Buzy Beehiving.

I'm kinda pooped. Have a ways to go though...

C isn't doing well. How could I have known 19 years ago that in 19 short years I'd be married to such an old miserable fellow? There isn't anything I can do for him. He is getting his hip resurfaced on the 18th of December. In the meantime...

His bouts with extreme misery usually coincide with my much anticipated, look forward to, well prepared for, kinda costly events... This week is no exception. Tomorrow is the Beehive Bazaar!

I might post some pics of what I've been beehiving. Probably won't. Go see what is cooking at the Bazaar Thursday night, Friday and Saturday.

Here is the spin room gnome, dressed as a turkey, for Thanksgiving. The waddle is paper clay with red glitter hot glue running down it. He is dressed in the traditional paper bag turkey garb of the holiday.

Summer is over. Long live summer.

The slightly glittered board at the Spin room, 800 N.

The Gnomie went fishing in early June:

Then he went on a trip to Hawaii, just in time for Ipo's farewell party. Boo hoo hoo. She moved to Samoa. Thankfully, for N, her son is still here for a while.

Rona is waiting for the Gnomie's Halloween return. I think he'll turn into a vampire, very trendy.

Entertaining Spin

Rona's tribute dance to Michael Jackson. Pretty amazing.

Hailey spin class interupted by a call about CI/earmolds? New rule: don't answer the phone. :/

6/16/09 --> I'm still annoyed that I answered the phone and missed a lot of class yesterday.

WF Bank and WInder Farms is/are driving me nuts too. The new Orem library check out stinks as well. I'm just going to crawl back under my rock until my mood gets better and vibes are going my way again.

THE LETTER: to Oprah re: Rona

One day Rona said, "HAILEY! YOU need to write to OPRAH about this class!" I agreed. She went on to compliment me in all sorts of ways, which I appreciated, but only raised the bar a few feet, her specialty. Letter writing is easier said than done. Now my first ever letter to OPRAH! is done. Voila:

Oprah talks about how dreary exercise is...that is because she hasn't been to Rona's spin class yet. Simply put: The WORLD'S GREATEST SPIN CLASS is at the 800 North Gold's Gym in Orem, Utah -- Oprah should come & join in the fun!

Every Monday, Wednesday & Friday at 9:15 a.m. (sharp!) the party begins. The lights are low, the fans are on and the music on the stereo is sped up. Hip-hop, Rock, Funk & the latest pop music, is Loud! Rona is already talking about the latest celebrity gossip and news.

Rona's personal style is stunning: big blond hair, flashy nails, tight colorful clothes, big smile, LOUD voice. Her teaching style is Brutal. She has us Spriiiiiiint!, clap, yell, lean to the left/right, dip, wave, scissor kick, arrow down, jump, imagine all sorts of cycling scenarios & sweat like mad.

There is really no easy way out of that class and yet a group of regulars comes every week. We have become friends and call each other by the nicknames Rona doles out, Taz, Peanut Butter, Cinderella for example. The group is a mix of people who want to loose weight (most have, Rona used to weigh over 220), competitive athletes, college students, stressed professionals and stressed out mothers. People come almost an hour early to reserve a bike. One woman never missed a class throughout her pregnancy, with twins!

Recently Rona hosted a party for 2 favorite regulars, for their 55th birthdays! There were balloons, treats, gifts and silly party hats in class. There are parties for Halloween (with costumes) and Christmas (with gifts). The best fete was probably for Rona's surprise birthday, complete with disco balls, special gifts, gourmet cupcakes & singing. The room is regularly decorated with random seasonal decor, lights and a rogue glittered gnome.

I never miss a class & although my legs & butt are hard as rock, I go for my mind. I am a happier, healthier, calmer & better person for attending Rona's class.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

S is for Spin Fun.

The Valentine Gnomie... The white flag should've read, "I surrender!" Didn't really have time to create and be clever, if not brilliant. Wrapped him in an assortment of valentimey decor and called it "Done." Meanwhile I worked on a magnet board for the room.

The following is from an in-class party last week:

Treat #1: Rum Balls by Birthday Girl Vonda! A professional chocolatier.

