Biggest Loser lovers -- are you ready?

Ok, I have my DVR set (in case one of the kids needs something during the show, God forbid), NBC tuned in (in high def to make Mike happy), and keyboard at the ready. Catch you after the show!

I'm back. I couldn't stay away, so I'm blogging throughout the show. The question is do I hit publish after every segment or wait to the end. I might drive my e-mail subscribers crazy if I publish multiple times throughout. And I worked hard for those subscribers.

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Here it goes...Ed or Heba?

Holy cow Heba! She looks good! All right, she looks great! (Of course she hasn't opened her mouth yet...) She does need a little more support for the "girls," though.

Ed looks like a totally different person. Doofus or not, he does love his wife, which is endearing.

It's ED! It's ED!

Why did this happen? Because Heba has been nasty for an entire season and America is sending a message that nasty does not pay off.

They do look disappointed and they should be. Because it looks like Heba lost so much weight, she would have been a serious contender.

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Bringing out the old crew. Boy, those floors must be slick. Heba and Stacy have both slipped.

Guess I didn't know what I was talking about when I picked Tom & LT. They look like they could've used a few more weeks on the ranch.

Minor aside...couldn't they find a better dress for Allison?

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Contest -- win $10K and a BL prize pack. Guess what? It's overloaded nbc.com. Better enter via text from your phone.

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From the comments:

@Angie -- GMTA -- that preggo dress is so wrong! Didn't I just say that?

@MichelleF -- I'm glad I voted for Ed too. I don't begrudge Heba her progress, but I wasn't about to reward her behavior with my vote.

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Wow! If I lost 29% of my body weight, I'd weigh 315lbs! LOL! Sorry, inside joke. I really wouldn't. But no way am I gonna tell you what I would weigh.

LT needs to lose more than 105 lbs. Nope. But I wouldn't kick 87 pounds out of bed for eating crackers. Tom lost the mirror amount -- 78lbs.

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Jerry: Now there's a cop who looks like he's skipping the donut shop. Amazing difference.
Colleen: I thought she was whiney on the show, but she looks great now.

Shellay: I think she might be my favorite transformation.
Amy: She looks awesome. And so confident. What a difference from her "before" segment at the top of the show when she talked about being ashamed for anyone to see her. Beautiful!

Hey BL people: Can we get a new doc for next season? This guy kind of creeps me out.

Can Amy hold on to her lead? I think she meant Stacy. Wonder if that's a Freudian slip? Guess not since it's a live show.

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My apologies to those on the e-mail subscription. I decided to multi-publish this blog. I promise I won't do this again (at least until the American Idol finale).

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-115 for Jerry. What he gained in health is worth way more than $250K.
-64 for Colleen, two shy of de-throning her Dad. I don't think she's disappointed.

LOL! I'd never seen that clip of Shellay and Amy in the dressing room w/the too-small pants on. That's great!

-74 for Shellay. You know in the scope of the Biggest Loser show, 74 pounds doesn't seem like much. But what a difference in makes.

Can Amy C. lose more than 81? Yes ma'am she did! 104! Sounds like she's a crowd favorite.

OHHHH EMMMMM GEEEEE! Phil and Amy. Can't wait for Vicky to see them now.

There's Brady. Still don't like him.

And Renee. Her haircut is adorable! And probably good for at least 5 pounds.

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Here we go, Phil & Amy's weigh ins. Oh, he's totally bald now. Did I ever mention I have a thing for bald men? -151! 45% of his body weight gone?! I'm sorry for Amy C., but way to go Phil! Please let it be enough to keep Brady at bay.

Now Amy knocked Phil off the top with a 105lb. weight loss. That's more than 250 pounds of weight gone between them. You know there's some serious lovin' goin' on in that house!

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Drat! Phone call. It's my MIL. I love her, but she's gonna have to leave a message tonight.

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Brady has to lose more than 156. Please don't. Please don't. Holding my breath!

