200+ Hot For Halloween!

Lacey: No, it's not a book report. It's a 20 page analysis. I am on page 11. I have no clue what to write because I can't figure out any other themes.

I hate English instructors, seriously, it couldn't be a 3 page book report/summary? I could do that in my sleep, they have the drawings, they battle, the districts, blah, blah, blah, see I can so do that! But no, I have to take college lit classes.

Sorry I'm really b * t c h y about school lately.

Hallie - the book has a strong female lead character that self sacrifices for family (so her sister doesn't have to go).... She breaks rules to feed her family and gains skills that help her do well in The Games... There is a love triangle... Compassion for others (singing chick that dies)... Unexpected team work.. Bucking the system so both of them live... What's not to love about the book... Maybe you should google and Wikipedia the book to gain insight into themes, then write about them. I had bookclub tonight on John Grisham 's "The Confession"... Several members thanked me for suggesting "The Hunger Games" last month - they loved it. Not sure what else you need... 20 pages does suck..

Sarah (rain) – Heehee thanks! I FELT adorable

Hailie – Yay for C’s instead of D’s!!! But now I have all kinds of questions for you! What’s going on with U of M? Whatcha gonna do in Atlanta? Friends take awhile to grow on you… and vice versa. Maybe they’re trying to figure out if you care about them too Your cousin… ugh. New clothes… I have no idea I’m still trying to fit into old ones :’( About your fight with your mom: maybe try to make her understand that you are doing this not just for fun but for your health! Great job on saving up that much, btw, that is quite an accomplishment!

Kendal – That BK billboard was funny. My husband hasn’t eaten fast food in three years (fast food being McD’s/JintB/BK type places, Taco Bell, KFC, etc). Even though he doesn’t count sandwich places like Subway, and he doesn’t count pizza as being fast food, it’s still pretty impressive. I can’t help stopping at McD’s once in a blue moon for their Bacon Egg n Heart Attack Biscuits when I’m super hungover, but he’s always been resolute. Now with MFP, it REALLY puts it out there that this stuff is NOT GOOD STUFF. But anyway… Winter ONEderland… YES!!!!

Nava – “Shedding the Stuffing” is perfect!!!! I go to Macy’s for work clothes (haha maybe I’m a little biased but forreal it’s good stuff!). I think that the Style&Co brand is contemporary and cute but still cut forgivingly for real women.

Amy – Ooooooh girl I hope you feel better SOON! Thanks for the compliment I like to keep busy or I’d go out of my mind worrying about my hubby when he’s gone. And I really really like being around people. Your cake sounded delicious and I’m so j that you’re so far into Game of Thrones. I’ve only read the first book so far but was hooked. I just need tiiime… Speaking of time, I like that you’re also in a weird time zone It makes me feel less isolated all the way over here in the middle of the Pacific knowing that another friend is also far from the mainland

Katheryne – Thank you for the compliment But YIKES sorry to hear about all the sickness in your house! Feel better soon lady! WHAT is WATER Zumba??? It sounds AHmazing. Oh but boo for it being on the other side of town – bleh! We call the caps “beanies” too in AZ/CA, I’m not sure what they’re called in Hawai’i because it’s never cold here haha, but I have never heard of toboggan (besides as a sled). But just did a search and apparently we’re ALL wrong, the hat’s official name is a “Tuque” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuque. Although I like Victoria’s “Sex Hat” hahaha! Learn something new every day

Jessi – Thanks :-D I’m super excited for you to get your treadmill! Glad your preFIL is doing better! Where is Nerd from that he hasn’t seen snow? I like to visit snow, but I don’t think I would like to live in it. And awesome job on your radio guest! That’s such a great feeling!

Lacey – That recipe looks tasty, can’t wait to try it!

Hosanna – I DID have an awesome time, yay indeed!

Sarah(WnT) – Bikram sounds like an incredible experience and I cracked up at your reasons for loving it (#4). Had you done regular yoga before you tried this? A lot of my skinny minnie friends swear by bikram, but it sounds a little more intense than I’m ready for just yet. I’m so happy your friend is doing better and that you get more of a break; did you guys decorate her helmet?

Viktoria – Your “sex hat” made me laugh. Thank you I think I was horrible at kickball as a kid because I just didn’t understand what was going on lol. I didn’t really get anything about sports til high school.

