How I Met Your - NEW - Mother(s)

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Let me preface this by saying that I don't keep up with celebrity gossip at all!

Lee and I noticed a few weeks ago that Lily on "How I Met Your Mother" always had something in front of her stomach. It was the episode where Marshall was coaching the kindergarten basketball team and she always had a guitar or a basketball or a shelf of basketballs in front of her. Lee was like "She's totally prego." Then, she was totally missing from a couple episodes.

This week, Lee made the same comment about Robin. I was like "No, it was LILY that was pregnant." But, sure enough, Robin was hiding her stomach too.

Turns out, they're both preggers! A HIMYM baby boom! Actually, I think both of them may have had their babies by now. I couldn't find it anywhere online, but I know "Lily" was due March 24th and "Robin" was due 2 months later.

At least we know none of the other main characters can get pregnant!

TBL - Final Fo'

In the words of Jess: "HOW IN THE NAME OF SWEET JESUS DID RON MAKE IT TO THE FREAKING END??? Dear lord."

Definitely sums things up.

I thought this episode was a bit boring, really. It was a lot of the "celebrate how far we've come" kind of crap. Yeah, you used to be huge. That's why you're on the Biggest Loser. And you've lost a lot of weight. That's why you're STILL on the Biggest Loser.

Ok, crankiness aside:

* Bob saw right through Ron's BS about last week's vote. He knows Mike hardly ever comes up with his own ideas. Obviously Ron influenced him to take out Kristin.

* They watched a movie recap of their first week on the ranch. Then went through the workout they had done only faster, with more weight, MORE EXTREME. Ali also told them this was their last week on the ranch. They all seemed shocked. Yes, you go home. You haven't moved to the ranch.

* Tara & Helen decide to try on their "goal" outfits. Tara's is a little black dress. You can tell she bought this quite a few years ago. Helen's outfit looks like she is ready to hop on the back of a Harley. She did look pretty decent in it though. They go show the guys and Mike goes and puts on his "super slick" leather jacket. Isn't he in college now? Not 10 years ago?

* The contestants go to Dr. Creepy's office. All of them have gotten healthier. Duh.

* For the challenge, they had to run up 16 sand hills carrying the weight they had lost and dropping some of it on each hill. Tara followed her normal "formula". "Oh I can't do this... Hey I'm in a groove... I catch Filipe... I win. Oh my!" Tara gets her choice between 1lb and $10k. Whoever comes in 2nd gets whatever she doesn't take.

* For their last chance workout, they started out by "training the trainer". The only interesting part here was that I thought Jillian's boobs were going to flop out of her shirt.

* At the weigh-in, Tara takes the 1lb so Mike gets the $10k. I guess Tara doesn't need 2 more months of rent. ($10k = 2 months rent? NY sucks!)

* Everyone pulls amazing numbers at the weigh-in. You know, every week they say they give it their all, blah blah blah. But, when it is an important week like this, suddenly they all step it up about 5 notches. So, what are they doing the other weeks when they claim to be going all out?

* Ron & Filipe fall below the yellow line even with their HUGE weight loss.

* The power falls to Helen & Tara to decide between the two. In the end, they send Filipe packing. He complains about them voting him out because he is a bigger threat. Yeah yeah, that seems to be the trend. If you think it's bad here, you should flip the channel and check out Survivor this season! Wow!

Reuter has done some TBL math over on his blog. Basically, the writing on the HP-12C says that Mike has this thing in the bag.

Lee thought last night that Ron should have tried to go home. That way he could try to win the at-home prize and leave Mike to win the real prize. But, it looks like he knows he can't win the at-home prize so he is just trying to give Mike less competition in the final showdown. And I still can't believe that he is in the final four. Mind boggling!

Next week, we see how they handle the Final Four!

Tara-Hater

Yes, it is no secret... I do not like Tara.

I have been getting a lot of comments about my "Tara hating". Clint has mentioned it, Fubar, and Craig even said my Tara bashing was unbecoming of me. Yeah, well, I'd be unbecoming on me too if... Wait. What? I slipped into a pickup line there for a second.

Here are my top 5 reasons that Tara SUX.

5. Used to flirt with Dane & Blaine ~ This is what first made me not like Tara. She would always flirt with Dane & Blaine. She had a meltdown whe each of them went home and acted like her life was over. Keep your chubby hands to yourself Tara. These are married men with a bunch of kids.

4. Cocky ~ Yes, Tara has earned the right to be proud of her accomplishments. She has dominated the challenges like no one I've ever seen. But, it also gets rather old to watch her win. It is the same formula every week: 1) the "Oh, I can't win this challenge" whine; 2) the slow start; 3) the "Hey maybe I can do this" phase; 4) she wins and gloats. It would be one thing if she just started off each time acting like she had a shot at winning instead of acting like she didn't have a shot. And taking the $10k prize was another act of cockiness. Yes, she pulled it off, but in a game where that 1 pound could have saved someone else from falling under the yellow line, it just seems wrong to take the $10k.