NOT EVEN CLOSE! Take that Vicky! I would love to see Amy be the one to snatch that $100K as a reward for all the crap Vicky gave her and Phil.

Renee's up. I like her so much. As much as you can like someone you've never met. -106 pounds. I think that has to be at least 4 or 5 100+ losers.

I didn't even recognize Heba. I'm pretty sure she lost more than 134 pounds. She was close to 300 on the first day at the ranch. I bet she's lost close to 150. Darn...I mean, good for her!

She lost 138 pounds! Nasty or not, she earned it. $100,000! Just please, please, let Michelle win the Biggest Loser prize...

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Ed's discussion about how hard the temptation of food is hit home. I would imagine that a naturally thin person wouldn't even think about the way a potato chip feels in your mouth. But it wasn't a stretch for me at all. He's right how hard it is when your demon is food. It's not like alcohol that you can swear off of forever. (He didn't say the demon part, I just expanded the discussion.)

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Vicky's reveal. If you can't say something nice...

Every time she wanted to quit or give up, she thought about...$$$$.

She's gonna be the superwoman. She did not learn one thing. Unrealistic expectations breed contempt. She doesn't get home until 9pm at night? Even she acknowledges that's not what she wants her life to be. I truly hope when this game is over, she gains some perspective.

And this "I've lost 2 pounds in 7 weeks"stuff? I smell more gameplay...

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Michelle's turn. Please, oh, please..

Nice product placement. Bet the Subway folks are pulling for Michelle now too.

Michelle just makes me feel happy inside. Please let the nice girl win.

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Here they are. Vicky. Again with the slipping. Is it bad that I laughed and hoped to see Vicky fall right on her butt? She doesn't really look healthy. And that dress? I'm biting my tongue.

Michelle. Now she is smokin'! And very healthy looking. And classy. (Except I could do without the feathery necklace.)

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A new season in January already? Hate to say it, but it looks like The Biggest Loser Freak show. I'm afraid Biggest Loser might be jumping the shark with this next season.

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Vicky's little winking and smooching? Blech!

Ok. Ed's up...

-139 pounds. 41% of body weight. Together, he and Heba have lost 280 pounds.

Vicky. Just typing the name feels icky. But I will say this. She knew what she wanted, right or wrong, and she worked hard to achieve it. But I'm not sure she learned what she needed to for this to be a lifelong change.

-101! Two pounds shy of taking over Ed. Ding dong the witch is dead! Skinny, maybe, but definitely NOT the Biggest Loser!

Michelle's turn. Breathe, Amy, breathe. She deserves this. Please, let her win this. She needs to have lost more than 100 pounds. I thought for sure that Vicky had it in the bag. I'm not taking anything for granted.

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From the comments:

@MichelleF. -- I agree with you. Michelle does look like the same person, just a thinner version of herself. And it is completely evident that what's on the inside really does show on the outside.

@Fox and Dawg -- (Great name, btw). LOL! You're right about the necklaces. Maybe they are launching own signature line of jewelry.

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This is it. Either Michelle gets $250K and the title or Ed & Heba go home with the whole kit and kaboodle.

Crossing my fingers, holding my breath!

YES! -110!

Nice guys do finish first!

Congratulations Michelle!

While visions of basketball danced in their heads...

After I put the boys to bed tonight, I walked back down the hallway to grab some laundry. As I reached for the reds, Charlie called out to me:

"Mom?"

"What Charlie?"

"When A.J. Graves made that deep shot from the nozone against the Flames, were the Bulldogs down by 2 or 1?"

"Um, I think you're gonna have to discuss that with your Dad."

Now I know what little boys always have on their minds before they become big boys with something else always on their minds.

Fabulous!

Apparently, I am FABULOUS! Or at least my blog is. Or at least Liz from Eternal Lizdom thinks it is. And so I thought I'd mention it here.