Okay I think I’m all caught up, sorry if I missed anyone.

I had a really hard time sleeping last night (hubby still gone) but man, I did not have a problem sleeping this morning. Sleeping right through the first two works of my work shift. Oops. Didn’t we just talk about not liking mornings? Yikes. Anyway it was fine but I had to stay late and make up the hours, so I didn’t have time to work out in between that and my Junior League meeting like I said I was going to. Boo.

BTW, the meeting went GREAT and our speaker was good. We also had one of our members (also a survivor) speak to the league and she made our eyes water and our hearts ache. She was phenomenal. Please ladies, don’t forget to check yourselves and check yourselves often! You can’t abdicate your health to someone else like a doctor – you are the only one who has YOU as your number one priority. If that made any sense.

I do want to gripe about something though. My committee in this league is responsible for putting together monthly community events – we take weeks or months to prep for each one, but it is supposed to impact a number of women and also be done in a day. We ask a certain number of members to come and volunteer at these events each month (that’s one of the ways to earn their “Ways and Means” points that are necessary to keep them in good standing). They don’t have to do any prep work, just show up and perform some simple jobs. Anyway, our event next month is at a homeless shelter, and we’re doing a sort of a health expo for them – talking to the kids and parents about general health and nutrition, doing “cooking” classes with the kids and doing stretching and zumba instruction for the ladies. Well, one of the members was like, “Where is this place? Oh it’s in Chinatown? Can’t they do it somewhere else? Nobody wants to go there. Why don’t they make the people go somewhere else instead?” I was like $&#&$*#%^#%*!!! Well, in my head that’s what I said. I explained to the woman that the neighborhood was poor but it was safe. We had actually done an event there in April and had NO PROBLEM getting over 20 members to come participate. The facilities are great, and it wouldn’t make sense for us to spend money RENTING a different location, TRANSPORTING the guests there, and INSURING the whole thing when we could just use the absolutely sufficient place they had. ARg. Who are these people and how do they think they’re going to make a change in the community if they don’t want to GO INTO the community?!??!? Then the lady made some comment about how it was because of all the home foreclosures and I at that point was just like, “yes, it’s the foreclosures’ fault for AAAAAAALL these homeless. I’m going to get back to my table now.” Okay I’m done ranting.

Well, I didn’t exercise like I was supposed to and I’m reeeeally tempted to just go to bed because I am under my calories anyway… but I SAID I was going to exercise… so off I go to do some Turbo Jam.
Have a great night/day ladies!

Victoria: I wondered about food poisoning when I first got sick on Monday but I eat the same foods as The Kid and The Hubbs and they are both fine. My dogs only eat dog food (we are pretty strict on the no people food for dogs rule) and I am not in the habit of joining them for dinner (ew). I haven't been to the doctor for me, if I'm not straightened out by tomorrow, I'll go and see what they say (military doctors around here are pretty apathetic though). So far, my day of liquid diet has been good on the no diarrhea front but my tummy still hurts (I would imagine that would be due to the cramping last night).

Tasha: It sounds like some of your committee members are a bit brainless when it comes to homeless people. I'd be irritated if I was you so I think your little rant was totally justified.

Lacey: No, it's not a book report. It's a 20 page analysis. I am on page 11. I have no clue what to write because I can't figure out any other themes.

I hate English instructors, seriously, it couldn't be a 3 page book report/summary? I could do that in my sleep, they have the drawings, they battle, the districts, blah, blah, blah, see I can so do that! But no, I have to take college lit classes.

Sorry I'm really b * t c h y about school lately.

What about the social and political and religious aspects of the book? The fact that Panem is divided into sectors, each of which is responsible for providing a very specific kind of product that supports The Capitol. The sectors also kind of have a range of social standing in Katniss' eyes as well, until she sees that The Capitol people are a whole other social class of crazy and basically those sectors sole goal is to support the capitol. Politics is fairly self explanatory I suppose..and then the religion part. Well there isn't out and out religion but you can spin a page on it - people worship the game.

Hope that helps!

Lacey: I totally dig your comment about people "worshiping" the game.

