Well, That's Just Disappointing...

How do you make an entire counties of teachers stay up until ungodly hours, band together in prayer chains, and then make them all cry hysterically in a matter of 12 hours?

Tell them snow is coming.

Oh yes.  It appears that NW Arkansas and SW Missouri is in for another snow-day free winter.  Oh goody! *Insert massive amounts of sarcasm*

All day, yesterday, every teacher in every school district in our area was keeping a close eye on the weather.  It was even worse once school got out.  Why?  Because we were given a slither of hope that we'd be getting snow...and not just a little.  That word was used that sends us all in a frenzy and causes crazy behavior like snow dancing, getting up out of our chairs every three minutes to check outside, keeping our TVs constantly tuned to the weather channel, and staying up until well past our bedtimes chatting on Facebook seeing what's happening where in terms of any snow sightings.  ACCUMULATION.

Oh, and we got it.  We got a whopping 1/2- 1" that accumulated enough on the windshields of our cars to be a pain in the rear end when we have to go out there to drive to school. *Sigh*

I guess I can't complain too much.  I am getting Friday and Monday off.

I remember the good ol' days from when I was in school, and the slightest dusting meant a snow day.  Heck, I even remember a few occasions when school was cancelled because there was snow in the forecast - and then we ended up with a few flurries.  I guess I'm now paying the price for those over zealous superintendents...and now there has to be actual inches worth of accumulation before there's even a consideration of a snow day.

In other disappointing news....anyone catch Biggest Loser this week? *SPOILER ALERT IF YOU HAVEN'T!*

I wasn't very happy this week. I really hate weeks with temptations...especially when there are people that eat and barely scrape by because they got the 2lb advantage.

That's what happened this week.  Francelina and Alex both participated in the temptation - as well as Jeff, but he only ate about 200 calories.

I was shocked to see Francelina participate, because she's been having a really good run.  Alex, on the other hand, drives me nuts - and tries to find any way possible to skate by on the coat tails of others.  Lucky for her, Francelina won the challenge - and then gave Alex the other 2lb advantage because she "took a risk".  Blah!

But that's not what bothered me the most.  I was not surprised when Francelina fell below the yellow line this week - that's karma's way of telling her she should have just stuck to her guns and not consumed 1500 calories of junk.  I was ticked off Alex got a high number, but I was even more ticked off when Mike had to lose more than 10lbs to be safe...and lost 10lbs.

I really thought that after the temptation, the rest of the house would let Mike stay and send Francelina packing.  He earned every pound of his weight loss.  Yet, no.  The group decides to send Mike home...because he's the biggest threat.  Well, hello Game Play - I was wondering when you'd show your ugly face.

The jerk of the week award goes to Jeff.  He and Mike made a promise to each other at the beginning of the show that they wouldn't vote for each other - no matter what.  Then, Jeff decides to think of competition, and then uses the LAMEST excuse as to why he voted off his roommate.  Jeff said he based his decision on the percentage of weight loss for the week.  Mike had the lowest percentage by 1/10th of a percentage.  YET, Francelina only got hers with a 2lb advantage.  So, Jeff was a total idiot when he voted Mike off for that reason... because the lowest loser was, in fact, Francelina.

I told you a few weeks ago that I didn't like that guy.  He's shady.  And now he appears to be a back stabber.  I don't have any love for people like that.

But, that's life, I suppose.

Oh well, it's that time to go and get ready for work.  I'm gonna look on the bright side and not focus on the fact that we lost out on a snow day, but focus on the fact that I have only two days left of this week and then I get to enjoy a nice, long, 4 day weekend.

Biggest Loser...Urm, Monthly Recap?

So, do you remember back to last season of The Biggest Loser where I would get on here each and every week and whine and moan about what a horrible season it was and how I was so sick of TBL and how, unless they made some serious changes to the next season, I wouldn't ever watch again?

Yeah, me too.

I blogged about that show EVERY week - even though I hated every minute of what was going on.

And then, I get what I wanted...a new season, a better season, and I've made one post about it in the 4 weeks it's been on.

It's not because I'm not watching.. because I am.  It's just that I DVR it and sometimes I don't get to watch it until the weekend or later in the week.

So far, I'm back to loving the show.  It's full of that team spirit, go-get-em attitudes, and emotional "grab a box of Kleenexes" breakthroughs I love so much.

In a matter of 4 weeks, most of the contestants have lost more weight than Anaconda did throughout the entire show...already hitting the 40lbs lost mark.  And that's the women!  The men, who are pretty big, are having great weight losses too.