It's really a fine line to walk between being pompous and self-loving about one's own blog and participating in the love fest that I've come to realize makes the blogosphere go 'round. I think I've missed mentioning some other blog love that I've been sent. But I decided to do this one because in addition to acknowledging the fabulousness of my own blog, I get to name five other fabulous blogs and talk about five things that I think are fabulous as well.

So here goes:

Five FABULOUS blogs you should definitely check out:

1. Williams Family Farm - I will never again complain about my busy life with 3 kids. Lisa has 7 kiddos and lives on a farm living a life that makes me look amazingly pampered. She hasn't updated in a few weeks, but you try to raise 7 kids and blog everyday. She's got a year's worth of content for you to savor in the meantime.
   
   
2. Noobie/What's Noo - If you've ever found yourself confounded by technology, Mr. Noobie is your go-to guy.
   
   
3. The One-Minute Writer - Who said that brains are wasted online? (Did anyone actually say that?) Stretch your brain, and your fingertips, at this cool site.
   
   
4. Notes from the Trenches - I try to give the blog love to unknown bloggers, like myself, but I really do love this blog. Even if I am jealous at her blog fame. Someday...
   
   
5. The Adventures of Bittyman and IttyBitty Boy -- This blog is short and sweet. And generally just full of happiness.

Five things that I find FABULOUS:

1. Pedicures. I don't care if I get a pedicure at a fancy day spa, where I lounge in a robe while they serve me sparkling lime water; or if it's at the Chinese place in the strip mall, where I just hike up the ankles of my jeans and wonder if they are talking about me in all their foreign chatter. Pedicures are fabulous, especially when they use that razor thing on my crusty heels (sorry, hope no one is eating).
   
   
2. Diet Coke. In a glass. With ice. 'Nuff said.
   
   
3. The word "blogosphere." I don't know why I love it so much, but I do. Like when I first got married, I looked for every occasion to say "my husband."
   
   "Can I help you find something, ma'am?"
   "Oh no, I'm just waiting for my husband."
   
   Except there are a lot more opportunities to say husband than blogosphere. But it's still a fabulous word.
   
   
4. DVR. Whoever invented DVR should get a prize. All you Biggest Loser fans -- do you have yours set for tomorrow night?
   
   
5. Snow days. Because it's 17 degrees outside and I keep thinking how awesome it would be to not have to go to work tomorrow, I definitely have to say that snow days are fabulous.

What's on your fabulous list?

The 12 blogs of Christmas: #6 -- Unrealistic Expectations

A few days ago, we were talking about what Charlie could take to school to sell for "stores," a mini economy activity (fueled by play money) that the kids love and the parents hate because generally the kids come home with a bunch of junk that you have to sneak into the garbage little by little so they don't realize that it's gone. At least that's what I've heard other parents do.

Anyway, I suggested to Charlie that we make candy cane reindeer for him to sell at stores. While he wasn't at all interested in that suggestion, Robbie was all over it and asked me several times when we could make the reindeer. So, today while I was out, I bought the necessary supplies (candy canes, pipe cleaners, red puffy balls and googly eyes), came home and told Robbie tonight was the night.

He was all set. We decided to make 24 candy cane reindeer -- one for each kid and teacher in his class. He was on nose duty. I was in charge of the googly eyes and the pipe cleaner antlers. Then he gave each set of antlers a re-twist until he had them just so. That's how our process went -- for about 5 reindeer. Then he said, "You can do the rest, Mom. I'm going to watch a show."

Hey, now wait a minute! What happened to our mother-son quality time? So I tried to convince him to stick around a bit longer.

"But Robbie, we have to finish them all so you can take them to your friends at school."

To which he replied, "Oh, you can take them in Mom. I'm not going to school."

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We took the kids to a living Nativity last weekend. It was wet and freezing and a perfect night to stay inside. But the kids were bouncing off the walls and I decided we had to get out. Besides, the cold might freeze their joints a bit so they would be a little less bouncy, I reasoned.