Victoria: Yes, the dogs got sick first (actually, Sofie got sick and then a few days later Loki got it). Happily, I have shared the responsibility of cleaning up the dog messes with The Hubbs but he has a super-powered immune system and mine has always been a little wimpy so, you could be onto something there. As for neighbors or work people, none of them are sick. I asked Trav to check around at work after I got sick as I was at a party with a lot of work people on Saturday night and then started feeling a bit ill on Sunday but no one else was sick. We had an e. coli outbreak here in Germany a few months ago, it turned out to be from organic sprouts but I haven't heard of any outbreaks of anything recently. I think that whatever it is, it will run its course and I'll get better eventually. I don't have issues ALL day long every day and there's no blood in my stool and it does seem to be getting better bit by bit. Thank you for your concern and your virtual veggie soup!

On another note, we might be finding a new home for Loki. It makes me sad to think that it isn't going to work out with him but he is a sneaky and willful animal who really does not accept anyone's dominance - he just won't learn the rules to get by in our house (and we are kind of sticklers for rules for dogs and kids). And no matter how many times I take him on walks/runs, he just doesn't get any better on the leash. His previous owners really did him a disservice by not training him and now that he's 2 years old, he just has no interest in being trained. I'm a believer that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks but I just don't have the time to do it myself at the moment. I got him to be a running companion and he pulls so badly on the leash that it aggravates my disk in my neck that is bulging to the point that it aches for a day or so after I walk him. I'm not one to give up easily, but I just don't see that it's worth it at the moment (I really feel like a crappy pet-parent for saying that, though).

ETA: Annette- what does "going Ape" mean??

Annette and Amy we all posted at the same time!

Annette - yes, what does Ape mean?

Amy - have you thought about trying the Halti or gentle leader leash? It won't get Loki to get it together at home but will stop him pulling on the leash immediately. It puts pressure on his muzzle and dogs hate that. That blows.

The Story of how this group began. On a brisk fall day in the month of October of the year 2009, a lass by the name of Heather decided to find mfp friends she could relate to in her journey to lose weight. She posted a topic that started with "200+" asking for friends people who were over 200 pounds to join her in her weightloss journey and thus this group was born. Lots of people joined, including Victoria, Kristina and me, and we decided to start a new thread weekly. It was difficult to keep up and eventually Heather became unreliable in creating our thread at a decent time. She slowly dropped out and I believe that's when Kristina stepped up and offered to post the new weekly thread. The group has definitely evolved quite a bit (changed a long time ago from new weekly threads to a new thread once every 6 weeks) and we've probably seen a hundred or so people come in and out. You'll have to ask Kristina and Victoria exactly when/how they switched keeping the chart.

Pam- YAY for working out that late at night!

Megan- I'm sure you walked around enough at the fair to burn off the little bit of funnel cake you had. I wouldn't worry about it. Yay for the friend who just made it to ONEderland!

I also loved reading Hunger Games! It was definitely a BIG page turner for me. It was so hard to put down. But I do think 20 pages is a bit much for a book that I think is so short.

Sheba- yes, EAT MORE CALORIES LADY!!! And if you already have a hard time eating 1200 cals, nuts is a great high cal but healthy snack. yeah, I have NO PROBLEM eating my 1900 cals a day lol

Amy- could you and the dogs be experiencing the same bug???? I didn't think inter-species diseases were viral. Sorry you are sick and dealing with sick dogs. At least with a kid you could say "sit by the toilet and puke/poop whenever you want" but dogs don't so much understand that.

Annette- as for the house, I have to get the ex to sign a paper, have to file more paperwork, and finish applying for the assistance. It will catch me up on the missed house payments but then I will have to start making payments as of December. They've upped my house payment to catch up for the missed escrow money and there's no freaking way I should (or am able to) pay close to $1000/month on my own for a house loan that's less than $100,000. If I get the state assistance, then the guy at the credit counseling place said he'll help me get my loan modified to a more affordable payment. With the state assistance program, I have to stay in the house 10 years for the money to be forgiven. It's technically an interest free loan, but if you move before 10 years you'll have to pay all or some of the money back, depending on how long it's been.

Lacey- I saw that same story about the Ohio man. They actually showed pictures of the dead animals and it was so freakin sad but necessary to save people's lives.


