Couch Chronicles

Steve and the kids left on Sunday for a week-long camping trip, and last night, it was just me and my other baby, the TV. Just a few short weeks ago when the Kate and Jack went to visit my mom in New Mexico, I really enjoyed sitting on my sinking couch and enjoying some down time.

But thanks to that quality "me" time, the bathroom scale has become my enemy.

So I decided to follow some recent health advice that was in the news about how keeping a food diary increases your chances of shedding a few pounds (you can also read about that and other good health topics on Health Editor Christina's Elston's Health-e blog). 

So here it is: my intake as told to Tweet What You Eat. This site isn't very scientific in its approach to calorie counting (a lot of it uses information provided by other "tweeters"). But it has a communal feel, and I like to browse around and see what everyone else is eating. Plus, I can set it up to tweet my phone, which might be just annoying enough to work.

My goal is to get on my feet with a semi-regular exercise plan and to clean up some bad habits (adios, bottomless chips and salsa at El Torito). It's always been pretty easy for me to stay disciplined when it comes to turning down those obvious gut-growers, but the steady habit of In N Out, dishing up a big scoop of ice cream for myself when I'm serving the kids and gorging on good sourdough have started to show – and it's not as easy to lose as it once was.

So here goes my first officially recorded delve into dieting.

 

Girl Power

"Margaret Corbin was the first American woman to be given a military pension. When her husband was killed in battle [during the Revolutionary War], Margaret loaded and fired his cannon until she was shot. Her left shoulder was destroyed, and chest and jaw injured."

This amazing little fact came to me via a cool new children's book that recently arrived at my office: Independent Dames: What You Never Knew About the Women and Girls of the American Revolution (2008, Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, $16.99). In the spirit of our Independence Day celebration this month, I thought I'd share this well-illustrated book that delves into the little-known contributions of women and their daughters during this tumultuous time in American history. Author Laurie Halse Anderson offers an approachable and fun look at history while reminding us that the war was not fought and won only by men. Illustrator Matt Faulkner provides a comic-book sensibility to the historic exchanges between the characters of the book.

So grab a copy, and remind your daughters how pivotal our role is in this world!

Starstruck

The L.A. Parent Shooting Stars Cover Kids event went off without a hitch a few weeks ago, and no doubt several of you are wondering when we'll have the results. The answer? Soon! We're working our way through the images as I type.

In the meantime, check out some of the pictures from the day (by L.A. Parent graphic designer Terresa Burgess), which included a gathering of some of the cutest kids and babies I've ever seen!

And while I'm at it, I'd like to offer a huge THANKS for all the sponsors and those who pitched in the for the day, including the staff at the Sherman Oaks Galleria, where the event was held.

They're Baaaack

Over the July Fourth weekend, we logged just over 2,000 miles to collect our brood, who were happily enjoying some carefree grandmother time in New Mexico. Every day, I would call them both to catch up on the day's news. With 3-year-old Jack, the conversation always went like this:

Me: "Hi, Jack, how was your day?"

Jack: "Mom? This is Jack."

He never neglected to remind me who I was talking to. Conversations with Kate went more like this:

Me: "Hey, Kate, how are you?"

Kate: "I'm great."

Me: "What did you do today?"

Kate: "Oh, nothing."

That's when my sister would grab the phone and rattle off the 13 activities they'd done before breakfast. 

But whether they sat around in their jammies till lunchtime or spent the day at the park, by the time I'd picked them up they had thoroughly entranced their aunts and grandmother – so much so, that my mom called yesterday to schedule another 1,000-mile trek for them next month.

Dance!

I know, I know: As busy parents we don't have time to sit around and watch silly YouTube videos. But this one currently making the rounds made me pause. I didn't feel as though I'd just lost three minutes of my life watching a cat chase a laser dot on the wall; I actually felt something afterward. Judge for yourself when you watch this man goofily dance his way across the globe (or pretend to, if you think it's a fake). As busy as we all are, it reminded me to:

• Keep life simple


• Travel


• Dance in front of people


• Dance in the rain


• Make up your own dance


• Do the dance you made up in front of people ... in the rain