How to hula hoop

In that dreamy place where my backside always looks luscious and my post-baby boobs are perky and all the stacks of random paperwork are not covering my kitchen counter and I really do love listening to hour after hour of NPR, I am also a phenomenal hula hooper.

In the real world, none of these things come naturally to me, including the gift of sending a plastic tube around and around my hips. It seems worth learning, though, and not just because it is fantastic exercise.Imagine how much more productive conference calls could be if you were secretly hula hooping in your office, or how superior you'd feel if you could keep one up longer than your barely walking child. Amazing, right?

To get there -- or at least a tiny step closer to my dream world -- I'll be watching this nice lady in the pink pants explain how to find the right hula hooping motion. She makes it seem pretty easy but I'm pretty sure I will be watching it at least 400 times before I buy that.

Do you hula hoop? What's your trick for keeping it up and going?