4:30 Fragments

You know what's so great about blogging? And Facebook? It's that when you're awake because of an aching tooth that you knew needed to be fixed, but you've been ignoring because you hate going to the dentist and you still owe them for the last aching tooth fix, you can have a conversation, albeit it one-way, with friends or other people who happen to be sleepless, too.

And what's so great about Friday Fragments, hosted by Mrs. 4444s, is that I don't have to come up with one cohesive post. Just a conglomeration of what's flitting around my head will do.

We've had one fabulous extra-curricular week around here. Annie got a part in the school play. "Into the Woods." She's Jack's (of Beanstalk fame) mother. She's having a lot of fun with it. And who knew she could sing so well? Charlie's basketball team won two tournament games this week. Last night was a hard-fought game. They were down by 1 pt with very little time left. (I say 90 seconds, he says 40). Charlie scored a basket to put them up by 1. Then on the in-bounds pass, he stole the ball and scored again, putting them up by 3. They ended up winning by 5. Woohoo! 

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Everyone keeps telling me that I should watch "The Middle" and "Modern Family." Now that we have our cable and DVR back, I taped them. I'm loving Modern Family. The Middle is funny, but hits a little close to home. I can see Robbie in Brick (only Robbie's not quite as articulate); it's a little uncomfortable at times. 

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I think I am going to apply to be on The Biggest Loser with Mike. So what if I don't have 100 pounds to lose? As someone at work so kindly put it, I'm short so they should take that into account. But that doesn't mean I won't keep trying to eat right and exercise between now and then. 

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True confession: I still have Christmas decorations up. The tree and the stockings are down, but all my nativities are still up. I think I'm going to have to put "Do Not Cross" tape on the couch so I won't sit down until it's done this weekend. My plan was to spend my day off today putting it all away. But since I've been awake since 3am and I have to wake the family up in less than 90 minutes, I might need to grab a nap. Besides, I have to be on my A game to cheer on Charlie's team tonight. 

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I hope all of you on the East Coast are fairing ok in this latest storm. We've had more episodes of snow here than I can remember for a long time. But we only get enough to be annoying -- 3 inches here, 1.5 inches there. I'm sure I'll regret saying this, but I would love to get one, big, can't leave the house for 3 or 4 days snowstorm.

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Don't forget my Eversave.com giveaway for people in Central Indiana (or people who wouldn't mind driving to Central Indiana for some paint-your-own pottery). One lucky person will get a $20 gift certificate to Half-Baked Pottery in Indianapolis. Click here for details on how to enter. The winner will be drawn tomorrow. Right now, your chances of winning are very good.

I think that's all I've got for now, people. Have a great weekend. You can start by clicking the Friday Frags icon above and linking to a bunch of other fragmented thinkers.

The devil made me do it

Last night on The Biggest Loser, Alison Sweeney informed Bob & Jillian's team that they had been "destroyed" in last week's weigh-in by the "Uknowns," the team training with Ninja Guy and Boxing Gal. Ali gave Bob & Jillian's team a challenge. Win the weigh-in this week and no one would be eliminated, plus the winning team would win $10,000.

The team rallied, worked hard, worked together and came out victorious -- keeping their team intact and earning the money to split among themselves. But it got me thinking about motivation.

It doesn't seem that Bob & Jillian's team was motivated most by the money. It was kind of a nice bonus. They were certainly motivated by the promise of immunity for everyone, the chance to stay on the ranch for one more week. But it seemed to me that they were most motivated by pride, not wanting to wind up in second place again.

Then I started thinking about what motivates me to do certain things. In the case of last year's Go Red for Women Better U challenge, I was motivated to eat right and exercise in large part by the knowledge that I'd be parading in front of 1,000 people at the Go Red for Women luncheon. Being the the first-born people pleaser that I am, I am frequently motivated by a desire for approval, which leads to me to sometimes say yes to things when I'd really rather say no. Sometimes I'm led to do things out of a sense of fear (though that same feeling can stop me in my tracks as well).

As parents, we often get our children to do things by either holding out a carrot -- a late bedtime, extra videogame time, a treat at the store, or by holding a negative consequence over them -- early bedtime, no videogames for the day, an extra chore.

But as has been shown by the competitors on season after season of The Biggest Loser and in countless other life examples, those who are most successful at whatever they set out to achieve are those who find their motivation from within. So my question is where does that internal desire come from? How do we nurture it in ourselves? How do with cultivate it in our kids? 

What accomplishment are you most proud of and what motivated you to achieve it?

Because this is sort of thought-provoking post, I'm linking it up with Shell's "Pour Your Heart Out" meme for today. 

Biggest Loser: Makeover Week

Sorry for the late update. I fell asleep with my little guy just as the Biggest Loser was beginning and just woke up at 1:15am!

It's Makeover Week! And each contestant has to give an inspirational speech. To help prepare the contestants for their speech, Tim Gunn and Tabatha Coffey will give them fashion and hair tips.

The Makeover
Randy is arguing with Tabatha about the beard. I totally hope that Tabatha wins.

Rebecca's transformation - the before and after pics were striking. It's easy to forget exactly where these people started. Rebecca looks now a little like Ali Vincent. In her speech, she said that since she was 10 years old, she's always been chubby friend and sister.

Danny - A little color in his hair took about 15 years off him, though I can't help but think he looks a little like Fred Flintstone. A cute Fred Flintstone, but from Bedrock for sure. Danny shared that before he started TBL, his daughter said, "Daddy, I want to have a belly just like you -- I love your belly." If that's not a wake up call, I don't know what would be.

Allen - How do you make over a guy who is already bald? LOL! But he definitely cleans up good in a suit. He talked about being a firefighter charged with saving people's lives when fearing for his own.