3. Cries all the time ~ This really annoys me. It would be higher on the list, but I can't hold it only against Tara since so many of the contestants cry all the time. Had she not seen the show before coming on here? Did she not realize that it was a competition? That people would be sent home? That she might end up without her partner on the ranch? She cries because people view her as a target (hello, why wouldn't they?). She cries because everyone gives her extra weight in the challenge. She cries over losing her partner (who, half the time she complained about) (AND she was one of two teams left intact, everyone else had already lost their partner). I'm just not sure why she has so much to cry about. She is doing awesome. She is losing tons of weight. She is going to look really good at the finale. Why all the waterworks?

2. Almost quit like 10 times ~ I hate when Tara always throws in the towel. She does it in workouts. She does it when she feels like people are ganging up on her. She did it when Blaine or Dane went home (I still don't know which is which). She wanted to quit the game after everyone gave her weight in that car challenge and looked what happened... She won. It is such a glimpse into how she got fat in the first place.

1. Playing the victim ~ Tara acts like everything is a personal travesty. People gang up on her. People think she is a threat. They voted her gimp partner out. She never even thought "Man, poor Laura has a stress fracture," it was all "Poor me, I'm here alone now." JUST LIKE EVERYONE ELSE EXCEPT MIKE & RON.

I definitely take nothing away from Tara as being one of the strongest players the game has ever seen. I just can't take her personality. So, am I a Tara-hater? Yes I am. And I wear the title proudly.

Senior-itis

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Weekend:
* Friday night we hung around home and watched "Henry Poole is Here". Not the greatest movie ever, but it was ok.
* Saturday morning we went to Lee's parents' house. He has been doing some work for them. He was painting and doing some other work on their master bathroom and painting a wall in their bedroom. He also has work lined up at his grandma's house (tiling two bathrooms and possibly the kitchen/dining area) and at my mom's house (tiling the kitchen, fixing up the fireplace and possibly tiling the laundry room/porch).
* Saturday evening we spent at my mom's house. Got some Arni's pizza. YUM!
* Sunday was our final baby shower.

Shower:

It was over in Kokomo and was a small family thing. It was a couples' shower, so there were dudes there. And booze. My favorite part was the brownies. OMG, I wish I could tell you I didn't eat 3 of them.

My mom had some games to play. One was a standard shower game of what is the "baby" of this animal called. My uncle got an impressive 20 out of 32 right. I was really expecting Lee or his parents to win with their farm background. I did not do well... Example: What's a baby fish? I wrote "Caviar". That was not correct...

Another game was "How big is Lauren's belly?" Just what every 9 month prego chick wants to think about. Fortunately, we didn't use numerical guesses. They took a ball of yarn around and had each person cut out the length of yarn they thought would fit around my stomach. Most people overshot it. I guess I look bigger than I actually am. Great. My uncle Mike was by far the FURTHEST from winning. His piece of yarn was seriously about 6'4" long. Not a compliment. He asked how old the baby would be before I forgave him. I'm thinking she'll be driving. Shockingly, my cousin's boyfriend who I had never met was RIGHT ON. He did better than I think I would have done. Amazing. That guy really knows his pregnant chicks! 2nd place went to my grandma who was just a couple inches off.

The last game was for the guys. They had to chug a beer out of a baby bottle. Turns out this is WAY hard. Most the beer ended up on their shirts. Lee's dad ended up cheating and just opening the bottle. I think if this game is ever played again, we might want to use sippy cups instead...

For gifts, we got a lot of clothes, an umbrella stroller that matches our car (JEEP!), some Purdue gear, and a highchair. Good stuff!

Work:

I am commuting into the office Tues/Thurs of this week... And then I am just working from home until maternity leave. I'm very happy that I won't be going into the city anymore. The commute sucks, but more importantly, I'm scared to go into labor in Chicago. No car, my hospital is 1.5 hours away, no cab is going to drive me to Crown Point, it would take Lee about 3 hours to pick me up and take me to the hospital... The options just aren't pretty.

I have 3 client projects left to work on, then 2 more clients that I need to transition to other people. It is plenty of work, but I really just can't concentrate at all. I have total senior-itis. The weather is getting nice, I'm about to explode with baby, and maternity leave is in sight! Hopefully I can keep my head on long enough to get this client work out of the way!

Next weekend:
The only thing on my agenda for next weekend is the big hair cut. I can't wait!

Lauren's Latest Country Music

5. "Shuttin' Detroit Down" - John Rich
A country song that mentions pension plans. Awesome! This song is about the bailouts, economy, and all the other fun stuff going on these days.

4. "Then" - Brad Paisley
Another mushy love song from Brad Paisley. Could be the hormones talking, but it's sweet.