So we drove to the ground of the hospital where the living Nativity was to take place. My eyes first fell on a huge white tent where the performance would take place and I muttered a genuine, "Thank you Jesus!" Inside, we were surprised (and pleased) to find free hot chocolate, popcorn and cookies, though I did have to remind the kids that concessions were not actually served at the birth of Jesus.

We took our seats -- another great surprise, as I thought we'd be standing -- and watched as the live camels and the choir got into place. The event started and Robbie came to sit on my lap.

"Look," I whispered. "There's Mary and Joseph. They have to stay in that barn because there's no room for them anywhere else. See the donkey with them?"

I began to feel all warm inside, not from hot chocolate, but from the joy of realizing that we were helping to shore up the kids' understanding that Christmas is not all about toys and wish lists, but is truly a celebration of Jesus' birth.

"Yeah, I see the donkey," said Robbie. "But where's Santa Claus?"

At your service

In the past 48 hours, I have had the pleasure of eating out at two restaurants. I mean REAL restaurants where the food was ordered from a menu I actually held in my hands, instead of one that is backlit and hung above the milkshake machine. And when I relayed my order, no one asked me if I wanted to supersize that. And I began think about how much a server can make or break a meal.

On Friday morning, I met my friends Beth and Denise for our weekly "therapy session." Rather than our standard Panera meet-up, we decided to go to Le Peep and treat ourselves to a sit-down meal. When I arrived, the other two had already been seated at a table by the window. I sat down with my back to the window. Our server, Cheri, came right over, took my order for Diet Coke and re-arranged the condiments on the center of the table, apparently based on where I'd chosen to sit.

After she left, I decided to switch seats to get away from the cold of the large glass window. When Cheri returned with my Diet Coke, she jokingly chastised me for moving to the new chair and then proceeded to re-arrange the condiments again. We told her we needed a little time to decide what we wanted. No problem.

When she came back to take our order, she'll plopped down into the empty chair (by the cold window) at the table. Beth ordered oatmeal and Cheri said, "Seriously?! Don't you want to be a little more exciting than that?" We all laughed. Cheri wasn't being rude, just playful. When I asked if it would be possible to get a hamburger, she said "No problem!" And when I changed my mind 2 minutes later after she'd written down all our requests, she appropriately gave me a pseudo hard time for being difficult.

Over the course of the breakfast, we learned that Cheri gives cool red and green bottles of wine to her friends for Christmas, except those guy friends who get the Budweiser Holiday beer in the special packaging. But she is stumped as to what to get her mother, who just buys whatever she wants or needs. So we threw out a few ideas, none of which passed muster with Cheri.

That's when Denise said that I should blog about it and see if any of the 4th Frog readers had any good ideas. Cheri thought that sounded cool, so I gave her the URL and told her I'd get on it. So, if you have any good ideas, leave them in the comments section for Cheri to check out.

When we left, I gave Cheri a Christmas bonus tip and thought how her friendly demeanor guaranteed that we'll be back to Le Peep for breakfast.

Then last night, Mike and I had an actual date that didn't involve using a coupon. Keltie's is the nicest restaurant we've been to in a while. I could tell this place was special because of the white tablecloths. Usually if there's white on a table at restaurant we're eating at, it's of the paper variety and comes with crayons for doodling.

Our server was Robert. (How can you go wrong with a guy named Robert?) It didn't hurt that he was handsome. Not hot in a youthful way, but handsome in a seasoned, I've lived a little way.

When we ordered soup and salad -- navy bean soup for mean and Caesar salad for Mike -- and said we'd wait until after we got that to order an entree, Robert didn't rush us. When he brought our starters, and we told him that we decided to split the crab cake appetizer and the horseradish crusted NY strip entree, he didn't act irritated.

