Vacation!

We're leaving today on vacation. Exciting stuff. Going to Wisconsin-- Door County. Hoping to spend five relaxing days up there. Things have been going better for Tracy lately on the long road of recovery. She has been able to work out and avoid any injuries and setbacks. That has been pretty cool.

Then when we get home it will be time to gear up for the Relay for Life event at Haymarket Park. Fund raising has been a bit slower this year, but we're hoping to end with a flourish!

One More Thing...

When we were in line to meet Ali Vincent the other day in Famous Footwear, I saw a sign in the store. I read it aloud to Tracy, "Hey, if we buy a pair of shoes, we will get Ali's new book for free. All we need to do is find a pair of shoes to buy. Maybe one of us can..."

I stopped talked because as I stopped reading the sign and turned to where Tracy had been standing, I realized that Tracy was gone. She was already four aisles over looking for a new pair of shoes!

I guess I didn't need to ask her twice! The girl loves shoes.

Meeting Ali Vincent

Yesterday, Tracy and I had the opportunity to meet Ali Vincent, the first female to win on The Biggest Loser reality show. Ali was at Famous Footwear promotion appearing with her mom, Bette Sue. Tracy and I are big fans of the show so it was exciting to meet them. One thing that I realized is that it might be more fun meeting a star from a reality show than a famous actor or actress, because with the reality show star, they are playing themselves whereas the actor or actress may be nothing like the characters they pretend to be.

I told Ali that Tracy had vowed to quit watching the show if another season went by without a woman winning. Ali said that the producers actually were planning on changing the show with separate male and female winners if a woman didn't win during season five. She said she wasn't going to let that happen.

I also commented that she seemed to be a very competitive person and that really helped her on the show. She said that that was one thing that she learned about herself during the process-- that she is an athlete. And going forward, she's always looking for new challenges and different ways to compete.

Other things we learned for her and Bette Sue:

• Ali has a sister who is married to someone taller than I am (6'11")
• Weigh-ins on the show take place every 6-8 days
• Testing is done to prevent weight loss supplements or other cheating from taking place
• The trainers work with the contestants every day for four hours. Each contestant gets about 45 minutes alone with a trainer.
• Bette Sue hated being on the show. She hates to work out. But she's lost 30 more pounds since being on the show. Her secret is she eats "lots of small meals". She said she used to not eat much all day long, work all day, then have a big meal in the evening.
• They don't work out on the weigh-in days.
• Filming for the weigh-ins takes about three hours.
• They weigh-in before filming in a separate room with witnesses and show producers. The scale on the show is just for show.
• I asked if the producers call them up to weigh-in based on what would create the most drama. Bette Sue said she didn't know, but that she wouldn't doubt it because it is a show and they want it to be interesting.