Mr Reunion was asking me yesterday how we are going to train for this Warrior Dash. I told Mr. that we will continue running together and he was going to do P90X with me in January. He liked that idea.

Hailie: Way to pull up those grades, we all knew you could do it! Can't you reapply to the U of M-AA for next fall?

Kendal: You are such a wordsmith. Haha.

Nava: Also a wordsmith. Love Shedding the Stuffing!!

Lacey: Don't forget to eat, girl!

Jessi: Glad Nerd's dad is improving.

Katheryne: Sorry you got a case of the sickies. I'm with your husband, a toboggan is a sled.

QofSheba: I don't think 5 lbs a month is unrealistic. Try increasing your cals for a week. Maybe 1200 isn't enough?

Nothing new with me....just trying to get through today and tomorrow. Can't wait for the weekend.

Kerry - I did find him. :P He always hangs out at work with me for the last half hour or so, but he found himself in some kind of time-sucking alternate dimension and took 45 minutes to get here. :P I used to Skype with Nerd before he moved, basically all the time. That's how I learned that my computer will get hot enough to shut itself off.

I forgot I have the ball games both Friday and Saturday this week (probably would have anyhow, since my coworker has the flu), so I guess I'll get some jump "roping" in.

Lacey, I was fitted for a bra at twelve. It was one of the most horrifying events of my life. I have refused to get it done since, PTSD or something. It didn’t help that by twelve I was already wearing a C-cup and quickly edging my way to a D-cup.

Tasha, the way I understand it Water Zumba is a traditional Zumba class where you are dancing while in water up to your waist/chest. I would imagine it would add great resistance but cut down on the joint impact. I have such low tolerance for uppity people. Hopefully you don’t have to put up with her that much.

Sarah et al, how does Bikram Yoga differ from regular yoga?

Hallie, I’ll let you in on a little English Dept secret I used all the time in college. First off, pull out your syllabus and check, but the syllabus for almost every English class I ever had (and trust me I’ve had a lot) said that papers must follow the MLA handbook’s guidelines for writing. Now the 6th edition of the MLA says that papers are to be typed in either Times New Roman or Courier New, 12 pt. (NOTE: I graduated grad school the year before the 7th edition came out and I am not sure of the wording it has regarding font style) Now the reason this is important is that Courier New takes up more space than Times New Roman. It’s not a lot, but it could turn a page into a page and a quarter. But, like I said, make sure to check the MLA handbook, and your syllabus to be absolutely sure you are allowed to use Courier New. As for content, I have not read the Hunger Games, but common themes for any paper are: gender roles, religion, politics, sex, economics and class structure; or the conflict aspect of how does the book reflect the three forms of conflict: Man vs. man, Man vs. nature, Man vs. self. If the book has all three forms of conflict you could do a page introduction, a page in conclusion, then divide the three up for approximately six pages each where you give examples from the text and then explain how the example shows the characters struggling against each other, against nature/environment, or against his own internal demons/mind.

Reading back on my own instructions there, they look a little convoluted. Let me know if it doesn’t make sense. But I’ll tell you what; just talking to you about it makes me want to go back to college.

-Katheryne

Katheryne when I typed up my thing for Hailie I also felt the major longing for college again. Sigh.


Hailie - also, footnotes can take up a ton of space too!

lol, all this talk of padding the paper! It reminds me of college when I used to push the font to like 11.25 to see if the teacher would ever notice. I agree that 20 pages on the Hunger Games is a bit much! But I LOVE Lacey's (I think it was Lacey) idea of getting into the nitty gritty of the government of Panem. You could talk about social divide, communism, etc.

Okay, so I've driven by a New York and Co. tons of times but never stopped in, so I think I will! Thanks for the suggestions, ladies. I also totally need to go to Kohl's. There's been SO many times that I've asked people "where did you get that?" and Kohl's was the response. I just get frustrated at the lack of good styling and good fabrics that some plus sized selections have. I mean, really... just because I'm bigger doesn't mean I don't like cotton/silk/wool!!!!

Kerry, I'm totally jealous that you get to wear jeans to work. TOTALLY. It's bizarre. I'll wear a top with jeans and feel great, but pair the same top with some work slacks and I feel like a frump queen. And WTF with that proposal. I agree with you. That guy sounds awful.

