Hello my peeps...hope Thanksgiving was special for everyone. DH and I spent our time with his mom in Memphis, TN. She was just diagnosed with leukemia (AML for those of you familiar with this) so we hung out with her at the hospital and talked and talked and laughed and cried and talked some more. I hate that we are seven hours away from her, but she wanted to get her treatment and after care closer to home. Needless to say, mindful eating has not been high on my priority list, although I have a newfound determination to take care of my health while I can actually control it!

Val and Tina are doing great in this challenge....I'm so proud of their progress and cannot wait to see who the winner will be!!

I'm busy with work and leaving on my cruise in less than two weeks. I'm excited for the getaway and the only thing I've got packed are my workout clothes!

Hey all - 257.1 this morning. I'm bound and determined to break 250 before this challenge is over!

Hey girls!!! I am still around--have gained a couple pounds but I'm dealing. Had to check in on everyone and glad to see so many familiar faces. An early congratulations to whoever takes my $$--lol--you deserve it!! All is well around here. Still love my job--mostly my kids--some I could run over with my car. Had a BUNCH of company for Thanksgiving and somehow didn't gain--weird--too stressed making sure everyone was having a great time I guess. Like Felicia--I am already counting the days til Christmas Break--4 weeks! Only 3 instructional for me then review and semester tests. This year has gone by so fast. Okay--I miss you all and will check in more often.

Hey LeaAnn - thanks for checking in; good girl for holding steady in the weight department. Glad school is going so well too!
Great job Val! you KNOW you can get to 250!!!

Val and Tina seem to be our main contenders in the Chicks to the Challenge finish. Since you two are so close, I'm going to ask that you two PM me your last few weigh ins (Dec 3, Dec 10, and Dec 19 (final weigh in is Dec 19). These should be BNWIs each morning!!! Good luck and you are both winners in my book!

Joni.......sorry to hear about MIL. My Grandma had Luekemia, but I am not very familiar with the details. I guess it would be wise to ask about it, huh? Is MIL uncomfortable? I sure hope not. She is lucky to have you for her DIL. DH is lucky too... :) I read somewhere (in my feeble efforts to try to catch up) your comment about being "too independant." I hear you. Independant can be lonely sometimes.

I will WI on monday......but not a day before.... :lol:.

I am so proud of Tina and Val for really stepping it up with this challenge. I am sure others have really done well too......but man......you two have really kicked some butt!!! WTG!!!
XOXO

Lea Ann........hey you :) It is good to hear from you :) I am so happy for you that you are loving your job. I really enjoyed your comment about how you might enjoy running a few of them over with your car. :lol:

Thanks Nicole.....MIL is in the best of care and while she certainly has some side effects to the medicine, she hasn't been super uncomfortable yet. Every day can bring different results. She had been so tired lately, that she actually had more energy once they started pumping stuff into her.

I have to go catch up on the main thread...but too busy right now. Work and a houseful of worker guys putting up some new fixtures, doors, etc. I figured I can't take what little money I have with me, so I'm doing some home improvements that will just make me happy...so it's Merry Christmas and Happy B'day to me!

Joni..........what day is your birthday?

Hi Everybody! I've been MIA since before Thanksgiving so I hope everyone had a good one.

Joni- sorry to hear about your MIL. It sounds like her treatments are helping. I hope she sees continued improvement. Your counting down the days until your cruise.....I would be too...........I love cruises and am so envious of you.

Tine and Val.....you two are awsome!!!! Congratulations on doing such a great job during this challenge.

LeaAnn - glad to hear the job is going so well

I was down to 175.6 this morning.....have had more trips to the dentist and thats probably why my weight has been dropping, can't eat, my mouth is so sore. To my surprise, I was down 1lb after Thanksgiving and then had my teeth problems and it just kept dropping. Hopefully, it won't come back when I can eat again because I'm sure my metabolism has all but shut down due to limited food....mostly just drinking liquids and eating talapia for the past few days. I had a root canal and a crown on one tooth on the left side and then on my right side a tooth with a crown cracked and broke into the bone so they had to pull it and do a bone graft and later will go in and do either an implant or a bridge.:( I'll just be glad when it is all finished. I've always had such good teeth and now all of a sudden things are going down hill fast....I just don't understand since I'm a fanatic about taking care of them this shouldn't be happening.

Anyway, the challenge is almost over....just seems like we just started it...time flies!:)

Thanks, Carrie. Actually, I think the only thing getting me through this holiday season is this challenge. :)

Tina - last year at this time I was in a challenge (Evette won that one) and I did great! I remember being down to 153 on my birthday (which is Dec 22). That was the lowest I have been in a long time, and I'm back up to 160 right now, but, oh well!

Carrie - hope your toofies get all better...but congrats on your losses too. You are doing quite well!

Hi everyone...sorry I've been so quiet, but I am slammed at work. Have a great weekend.

If anything earth shattering is happening on the main thread, can someone pls sum it up here...this is all I have time to check lately!

I lost 33 lbs last week and I am now the leader in this challenge!!!:lol::joker::lol:

WOOHOO Joni! :carrot: :carrot:

Time for me to go hit the cookies since this challenge is one of the few reasons that I'm staying on track these days:)

WTG Joni........I knew you could do it!!! :lol:

Hey all - sorry for the late check in, took a couple days off work. Anyway, I was at 255.4 on Monday.

WTG Joni - what's your secret? :joker:

Seriously, though, I'm with Tina - this challenge is the only thing that's keeping me semi on-track right now. We have all these people in the office that are bringing in "samples" of their Christmas baking and it is driving me crazy. That plus the holiday "socializing", this is one tough season. Oh, and thanks Carrie!

What Happened? No WI's this week except Val? I'm still hanging in there at 175.6.