Biggest Loser 8 Fall Challenge -- for losers and maintainers!

[LuvBaloo]

Its great to see so much positive attitude at the end of the challenge!

I've already got half of the weigh-ins! I'll jump in tomorrow for the reminder post.

I'm planning a busy weekend getting things ready for Christmas.



Thanks to all the coaches! It was great seeing all the different QOTD!
Thanks to Dona for keeping us thinking healthy with the COW!
Thanks to Lisa for keeping it all organized!

Thanks to all the participants!

 

[corinnak]

Mini-goals: I always hope to lose about 1 pound a week - it sounds slow, but it is realistic and I'm not disappointed too often. Over the course of 8 months, it has added up to a significant loss, so even though I'm not usually a BIG loser, in the end, I get there too.

I used to say my goal was to be in the healthy weight range but really, I think I have been afraid to set my sights too high. As I get closer to my original goal (which had seemed like an impossible dream when I started), I realize I am not ready to be done with myself. I really want to ditch this "abdominal obesity" and get a waist measurement under 35", for the sake of my ongoing health.

So I looked back to earlier in the challenge to find what my goals really were at the start of it. It is so easy to lose track of where we were just a few months ago!

Turns out that even 1 lb a week was a little more than I was able to manage this fall, but I am going to go ahead and credit that to the addition of some serious muscle-building activity. Whether it's true or not....

I've lost a little over 10 pounds in this challenge but my waist that I wanted to get under 35"?? It's 31" this morning. I am not exactly Beyonce, but it's an improvement. My hip to waist ratio is still a bit high (cause my hips have shrunk as well) so there is more work yet to do, but I tell you, the number on the scale matters so much less to me at this point than the number on the tape measure and the number on the race clock, and I have seen a huge improvement in both departments since the start of Biggest Loser 8.

I know we are officially done and there are no more coaches, but I do so love the QOTD. Does anyone else have an interest in continuing something along those lines over the rest of the challenge? If there were a few of us, maybe we could have clusters of a few days posting a question. I'm happy to organize that since Lisa is out of town. If you're interested, send me a PM!

I'm going to go crazy and post one for today. If nobody answers it, well, I guess that will be it for that little idea.

Bonus Round QOTD: Earlier in the challenge, we had a QOTD about finding ONE part of our body that we liked right then. Over the course of the challenge, is there a new body part that you've discovered that you like or feel proud of?

I forget what I said last time - maybe my wrists? Those are stil fine and dandy in my book, but I'm really grooving on my legs recently. I actually like wearing fun tights with a shorter skirt and little boots. Probably it is ridiculous - a 36 year old woman dressing like a 13 year old. But DH seems to approve and it feels so fun, I just can't resist!

 

[tigger813]

This was a great challenge. It sure is helpful to talk to others with the same goals...staying healthy. Did I meet my goal? No...I am close though. This challenge got me to 130, my goal is to weigh 120-125. I have found that when I am at that weight(which I have been at before), I have no pain from my sciatic nerve or spasms in my lower back due to the 2 discs out. I just thought I would pass that information on to anyone who might be suffering with back pain that might be carrying extra weight, that you can fix it with out surgery. Once I got the pressure off my spine from the extra pounds, the pain stopped. I still have nerve damage due to the Foot Drop I have, but that isn't pain, just some numbness. I can live with that. I also wanted to let you know, that I started my journey in 2006, and I weighed 173lbs at that time. Taking the weight off does take time, but it will come off, you just have to keep doing what you know you need to do, believe in yourself, and the rest will fall into place.