3. "High Cost of Living" - Jamey Johnson
This guy has been making some great music. His song "In Color" is just amazing. This one is a bit of a downer song. Basically, it's about a guy's life going down the drain due to drugs. "The high cost of living ain't nothing like the cost of living high."

2. "One in Every Crowd" - Montgomery Gentry
A lot more upbeat than the first 3 songs on the list... This one is about "that guy" that always makes it a party whenever he shows up at the bar. I've known a few of these people.

1. "People are Crazy" - Billy Currington
God is great... Beer is good... And people are crazy. Pretty much sums it up!

Survivor's "Coach"

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Last night, Lee and I finally caught up on Survivor. We had missed last week's episode. In case you haven't been watching, there is a contestant that calls himself "Coach". He is the most bizarre person I have ever seen on the show, and that is saying a lot!

Coach is a women's soccer coach for the Southwest Baptist University in Missouri. He is also an artistic director and conductor of a California symphony orchestra. He used to travel the world playing the trumpet and set the world record for the longest solo kayak expedition on the ocean (6,132 miles).

But, on the show, Coach is mainly just a weirdo. He says strange things, tells weird stories, does warrior poses alone on the beach. He has started calling himself the dragon slayer. Last night, when Steven was sent to exile island, Coach's parting words were "Be the wizard". WTF?

Last Thursday, Coach told a story that he had only told 3 other people in his life. And apparently, now, he chose to share it with all of America. Here is a link to the video of it. It is a bit long, but worth every minute of it.

His story starts with him being dropped off by a military chopper near the Peruvian border. He is kayaking down the Amazon River. Some indigenous tribe members attack him and tie him to a post and beat him. At one point, they are planning to eat his a$$hole (WHAT?!?). He somehow escapes. The entire tribe is sitting there listening to this story. I'm not sure how they were keeping a straight face. At the end of it all, Brandon goes "So, how much did it cost to get flown in by military chopper?" It was free, Coach pulled some strings. Then, he elaborates to say that National Geographic had wanted to come with him on his trip, but he turned them down because the trip was just all about him.

Coach also claims to practice an ancient form of Chinese martial arts. But you can't Google it because it is only passed down verbally. Convenient.

At tribal counsel, Coach mentions that he has had near-death encounters six different times. The host, Jeff, asks him to list some of them. Hurricane, shark, alligator... The indigenous Peruvians didn't even make the short list?

However, I just found this on the Survivor website:
Wade has also been attacked by a tiger shark, stalked by a jaguar in the Amazon and has been bitten by a piranha on his right hand.

Perhaps more of his stories are true than I once thought! The website also had a full page of "Coach videos". Check it out!

TBL - Can I cheer for them all to lose?

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Reuter has a blog talking about the challenge on last night's show and the "drama" about the contestants' nutrition knowledge (or lack thereof). Check it out.

As usual, I missed the first part of TBL, so going from Lee's recap, all I missed was:

Tara crying

Kristin crying

Oh darn. He said that Tara was crying and blaming Jillian because she told Mike to vote Laura off. Tara was upset that she was vulnerable without a partner. Ok, so the truth comes out. It's not that you give a rats ass about your partner. You just care about yourself. And, um, newsflash Tara, look around. There is only one team intact on the ranch. She loves to play the victim.

A woman from Good Housekeeping came to the ranch and gave contestants a quiz about nutrition. Mike & Kristin ended up tying. Mike won the tie-breaker by guessing the calories of a fast food fish sandwich within FIVE calories. That is good! This sparked Bob to realize that his team might not know enough about nutrition, so he forced them to do a video food diary for a day. It was pretty appalling. (See Reuter's rant.) They did not eat nearly enough for the workouts that they are doing on the ranch. The worst part, in my opinion, is for dinner they had one piece of fish that was like 7.5 oz. They split that for THREE people. Um, I would totally eat that myself. Bob was FLIPPING OUT.

The challenge was for $10k or a 1-lb advantage at the weigh-in. (See Reuter's blog again!) They had to hang in a cage type thing where they were holding a rope that supported their weight. They were all freaking out about the heights. Seriously, come on. TBL isn't going to let you die. That would be horrible for their insurance. You know you're all wrapped up and supported. After watching so many seasons of TBL, it seems that a strange number of fat people are scared of heights. Is there a correlation? Is it a "bigger-you-are, harder-you-fall" mentality? At any rate, Mike dropped out right away because of his fear of heights. Filipe was shaking the crane holding them up and pissing all the girls off. It came down to Helen and Tara. Helen was trying to bribe Tara into splitting the money. Tara said she wasn't playing for the money... Helen ended up losing and surprise surprise Tara wins again. Vomit.

