July to September 2012 Challenge Schedule

[Deb Porter]

Topic 1 – Begins July 5 / Ends July 12
Picnic
Winners Announced July 19

Topic 2 – Begins July 12 / Ends July 19
Winners Announced July 26

Topic 3 – Begins July 19 / Ends July 26
Winners Announced August 2

Topic 4 – Begins July 26 / Ends August 2
Winners Announced August 9

Topic 5 – Begins August 2 / Ends August 9
Winners Announced August 16

Topic 6 – Begins August 9 / Ends August 16
Winners Announced August 23

Topic 7 – Begins August 16 / Ends August 23
Winners Announced August 30

Topic 8 – Begins August 23 / Ends August 30
Winners Announced September 6

Topic 9 – Begins August 30 / Ends September 6
Winners Announced September 13

Topic 10 – Begins September 6 / Ends September 13
Winners Announced September 20


Challenge Break begins after Topic 10 -- No new topics until October 4

[helen1975]

Can't wait to see what the new topics will be! Is this schedule going to be a themed one, or the same as the one just gone?

I'd better start getting my fingers warmed up again; it's been a few weeks since I've entered.

See you next week everyone!


Blessings, Helen

[Deb Porter]

It's a truly delicious theme.

Love, Deb

[helen1975]

Oooh, sounds like I might need some props to help the creativity flow. . ?!

Coffee - check
Chocolate - check
Tim Tams - check (x3 packets!!).

I might be totally off the mark, though; and let's face it, I've usually got at least 2 of those 3 items close by anyway

Blessings, Helen

PS: I hope you're feeling well again now Deb; I know you weren't very well a while ago. XO

[Deb Porter]

Tim Tams ... Tim Tams ... Tim Tams...... YUMMMMMMMM.

The Tim Tam Challenge (not). The judges would all end up with their heads in the pantry the whole time. Especially all the new varieties now. Drooollllll. (I could really go a double coat Tim Tam or a white one right now.)

Okay ... after that slight detour down the biccy aisle at Woollies. (Ahem ... not hard to see I've been dieting for WAY too long.)

Thanks for asking too, Helen. Yes, I'm much better. The problem is still just under the surface, and I'm on medication until at least August, but it's doing the job. In August I try to come off the tablets and, please God, the neuralgia won't come back. It tends to be a life thing, but you can have very long breaks between attacks. I'm praying that's the case.

Anyway, I am REALLY looking forward to next week and getting the Challenge back in swing. These breaks are great because they give me a little time to catch up on things (sort of) and get things ready for the next quarter, but I miss the weekly Challenge routine.

Love, Deb

[Acts228]

Hey Helen, Whats up? OK.... What is a Tim Tam?

Looking forward to the challenge as well.

Deb: FYI.... The challenge is no longer saying not to submit until July 5, and is giving a topic.
Looking at the challenge schedule, I think that is an Oppps or am I wrong?

Robin

[Deb Porter]

The more important subject first, Tim Tams ... (LOL)

No, seriously, someone just pointed that out to me about the topic (I had been enjoying a LOVELY Saturday morning sleep in and feeling everything was right with the world). ACK!

Please all close your eyes and pretend you didn't see that (okay)?

I've contacted Mike and Bea and asked them to pull it ... fast! So don't enter.

Now, onto more serious business, about Tim Tams. They are a national treasure over here:

http://www.arnotts.com/our-products/pro ... m-tam.aspx

I don't care what you have that's similar, nothing competes with a Tim Tam. They started off just as the ordinary chocolate biscuit, choc cream center and smothered in smooth chocolate. Now they come in so many different varieties. Each one very yummy. The double coat Tim Tam is decadent, and the White Tim Tam is delicious.

Alas, I am on a diet (both to keep my weight from getting away from me again and for my cholesterol ... joy of aging), so Tim Tams are a once in a very long while treat for me. Sigh.

Love, Deb

[DizziDanni]

Oh I am so pleased that for the sake of my questionable sanity I bobbed in here before bed.

This morning I also saw the topic for 5th July which puzzled me. I've been out all day and for once had an early idea for my entry. By the time I got home I'd practically written it in my head. On returning to the Challenge page - there it was - gone!

