“Does that fit into your lifestyle?” the leader asked.

Happily, I was able to say “Yes!”

If you’re working, raising a family and volunteering in a few different organizations, it’s not easy to fit in trips to the gym, or even walking and running outside (especially during these dark winter days). And of course, the comfy chair is always a temptation at home.

I do, of course, ride my bike to work (usually 5 days a week), which helps. But my weight loss has been stalled for a while, so I needed to bump up my activity levels.

When we received a Wii game console for Christmas, I knew I wanted to get some kind of active game for it. I ended up with Just Dance 3. The program includes Sweat Challenges. There are three options for a seven-day challenge: 500 points daily (equivalent to walking for 30 minutes a day), 1000 points daily (equivalent to running 30 minutes a day), or 3000 points daily (which they SAY is the equivalent of swimming 30 minutes a day). You don’t have to dance every day; just get the full amount by the end of the week.

So the game works well for physical activity. But what about the time and motivation to do it?

Well, I have three kids. They like to dance. They like to dance WITH me! So they make sure I dance.

For instance, tonight I got home around 5:00, and we were planning to go out to dinner (a fundraiser for Outdoor School) as soon as my husband got home. I could very easily have sat down with the computer to check Twitter and Facebook until then, but my daughter was already dancing and she handed me the other Wii remote before I had a chance to sit down. And we did 1300 points, easy-peasy, before dinner.

Oh, and the daughter? She’s doing the 3,000 points per day challenge this week!

FYI, the Just Dance games are also available for Xbox 360/Kinect and PlayStation/Move. And if you don’t have a game system (or if you just want to see what it’s like), you can play the Just Dance videos on YouTube and follow along (you just don’t earn points or compete with anyone).

My current goal is to lose 5 pounds by Valentine’s Day, and to have fun doing it!

Disclosure: Yes, those are Amazon affiliate links up there. If you buy something through those links, I do get a tiny percentage. Thank you!

I know, yuck, right? I suppose there could be a relationship there. However, my first thought was that there must be more people using cloth diapers now! That doesn’t account for the diaper rash creams (although some people think cloth-diapered babies are more prone to diaper rash), but I bet it’s a factor. If you glance at the comments below the article, you’ll see several other people casting doubt on the article’s conclusion as well.

If you really want to save money, cloth diapers are an excellent option. Even if you have to pay for a coin laundry, you’ll probably be saving money over disposables, which cost around a quarter for each diaper.

Photo by simplyla on Flickr, used via CC BY 2.0 Attribution 2.0 Generic.

Lately, I’ve found myself feeling too tired to get things done — but not too tired to play around on the internet! Sometimes I fool myself that I’m getting things done on the internet. It’s true that I do a lot of things on the internet — pay bills, blog, write articles, communicate with other people — but not everything on my to-do list requires a computer.

So tonight, I decided to print out my to-do list (because I keep THAT online too, and it becomes one of my excuses for being online) and then shut the laptop. And what happened?

• I made dinner, and we all ate dinner together.
• My middle daughter completed her chores without having a meltdown so that we could play catch together.
• We played catch, and I got some exercise (which was on my list).
• I got some Girl Scout paperwork finished. I did have to open the computer to download and print one form, but that was OK.
• I did my toning/strength training exercises.

That’s not the most productive evening I’ve ever had, but I’m happy with it. And I’m happy to be back blogging, too.

Knowing how to really cook means that your child will be able to feed himself healthfully and economically, even if he loses his job and has no money.  Or if the power goes out and she has to concoct a meal over a fire or camp stove. It’s both a life skill and a survival skill.

So how do you make this happen? Painter included several suggestions in her article. My favorite is learn together. Painter suggests taking cooking classes together, which is fun if you already know how to cook, but is an excellent idea for those who don’t. Low cost classes are often available through community centers or through the community education department at community colleges.

You could also work your way through a cookbook together. This is a big part of  how I learned to cook. I had two kids’ cookbooks, and my parents (yes, both of them!) helped me make recipes from them. The Better Homes and Gardens New Junior Cookbook is great for this (even though it’s not the same one that I used, and still have).

Some books are more parent-oriented. Picture Yourself Cooking With Your Kids by Beth Sheresh, the kitchenmage, has tips and information for parents plus a wealth of recipes for parent and child to cook together. This book includes great step-by-step visual directions.

Hungry Monkey, by Matthew Amster-Burton, is part memoir and part cookbook. Amster-Burton includes advice for really enjoying food together, tips for helping kids start to cook, and recipes that the whole family will enjoy. He makes a point of not sticking to kid food. Recipes includ pad thai, bibimbap, and (my personal favorite) penne with brussels sprouts and bacon.

What’s Cooking With Kids is a website full of information from Michelle Stern, author of the soon-to-be-published Whole Family Cookbook. Michelle’s company  also offers classes and workshops in the San Francisco Bay Area.

As for my family, we cook together sometimes. I’ve usually got at least one kid helping with dinner (the other main way that I learned to cook). But we don’t always make a formal effort to cook together. Perhaps we should do this on a regular basis?

What do you cook with your kids? Or, how did you learn to cook?