During the last chance workout, Jillian tried to have a "break through" moment with Mike about his pent up anger. She made him talk to his dad. He confronted Ron about being ginormous and allowing his sons to do the same thing. Ron fully took the blame. We did discover the mystery of the skinny wife. No, it isn't that Ron used to be skinny. It isn't that he has money. It is that his skinny wife used to be fat herself. What I don't understand is how she made the life change to get thin (and she is really thin) without trying to make a difference in the way the rest of her family was eating.

Weigh-in time. At the beginning of the weigh-in, Tara announces that she is taking the money instead of the pound. People are pretty surprised. This totally goes against what she said to Helen during the challenge. I secretly hope that it puts her under the yellow line. Unfortunately, it doesn't. She loses 5lbs. Ron goes below 300lbs for the first time since his early teens. Wow. It is amazing that he is close to 300lbs and this is SKINNY for him. Towards the end of the weigh-in, it looked like it might be Filipe and Helen under the yellow line. Unfortunately, Kristin GAINED a pound (nutrition, hello?) putting herself below the yellow line for the 2nd week in a row. And this week, she isn't going against a gimp.

Kristin pulled Ron aside to ask if she had his vote. He had made a promise to her mom long ago that he would do whatever he could to help Kristin get to the finale. Ron promised his vote and said that he would talk to Mike on her behalf. Well, he did. But, he basically told Mike that Kristin was his biggest competition and he should vote her off. Very two-faced. Not surprising at all, though, for Ron.

So, Kristin got voted out. After that happened, Ron said something along the lines of "My son WILL WIN." Then Mike basically echoed it. It sounded SO cocky and you could just SEE the other players wanting to vomit.

Kristin was shown at home 2 months later giving a speech. She had only lost 7 more lbs since leaving the ranch. She really needs to get on the ball if she wants to win the at-home Biggest Loser! Better yet, a treadmill.

Now, with Kristin gone and Mike getting all cocky, I have NO idea who to cheer for. Helen sent her daughter home. Plus, she just doesn't have a chance. She weighs too little. Filipe is annoying. Tara makes me want to punch her regularly and Ron... Well, you've heard my rants about Ron! I guess my only option is to ignore the actual competition and just focus on the at-home competition. Grrr!

36 weeks... Is it over yet?

The one good thing I have found about this ginormous belly is what a great shelf it makes. I can set a bowl of cereal on top of the belly and use both hands to type while I eat breakfast in the morning. It is a very stable surface. Truly, handy.

That being said, once the baby decides to make her appearance, I hope the belly makes its exit in a timely fashion. (I have a 10 year reunion in September people.) I can learn to live without my cereal shelf. Really, I can.

First Great-Grandchild of the Family

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Yesterday, my grandma became a great-grandma!

My cousin Anna and her husband Nick had this little bundle of joy.

(Pictured with Aunt Jamie.)

Layla Lucille 7lbs 12oz, 22in

For some reason, this is all mind boggling to me. My cousin is a mom. My aunt is a grandma. My mom is a great-aunt. My grandma is a great-grandma. It's like everyone just got a lot older all in one day!

Family trees. They amaze me.

Look familiar?

Today, this pic was posted on ROCK on the CTA.

Is it just me, or does that woman look strangely familiar...

Perhaps a bit like THIS woman....
Oh, the scary woman at Canterbury Court. I hadn't thought of you in so long.

Busted...

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So, Comcast figured out that we were getting additional channels and they are gone now. Lee nearly cried yesterday when it happened. I said that we couldn't be too upset since, you know, we weren't paying for the channels.

Goodbye HGTV... Goodbye TLC... And for Lee, goodbye ESPN.

I got this email from Lee this morning when I got into work. I think it sums things up pretty well:
Check out the miss USA scandal. A gay judge screwed Miss California out of the crown because she was anti-gay marriage. See what happens when i dont have Sportscenter.

Weekend in Review

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We finally got a weekend where we didn't have BOTH days packed full of stuff.

Friday, we hung around the house and watched the movie Children of Men.

Saturday, we went up to Merrillville to return some stuff and do a little shopping. Then we grabbed dinner at Culver's (mmmmm) and went to the 49-er Drive-in movie theatre. They show 2 movies, so we saw Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Knowing. Knowing was pretty good, but I am kind of a Nicholas Cage fan, so I may be biased. Mall Cop was what we expected. Good for a couple of giggles, but I would not have gone to it alone.

Side story: So, we were parked at the drive-in. This guy, his wife & 4-yr old daughter parked next to us. If you've seen drive-in's or been to one, you know there is a pole between you and the other car that holds speakers. You take the speaker and hang it in the window of your car. So, we had our speaker in our window and the family next to us had theirs in their window.

Our speaker was kind of static-y and Lee kept complaining, so we turned the speaker down and turned on the radio to listen to the movie that way. I almost just left the speaker in the window, but I decided I may have to pee halfway through the movie and didn't want to have to deal with the speaker then. So, I hung it up on the pole.