I'm not going to sit here and recap the past four weeks.  I will say, that I'm sad about some of the people that have had to go home - but I'm so happy to see the progress they made once they left the show.

I watched this week's episode last night.

Each trainer, Bob, Jillian, and Dolvett started off with 5 players each.  All singles.  Before last night, Bob still had all 5 of his, Dolvett was down to 4, and poor Jillian only had 1 person left on her team.

The focus for the week was eating healthy on a budget.  Each contestant was given 10 dollars a day to buy a week's worth of groceries.  So, the blue team had $350 to spend on a week's worth of groceries, the red team had $280, and poor Danni - the white team - had a whopping $70.

Each team was able to buy their groceries all coming in under budget and were extremely surprised at how much they could buy with the money they had.

Huh!  They should think themselves lucky.  In our house, we budget $600 for groceries...and that's for an entire MONTH.  That's only $150 a week.  And we always come in under budget each month, and for the most part we stick with fresh foods...hardly ever do we buy prepacked meals.  Hubby insists on making homemade meals - and who am I to complain about that?

Even now that I'm eating much healthier, we haven't had to really change our buying that much.  I'm spending some money on Atkins products, which bumps our spending up a little - but being that I wasn't really eating breakfast and I was buying school lunches every day - there really isn't much difference in our spending.

Anywho, all of the contestants were given a little demonstration on how to prepare a home cooked meal for an entire family on a budget.  And it always makes me laugh how much product placement is now in the show.  If you don't know that Jennie-O is a sponsor of the show, you have to be missing half the episode.  I hear her name just about as much as I hear Bob, Jillian, and Dolvett's names.  Same is to be said for Planet Fitness and BodyMedia...which is just the maker of BodyBugg.

The challenge for the this week was that each team member had to collect ten 5lb "coins" from a pond and place them in designated fountains.  The red team and Danni (white team) gave it a great shot.  The same can't be said for the blue team, who didn't really put in that much effort at all to win.  Danni ended up coming out victorious and won a 2lb advantage on the scale for weigh-in.

I will admit, the blue team irked me a little this week.  There was a lot of whining, and some game playing going on... but Bob picked up on it and made them push it out of their systems.  I'm also not a fan of one of the blue team members - and that would be Alex.  There's just something about him that rubs me the wrong way.  Not anything like how Anaconda got to me - but he still bothers me just a little.

At weigh-in, the red team all pulled pretty good numbers losing 31lbs as a team.  The blue team got up there and BLASTED the competition with each player losing a lot.  The blue team had to lose more than 42lbs to be safe and managed to pull 51lbs lost as a team.  And then poor ol' Danni got up there needing to lose more than 4lbs with the 2lb advantage.  She did it by a landslide and knocked out a 9lb loss.  She didn't even need the advantage.

So, it was the red team up for elimination.

I will say, it was kinda nice to sit at home and not want any of the red team to be voted off.  They all worked so hard - and have worked hard since day one.  They are all so supportive of each other, and there hasn't been on ounce of game play from the team...that we've seen, anyhow.  In the end, it was Lisa - the mother of four - that was sent home.

I was sad to see her go, but Oh Em Gee... I couldn't have been happier to see her end of the show update.  The woman didn't even look like the same woman who started the show.  She had managed to lose 70lbs since starting the show - and looked FANTASTIC.  Don't remember those kind of transformations last season.

I'm just so happy to have the regular BL back.  Every supportive, emotional, heart-warming moment of it.

So, who else is watching?  What do you think this season?  Are you as happy as I am?

Biggest Loser Week 1 Recap **SPOILER ALERT**

Warning:  If you have not watched this week's Biggest Loser, but plan on it, then don't read.  I will be revealing what happened and who got eliminated.  Just fair warning so that I'm not spoiling anything for you if you have it DVR'd.

It's Baaaacccckkkk!

Yep.  Season 14 of one of my most favorite shows in the world is back.  Although, there for a while I wondered if I'd even watch it.

Does anyone remember last season?  Ugh.  Who could forget, right?  AnaConda.  The evil witch that took the show from one of hope and inspiration to something that reminded us more of The Jersey Shore.  It was a total soap opera - and that's NOT why most people watch this reality show.  Every other reality show out there has it's drama and fighting and whatnot...but NOT my Biggest Loser.  That's why, after the appalling excuse of a show last season - I really thought about quitting on my beloved show.

Thankfully, once I heard that Jillian was going to be back this season, I decided to give it another shot.  I've forgiven friends when they've upset me in the past - might as well do the same for this ol' friend.