What will I do to keep on track over this holiday season...
1. If I drink alcohol I will only have 2 drinks
2. If I have 2 drinks one night, I will not drink the next night. So, leave a days space between drinking.
3. I will walk 3 miles M-F at least, and more if I have the time
4. I will do my free weight exercises for my arms and my push-ups(one of the most important exercises you can do for your body, and you get some quick results..I use to hate my arms, now I can't wait to wear tank tops!)
5. Keep drinking my 75oz of water a day, this is totally key to loosing and maintaining a healthy weight
6. Focus on other things that make me happy, not the food of the season. Food comes and goes, friends and family are the important thing. I want to say healthy so I can enjoy them longer..sure I will enjoy some yummy holiday food, but to a reasonable amount.
7. I will have the BL9 start date circled on my calendar so that I am accountable for my first weigh-in, and keep in mind what that all means. We don't get a free ticket to just eat all we want just because it is the Holidays. I haven't made weight loss a New Years resolution for 3 years now, and I don't plan on making it one this New Years.

I want to wish everyone a Happy Healthy Holiday Season. BE good to yourself, take care of that bod of yours, and it will take good care of you for many many years to come!
redwalker

Great post! Love ya! Can't wait to get walking at the mall again after the holidays!

 

[tigger813]

Greetings from Snowy New England!

Haven't exercised in 2 days and forgot about my water intake! That would explain the headache I woke up with at 3AM! Baked cookies all day yesterday but didn't snitch much! Had some turkey vegetable chili last night for supper! More cookies and candy coming up today as it looks like we are snow bound at least for the morning! Still haven't been told if the pageant is postponed or not. Looking outside I know we won't be going! Not going through that again like last year of dreading the drive home!

My parents want me to do the 1 mile WATP with them today so I will get that in and maybe some Wii Fit. Still have lots of presents to wrap for the kids and my parents!

Not sleeping well lately. Been awake early every morning. DH got paged at 3AM so that's why I was up last night. Part could be the lack of exercise and lack of water so I really need to focus on that today. I was in bed shortly after 9 last night and was asleep by 10 I was so wiped out! Maybe I'll even nap today!

Well time to start something constructive for the day!

 

[LuvBaloo]

I know we are officially done and there are no more coaches, but I do so love the QOTD. Does anyone else have an interest in continuing something along those lines over the rest of the challenge? If there were a few of us, maybe we could have clusters of a few days posting a question. I'm happy to organize that since Lisa is out of town. If you're interested, send me a PM!

I'm going to go crazy and post one for today. If nobody answers it, well, I guess that will be it for that little idea.

Bonus Round QOTD: Earlier in the challenge, we had a QOTD about finding ONE part of our body that we liked right then. Over the course of the challenge, is there a new body part that you've discovered that you like or feel proud of?

Go crazy! I'm all for continuing some QOTD.
I am liking my calves again!

Glad to hear you are seeing results that you are happy with!

Greetings from Snowy New England!

Not sleeping well lately. Been awake early every morning. DH got paged at 3AM so that's why I was up last night. Part could be the lack of exercise and lack of water so I really need to focus on that today. I was in bed shortly after 9 last night and was asleep by 10 I was so wiped out! Maybe I'll even nap today!

Well time to start something constructive for the day!

Hope you get a few nights of good sleep in a row!

 

[LuvBaloo]

I'm going to jump in with a holiday QOTD:

Are you an early riser on Christmas morning?
Do you have a special breakfast for Christmas morning?

I've never been a really early riser for Christmas morning. Even as a young kid, my sister and I would sleep until about 7. By the time we were about 11 we'd sleep until 9.

So far my girls don't get up crazy early, and hopefully this year they'll sleep until 7 or 8 again.

We usually open stocking first, and Santa always leaves an orange in the stocking as well as some chocolates, so we get to eat the orange before having a couple chocolated. After presents are done, we'll usually have pancakes.

 

[LuvBaloo]

here's the list of folks who haven't sent in their last weigh in yet! I know at least one of you will be sending it in on Monday, but I've forgotten who

ALittlePixieDust
anut4disney
Cinderella Girl
donac
iluvtig2
jimmduck
MickeyMagic
mstinson14
NC Tink
sskem96
Worfiedoodles​

 

[tigger813]

QOTD: Loving my arms, back and shoulders!