After the Mall Cop movie, the car next to us left... WITHOUT HANGING UP THEIR SPEAKER. I'm not sure how their window didn't break, but they ended up pulling the entire pole (cement and all) out of the ground. Then the speaker wire broke and scraped down their car. The guy got out and put the speaker up and then they bolted.

Being the good samaritan that I am, I took down their license plate number. Yeah, that's right, I don't like hit & runs. Plus, I didn't want someone to see the jacked up pole and think WE did it! I'm just so happy that I took the speaker out of our window. Otherwise, we could have ended up with a busted up window/car too!

On Sunday, we went down to Lafayette (as usual) for our niece Cora's baptism. Pretty standard stuff, she cried through most of it... Then we had lunch afterwards at Lee's sister's house. After a quick stop at Wal-Mart for groceries we headed home. Just in time to get stuck in traffic 9 miles from our exit. DOH! And we sat their for 50 minutes. Double DOH!

So, that wraps up our weekend. Pretty exciting stuff!

Dear boys,

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You may not notice the subtle differences in women's hairstyles. You may just see long/short, brown/blonde, curly straight. But, there really are lots of small differences that can make a big difference in a haircut.

Some of the differences in the hairstyles in the blog below:
* The ends flip differently.
* Some are all one length, some have slight layers around the face.
* Some are all one length/longer in the front/shorter in the front.

Yes, they are all straight and the same general length. Girls have to decide more than just what size attachment to put on the clippers. (Or, if you were like Lee in high school, which attachment to put on the Flowbee.)

And to think, when it comes to haircuts, I'm pretty low maintenance for a girl (remember, my last haircut was done by Lee... not with a Flowbee). You guys would be appalled at some of the drama that girls go through when getting their hair did!

Sincerely,
A girl

2 more weeks

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As I have mentioned, two weekends from now I will be chopping my hair for Locks of Love. I am really getting antsy to just have it gone!

But, now I need to decide what to do with my hair. So, what better to do than to get the input of my 4 or 5 dedicated blog readers. (Especially since Lee's response was "They all look the same.")

Please vote at the side of my blog. Just a few things to note:

* Don't vote for the celebrity you think is the best looking. A haircut is not going to improve my hotness!

* I will not be dying or doing anything else to my hair, so imagine these hairstyles brown.

* No, I don't have a thing for Jennifer Anniston. Just her hair, apparently.

Some of these are so true!

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If alcohol were labeled more accurately...

As is the case with most products from Mexico...
I kind of disagree with this one. PBR is cheap and tasty.

Lee can attest to this.

Thank goodness I never drink Tequila!

So true...

Even with no money, I don't stoop to Natty Ice! Busch Light baby!

Ah, memories.

If Fubar made liquor labels.

Triple XXX Makes CNN!

It sounds like an "adult" film store...

But it's really one of the best places to go to breakfast in West Lafayette. It is kind of the "Diner Grill" of Purdue University.

And it is finally getting the recognition it deserves.

Triple XXX opened in 1929. And I don't think the decor has changed since. I started going there in the early 80's. My favorite thing to get was french toast and a vanilla malt. They seriously have the best malts ever!

Triple XXX also is a great place to go after the bars close. Nothing prevents a hangover like the breakfast special at 3:30am. Barry & Reuter got to try this out firsthand when they came down to Purdue with Clint & I one weekend. (Although, I'm not sure if they remember how it tastes. Reuter ended up sleeping on a cement floor that night.)

Hopefully Triple XXX will be around for another 80 years! And I'll still be getting their malts. YUM!

TBL - MAKEOVERS!

I have to say, I was a little disappointed in the makeovers this year. I guess it was because Helen, Tara & Laura already looked decent. And with dudes, the changes just aren't all that monumental. But, I proceed...

I miss the first 15 minutes of TBL each week now because of no DVR. I don't get home from work until 7:15, so I rush in and Lee has it on and gives me an update. Last night I got home halfway through the challenge. Lee said that Sione had left Filipe some motivating note and Filipe was kicking butt in the challenge. Good for him to get out of Sione's shadow, even if he is annoying. But, then Tara ended up coming back to beat him. Come on! It's getting old watching her win. Oh yeah, I guess they won a $25k kitchen makevoer.

Then the announced that it was makeover week and the contestants went crazy. Not as exciting for us since we already knew it was makeover week.

They bought new clothes at Macy's with the help of Tim Gunn from Project Runway. I've never watched Project Runway, so I had no idea who he was... Everyone got a $1k giftcard to Macy's. I want that... Then they got their hair & makeup done. They were told that they were going to a movie premiere, but in reality, they got to meet up with their loved ones and then watch a recap of their time on the ranch so far.