Disclosure: Those book titles up there? Those are Amazon affiliate links, so if you click one of those and buy something, I get a little bit of money to help run this site. Thank you!

That’s one of my favorite things to hear, and not because it’s some kind of ego-gratification. It’s because I hope I’m planting seeds, like my parents and many other people did for me.

For instance, my mother breastfed and cloth diapered six children. Some of our neighbors did the same with their children (in the 1970s and early 80s). So when I had my own babies, I didn’t think this would be too weird. I knew that it was both normal and possible.

My father rode the bus to work. When I was 10 or 11, I was allowed to ride the bus downtown all by myself to meet him at his office and then go to the Rose Festival Fun Center (none of this Waterfront Village business back then). And after that, I was frequently allowed (or even encouraged) to take the bus to the mall, the library, etc.  And when I got to college, and I didn’t have a car, I didn’t think it was weird to take the bus everywhere. Some of my friends had never ridden a bus. I dragged them all over the San Francisco Bay Area on public transportation!

So I hope that someday, those kids who saw me riding to school will remember that it’s perfectly normal for someone to ride their bike to and from work! After all, Mrs. McDade, did it!

Thanks, Mom and Dad! And thank you to my co-workers who walk or ride their bikes, too.

Today I have a guest post about canning with kids up on the What’s Cooking Blog. It also includes my recipe for tomato jam. I’d love it if you’d go have a look! Thank you.

First, we biked down and picked up her friend. Then the three of us biked to the local Izzy’s restaurant (for which we had a coupon) for lunch.

Then we biked home for presents, cake and popsicles.

She also requested hot dogs, fries and home-grown zucchini for dinner. We were happy to oblige.

I couldn’t be prouder.

From what we’ve seen (and there’s only one episode to go), Oliver did a great job developing relationships with people in Huntington and getting them to try cooking and eating his dishes.  He’s gotten both grade school and high school students eating healthy foods at school, although budgeting has been an issue, and one school cook in particular has been resistant to his methods.

The big question remaining is “Will this have a lasting effect?” I’m sure they’ll be addressing this in the last episode — although it’s really only been six months or so, and that’s not much time for creating or measuring lasting change.  This AP article cites a survey which says that children at the Central City school we actually buying fewer lunches after a month on Oliver’s program — they were bringing lunch from home instead.  Hopefully things have gotten better since then. The AP article also reports that the school principal has enthusiastically embraced healthy eating and has lost 20 pounds.

Although I agree that school food should be healthy, I think Oliver could have devoted more time to helping people eat healthy foods at home, too.  If parents aren’t willing and able to support healthy eating, kids aren’t going to be interested either.

Sarah Gilbert, a writer, locavore, and parent of three boys, has written about how families can eat Food Revolution-style on a budget. Her recommendations so far include eating seasonally and getting a handle on snack foods.

I’m also a fan of the Six-O-Clock Scramble, which helps me to cook healthy food with fresh ingredients, even on busy weeknights.

So how can we pass these ideas along to others? I’d love it if you’d share a link to this post (you can use the buttons below to tweet, share on Facebook, etc.), but I’m thinking about non-internet methods, too. What about teaching kitchens, like Jamie’s Kitchen in Huntington? Would people come?

Don’t forget to sign Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Petition! Our collective voice matters.

However, I started thinking about it, and I really DON’T like the image of myself teetering along a rooftop, or walking a tightrope. Nor to I like to think of myself carrying a heavy bag on each shoulder in an attempt to remain balanced.  And I am definitely NOT a scale.

Yes, it’s just a saying – but I believe the way we think about these things matters. If I keep visualizing myself barely staying on the tightrope, I’m going to be scared and stressed out, and that is definitely not healthy.

So how can I visualize my life and manage all of the different demands it brings me?

Story is one way, and it’s something I’m learning more about. What is my story right now, and what do I really want it to be? How do my job, child-rearing, housekeeping, marriage and writing all fit into my story?  And how am I part of the larger story of God and the universe?

Big questions.  And I’m starting to find answers. I’m cooking up something on the writing front, and have a long-term goal in mind. But I think finding my story is about more than just goal-setting. I mean, a story is supposed to have a plot, and a theme, and a conflict to overcome.  It’s not just a steady plod toward a goal.

The glimmerings are there, in my head. I just have to put it all together.

I had this post half-written when I found that Chris Brogan was asking people to post about the importance of story in their lives. And he’s offering free books, so I figured I’d better get it done!  This post was also partly inspired by Christina Katz’s piece on balance in her weekly e-zine, The Prosperous Writer. And further inspired by a retreat I attended with Narrative Actualization.

Actually, I’m suddenly wondering whether balance is really a good metaphor for life after all. I’ll have to think about that more.

But for now, here you go:

Author Christina Katz (The Writer Mama) recommends A Lovely Little Book About Claiming the Physical, Mental, and Emotional Space You Need to Write. Christina also has a new ebook out, Author Mama.

Debbie Ridpath Ohi interviewed Katz earlier this year on Time Management For Writers.

Fellow Portlander Katy Wolk-Stanley recently noted that control is an illusion.

And here’s a post from Zen Habits on The Lost Art of Solitude.

Good night!