BONUS QOTD: I make a bacon double cheese quiche for Christmas Eve/Christmas morning! I've been making it lately with egg beaters and turkey bacon but am going with maple bacon and regular eggs! Probably going to have a few extra pounds to lose after the holidays as I'm enjoying myself a bit too much this weekend.

The pageant was a successful with only 2 no-shows. Should have been postponed due to the weather but it's over and I don't have to worry about it anymore! Just finished making some cookie dough truffles and we're having chips and crackers and cheese for lunch. We're going to something with ground beef/turkey for supper! Still snowing here and I'm enjoying a mango rum and diet sprite!

Got more candies and cookies to make for gifts for tomorrow and throughoit the week.

Enjoy your Sunday and GO PATRIOTS!

 

[jennz]

Lynsey OMG!! You look awesome - I can't believe that change in only 2 months! I'm going to do pictures too.

This has been a great challenge for me. Did I meet my weightloss goals, no, but I made some great new friends and had some awesome support dealing with the emotional issues from the loss of my mom, which in turn kept me from gaining 20 pounds! I also was motivated to start the couch2-5k, use my wii fit more, and add some healthy habits (as a result of the cow, which I never reported but was always bouncing around in my head). I have made some positive changes and am ready for the next challenge!

Corrinak - if we have a last minute trip to see my dad over marathon weekend I'll be sure to let you know so we can meet up!

holiday QOTD:

Are you an early riser on Christmas morning? DD gets up and DH likes to sleep - since dd is an only our mornings are a little more sedate than what I remember growing up, but I try to get her to be a little crazy DH tells her she has to wait until 7, so that's when our mornings officially start. Sometimes I have a hard time waiting until then! My inner child comes out on Christmas morning! lol

Do you have a special breakfast for Christmas morning? I usually make some kind of casserole I can make the night before. I think we'll do a crustless quiche this year, my mom's recipe and dd loves it! I pop breakfast in while we start in on the stockings (same as you Shannon but our oranges are the chocolate oranges lol) so it's done by the time we finish our presents.

 

[jennz]

Tigger I was typing while you were posting...your quiche sounds good! I usually make broccoli and cheese b/c that's what dd loves, although dh is always begging for some meat in it. Maybe I'll cook him some bacon; I hate making bacon though, it's so messy to clean up. Oh well it IS Christmas!

And you're mango rum and sprite - YUM! That makes for a magical day!

 

[tigger813]

Tigger I was typing while you were posting...your quiche sounds good! I usually make broccoli and cheese b/c that's what dd loves, although dh is always begging for some meat in it. Maybe I'll cook him some bacon; I hate making bacon though, it's so messy to clean up. Oh well it IS Christmas!

And you're mango rum and sprite - YUM! That makes for a magical day!

You can do a google search for bacon double cheese quiche and it's the first one that comes up. I use a premade crust and I usually cut up the bacon in small pieces to fry it up.

I need another drink as I burned my finger making candies. It numbs the pain! I grabbed the chocolate out of the microwave and it had burned a hole in the bag and scorched my finger pretty good. It blistered immediately. Iced it and just put some vaseline on it and a band aid.

DD1 has a hard time sleeping when she is excited. I think she has been awake by 5 the last 2 Christmases and 2 Christmases ago she was up from about midnight on. She has to stay in her room until at least 7 though Santa puts her stocking in her room and she can play with anything that is sticking out of it, usually a Webkin. My parents go to an 11pm service about 30 minutes from here and get back to our house around 1am and then they have a glass of wine and go to bed. They are warned that the girls are not late sleepers so they have to get up by 8 at the latest. They girls come into our room around 7ish and we open our stockings together on our bed. It's become a tradition. DSil comes around 11ish. She stayed over 2 years ago when my parents weren't here for Christmas so the girls went and got her up early.

I am usually awake early as I'm excited to see the girls open their presents and I'm excited to see what I'm getting as well. DH would love to sleep in but he knows it's not going to happen on Christmas morning.

Time to find something to numb my pain!

 

[donac]

Good afternoon everyone.