Amanda - Ok, I think she got gypped in this makeover. Rebecca looked glam. Amanda looked frumpy. The shirt was awful and why the heck not put her in a dress that could show off her figure? I think Amanda's story is probably typical of many of today's young people. She had no tragedy that set her weight soaring. She just woke up one day and she was fat -- a lifetime of too much eating and not enough moving.

Rudy! Rudy! Rudy! What else to say? I just wanted to rub my hands on his facial hair-free face. And I finally figured out who he looks like. Tara from last season. Every time he smiles, I see Tara. Rudy shared that he lost his sister from cancer when he was 12 years old. Before she died, she encouraged Rudy to do something about his weight. That's a piece of Rudy we haven't seen or heard before

Liz - Love the new 'do. Very stylish and flattering to her face. She blamed her weight on everyone except herself. Her message to every wife, mother, grandmother is that you're worth taking a little time to take care of yourself every day. "I tried to take care of my husband, my kids, my business and somewhere along the way lost myself," Liz said. Yeah. That's a song I could sing.

The Challenge
It felt like the show should have wrapped after the makeover. But there was still work to be done. In tonight's first -- and only challenge -- the players had to pull themselves across a 700 foot ravine, sitting on a small platform suspended over the canyon. The winner gets to take their family for a two week vacation to the new Biggest Loser Fitness Ranch in St. George, Utah.

Poor Liz was freaking out -- and that's exactly how I would have been. "Do you swear to God I'm not gonna fall out of this damn thing?!" LOL!

Rudy and Amanda took the early lead, but I was really hoping Danny would shoot out ahead. Not to be -- Rudy won.

Commercial break with a preview of the new movie The Blind Side starring Sandra Bullock. Wow, Michael Aron, who plays a football player taken in by a southern socialite, had to lose 100 pounds before filming on the movie began. I'm amazed he was even considered for the role at 100 pounds overweight. I've been wanting to see that movie, but now I really want to see it.

After the challenge, Bob wants to know why Allen isn't winning all of the challenges. Allen admits to playing the game a little, letting others win so he keeps the target off his back.

Dr. Phillian goes to work on Rudy and tries to help him see what really got him to 400+ pounds. "I take in every problem and leave it there. And I eat." Hmmm...seems familiar to me...

Green week - tips include take your own mug to the coffee shop and buy local. Would love to talk about buying local sometime...Do any of you buy local? How do you do that? What does that look like in the Midwest? What fruits and veggies are available in the winter?

The Weigh-In
With only one challenge, the weigh-in seemed to come up fast. Bet the contestants felt the same.

Danny - lost 12, sixth week in a row that Danny has lost double digits

Rudy - He's growing that dang beard back. But he lost 16 pounds, so I guess I won't pick on him much about the beard. In 10 weeks, he's lost 134 pounds - most of any contestant to ever lose on campus.

Allen - Lost only 5 pounds. And I guess I'm over being mad at him for voting against Shay because I don't want to see him go home. I'm hoping that two of the girls underperform Allen to keep him safe.

Rebecca - Minus 3. I actually felt a little sorry for her.

Liz - Also down 3. That keeps Allen safe and definitely puts Rebecca below the yellow line.

Amanda - 9! She lost 9 pounds! Which is terrific, although I was hoping to see her on the chopping block.

The Vote
So it comes down to Liz and Rebecca. Liz has more work to do. Rebecca asked to talk to Rudy and Allen. As they leave the room, Allen tells Liz "you need to get some fight." And that's what Rebecca is doing. Fighting to save herself, telling Allen and Rudy that Liz has already gotten her second and third chances.

Liz finds Allen and Rudy and plays the age card. "I'm 49 years old and this is my last chance." And at 39, overweight and out of shape, I can totally relate and hope that Liz gets to stay.

You know, of all the product placements, the one I don't ever see myself trying is the Biggest Loser protein powder. YUCK!

Amanda votes for Liz. No surprise there. Danny votes for Rebecca, again no surprise. So it basically comes down to Allen and Rudy's votes. Rudy votes for Rebecca because of something she did when the teams were blue and black, saying she played both sides of the fence.

Rebecca goes down swinging, telling Rudy that if he didn't trust her, he should have said something before. She was so upset and I felt sorry for her. I think if Liz had been voted off, she would have been resigned to it. But Rebecca went kicking and screaming. In the 10 weeks she was on the ranch, Rebecca lost 71 incredible pounds.

The Transformation
In the transformation moment, Rebecca ran a half-marathon. She looks incredible. She's lost 107 pounds and hopes to open a gym for overweight children. Something about her transformation makes me feel hopeful and good inside. I think it's because I worried that when she left the ranch so upset, she would go home and eat those feelings away. But she triumphed and, I think, will be a contender at the finale.

Disclaimer: The professional communicator in me is being driven crazy by the fact that I'm flipping back and forth between past and present verb tenses. If it's making you crazy too, sorry. But it's now 2:40am and I'm just too tired to go back and fix it all. Forgive me?

Help Wanted

Ok folks. I feel like this day has lasted 72 hours. I still have a good 2-3 hours of work to do tonight. Then it's off to a conference at 6:30am tomorrow, returning home around 8pm tomorrow night.

Which means that I might be barely conscious to watch The Biggest Loser tomorrow night. So I'm looking for a guest blogger to write a wrap up of tomorrow's show. Write it however you want. Write it in rhyme. Make a true or false quiz out of it. I just ask that it's generally positive -- it's ok to be critical, but not nasty -- and you keep the language rated PG. And you have to send it to me tomorrow night.

If you're up to the challenge, leave me a comment. I'll give you an e-mail address where you can send your write up and a picture of yourself.

Thanks in advance, folks. Me and my already weary self appreciate it.