oooh my bum

So, last night my friend Michelle and I took a spinning class....it was pure torture. My legs really do not hurt that much today, but my bum is aching and my shoulders would like to detach themselves from my body.
Michelle exclaimed "Never never never again" after class and I just remember cursing the instructor as she kept yelling "peddle faster...raise that resistance." I did cheat a little bit and I do not think the resistance on my bike was up to what it was really supposed to be.
On the other hand I did get introduced to the Hermosa Beach 24 hour fitness which is much much nicer than the Torrance one...although it is a bit more of a meat market than the Torrance one is. On Saturday I will be trying out the kickboxing class which is Michelle's favorite. I am excited about that one. I have decided to also use the spinning class as my reminder that I should not have that piece of cake.....such as, if I have that piece of chocolate cake I will have to take another spinning class. I believe I will totally eat a piece of celery instead and skip the spinning.
Woody returned to our house after one night out! He apologized and finally let us know that he is pretty much a wuss in the outside world, where they do not have treats, or laser pointers or a good wire brushing which are some of his favorite things. He now does not spend all of his time in the pots and pans cabinet, but has taken to sleeping on the stairs or under the dining table.
This last weekend was nice and easy going. On Saturday we found ourselves at a baby shower for some friends who are expecting a little boy, and then I went shopping on Sunday which of course is so dangerous these days as I have found myself to be quite a little shopping maniac....I would never believe that I could become one of those, but it has happened.
From now on, I promise only to purchase xmas gifts. Ohhhh I am so behind on that.

Message from Captain Woodruff III

I dare say my good friend, I do not weigh 30 pounds, but am a rather light 15 pound kitty. I finally let that human Erin lift me onto the scale to show her that I am not as chuncky as they all think. My time here has been good and not all that horrifying. I was given a nice welcome gift of a katnip mouse that I have licked to death and they seem to feed me the same as my old friend Larry the Harley guy. I do miss Larry and hope that he did not let me go due to my asking him everyday for a Harley of my own. He insists that they do not make a helmet in my size...yeah right...I have heard that one before.
Last night was Halloween and I decided I would make my escape. The humans had visitors and were chatting downstairs while I was planning my getaway. I hid under the guest bed and listened while they visited with the little human named Elise. The couple that came over was Sean and Suzie Hansen. I caught them taking this photo of Erin with the small human dressed as a pumpkin.
I planned my escape around the pumpkin that they carved for the trick or treaters. It was very small and so I thought that my plan would not work, but those humans are not always as smart as they think. All week I have been letting them know my plans, but due to the different dialect that I speak they had no idea what I was talking about. The Erin Human had gone to bed and so I knew that she would not be a problem. The Jon one is a bit easier to trick and so I waited until he went to go and make sure that the pumpkin's candle was out for the evening and I made the mad dash between his legs and out into the wild. He tried to coax me back into his domicile, but I was not falling for that one. I may come back if I cannot find a place that suits me or maybe I will never come back...who knows. They had already given me the nickname The Fridge and I was highly offended that I would be called that...as I do not like anything they have in their fridge, but I may miss them and show up one day once again. Stay tuned for further details.

Just one more coal for the fire sir...

So, I am freezing in our meatlocker of an office. The building that I work in would benefit from a complete demolition....it is old, nasty, has no windows and was built during a period of ugly architecture. Very ugly architecture.

I keep thinking that I will turn around and see Scrooge holding a bag of coal in the corner saying, "One piece for the whole day...that is all you get."

This weekend the sky finally cleared up. The onshore winds finally kicked in and blew the ash and smoke away and there was blue sky! On Sunday, went for a bike ride and ended up in Riviera Village where we went and had lunch at the Petit Casino...a little french restaurant that has pretty good crossiant sandwiches. I went next door after that to look at Xmas cards at a little boutique called Card de a. They have the best cards for the holidays. I cannot believe I am already shopping for the holidays. I do not have any of my gift shopping done at all and I am afraid it might once again get down to the wire and I will get all freaked out that I have not gotten the right gifts...it happens every year.

This weekend we also had a trial run with a kitty in our house. I am not sure that I would call Woody a kitty as he is more like a 30 pound dat or cog....he is enormous and what is weird is that I do not believe all of it is due to weight...it is more like he is a muscle builder cat. Anyway, my new nick name for him is my "fat fraidy cat" because he is so scared of everything. He searched out the living room and then opened the bottom pot and pan cabinet in our kitchen and hid out in there most of Sunday afternoon.

He finally came out while I was sitting on the couch reading and he sat at my feet. He gets along fine with me, but I wish he was more of a lap sitter....maybe he just feels self conscious about his weight and that is why he would not join me on the couch.

So, I am hoping that he is ok at the house today, I just found out from someone that it is hot outside so I have an odd feeling that Mr. Fat Fraidy Cat is once again in the pot and pan cabinet. He seems to like it in there, so as long as he is happy I am good with it. He is our cupboard kitty.

The Sky is falling

Yes, in fact the sky is falling in flakes of ash...everywhere. So, Southern California is surrounded by fire and even though I live far away from the fires, they are causing chaos everywhere. The sensors that let meterologists know that it is raining keep letting them know that we are in a rain storm....only it is not rain, it is ash. This morning when I got to my car it was covered and now I can actually see little white flakes in the air. They are saying we should try to stay inside and breath only filtered air. Hopefully for the people that are near the fires we will be able to get them under control soon. They leave fantastic sunsets, but the damage that it has already left with over a hundred homes destroyed is just unbelievable.

It may be hard to see, but the photo above is the table on the patio...covered in ash...if you look up at the top of the table near the lime tree (that has actual limes on it-yeah!) you can see the one spot where there was a candle sitting.

In other news this week, I am trying to eat healthier and make more veggies. I made my first spaghetti squash last week and it was a hit...we will do that again soon.Unfortunately, I also decided that this week would be a good time to clean out the cabinets and start using some of the food that was stashed in there. I found a spice cake mix, so of course I decided...why not...let's make an October cake. I made it last night and as you can see enjoyed two pieces before it went off to the fridge.

My last weekend was one of relaxation and doing absolutely nothing in terms of cleaning up or any work type stuff. I rode my bike to the library and checked out some books and then picked up some buffalo mozzarella and heirloom tomatoes from Whole Foods (whole paycheck) and watched some movies....The Queen (made me want some Corgis) and Cold Comfort Farm (most bizarre and I think they cut out some needed scenes).

Jon on the other had was in the middle of no where in a desert sand storm on his manly camping trip:

Poor truck got stuck: On his way back on Sunday, he almost did not make it due to some of the fires. Here is a view of what he had to drive through on the way back.