What Do You Say When A Girl Tells You She Doesn’t Want to Lift Weights Because She Doesn’t Want to Be Bulky? [Help a reader out!]

 From the inimitable Jen Sinkler Being a woman who lifts weights automatically makes you open to weird comments (as does being a mom of “a lot” of kids) and over the last decade (!!!) of hoisting iron, I’ve got more than my fair share. Here are some of my personal favorites: “Are you a lady …

Have You Ever Reinvented Yourself? [What if I don’t want to be The Great Fitness Experiment anymore?]

*blink blink* If I could change one thing about myself to be whatever I wanted it to be – laws of nature be darned – I’d make it so I could make that *blink blink* noise that cartoon characters do when they blink their eyes in surprise or disbelief or heartbreak (probably over the fact …

Would You Wear These Crazy New “Springblade” Running Shoes? [All The Rules of Buying Athletic Shoes. And How I Break Them]

Have you seen these?! Adidas unveiled their new “springblade” running shoes this week and I’m kind of dying to try* them. From my highly (non)scientific analysis, they seem to be based on the same principle behind the carbon fiber “blade” prosthetics used by Oscar Pistorious in the Olympics. And I remember a big hullabaloo at …

The AMA Now Officially Recognizes Obesity as a “Disease” – So is This a Good Thing or a Bad Thing?

 Boom! Science in action. (P.S. I have sooooo totally done this. And the group crouch. I don’t know why. ) Ever felt that there’s got to be more to gaining and losing weight than just calories in/calories out? Well, it turns out the American Medical Association agrees with you. In a surprising and controversial decision – …

It’s Moving Day! [Take a Tour of My New House and My Neuroses as we Unpack Our Baggage, Both Figurative and Literal]

 The kids are as excited as if it’s Christmas Eve, except this time they’re getting like the most expensive Christmas present ever. Hope they appreciate their father and I enslaving ourselves to 30 years of debt for them! (I’m not above using mom guilt to get them to remember to stop peeing on the toilet …

How Old Is Too Old For a Boy to Be in the Ladies’ Locker Room/Bathroom? [The Zoo Incident]

  Well this would solve my problem, I guess. Good thing they specified it’s the men’s toilet though – just as I was dreaming about standing and peeing… The Zoo Incident started out innocently enough with my kids and I deciding to enjoy a beautiful Colorado day by checking out the new baby zebra at …

Another Mom Called Jelly Bean Fat – She’s Fine But I’m Not [Plus: 5 Things I Do To Help My Kids’ Self Esteem in a World That Constantly Wants to Destroy It]

Weird mom encounters at the park: Someone should write that book. After all the weird things I’ve seen go down in public spaces designed for children yet that manage to also make their parents (sometimes) act like children, heck, I should write that book. And it happened again the other day. While I am usually pretty good …

Answering My Most Awkward Question [In Being the Answer To Someone Else’s Prayer, You Will Often Find the Answer to Your Own]

picture credit “How many kids do you have?” is such a loaded question for me, for any mother who’s lost a child. And yet, being new, it’s one I’ve had to answer a lot lately. Normally I do some mental math and if the questioner is someone who I won’t likely see again sometimes I’ll …

Travelling, Vacation or Living La Vida Limbo: What do you eat when you can’t eat how you want? [Plus: What your movie theater candy says about you!]

“Chocolatey covered molar adhesive” TRUTH in candy advertising. Also: “Banana” flavored anything is vile. You hear me, Laffy Taffy?? Turkey, provolone and tomato on whole wheat “flat bread” (because… flat is so much healthier than poofy?) with mustard and mayo: Today I made a sandwich in the shower. Nah, I didn’t have a weird craving …

Help Me: How Do You Choose a Gym? [Plus: Top 10 Funniest Gym Signs!]

Choosing a new gym here in Colorado has been one of my top priorities since we moved here. I know that may sound silly to some of you but for me the gym is basically my second home. (Okay third home, church is my second home although since we’re technically not in our home-home yet …