I really feel like the producers might have learned their lesson last season, because this season seems like it's going to be chocked full of sappy, heart wrenching, grab a box of Kleenex goodness.  Which is the only reason I watch the show.  I want to see people change their lives.  I want to see the contestants work with each other, support each other, and get through their barriers to succeed.  And, let's face it... I also watch to feel inspired to get off the couch and do something for myself.

I had to chuckle to myself while watching the first two episodes and hearing that the show, this season, is going to challenge America to "Make small steps".  Hmmm...isn't that the goal that I set for myself?  Why, yes it is!  The other subject they are tackling this season is childhood obesity.

At first, I didn't know how I'd feel about their being kids on the show.  I mean, I didn't know how they would pull off trying to teach kids the importance of getting healthy without it being a weight loss competition for them.  I am so happy to see that they brought in three kids that will be a part of the teams - but not compete in any form of weight loss challenge.  They are immune from weigh-ins, red lines, and elimination.  They also don't live on the ranch, but come in for challenges and work-outs with the trainers.  Separate work-outs - not the crazy, move till you puke work-outs the contestants are going through.  Having the kids on the show has also perked the interest of Peanut and Butter to join me while watching.  Not that my children are obese, but I like the fact that they can watch with me and see how important it is for kids to stay active...and not live in the shadow of their mother.  Sad as that sounds...but the cold, hard, truth.

So, first night.  It was the night the 15 people who will compete were chosen.  I was in tears pretty early on when I was introduced to TC.  He was a father who had been in a car wreck two years prior.  His son was in a car seat behind him, and because of TC's weight - his chair had broken, causing him to smash in to his son behind him.  The result was a broken eye socket and a fractured skull of his poor little boy.  He made the promise to his son, while in the hospital, that TC would lose the weight if his son pulled through.  His son made a full recovery, with only a few scars to remind TC of the accident.

After the teams were chosen, it was straight to the first work-out.  And, OMG, what a work-out.  Puke, crying, and fainting galore.  I couldn't believe the amount of them that were hitting the floor - and only 15 minutes in to the work-out.  The vigorous work-outs separated the weak from the determined...and it didn't take long for one person to quit.  Yes, quit.  As in pack her bags and leave.  I always hate it when I see something like that.  I mean, there are so many people that try out for the show that would give their right arm and leg for a shot at being on the ranch.  And, on the first day someone gives up their spot and leaves.  Sad.

The worst part was, they didn't let that contestant take the spot of an eliminated player.  They still had a weigh-in..and still sent someone home.  Who went home?  TC.  The guy I liked so much...gone the very first week.  I have to say, though, I was glad to see the reappearance of the red line.  No deliberations, no vote... just the red line that determined the fate of the person with the lowest percentage of weight loss for the losing team.

On Monday night's show, the trainers got to design their own work-out space for their teams.  Poor Jillian was down to three members on her team.  Dolvett and Bob each had five.   Bob went with a CrossFit type work-out space, Dolvett went with a military style area, and Jillian did what Jillian does and created an area that used mostly body weight as the equipment.

Week two weigh in came quickly - and everyone was worried about the week 2 curse.  Because everyone loses crazy amounts of weight the first week, the second week everyone expects to not lose very much.  I was really surprised that most of the contestants pulled off pretty good numbers the 2nd week.  The final weigh-in came down to Bob's team and Jillian's team.  One of Bob's didn't lose anything.  Nada.  In order for Jillian's team to win, the white team's last person (Nate), had to lose more than 5lbs.  He stood on the scale and lost 5lbs.  Not enough.  He was sent home.

I don't like it when stuff like that happens.  I don't like it when they say "more than...".  If someone needs 6lbs to be safe, they should say "you need to have lost at least 6lbs".  But that's neither here nor there.  I really don't like it when someone who loses weight gets sent home, while a person that lost nothing gets to stay.  But, I guess that's how it goes..and there's nothing I can do about it.

So, now, Jillian only has two players left on her team - while Dolvett and Bob's teams are both fully intact.

I'm already excited for next week's shows.  That's a feeling I missed out on last season.  I only continued to watch last season because I was hoping that was the week that AnaConda was sent home.  This time around, I'm really hoping that my excitement continues to stem from wanting to see progress and change in the contestants. 

And changing the subject just a little.... I'm happy to report that when I got out of bed this morning, my legs were killing me.  I've been keeping with my "small steps" mantra this week.  Each time I walked the hallways at work, I power walked them.  I didn't realize how many times I walk the hallways.  But, apparently it's enough to make my legs hurt.  That's a good sign.  I hope.  We shall see.

But, now it's time to get ready for work.