My reviews of the contestants' makeovers:
Kristin - Meh. She is still a really big girl. Does she look a lot better? Yes. Does she still have a ways to go? Definitely.
Helen - Helen takes pretty good care of herself as it is, so the makeover wasn't all that earth shattering.
Tara - See above. Also, I think they tried to jam her in a dress that was a little too tight...
Laura - See above.
Filipe - His hair looked good!
Ron - He looked better without the beard. They could have taken some more hair off his head. I wish they had done a makeover on his stomach skin.
Mike - Mike was by far the most dramatic makeover in my opinion. He looked GOOD. If I were 18 and liked former fatties, I'd be all about it.

One thing Lee & I keep wondering... How is Ron's wife so attractive? Originally we thought maybe he used to be skinny. Nope. He said he weighed 200 lbs at age 9!!! Money? Maybe he really is in the mob? I can't figure it out.

Laura ended up at the doctor because of her hip. Turns out she has a stress fracture. Ouch. I'm sure it is very painful, but they went a bit overboard and had guys carrying her around so she wouldn't put weight on it. Have you ever heard of crutches?

At the weigh-in, Mike broke a new record for most weight lost on the ranch. Nice work!

It wasn't too great of a week for people, but it ended up being Kristin and Laura under the yellow line. (Laura gained 3 lbs.)

The only thing tough about this decision is, do you take out the threat? Or send home the gimp? I would send home the gimp. I mean, what is she going to do on campus? When she needs to be carried around? Retarded. Tara threw a big boo-hoo-fest about it. For once, I totally agreed with Ron though. He was like "Laura needs to go home and get this injury taken care of." Tara played the vicitim, as usual. "Oh, everyone gangs up on me. Wah."

In the end, I think they did the right thing and sent Laura home. She got the rehab that she needed and hadn't gained any weight back, which is great.

Next week: Mike confronts his dad about being a big fat fatty and making him & his brother that way. Stay tuned!

Happy Easter!

Hope everyone had a Happy Easter yesterday!

My Gma sent me this Easter greeting. I thought it was kind of funny...

The weekend was busy and to top it off, my alarm didn't go off for some weird reason this morning. So, no time for details, I gotsta get going on work!

A trip to the Diner does a body good!

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I heard this on the radio today... Turns out, bacon cures hangovers!

What a glorious food! And here, I always thought it was the milky deliciousness of the chocolate milkshake I always got at the Diner that made me feel better.

Ms Roberts told The Mirror: "Bingeing on alcohol depletes neurotransmitters too, but bacon contains a high level of aminos which tops these up, giving you a clearer head."

A clearer head? When shouldn't I eat bacon?

Researchers also found a complex chemical interaction in the cooking of bacon produces the winning combination of taste and smell which is almost irresistible.

Tell me something I don't know!!

Imagine the hangover that Fubar's bacon-eggs could cure!

TBL - it's getting interesting...

So, the theme of this show was that Ron is running this game. Like some sort of godfather. Seriously? How is Ron running this game? He is a sub-par player. He's 54 years old... There is nothing about this guy that should intimidate other players. Yet, here everyone is like "Oh, you don't want to cross Ron." Whatever. These people are stupid. So, we all know that last week Sione & Filipe voted against Ron (awesome). Well, Ron is pissed!

The temptation this week was hilarious. There were a ton of silver trays setup in the gym. Some of them had high-calorie treats in them (yum, my mouth was watering). Others had cash and gum. Just one had the "golden ticket". No, no trip to the chocolate factory. This ticket meant that you get the ONE & ONLY vote at this week's elimination. The contestants wanted that golden ticket BAD! I forget what the total was, but the contestants ended up eating like 20,000 calories. Ouch. In the end, Laura found the ticket. Tara & Laura celebrated by almost making out in their room.

Bob & Jillian were PISSED to say the least. They decided to whoop their asses in the gym. This is the opposite of what I would do. If I were their trainer, I'd let their calories screw them over on the scale. Maybe that would make them think twice... But, I guess that's why I'm not a trainer.

Laura was expecting everyone to kiss her butt all week. But, other than Kristen who brought her breakfast in bed. No one did a thing.

At the challenge, the contestants had to run the steps of the Rose Bowl stadium. First the girls went against the girls and the guys against the guys. Then the winner of the girls went against the winner of the guys. As usual it came down to Sione and Tara. What a shocker. Tara won and gets a 2 week trip for 4 to a fitness spa.

Laura kept trying to get Tara to fall below the yellow line so that whoever she fell under the line with would automatically go home. I thought that sounded like a dangerous plan. I mean, what if Laura fell below the line with Tara. And why not let TWO non-team members fall below the line so you could just take your pick of who you wanted to vote out.

At one point, Ron talks to Bob about his issues with Sione & Filipe. Bob acted like it was crazy that Sione & Filipe would go up against Ron. He said something along the lines of "You've fallen below the yellow line more than anyone." That just means everyone views him as a non-threat. I still don't get it.