Now I'm feeling bad because I've got a weeks start on everyone. Oh well, not that bad.

Wonder if I can incorporate Tim Tams into the tale? They sort of fit the topic don't they!

[helen1975]

Hi Robin!

I agree with everything Deb said about Tim Tams! They are absolutely divine!! There's a trick you can do with a TT and a cup of coffee, called the "Tim Tam Slam" - you bite the two ends off, dunk your TT in your coffee and suck up the coffee through the biscuit! Then you have about 3 seconds to pop the whole thing in your mouth and enjoy the melting decadence . . . before it falls apart in your coffee cup Which is no problem, you just grab a spoon and eat it that way!

Oh dear, it's only 7am here, and I am just desperately longing for a TT with my morning coffee! Probably a really good thing the shops don't open for another 4 hours

Blessings, Helen

ps: I'm also really excited about the challenge...thought I should say that, just to keep in line with the actual theme of the thread

[lish1936]

:shock:
Now I'm feeling bad because I've got a weeks start on everyone. Oh well, not that bad.

I, too, got a view of the topic after accessing the site to review an old article. It never clicked that that was the next topic. Since I knew July 5th was the start of the new series, I immediately dismissed it as a fluke. So, even if I wanted to get a head start, I can't. I think I remember the first letter, but thankfully, that's all.

Deb, I have to tell you of my experience with lowering my cholesterol levels. My intolerance for Statins led me to an alternate solution - a natural statin called Red Yeast Rice which is an accepted alternate by the Mayo Clinic and the American Medical Association. Most doctors recognize it to be effective. If you don't already know about it, you can google it. I don't mind letting it be known that since taking it, my total cholesterol has dropped 30 pts, my good (HDL) has gone up 6 pts and my bad (LDL) has dropped 20 pts. Of course, I've also lost weight on a low-fat, low cholesterol diet. However, even with dieting, I have never gotten such a dramatic drop in my cholesterol levels.


Many blessings,

Lillian

[Deb Porter]

To all those who may be feeling bad about getting that pre-emptive strike on the Challenge topic, don't feel too bad. It's possible quite a few others did as well. Try to avoid writing it until July 5, but it's not the end of the world if you do. This was one of those extraordinary situations and we won't get all thingy about it.

I've just come in from a church lunch (to celebrate the 90th birthday of a very dear lady), so for once the charms of Tim Tams are not able to lure me. Give it time, though.

Love, Deb

[lauralnm]

Thought I'd join in on the Tim Tam subject and the cholesterol mention. I'm sure everyone knows about the Oreo cookie; the Tim Tam sounds like it gets eaten pretty much like an Oreo, but it also sounds like it is tons better than an Oregon. On the Red Yeast Rice, I haven't taken it, but my brother swears by it so...

[itsjoanne]

Okay Deb - I do believe it is ABSOLUTELY necessary that you bring SEVERAL boxes of Tim Tams to the next US conference. Yes??

they sound like HEAVEN!

[Deb Porter]

Okay Deb - I do believe it is ABSOLUTELY necessary that you bring SEVERAL boxes of Tim Tams to the next US conference. Yes??

they sound like HEAVEN!

Will do. I think customs officials are used to Aussies carting Tim Tams into the US for friends.



By the way, I'm going through HUGE conference withdrawals ALREADY. Just knowing I'm not going to get my annual hugs and chuckles with you all is killing me. Steve and I are going to fly up to Cairns (in Australia, not France) for a week, but it's not the same. Love you guys.

Oh flip ... we've totally hijacked this thread. Naughty me! Naughty Tim Tams.

Love, Deb

[helen1975]

Deb and Jo,

If you start dangling Tim Tams in front of me, I might just have to start saving for next year! Yeah, I know I can have them here, but they are so much better shared with great friends, and hey, someone has to demonstrate the Tim Tam Slam for you all! And I feel it would be an imposition to force Deb to do it . . . hmmm, reckon the hubby will go for it?!

Okay, I promise that will be my last TT entry.

For now at least.



Blessings, Helen