Finally finished the tree. We did some yesterday but I was not happy with it and it is hard to decorate a tree at night. Too many dark spots even with the lights on. It is always so much fun decorating the tree because so many ornaments are from trips we have made. There is an ornament from DL from 1978 that we got on our honeymoon. I still haven't done the Christmas cards because I don't have a picture of the boys. I do have a great picture of dh and I from our trip in Aug that I am going to use in our Christmas letter. Before anyone complains, our Christmas letter is different than most. there is usually a picture or two and then a short paragraph on the boys and us. The font is usually 14 so it doesn't say much just enought to keep people interested in what we have done through the year. Very short and you can read it in about 3 minutes. DH hates the really long ones. We have afriend who doesn't send hers out until Feb and it is 2 pages long with size 10 font. It is also very philosphical(sp) and that drives him crazy.

Are you an early riser on Christmas morning?
Do you have a special breakfast for Christmas morning?

My sons are early risers. We always open the presents first, then we get dressed and go to church. This year we have to go to 7:30 mass since I will be the lector for the mass. After church if we don't have too many things to do we have gone out for breakfast. If not we will go get bagels and eat while we finish things up. Then we will open stockings.

Well I have to go hem some curtains. I will not get any rest from dh until I do. This morning dh went out to shovel the back porch so the dog could go out. I got ds2 up so that he could help me shovel the front walk and part of the driveway so that dh wouldn't do it. He is still recovering from hernia surgery and we didn't want him doing too much. SO we spent about half an hour shoveling. We didn't get our entire side walk because that is too much so we went straight out to the street and the end of the driveway so I can get out tomorrow. BUT as soon as we came in from shoveling he asked about the curtains. Give me a break

I am going tomorrow with ds for his shots. His passport came yesterday in the snowstorm. We will send for his visa tomorrow and by the end of the week all he will have to do is pack and get some spending money. Thanks for all the pd for his passport.

Have a great evening everyone

WIll be back tomorrow. I am not going in because I am going with ds to get his shots. I am hoping for a snow day so I am waiting until the last moment to call in. After getting 20 inches I think we may have one.

 

[pjlla]

Good evening all!

I spent a boring/frustrating morning at the mall with the kids so that DD could FINALLY do her Christmas shopping, but it is finally DONE and she is wrapping it all right now. I had my shopping done a bit ago, but of course, I found a few last things to buy... both gifts and stuff for the house. We got to the mall fairly early and thanks to the prediction of possible snow, there weren't a ton of people around, so we got through without too much trouble.

We spent 7 1/2 hours at her swim meet yesterday, so we were unable to do our shopping yesterday, as originally planned. In fact, other than my good 70 minutes of exercise and her swim meet, I got NOTHING accomplished yesterday.

We are finishing the tree this evening, come h*ll or high water! Most of the other few decorations I wanted up this year are hung on the walls and such, so it is just DD's last minute wrapping and the tree to decorate and we will officially be ready for the holidays..... except for the DISASTER area that is my house right now! But I am not scheduled to work tomorrow or Tuesday, and I will probably say NO if they call... so by the time my parents arrive on Tuesday or Wednesday, I should be 100% ready! But somewhere in this time DD needs to pack for her trip to Tampa (she is going down to visit her cousin and she leaves the afternoon of the 26th) and I need to go buy Christmas groceries.

I have changed my holiday menu. DD and DS groaned about the surf and turf idea. DD doesn't eat seafood and DS doesn't like shrimp... and they both thought that steak tips weren't "special" enough for Christmas. Plus now DH tells me he doesn't know what TIME on the 24th he will be arriving back home. I had originally thought he might be here all day. So if he can't be here in time for dinner before 7pm church service, I am going to move our "big" meal to Christmas day. And I don't want to have to hold over the shrimp too long, etc, so I am resorting to cooking a ham. BORING!!! But everyone else is okay with the idea. I might still do the twice-baked potatoes because I can probably do those up ahead and just heat them through for the meal (I hope). And both of my parents seemed to that a turkey or a ham was kind of "expected" (not in so many words, but I tried to read between the lines). I'm disappointed because I was looking forward to the baked stuffed shrimp.... but maybe for New Years??