At the weigh-in, it is Sione & Helen that fall under the yellow line. And now, all of the sudden, Laura doesn't want her golden ticket. Ok, everyone ate thousands of calories and now she is crying about having the golden ticket. She's an idiot. At the elimination, she calls Sione a brother and Helen a mother. So, who wins out in the end? Finally, a good decision. She votes out Sione, who is clearly the biggest threat (other than Tara) in the house.

Sione says his goal at the finale is to be a Tongan Brad Pitt. I'm not even sure what that would look like.

And the previews for next week... MAKEOVERS!! WOOHOO! I love that episode every season!

6 more weeks!

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As we close in on these last 6 weeks of pregnancy (only 3 weeks until she is considered "full term"!), I have really started to wonder. Just who will our baby girl look like...

Daddy? Or Mommy?

I guess only time will tell.

But, MAN don't I look way more alert than Lee in my picture? I am totally doing the Vogue. And the bangs/spike combo was totally the newborn style back then.

Thank you BRU!

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BRU = Babies R Us

At my baby shower a few weeks ago, there were obviously family members/friends that couldn't make the trek to Lafayette just for a baby shower. So, some of these people opted to buy something off the registry and then have it shipped to my sister-in-law's house. Works out all fine and dandy...

Unless somehow the box doesn't have any information about who sent the gift!

Yes, we got the microwave steam sterilizer, but it had nothing in the box except for the gift. No receipt, no card, nothing.

This really started to eat at me since it could mean that I wouldn't thank someone for their gift and then forever I would be that ungrateful b*tch... Etc etc. I was trying to weigh my options, but nothing really sounded like a good idea. I mean, if you email everyone that wasn't there like "Hey, did you send me a sterilizer?" then they would feel bad if they in fact sent nothing.

Finally, I decided to put BRU on the case. I emailed them via their website and they called me back the next morning. They gathered info on which item it was and were very apologetic. 5 days later, I got my answer via email! Lee's cousine Chris sent the sterilizer! Thank goodness! I no longer have to fear being a b*tch (well, for that reason).

Now, I just have to find the motivation to get going on the Thank You's!

Good news!

As I mentioned, last Friday we gave up our DVR and downsized to basic cable. After having DVR (or TiVo) for about 5 years, I am still adjusting to not having the rewind option. What, I have to pay attention the first time? Plus, the whole having-to-be-home-to-watch-your-shows thing is going to take some time...

BUT, the good news is... We still get basically all the channels we used to. Comcast took our DVR and gave us a Nazi Box (I mean cable box) for the living room. We went to the other tv in the den, and turns out we still had all the channels. So, we just unplugged the Nazi Box, and poof. All the channels. Suck on that Comcast! We no longer have the guide feature, but I'll take all my channels over the guide any old day!

Now hopefully Comcast doesn't have some sort of stalker-mode that can tell that we unplugged the cable box...

Weekend Wrap Up

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Well, it's Monday morning and I barely feel like I had a weekend. Isn't that the worst? No sleeping in whatsoever... BOO!

Saturday, Lee and I had our first birthing class. It went from 10am - 5pm with a 1/2 hour break for lunch. Seriously, is it a good idea to force a bunch of 8 month pregnant chicks to sit in uncomfortable chairs for THAT long? They really need to invest in some La-Z-Boys.

The nurses that taught the class were pretty entertaining though and there were videos to keep our attention. Although, some of the videos scared me a bit... I have SEEN a video of a birth before, but not since like 8th grade health class. It seemed much more distant and unrealistic then. I mean, I thought in the 15 years since then, maybe we would have figured out how to get the guys to carry the babies... Just kidding. Anyway, there were definitely some moments of "Um, yeah, my body is going to do WHAT?!?" We also got a tour of the hospital which I liked. I can now ENVISION where we need to go when the time comes, and that makes me feel much more prepared.

After birthing class, we went up to Merrillville for a Target run. We were going to go to BW3's to watch the Michigan St game, but it was PACKED! So, we took advantage of halftime and just drove home.

On Sunday, we got up early to head down to Lafayette for our nephew Austin's 2nd birthday. They made hotdogs on the grill and had Dog N Suds coney dog sauce to put on it... MMMMmm! There were also cupcakes & ice cream. Afterwards, we hung with my mom for awhile, then went up to Monticello to hang with Lee's parents for a bit, hit up Wal-Mart for some groceries and headed home. I never knew Wal-Mart groceries were so cheap! So much better than our actual grocery store. I'm sold.

Next weekend is going to be another busy one with day 2 of birthing class on Saturday followed by Easter on Sunday. (Woohoo for only one more Friday of Lent!)

My what a furry baby you have... Part deaux

Our cat Jasper STILL thinks that everything for the baby is actually for her. She is thrilled that we are finally finishing up her cat-nursery... Nothing is more exciting than when the closet in the baby room is open. And it was just pure genius of us to finally buy her a cat-crib.

