Abs of something

So this morning at the gym I took an ab/core 30 minute class. Before that I worked on the elliptical for 30 minutes. That ab/core class was killer. I will definitely be taking it again. I liked the teacher--she told us, do what you can, rest, and do more. She never made me or anyone push harder than we should. We worked a lot with the balls. I am not the most graceful or balanced person--so I was giggling a few times.

As soon as I got home it started raining again. I don't have a ton planned for this weekend since we were in Tahoe last weekend and next weekend we are going to Monterey. I have already gotten our spare room/office in order for when my mom visits. I need to finish knitting my brother's Christmas present. Yes, I am still working on a throw for him. He knows about it. And I have kinda been slacking lately. But really, I am almost done with it.

I signed up for an online Trademark training that I think I am gonna listen to today. I am not exactly sure how long it is. But it can't be more than a couple of hours.

OK, I am off to do some more learning. I hope my brain can handle it after all the Excel training I got this week from LearnIT.

We're home

Curt and I just got home a little while ago.
Alexa made delicious short ribs for dinner Friday night. The polenta she made was so good.
Saturday morning at about 7:30 Nick and Kelly and Nancy and Catherine showed up. They told us they called and left a voicemail. Unfortunately our cells were out of range. We figured they decided not to chance it (The weather was bad when we were driving up and we were driving during the day.) OR they started out and turned back or they started out and decided to stop at a hotel. Well, they decided not to even venture out Friday night. So they left the Bay Area about 4 a.m. and got to the cabin between 7:30 and 8. The weather was perfect for driving.
Soon after the second gang arrived Curt, Alexa, Stephan and Gabby headed to Sugar Bowl. Nancy made the rest of us a Hawaiian breakfast.
We did some lounging. Nancy, Catherine and Kelly headed out for the snow. Nick wasn't feeling well so he slept. I just watched TV and did a little knitting. Eventually Kelly came back. And then the other two came back. There was a lot of saucer sledding in the snow--not by me of course. I had my share of snow frolicking Friday night. (Oh, and I have to say Uggs are very good boots to wear in the snow. They kept my feet dry and warm.)
At about 6:30 or so we all sat down to a delicious lasagne that Gabby made. We had good wine, good food and great conversation. It was a good evening.
This morning Kelly made blueberry pancakes and we had partial Hawaiian breakfast. (Alexa, Stephan and Gabby went back to Sugar Bowl.) The rest of us packed up and headed out. Curt's and my plan was to meet Alexa at about 12:30 and head home. Alexa told us it would probably not be a good idea to come and get her--Stephan would take her home. I guess the road was pretty bad. And as we found out Friday night the Volvo doesn't do so well with hills and snow and ice.
So Curt and I headed on. At first we were wondering if we should take the chains off. We were driving on straight asphalt. But eventually we realized it was a good idea we didn't take them off. At one point we had to have them. Then we got back into slush and finally were able to take them off. Once out of the snow we were pretty much getting beaten on by major rain.
We stopped in Sacramento and had lunch and then got home about 4:30. We made really good time considering the weather.
There are guys who stand on the side of the road and will put your chains on and take them off. Talk about a miserable job. As we drove by people getting their chains on we saw a Mustang and a guy standing outside of it in shorts. So we weren't the biggest city slickers up there. WE will definitely be more prepared next time we go: 4-wheel drive and I will make sure to check that the safety kit flashlight actually has batteries.
Time to relax, shower and maybe watch a movie. Gotta mentally prepare myself for a 5-day workweek.
Here are a few pics I took from our weekend.

We made it!

We are in our cabin having drinks and chatting, having snacks. Alexa is making us dinner. Not sure if the whole gang will make it tonight. The weather is pretty bad.
Right now it is Curt, Alexa, Stephan, Gabby and me.
It was an adventure getting here. Most of the trip was easy. It was raining a lot leaving the Bay Area. Once we were near Sacramento it got better.
When we got closer to Tahoe we had to put our chains on. We had issues with the chains we bought. I think something was wrong with the chains--we pretty much drove them off. And Curt knows how to put on chains in bad weather at night.
We lost one of the chains. So we had to have a big dude put our chains on for way too much money--we had to buy another set on chains. But those suckers are on and we won't take them off until we are out of Tahoe and the snow.
So we were fine once our second set of chains was on. Once close to the cabin the driving was tough. Our Volvo didn't like the hills with ice and snow. So we were going pretty slow. We had problems finding our street where our cabin is. We finally found the street. Then finding the cabin was a bitch! There was so much snow it was hard to see the house numbers. We thought we found the place but we had to turn around to get back to it. The driveway we pulled into ... well we got stuck. (Oh, I didn't mention ... Alexa rode with us.)
We tried to get out and it wasn't happening. So Curt sent me to find the cabin. I walked down to a few cabins away from where we were stuck. There was a couple who had just arrived at their cabin and I asked about the address. They told me where our cabin likely was. And then the husband asked, Is that your car stuck in the driveway? Um, yes. So the husband who we never got his name ... told me he would change his clothes and come over and help us. So in the meantime we unloaded the car. That was a workout. I even had to take a hit off my inhaler. Our wonderful neighbor pulled our car out. And then he snowplowed our driveway to our cabin. There was no way we would have gotten our car up there. We gave him a bottle of wine. But we owe them so much more. They were so helpful and nice. We were very lucky.
Thanks you to true Tahoe residents helping the city slickers. We will pay you back.
Next time we come up here in the winter we are renting a 4-wheel drive!
I am tired and have had some wine so if something doesn't make sense I will edit later.
Good night.

P.S. I forgot to mention our wonderful neighbors' wonderful dog. A lab named Lilly. She was so sweet. She was right by my side a couple of times. Makes me want a dog. I think at some point we will get a lab. (Lab or greyhound.)
Oh, and I have to say my Uggs stood up well to the snow. I wasn't planning on wearing them in the freakin snow. But I really didn't have a choice. They stood up well and my feet never got cold.