Bonus Round QOTD: Earlier in the challenge, we had a QOTD about finding ONE part of our body that we liked right then. Over the course of the challenge, is there a new body part that you've discovered that you like or feel proud of?


I'm thinking that I probably said that I liked my legs last time. Even when I am really heavy, my legs are pretty decent.

Now I am going to say that I am starting to like my arms/shoulders more. I have been working on them at the gym (weight-assisted chin-ups and dips and other upper body weight training) and I think they look okay. They still have that "chicken flap" thing on the back on the upper arm, but short of surgery, I will always have that to some extent. Just a part of the aging process I suppose.


Are you an early riser on Christmas morning?
Do you have a special breakfast for Christmas morning?


I was always a VERY early riser as a child. In fact, I can remember be awake by 3am! But my kids are not particularly early Christmas risers. I would say that they are RARELY up before 7am on Christmas morning. But that is early enough. Plus we don't usually have anywhere that we have to be during the day, so it doesn't always matter how much time we spend. Our Christmases have changed over the years, so we don't always have a "MUST FOLLOW" schedule. When DD was very little, we spent Christmas eve/day with my parents. Then when she was a bit older and we had DS, we wanted to be in our own home for Christmas eve/day. And we would visit DMIL later in the day and see my parents later in the week. Then for a few years unmarried DBIL would come up early, early on Christmas morning to spend it with the kids... I don't think he particularly cared about Christmas so much, but the kids were always afraid he was "lonely" on Christmas morning so they invited him over. He would only stay a few hours and have not even have breakfast with us.

DBIL has his own family now and DMIL doesn't always want us down on that day, so last year and this year we invited my parents up to spend Christmas eve/day with us, since otherwise they would be alone at home. (My DB comes up later in the week with his family and we spend several days all together at my parents around New Years.)

WOW.... I really rambled there!

Breakfast has changed over the years too. But we always have cinnamon rolls (Pillsbury type... I am NO baker!) because DH loves them (and it is the ONLY time during the year I have them at home). And we usually have some sort of eggs/egg casserole for our main dish. For years it was just scrambled eggs and bacon. Then last year we had an egg/cheese/potato casserole. This year it will be quiche (one with regular eggs and cheese and one crustless with egg whites and light cheese and veggies). And I just asked the kids and they said they LOVE the cinnamon rolls too. Guess I am the only one who doesn't like them. I suppose that is to my benefit when we are talking about calories!!

Well... I told the kids to meet me at the tree by 7pm to get the decorating finished so I think they are waiting for me..........................P

 

[pjlla]

Good morning friends!

Not much action here! I suppose everyone is busy getting ready for the holidays! I was just jumping on to say hello! My message will be quick because our keyboard appears to be broken so I grabbed DH's "ergonomic" keyboard from his work station and I am having a terrible time with it! I have to retype every word!! ICK!

Our tree is mostly decorated. Just need to throw on some tinsel and we're done. Presents are all wrapped except 2... one needs birthday wrap and one is large, so I will wait until I carry it up on Christmas eve to wrap it... no sense in carrying it up twice! I got in a 50 minute run on the TM this morning, so that is out of the way, at least. Laundry and dishes are caught up. So now onto the real cleaning!

I hope everyone on the East coast got themselves dug out! That was quite a storm many of you got and I am SO happy that it missed us here in NH!! The dusting we got on Sunday was more than enough, thank you!! I feel badly for all of those stranded travelers in the airports. Holiday travel is difficult enough! DD flies out next Saturday.... they are predicting mixed showers late Friday, but her flight is midafternoon on Saturday, so she should be okay.

