Prior to her adoption, she lived on our deck for many months (in a shelter we put together for her). We witnessed her fend her food against a group of raccoons and at another time, even chased an adult raccoon across the yard. We called her a bad@ss girl.

The GPS track would take us up Jim Donnelly Trail, a novelty for me, so up we went. Oh my god, I could not imagine how much effort had gone into that trail! I learned from Paul (pliebenberg) later when we talked to him in the parking lot (after he and his wife went to do some trail flagging) that the 2nd Saturday trail crew did most of the work. Thank you, thank you!

I think this was the driest at Coe that I had seen, especially on Kelly Cabin Canyon Trail. It certainly was nice that I came out of the canyon with dry socks, but I kept thinking to myself, we need some rain before the coming trail work day.

I was glad to find that I had not lost all what I'd learned about mountain biking after my long sabbatical. I was still able to ride no-hand on the paved road at the end. I came off my bike at the very last wall on Jackson and had to push 20 yards or so, but that was already better than I had expected. My endurance has regressed though. I used to consider myself lucky for not getting cramps often on long rides, but on this ride (not really a long one), they started on the Cross Canyon climb out. Luckily, I was able to keep them at bay by pedaling delicately (gearing couldn't be high nor too low). The cramps would come on when I got off my bike with my legs extended or when I was crawling. Um, yeah, I crawled under that big fallen tree on Domino Pond trail. Why hadn't Roy (plymmer) ridden though here yet?

Mr. Mud had a little set back on the ride – one screw in his left cleat came out of the worn threads while he was coming down Timm Trail, and we didn't have the right Allen wrench between our two tool sets to loosen up his pedal, which he just (over) tightened yesterday. Being a tough guy he was, he rode all day without being able to unclip the left side when needed to. There were a few low speed tipping overs (hehehe… oops, did I chuckle out loud?), but he pulled it off. On Cross Canyon climb, he pulled away from me. Ok, his endurance shone. But, I beat him on JDT and Anza- Jackson climbs. Oh, on down hills, I always let him pull away from me – drop me to be exact. Not that we compete with each other or anything.

Another wonderful ride. Coe never disappoints. We'll be back!

Oh yeah, it seems that posting rides on Strava is the fad nowadays. Here is mine.

A few photos from my camera. (We've yet to find the micro USB cable for Mud's camera.)

A lone bike at the top of Jackson Trail.

Mud came up Jackon.

The bike is no longer alone.

Lunch break at Kelly Lake.

The giant fallen tree on Domino Pond Trail. Mud climbed over it, and I crawled under.

That was until… I told Patrick that I would be "back" in 2012. What did that mean? I wasn't really sure. Will I be back to doing those long rides like the 84-mile Tour 'de Peninsula ride, or Everything Skeggs ride, or even the Death Ride??? I don't know, but I got so anxious that as 2012 was approaching, I got a panicky feeling. I had to prepare for my "come back"!

So, I rode my bike almost everyday in the last two weeks of December blessed with the wonderful Bay Area weather.

We got hooked on two fun Skeggs loops so much that we kept going back to them, which I've added to my Skeggs Ride Collection (Rides 7 and 8). And the lengths were short enough for us to go impromptu when things were going a bit slow during the holidays. My interest about mountain biking has been rekindled. Yes, Patrick, I'm back!

But then… I also just got back into rock climbing recently (in the gym mainly, but fairly regularly) after my previous partner Jeanne retired (temporarily) to have a baby. With a new strong partner, I also regained my interest in pushing hard on the climbs.

Yet… the living room is still filled with tools (table saw, chop saw, jig saw, Skil saw, you name it). The walls are wide open and the cats have been having a lot fun walking through them. We probably should get back into our remodeling too; no, we definitely need to. I'm in charge of the house rewiring and still have half of it to go…

Oh, and while framing, an idea suddenly came to me and we now have a short pony wall framed in for my "sewing center". Yep, you heard me right! I'm going to have a sewing center.

Oh, yes, I'm back! Back to what? We shall see. 2012 will tell.

And this one? I did my part to help you. Now, you try. 这个嘛。。。试试看。要找不到我，也没办法啦。

It turned out to be a big commitment — the weekly (on Monday night in Cupertino) practice lasted half a year without a break through the holidays. I got to meet and spend time with more than two dozen beautiful and talented ladies and five energetic young boys (now grad students at Stanford). I'm proud to say that we put on two dances successfully. I even rode my bike across the stage!

Erik and my friend Bryn watched the show — four hour long without an intermission. Not understanding the words, they say they had a good time. I was amazed.

More photos and videos will probably come in slowly. (Erik did not take photos because the granny usher lady told him that if he brought his camera in, she would throw him out.)

Can you tell which one is me?

Our ribbon formation and transformation got people amazed.

To Roxie,

Baby, I know you are an outdoor kitty and you are born to explore. Or, maybe because you are such a cute cuddler that someone else has claimed you and kept you inside. Wherever you are, I hope you are having lots of fun, safe, and being loved. I love you, Roxie! And I miss you!

(Sound alert! Sorry about the loudness.)

Update: After six days, she returned home! That was after we had looked out of the window two dozen times on Thursday night and Erik spotted her. She came in, ate, ate, and then ate some more. I went to bed smiling knowing that she was sleeping right next to me.

Update 2: Next day (Friday), I worked from home. It's a nice day out. Little One and Mango begged to go outside to play. I opened the sliding door. They ran out excitedly. It took Roxie a while, but she walked out slowly after she buried her head in the food bowl for a long while. After about an hour, all three of them returned home, so I closed the door. All three of them are napping now. It's a peaceful world in this corner of the universe.

However, tonight, at almost midnight on a Friday night, I have the urge to write something. I need to get this off my chest so I can move on, and in the mean time, I want to make a pledge — I want to be a better person, like Erik.

I made a big mistake — I have been granted some stock options that were scheduled to expire on Feb 27, 2011. I knew the date. I procrastinated. Not because I wanted to time the market _- I don't follow the stock market. It's only because "well, I still have time and I'll get to it." I was going to exercise & sell today and even sent myself a reminder this morning, but work got busy and I forgot about it until late into the night. Then, I found out… the options expired on the last business day at market close. I missed it! My heart ached. It's like I just lit a match and burned a pile of bills worth of $11k+.  It's not much for a lot of people, but it's a lot for us, esp. during a time when we are doing everything we can to do a remodel on a budget, and our house needed the remodel.

I brought the bad news to Erik. I was full of guilt. I didn't expect him to scold me or anything — he's not that kind of person, but I was still amazed that he did not even frown. He gave me a big hug, smiled,  and said to me, "well, if this is this worst thing that has ever happened to you, you are doing pretty well."  I am still beating myself to death in my heart for the stupid mistake I made, but in the mean time, I feel enlightened in my realization that one man's capacity for forgiving others can really be boundless.

I knew if our roles had switched, it would have been different. I won't hide it – I may try to rationalize and convince myself that there is nothing we could do to change the situation, but I'm pretty sure my disappointment will still show, which will only make the other person feel worse. I'm so glad that it's not the other way around.  I have always been a critical person, more with myself, but also with the people around me. Today's incident taught me a big lesson. For all the mistakes I've criticized my loved one(s) for making that I thought were not forgivable, none of them were really unforgivable (esp. compared to my mistake).  I need to work on myself to have a bigger heart.

So. this. is. my. pledge.

A heavy weight just got lifted….

Thank you for reading.

Little One and Mange wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!