We need to change some of our language surrounding food. I do my best not to use the words “good” and “bad” when talking about food. Except when something doesn’t pass the sniff test. Then it’s bad. “Good” could describe tastiness, it could describe healthiness, it could describe virtuousness. We’ve made some unfortunate connections between … Read more
The creeping crud is creeping around here. The Kid has missed two days of school. I’m just starting to get a little stuffy. The Climbing Daddy has been coughing a bit. This afternoon, The Kid and I needed something a little different. So we took coloring sheets and colored pencils out back on the porch, … Read more
I was the recipient of a random act of kindness yesterday. Even though it was “useless,” it made my day. Here’s what happened. There was A Thing I saw at Costco and debated buying for a friend. Debated a bit, decided with The Climbing Daddy that yes, we should get it. Went back, and it … Read more
TED has started a new podcast series called TED Interviews, where Chris Anderson interviews people who have give TED talks about their talks, and they get more in depth. I haven’t quite listened to all of them, but all that I’ve listened to have been captivating. (As of this writing, there are only six of … Read more
When I was very first starting out as a personal trainer, I used to run Black Friday deals in preparation for New Years. Eventually, I stopped, and if/when I have more services to offer, I won’t offer deals. Why? 1- Twice now I have been on the consumer end of “I just bought that a … Read more
I run cold. If I’m in a room with a lot of people and I’m comfortable, I assume that the majority of the people in the room are somewhere between a bit warm and uncomfortably warm. This is part of why living in Phoenix is a good choice for me (though the ridiculous amount of … Read more
The thing about families … it’s most often the people who are unpleasant who “win” because we don’t want to cause problems. We somehow take ownership of others’ bad behavior. When we avoid saying something or trying to change something, when we show up even though it’s awful and silently wait for it to pass, … Read more
This holiday is such a big part of American culture … I think that gathering with people who are important to you is important, and we’ve created such a culture of busy-ness that we need a holiday to make us stop and do it. I think preparing a large, formal meal is something lost (see: … Read more
This post is for anyone who will be hosting any type of gathering this holiday season, especially if it’s one—like Thanksgiving dinner—that has a very definite set of expectations around it. Lots of things can be good enough and everyone will be happy. The people who are not happy with good enough are never happy … Read more
When you are Other in your family—for whatever reason—holidays are stressful. I always felt trapped on Thanksgiving and Christmas, because “the holidays are about family” but my family was toxic. There was nowhere else to go when I was living at home, and it took me moving across the country to be able to set … Read more