Well.... my vacuum cleaner is calling me!! I'm going to pop on some Dis-Radio and sing and dance my dirt away today!.................P

 

[princessbride6205]

Bonus Round QOTD: Earlier in the challenge, we had a QOTD about finding ONE part of our body that we liked right then. Over the course of the challenge, is there a new body part that you've discovered that you like or feel proud of?
I'm starting to like my waist. There are a number of shirts now that accentuate my more defined waist. I still have mid-to-lower tummy flab I'm working on, but the waist itself looks pretty good.

Are you an early riser on Christmas morning?
Do you have a special breakfast for Christmas morning?
It depends what you consider early! DD is usually up by 7am and it's my dad and mom's challenge to keep her from seeing the unwrapped gifts from Santa in their open-plan house! My sister, DH & I go downstairs by 7:30 or 8am to start opening gifts.
Every year we have Christmas Tree Bread for breakfast. It's a lightly sweetened bread dough that we roll into golf ball size segments, then you put all the little dough balls together in the shape of a tree. Once it's cooked, we make an icing of powdered sugar and milk, drizzle over liberally, then sprinkle with red and green sugars. YUM!

 

[50sjayne]

Hey I'm reading backwards to try to catch up. Only have a few minutes.

Bonus Round QOTD: Earlier in the challenge, we had a QOTD about finding ONE part of our body that we liked right then. Over the course of the challenge, is there a new body part that you've discovered that you like or feel proud of?

My hands. I'm gonna start using some moisturizer, maybe at night. Got my ring sized and they cleaned it and it looks so pretty.

This was a great challenge. It sure is helpful to talk to others with the same goals...staying healthy. Did I meet my goal? No...I am close though. This challenge got me to 130, my goal is to weigh 120-125. I have found that when I am at that weight(which I have been at before), I have no pain from my sciatic nerve or spasms in my lower back due to the 2 discs out. I just thought I would pass that information on to anyone who might be suffering with back pain that might be carrying extra weight, that you can fix it with out surgery. Once I got the pressure off my spine from the extra pounds, the pain stopped.

I second that. I still can strain my back fairly easily (I need to work on strength) but the pain isn't bad, and I heal up much faster. When I was 40 #'s heavier I was in constant pain.

Are you an early riser on Christmas morning?
Do you have a special breakfast for Christmas morning?

Oh yeah. We have to deal with grumpy husband (he is an awful awful person in the morning) but the presents make up for it. And thanks for the breakfast question, I'll get them some apple fritters for in the morning.

6. Focus on other things that make me happy, not the food of the season

Yep.

Have to throw in some color-- Last night my sweet angel of a fluffy redhead girl kitten

brought in a nice worm for us. Well, we acted accordingly and praised her mightily for bringing us that nice meal. Well, she was so happy with us she brought in 2 more. Last night there were 3 big long worms crawling around on the kitchen floor lol. Great for snacking control!

 

[corinnak]

Crazy, crazy weekend! I did 11 miles on the treadmill last night - that's the equivalent of 2 hours. Then afterwards I felt just....dreadful. Icky stomach. Which is very unusual for me. I'm all better now, though, thank goodness!


Are you an early riser on Christmas morning?
Do you have a special breakfast for Christmas morning?

My family is fairly divided on this subject. My older son (11) is an early bird. I'd be surprised if he slept past 5 or 6 on Christmas. He is a fairly patient boy and used to being up waay ahead of everyone else, but he still has to wait a long time on Christmas Day. My younger son and I are kind of middling - 7 or 8am is when we naturally wake up. My DH would just as soon sleep in until 10. So it's always a bit of a question as to how things will go.

My kids favorite is whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes. They say they are the best pancakes in the world. Which is so sweet. We usually get stockings before breakfast, but really need to eat something substantial before we dig in to the presents, so I will probably make pancakes and eggs for those that want them.

I have a huge pile of wrapping I need to get to - we still haven't sent gifts to out of town family yet which is, frankly, the part of Christmas that I like the least. You have to send stuff. But it's hard to shop for people you rarely see and you don't even get to see them enjoy it. Ah, this modern, spread out world we live in.

I loved reading about everyone's Xmas mornings! Great QOTD, Shannon!