Lacey, I have to go look at ideeli now! I saw that story about the Ohio zoo guy... that is so tragic. Then I saw a story about an oil spill off the coast of NZ and how the blue penguins are coated in oil and can't get warm and can't preen lest they get poisoning from their feathers, but that people were making knit sweaters for them and they're doing better. So seeing pictures of tiny penguins in wool sweaters made me feel a little better about the animal world.

Sarah et al, how does Bikram Yoga differ from regular yoga?

Bikram Yoga is a series of 26 poses, each one done twice. It is done in a room that is kept at a constant 105 degrees and the classes are usually about 90 minutes long.

The health benefits from this have ALREADY presented themselves to me and I have only done three classes.

1) I sleep better. A LOT better. Like the dead better.

2) I have NO indigestion or heartburn. Usually, water gives me heartburn and I snack on Tums all the time. Haven't needed ONE since Monday.

3) No menstrual cramps. I started this on Monday, TOM showed on Tuesday. I am usually on the potty for the first half day (sorry if TMI) but not this time.

4) My skin feels amazing. Again, with the onset of TOM, I usually break out like a teenager, but nothing at all this time.

5) I am regular for the first time in 2 years.

And that is just with three sessions. I love it.


http://www.bikramyoga.com/ Check it out.

I am SO pumped that both my boss and my coworker aren't here today AND its been pretty slow, so I've had time to stalk this thread for the first time in ages! Yay for active posting! 3 times in one day, baby!

Victoria, I am uber jealous that you are going to Alaska. Its on my bucket list of places to see before I die. But then again, pretty much the whole world is. Lately I have had an obsessions with wanting to visit South Africa. Chris doesn't seem to be on board with that one so much... and thanks for the running advice! I've been feeling like a lazy slacker for only running 2 miles, but then I realize, dude, you're still running 2 miles. And I've usually already got some P90X or 30DS under my belt on those days, so yeah. No guilt for me. I haven't signed up for the Traverse City race yet. I'm not sure what I'm doing... like if I'm going to train for a half again or train for a full, and even then if I am going to actually run in a race. I know that I should, I know that everyone says races are amazing and its totally different than just doing it on your own, but seriously, I'm CHEAP when it comes to working out. Paying to run? I have a REALLY hard time with that. I'll be thinking about you while I drink amazing beers on Saturday, I promise! All this talk from you about listening to books on tape makes me wonder if there is an app for that... like if I can download an app that will let me pay to listen to audiobooks on my cell. That would be awesome for running! Have fun at the casino! I think there are 2 breweries in Mt. Pleasant, in case you're interested.

Sarah, I just looked and there is NO Bikram Yoga studio in the greater Lansing area. BOO! However, I did look and see that the yoga studio around the corner from my house is offering free classes tomorrow, Saturday, and Sunday. 6AM tomorrow they have a free Power Yoga class, which is described like this:
"Based on Ashtanga yoga, power yoga is more challenging vinyasa flow class that combines the alignment and deep focus of Iyengar with the fluidity and energy of Ashtanga, using breath as the vehicle. This form of yoga challenges the mind, the body, and the spirit to work as one to detox, heal, and open the individual physically, emotionally and spiritually. Hot power yoga classes are the same format only the room is 5-10 degrees warmer than a traditional power yoga class on our schedule. Intermediate to advanced level class. Not intended for beginning students."
I think I'm gonna give it a whirl. If it kicks my butt, so be it. I'm nervous about the warning that its not intended for beginning students, since my yoga experience is limited to 20 minute Denise Austin dvds (lol!) back in the day, and now yoga x. We'll see. It'd be my first class, which makes me excited/nervous at the same time.

Nava:

As for "going ape" I usually say "go apes h i t" which means to either lose it and go totally bonkers crazy, or just have a crazy good time.

Example 1: "That guy cut me off in traffic and I just went apes h i t and gave him the finger."
Example 2: "It's my birthday today, so I'm just gonna go apes h i t and party till the sun comes up!"

I'm cracking up at this at my desk, btw.

This TOTALLY cracked me up. Thanks for the awesome laugh! And I agree 100% on liking the way you look in jeans more than slacks. I HATE dress slacks. I have always felt frumpy and weird in them. When going out, I'm a jeans and heels and nice top kinda girl.