had to take a picture because the light green made it feel like a spa:) Ha! Now normally I don't like honeydew. It is always used as filler in store bought fruit salads. But a fresh local melon, chilled, sliced and eaten immediately is hard to beat! Also, next time you have some, squeeze fresh lime juice in homemade chicken stock- it's delicious!!

Then today I made some homemade pizza dough (the whole wheat variety from Deb Perelman's Smitten Kitchen cook book) and it turned out nice and thin and crispy.

Book Review: "The Procrastination Equation" by Piers Steel

Confession: Once in grade twelve I put off completing (maybe even starting??) a History paper by reading an 800 or so page biography of Florence Nightingale. It was a VERY moving book (that had nothing to do with my assignment) but it caused me a lot of anxiety and trouble due to the fact that it took me weeks (maybe months?) to finally get my paper in. It did not take me long at all to read the biography but the fact that my paper was already late made it harder to even work on it. Sorry Mr. Lindahl! Ha! How I still managed to be the Valedictorian of my graduating class is a mystery (to Calvin) but like I said in my speech, that year it was based on looks. But seriously now folks, my English teacher that same year told us once in class that she used to have a problem with procrastinating but then she read a book about it and stopped. She made it sound so easy! And I really liked her as a teacher. I vowed to follow her lead. So fourteen years later, I have finally followed through on that commitment:)

This is why I love the children's book: "Leo the late Bloomer" by Robert Kraus. Its about a tiger that couldn't do anything right until finally one day he blooms! Once I labeled myself a "late bloomer" I stopped feeling quite so bad about my awkward teenage years:) And awkward years in general. We all have had those years, as my friend Sarah would say, those years before we knew to pluck our eyebrows.

Back to procrastination. Piers Steel is a real gem. He writes with authority and humour. He acknowledges the reading of his book is probably an act of procrastination in and of itself. He explains why procrastinating is the natural human way and what we can do to overcome it. I love him for his hatred of the book "The Secret" (sorry friends who love that book!) and I love how he gets specific with what to do. For example, make Approach Goals, i.e. start early rather than Avoidance Goals i.e. Don't begin late. The book has seriously changed how I house clean, make lunches, get the garbage out on time and renew library books! (No more embarrassingly high late fees!! :) It has also helped me actually write a little more. Writing is one of the greatest things to procrastinate, inspiring all types of cleaning and bouts of de-hoarder-izing one's home. Which are good activities but when you want to write- they get in the way. Anyway, it was, not to be too dramatic, a life-changing read for me. To any fellow procrastinators out there, get the book!

Photo from "Leo the Late Bloomer"

Dr. Calvin!!

Today I had my teeth cleaned by Calvin at Roseman University in South Jordan, Utah. It was really cool to see him in action:) And he did a great job, he was gentle and open to my feedback haha! My teeth feel so clean. I love that after dentist clean feeling. Who's with me?  

There's a pretty nice view from his chair:

So anybody in Utah looking for super affordable dental care : you should set up an appt with him! (all procedures are 50% cheaper or more through the school than a regular dentist) Check it out: http://rosemandental.com/ ! 

Book Review: "Tolstoy and the Purple Chair- My Year of Magical Reading" by Nina Sankovitch

I enjoyed this book- though it read more like a blog to me, which shouldn't be a surprise since it began as a blog. It is a memoir of a woman who spent a year reading a book every single day in an attempt to deal with the grief she felt after her sister's death. She is a passionate reader and believer in the healing power of literature. 

Some highlights for me include the story below about a young Ukrainian girl and her pure love for her mother, the most beautiful woman in the world...( P 8)

Here are some quotes that stood out to me:

...from a magazine on how to choose a book to read: "be serious, earnest, sincere in your choice of books, and then put your trust in Providence and read with an easy mind." (P 161)

This quote is in response to being told that nothing in the world matters except Love: "a banking account, sound teeth, and adequate servants matter a great deal more." (P 130- quote is from the Provincial Lady in London by E.M. Delafield)

A quote I liked from page191: 

" I realized it was my decision whether I would interpret the ending as unjust and unsatisfactory and suffer because of it or decided that this, and only this, was the fitting ending." (Taken from Self's Murder by Bernard Schlink) 

And a final quote from Tolstoy himself, "the sole meaning of life is to serve humanity." 

All in all- a satisfying and inspiring read. It has added to my list of books I want to read- the top of that list is "the Forged Coupon" by Leo Tolstoy

The author has a website called: ReadAllDay.org if you are curious about her voracious reading!