Here's an easy one for today:

QOTD: What is your favorite fruit?

Currently, I'm in love with the clementines. Specifically the "Cuties" brand. They are sooo amazingly good. Pomegranates are a close second this time of year. Lots of fun to eat, and I just read a substance in their seeds may protect you from sun damage. Weird, right?

 

[LuvBaloo]

Jumping on to start my day off getting some motivation!
I'm happy with the amount of laundry and clenaing that got done around my house this weekend, but I only part way done wrapping and haven't done any of the baking yet. That's okay, there's still a few more evenings. I decided yesterday was the day to do an updated family picture so DH, myself and the girls got all dressed up to pose for a picture. DH set up his tripod and we got a picture using the timer on his camera. Today we'll get it printed out and will have a new family picture to give to my mom. We haven't given her a new 8x10 since we had our youngest DD (who is almost 5 )

Thanks for sharing your QOTD answers.

tigger813 - glad the pageant was successful!

donac - a photo letter sounds great! Glad to hear your son's passport came through!

pjlla - I vote you get to pick the New Year's Menu since the rest of the family picked Christmas!

princessbride - that Christmas tree bread sounds delicious!

50sjayne - I'm so glad I don't have animals bringing me worms! I'm very wuzzy when it comes to squirmy things

jennz - I think you and mikamah are so inspiring to be sticking with your goals while dealing with the loss of your mothers. I hope 2010 is an easier year for you

 

[LuvBaloo]

Corinna - I always forget about whole wheat flour when I'm making pancakes. I should try using some. Isn't it great when kids love their mom's food!

Here's an easy one for today:

QOTD: What is your favorite fruit?

this time of year its mandarin oranges, but I also love fresh pineapple and firm red delicious apples.

 

[pjlla]

Anyone got a big shoulder I can cry on? I am having such a frustrating day. After FINALLY getting the stupid tree decorated last night, it FELL OVER today!! And to add insult to injury, the fall broke two of my favorite ornaments. One was a handmade glass ornament that DH got me our first year of dating. The second was a large Mickey head ornament that DD got me in 2005 to commemorate our trip to DL that year. Plus all of the water spilled out of the tree base and soaked three of my already-wrapped gifts. I just sat on the floor and cried for a few minutes. I just don't need this frustration right now.

I got the STUPID tree back up and adjusted the base and all seemed well so I redecorated and was about half done and it fell AGAIN!! And of course, it broke a few more ornaments.... a glass angel that DS got me a few years ago and it broke bits and pieces off of other ornaments that can probably be glued back. And lots of those glass balls broke, but other than the frustration and mess, I don't care about those.

I sat and cried AGAIN and yelled to God that I had had enough already!! I just want to get my tree finished and my house cleaned up so I can stop stressing about it.

My tree skirt got soaked, so it is in the washer now (thank goodness it is washable). My carpet also got wet, so I have to wait for that spot to dry before I can vacuum there. And I have no Superglue, so the broken pieces will have to sit and wait until tomorrow.

DS will be home in an hour and then we have to leave again at 3pm to run to the bank and pickup DD for swim... then I will run an errand (to buy Superglue!) while she swims and then I will pick her up early to bring her to her Rainbow Girls Christmas party tonight. I have managed to only get 2 rooms in my house reasonably clean and I have NO Christmas groceries in the house. All I can say is Thank GOODNESS that it is just my parents coming and not any in-laws.... I would be freaking out!

Thanks for listening.

QOTD: What is your favorite fruit?

I love fresh apples... always have. But by spring the apples are pretty icky around here. I have a hard time thinking of a fruit that I DON'T like. But apples would probably be my number one pick, followed by green grapes, bananas, kiwi, blueberries (fresh and warm from the sun), cherries, pears, clementines, pineapple.

Well... I can't type any more because this STUPID ergonomic keyboard is driving me nuts. PLus I need to hit the shower, even though I am NO WHERE NEAR DONE with my house work. oh well.......... ..............P