Dashing into December 2025 Exercise Challenge

[Raya]

+63 minutes. The "Should we go to Egypt with Adventures By Disney next year" debate has come up again. If any of y'all have taken an amazing education/culture focused trip to Egypt, please tell me who you went with and how. We've been debating this trip since 2009, and have even booked then cancelled it twice!

Raya - 502/820 61%

 

[sophy1996]

+25

655/1000

 

[clappyclaps]

+ 132 for some limited walks and treadmill runs this week, been far too busy with christmas outings and work taking over.

Total = 831/1700

 

[Elizabeth Smith]

I have 50 new minutes. 15 minutes on the exercise bike on Thursday and 35 minutes on the walking pad for Friday.

355/600

 

[PollyannaMom]

Mon-12/15 - 20
Tue-12/16 - 25
Wed-12/17 - 20
Thu-12/18 - 25
Fri-12/19 - 10
Sat-12/20 - 30

and a correction - I did not really skip the 13th, just missed the screenshot in my phone of the 30 treadmill minutes

total new minutes = 160
new cumulative total = 430/700

 

[sophy1996]

+20

675/1000

 

[ShannyMcB]

+50
120/275

 

[clappyclaps]

+ 175 for some decent walks over the weekend, one bonus to going out for christmas drinks and food, the walks to and from public transport!

Total = 1006/1700

 

[clappyclaps]

Afternoon all,

After today there is only 3 more days until Christmas! Got some more colour changes for the month, with Pollyannamom, myself (clappyclaps) and the Team all reaching purple!



In keeping with the last film featured, I couldn't really follow it up with anything other than... Home Alone 2: Lost in New York:



For me personally, I find it's rare for a sequel to get close to the original but Home Alone 2 is one of those rarities. Again not officially made by Disney but now owned by them following the Fox acquisition, this time Kevin manages to make it to the airport at least but instead ends up alone in New York City while the rest of the McAllister family arrive in Miami. And unsurprisingly after conning the Plaza hotel staff and running into his old adversaries The Wet Bandits, hijinks ensue.

This film for me is mandatory christmas viewing every year and is probably the film that really got me interested in visiting New York as a child (I was 5 when it was released). While I've been to NYC a few times, visiting at Christmas time is still on my bucket list.

I'm sure you all know that a large portion of the film is set in the Plaza hotel, and surprisingly a lot of scenes were actually filmed here. One of the few that wasn't is the swimming pool scene with Kevin's cannonball, as the Plaza doesn't have a pool. To this day, the Plaza hotel offers a Home Alone package which includes a limo ride round the city, a cheese pizza and a massive DIY ice cream sundae, as well as a room decked out with Home Alone themed items.

Fun fact, the Talkboy recorder that Kevin uses in the film was actually made as a prop for the film and the electronics company that made it were allowed to sell a real version after the film was released. Needless to say I begged my parents for one of these, still never got one

I'll leave you with one of the best scenes in the film, featuring the legendary Tim Curry:

 

[sophy1996]

+45

720/1000

 

[Alicatt]

This month is really getting away from me! The weather outside has been pretty miserable and I have been so busy! I only got an hour in last week . I hope this week will be better but who knows? Wednesday will definitely be a wash because I have 4 hours in a car to pick my dad up and then a few hours of cooking. Nit to mention we go to the evening church service and help run it so that will be a few hours. It never seems like there us enough time to do everything.
270/700

 

[PollyannaMom]

I hear you about the "never enough time" @Alicatt! I lucked out with a sunny day yesterday and actually walked outside instead of on the treadmill, but I've definitely been cutting it close as far as the chance to make goal this month goes.

(I will post minutes later, as I'm on my phone right now and my numbers are on the "real" computer.)

 

[sophy1996]

+35 walk to admire holiday lights in the neighborhood

755/1000

 

[Raya]

+61 on Friday and 66 today. I'm officially freaking out that the end of the year is coming up so fast and I have so much to do! I have no idea how I'm going to get everything done.

Raya - 629/820 76%

 

[sophy1996]

+60

815/1000

 

[clappyclaps]

+ 95 for after work walks today and yesterday. I have now officially finished work, until Monday at least!

Total = 1101/1700

 

[sophy1996]

+60

875/1000

 

[clappyclaps]

Morning all,

It is now officially Christmas Eve! and we have a couple more colour changes before the big day, with Raya and sophy1996 both hitting pink!



I couldn't let us get to Christmas Day without featuring what I think is an all time classic Disney movie, The Muppets Christmas Carol:



Released in 1992 (I swear the early 90s were peak brilliance when it comes to Christmas movies), this is of course the Muppets take on the Dickens classic, A Christmas Carol. For me, this is the only version of A Christmas Carol worth watching!

Featuring Michael Caine as Scrooge, Kermit as Bob Cratchit and Gonzo as Charles Dickens, this is a very Muppets take on the classic novel, with some incredibly catchy songs thrown in for good measure. This was the first Muppets film released after Jim Henson's death and was directed by his son Brian. A shooting star featured in the scene during "One More Sleep til Christmas" serves as a tribute to Henson himself.

Michael Caine ultimately landed the role of Scrooge, but actor and stand-up comic George Carlin (Rufus in Bill and Ted) and actors Ron Moody (Fagin in Oliver!) and David Warner (too many things to name but you'd recognise him!) were all considered for the part. If you look closely in the film, there's also a nod to Michael Caine's given name, Maurice Micklewhite, with a shop named Micklewhite's.

Originally well known Muppets were meant to features as the ghosts - Scooter as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Miss Piggy as the Ghost of Christmas Present and Gonzo as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, but this was scrapped and the Muppets were recast, except for Scooter who was bumped from the film entirely.

Another fun fact, Gonzo was included as Charles Dickens and around 95% of his narration is prose from the book, sticking incredibly closely to the source material with Rizzo the Rat thrown in to inject some humour.

I'll leave you with 2 of the best scenes from the film, one a bit spooky and one incredibly heartwarming, perfect for the upcoming holiday. Before I do, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas, I hope you all have a great day tomorrow whatever you're doing and that you have fun and enjoy yourselves, and try not to worry about the minutes and exercise too much!

First up, the brilliant Statler and Waldorf as Marley and Marley:

And second is the movie's heartwarming finale song, Thankful Heart:

 

[Raya]

Another fun fact, Gonzo was included as Charles Dickens and around 95% of his narration is prose from the book, sticking incredibly closely to the source material with Rizzo the Rat thrown in to inject some humour.

Most importantly Gonzo's line "to Tiny Tim, who did not die" is a direct quote from the book! I love that Dickens called it out explicitly that Tim was okay, and that Gonzo got to be the one to tell us.