mistletoe, martinis and a mean sore throat

Thanksgiving and an early start to the holiday party circuit had me running all over southern Cal and burning the candle at both ends for the past several days. Now I'm feeling pretty peaked and planning on spending the day on the couch. I did the workout, because sometimes a good sweat sets things right. No so much this time...

Assisted pullups: 6, 5, 4, 4, 1
Russell combo, 15#dbs, x4
6 bent rows
6 swings
6 squat press
6 burpee

WHO's calling???

There is, I believe, such a thing as being TOO connected. Recently, a merger related change in firm policy disallowed the association of my firm based email and personal phone on the same device. I was initially requested to turn over my number to the firm, but being a bit possessive, I refused and was given a new firm issued blackberry. What at first seemed like an interesting idea, turned quickly into connectivity hell. Blackberry for work, Blackberry for home and a personal cell phone to boot. I couldn't adjust to the two different Blackberry models, with different key patterns and shortcuts. Most of all, I despise the idea of being that connected 24/7 and long for the good old days when you could just take the old land line phone off the hook and get away from it all.

So, I gave away the personal blackberry and am learning how to operate the phone (who knew it was so challenging?) At the end of the day, there will be 2 big positives to come out of this whole exercise.

First - I can turn off the work device evenings and weekends and have a relatively undisturbed personal life again.

Second - My new phone is protected by a nifty flip-top. This will prevent my ass from making random phone calls while carrying the thing in my back pocket, and save me from conversations such as this one, which recently occurred between me and my old friend Andrew:

Andrew: Hey, are you seeing someone?

KK (a little confused by the question from my married former colleague): Um... no, not really. Why?
Andrew: I got a call from you this morning...
KK: I didn't call you.
Andrew: Well, your phone did.
KK: And from that you get that I'm seeing someone?
Andrew: Yep. Sure sounded like it.
KK (remembering nothing, desperately going over the events of the morning):WHAT DID YOU HEAR?!!
Andrew (starting to chuckle): I heard some muffled conversation, and then what sounded like you getting on the back of a motorcycle. Assumed it was a new boyfriend and wanted to hear the details.

Oy vey. I surmised that it must have been the radio and the sound of the blender making my morning smoothie that he heard. I actually prefer his version of my morning. But seriously... that could have gone a lot worse. And its not the first time friends and family have reported receiving mysterious calls from my number. The device switcheroo operation should prevent further such mishaps. I hope.

Today's workout:

Snatch/windmills 30sec each side x3 (30 sec rest)
Rumi:
7 ea side deads
7 ea alt shoulder squat
7 ea get ups
7 burpee clean press

hiking in hollywood

Yesterday I hiked up Runyon Canyon for the first time in years. I hadn't been since the craziness of living in Hollywood drove me to the slightly more laid back downtown Los Angeles area.
I use the term "hiked" loosely... for me, a real hike consists of a couple required ingredients that are missing from the Runyon jaunt. Runyon, which is in West Hollywood, does have some decent elevation gain, and will get the heart pumping a bit for an hour or so. However, never once will you be totally alone. And heck, you can see Sunset Boulevard practically the whole time. You can't beat it for convenience, but remote it is not. Hollywood types pepper the trails, many of which are paved. Overheard cell phone conversations to agents, talk of script revisions and high fashion workout suits are the norm. You won't find much, if any, wildlife, but a celebrity sighting or two will help hone your observational skills. "Who is that guy? He looks so familiar! Oh. Yeah. He was that dude. In that movie. C'mon, you remember!..."
The signage scattered throughout is also laughable. There is a steepish bit of trail that is unpaved, and signs warn the unfit, shoeless person to beware. Those signs are new since I've been here. I have a vision of some starlet in designer flip flops stranded halfway up, her "people" subsequently forced to bombard the city with phone calls to erect the sign. I dare someone to prove me wrong.
As for the snakes, the warnings were probably appropriate at one time. Now, I can't imagine there is a rattlesnake with its instincts intact that would come anywhere near these crowded paths.
No, Runyon Canyon is not a hike, but it is preferable to slogging away on a treadmill in some stinky gym. It also makes for some damn good people watching.

Today' workout:
Swing combo, 12kg x2:
8 front right
8 lat right
8 front left
8 lat left
8 halos

then 30 sec. each pushup/ninja/burpee/mills/15sec rest x3

bearing fruit

I pulled my first homegrown tomatoes off the vine this morning. They are just BEAUTIFUL. Its the first time I've successfully grown anything from a seed, and it was touch and go for a while. I had to share some of the fruit (and most of the leaves) with this hookworm, but I managed to relocate him and the plants recovered. Yummy.

Pleasantly surprised this morning to discover the Bertrand Russel bit. Sweet.
Pullups (assisted, natch): 6, 5, 5, 4
Russell combo, 15#dbs, x4
6 bent rows
6 swings
6 squat press
6 burpee
was I supposed to time this? I didn't... wouldn't have set any records, though. nice steady pace, and stopped between sets to catch my breath for a few seconds each time.

nighttime visitors

Normally, I feed the critters as much as they can finish at a sitting and no more. Yesterday, Antonio came to clean the house, and he always spoils the animals a bit. I failed to notice the huge, overflowing bowl of kibble outside. Until, that is, I heard a late night noise that sounded like an Oldsmobile crashing through my front porch. I peeked out and saw a few rolly polly raccoons, who were feasting on the leftovers, leaving chaos in their wake. When they spotted me, they skedaddled immediately. One younger, hungrier looking fellow stayed around and posed for the camera.
What a ham.

did 3 sets of this. it was almost over before i started. just a tease, but perfect for a friday.
30 sec. pushups
30 sec. ninjas
30 sec. burpees
30 sec. mills
15 sec. rest

part deux

So I'm back to the blog after almost a 2 month hiatus (yowzers! time flies, don't it?).
I'm dealing with some serious lung issues - the smoke clogged southern California atmosphere is difficult following my recent sojourn in the Canadian Rockies. It is a harsh reality after the clean, clear mountain air. Ahhhh. Los Angeles.
Cough cough.
Here we go:

Sandbag combo x3 (I couldn't face 6 sets, like in the vid., but 1 wasn't enough...)
6 ea. side deads
6 ea Alt. shoulder squats
6 ea. get ups
6 cleans
*no burpees for me?