Robert was attentive without hovering, making sure we had adequate water (me) and Diet Coke (Mike). Finally, when it was time for dessert, he brought the tray and convincingly told us that while he is a chocoholic, he highly recommended the mini cheesecake trio. He was right!

Mike and I both agreed it was one of the best meals -- and dates -- we've had in a long time. The food was delicious and the pace was perfect. And the one person that brought it all together was Robert.

Where Cheri made breakfast a great experience by her approachable style, Robert sealed the deal at dinner with his cordial yet professional demeanor. And since it will likely be a while before I am somewhere that my dinner doesn't have a number (as in, "I'll take a #3 with no onions and a large Diet Coke), I'm thankful to have run into Cheri and Robert when and where I did.

And NOW the winner is...

Oh Susan! I hate disappointing people. It goes against my nature to hurt someone's feelings. But it's past noon on Sunday and I still haven't heard from you to claim your RIDEMAKERZ gift card. So as much as it makes me uncomfortable to do it, I have to award the gift card to someone else.

Melanieinaz2003, come on down! You'll be the coolest stepmom in Arizona when your stepson opens his RIDEMAKERZ gift! Please contact me via e-mail at 4thfrog70 at gmail dot com by 8pm on Monday with your mailing address and I'll send your gift card along its way.

As I told Susan, if you want to take pics of your finished ride, I'd love to post them here for everyone to enjoy.

Merry early Christmas!

Operation: Comment!

I know many of you have been wondering what to get me for Christmas. I have a suggestion that is easy, free and way better than a virtual tchotchke on my Facebook page. It wasn't my idea. It actually came from Dad Gone Mad, a guy whose been on my blogroll almost since my first leap into the 4th Frog Blog.

He calls it "Operation: Comment!" Ok, well he actually calls it "Operation: Comment Your B***s/B***s off!" But you know I don't blog quite like that. Nevertheless, Dad's idea is that between now and January 1, we all embark on a bit of a blog love fest, leaving short comments on blogs that we frequent.

I've got about 20 blogs that I try to keep up with, at least once or twice a week. Is it any wonder I don't sleep much?! Visiting and commenting on each one every day would be crazy, even for me. But I could visit three each night.

Why is Operation: Comment so important? Well, it's not. Not important in terms of world security or a solution to end homelessness or even the answer to "what's for dinner?" -- though actually, you can find that information. Especially when Sharon is on top of Menu Plan Monday.

But Operation: Comment is important because it gets at what blogging is really all about -- making connections with people. It's pretty amazing how quickly the world can become smaller when I reach out and connect with someone over something we have in common -- or even something where we have differing opinions. I found Shannon (Gabi's World) through a Wordless Wednesday post. Now I feel like it would be cool to meet her someday, even though I don't have a clue where she actually lives.

Operation: Comment is also a good idea because it strokes the ego of bloggers like me who just want to know that when I hit "publish post," I'm not talking to the digital hand. Helloooo??? Is anybody out there?

I've been pretty lucky that many of the folks who find their way to this blog have been nice enough to leave a note. But you know how sometimes when you eat a potato chip, you can't just stop at one? I'm that way with comments. So I'd love it if you'd keep it up!

But don't just share the love with me. Leave comments on other blogs too. Not sure where to start? Check out the links in my blog roll. Or visit one of these folks:

• Dude...Seriously -- Keepin' it in the family
  

• Rest Stops and Diversions -- She's a brand spankin' new blogger. Let's give her some encouragement.
  
  
• Lynn's Addiction -- This blog will make you go hmmm...and that's a good thing.
  
  
• Eternal Lizdom -- This blogger and I have different opinions on lots of stuff. But I like her. Or at least who she is on her blog, which seems pretty genuine to me.
  

There are plenty of others (I can't list them all here). Click my "Follow Me" faces. Or google something your interested in plus blog, like "Scrabble + Blog." (You'll find this among others.)

Just be sure to let somebody know you're there.