Since Jasper thinks she's a baby, I decided she could model some baby clothes. She fits well in a size 3-6 months!
Here she is in "her" crib. Really very kind of us to get a crib for her.

Also, since this is a blog about Jasper, it is only right that I acknowledge her birthday! Yesterday, on April Fool's Day, she turned 1 year old. Happy Birthday Jasper!

Locks of Love - One more month!

It has now been just over a year since I started growing my hair for Locks of Love. From what I can remember, I got my hair trimmed only twice, once professionally and once by Lee... (Scary, I know.)

I'm planning to do the big cut in approximately a month. This will hopefully fall shortly before the baby comes, but after I'm done going into the office. Right now, my hair is measuring 15". (Remember, you have to donate 10".)

On one hand, I'm kind of anxious to just pull the trigger. I tend to get bored easily, so not making any changes to my hair in a year has been rough.

But, on the other hand, I DO like my long hair. This is by far the longest it has been since I was like 10 years old. And it is so easy. I just get out of the shower and brush it and it dries. No worries about it flipping out weird like it does when it is short.

In the end, though, it's about giving it to charity. So, hopefully some little girl enjoys her Lauren-wig someday!

TBL - kind of a pointless one...

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Last night's episode ended up being totally useless, since they brought back a previously eliminated player, then eliminated them. Ugh! Couldn't we have just skipped this week? But, here are some quick highlights:

* Alison had her baby! And then was back at the end of the show. What a trooper! I know her job isn't exactly taxing, but still...
* Estella (the old chick), Nicole (the black chick) and David (the fat lazy dude) all had the chance to come back. Estella & Nicole looked amazing. David looked pretty much the same. Dude. How has this NOT been a wake up call for you?
* Nicole won her way back onto the ranch by losing 87 lbs in 12 weeks. Wowee! That put her in 2nd place for the biggest percentage lost thus far... Right behind Tara. AND, Nicole had immunity at the next weigh-in... As long as she didn't GAIN any weight during the week.
* The contestants were scared. Especially Tara. She would NOT shut the F up. Everytime she was around Nicole, she just babbled about how much she needed the competition to push her and blah blah blah. It was really an ugly side of Tara to see. And we've seen a few ugly sides of Tara. It was like she was trying to convince HERSELF that she was happy to have Nicole back and was failing miserably.
* Filipe was all whiney because Ron & Mike THOUGHT about voting for him the previous week. They didn't actually do it, but the fact that they even considered it made him go off his rocker. Filipe is really annoying me. At this point, he may have even passed Ron by on my $hit-list. When they are whining about this to Bob, Bob is kind of like "Oh well." You're still here Filipe, what are you complaining about?
* Speaking of Ron, he ended up in the hospital. I never fully understood what was wrong, but I'm guessing it has something to do with being huge... He ended up getting some extra blood and saline solution pumped into him which is NOT good for weight loss.
* At the weigh-in, Nicole ends up GAINING 5 POUNDS. Thus, her immunity is gone. I see the writing on the wall. She's going home. She has nothing going for her... She is a threat, she hasn't been on campus to make friends, etc. Plus, you should have seen the smile on that biatch Tara's face. No mental attitude award for her!
* Laura and Ron both end up gaining weight as well. It is Ron that falls under the yellow line with Nicole.
* Ron plays his normal Ron-card: "I'm asking you to save me..." Seriously? This isn't played out yet?
* At the vote, Filipe & Sione surprise me by quickly severing their ties and voting for Ron. Ron & Mike are pissed! Filipe & Sione don't mess around. You *think* about voting me off. I vote for you the next week.
* In the end, Nicole ended up going home. Shortest return to the ranch ever. I'm sure when she was headed home with her ginormous suitcase she was thinking, what a flippin' waste of a week. But, at least she has obviously lost a ton of weight on her own and she is clearly in the running for at-home Biggest Loser.

Here is my ranking of contestants from least to most annoying:
1-3. Tie between Mike, Kristen & Sione
4. Helen
5. Laura
6. Ron
7. Filipe
8. Tara

I am looking forward to the fact that Filipe & Ron are against each other. Since I don't like both of them, hopefully that means that one of them will soon smite the other soon. I can only hope.

And hey, when are they going to have a dang makeover??? Mike needs a haircut like crazy!

Like losing a member of the family...

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Dear DVR,

I'm sorry that we have to send you away this Friday. Lee and I are going through some financial changes that require us to make some cuts. And Comcast's introductory rate that was saving us $40/month running out was the nail in the coffin. Lee is giving up ESPN and the History Channel, and I am giving up you, sweet DVR (and HGTV).

Hopefully this will only be temporary and we can invite you back into our home once our salaries are stable again. 17 months at the most. I promise!

GOODBYE MY LOVE!

~Lauren