Treat #2: Peanut Butter Bars brought in by the very trim "Peanut Butter" -- Don't ask about grams of fat, she said the next class.

Treat #3: Cream Filled Chocolate Mini-Cupcakes, brought in by Shauna, a chef.

The On-as: Donna, Vonda, Rona & Shauna!
It was an amazing, fun and HARD workout. I asked birthday girl Donna (who I've known for about 17 years, & whose son is a pal of S's) if she's had a good life so far... Rona was trying to kill us. Well, Rona made us earn the treats.

I've learned that when treats are offered at Spin, take one. Once I said, "No thank you." Only to go home and do a lot more dammage than one mini cup cake would have done. Thankfully, there aren't treats very often... and never before a trio of treats.

Halloween Day Time

This is my favorite picture ... my pal,the bishop's wife, Donna.

Rona and her look-alikes... the gal on the left is her stalker, ah ah ah.


The ol' bag lady and the hot biker chick. I forgot my nose and glasses. Lame. Better figure something better out for next year.

P is for the Professor.

A back to school tableaux for the spin class.

R is for Rona.

This is Rona at her best, cute in pink, with lights and gnomes in the background.

My Mum, pictured below, was surprised when she met Rona for the first time via this picture. That says something for someone from SF (that stands for both Spanish Fork and SAN FRANCISCO, where she has lived for more than 2/3rds of her life.)

Rona is a great teacher, a professional, a mentor and a good friend and very smart. She is Grand! Looking forward to Friday at 9:00.

F is for a Fish (Plate) tale.

Here is a fish plate tale. No wait, here is the tale of the souvenir fish plate that Rona received from her friend.

Rona has a d-i-l that took a trip to Mexico. Instead of bringing back a lovely, garish piece of silver jewelry the gal brought Rona a stinkin' fish plate. This is an oft told story... Jump ahead: R's stylish pal went on a trip and found this lovely fish plate and told Rona that she brought something back for her, so fantastic that she'd have to open it in front of her beloved M-F a.m. class. It was in a huge diaper box. It was a BIG cool thing! She was so excited. Rona was counting down the minutes until her friend arrived.

Then she opened it! Wow. What a disappointment. Almost as bad as when her d-i-l cut her grand daughter's hair, wacky short... Rona was cruel, but not vicious, that day.

Everyday there is a story, or she relays the latest celebrity news. Weird celebrity baby names, what to do/say on dates, her whacked out cravings. There is never a dull moment. Latest: Prevention magazine says to wear rings to look younger, gives your hands interest, makes you look hip. R is all over that and was wear a great (!) big piece of starkly bling on her hand for the class. Another health tip: get some sleep. The more you sleep the thinner you will be.

S is for SPIN.

This is where I am heading. If I can leave in a minute or two I'll ride my bike there. ..only seems fitting.
I hope to catch up on Rona/Spin posts in the next few days. These shots are from just before Mother's day. I tie dyed a bunch of towels (IKEA $.49) and put one on each bike... they were well received. (Didn't do tie dye with Taz last week.)

I love the dark room, loud music, distracting teacher, friends, sweat. It is no longer about weight loss, it is 100% for my brain. About an hour after class I am so much calmer, not really relaxed. It is just a clean feeling, even when I look sick and don't get a chance to shower until late in the afternoon. Perhaps that is the definition of an addict... showers become secondary to the drug.

C is for Celebrity in spin class.

Rona said to a lady, “You look just like Kirsten Dunst. Really, the spitting image!” Ha. It was her. Rona actually knew that.

It was a crazy fun class. So glad that Rona is back after a long long time of flu and crud. She is a wonderful teacher and a special person, to many people.

T is for Teacher of the Year.

Don't really care if Rona wins the award this Saturday for Gold's Instructor of the year. There is simply no one else that teaches a class half as much fun/distracting or painful as hers.

Today, to the tune of the Pussycat Dolls' (Yep.) Don't Cha? The lyrics? "Don't You Wish Your Girlfriend Was Hot Like Me?" the women had to shimmy down and up (to the handlebars) while peddling and and the men had to yell "Yeahhh!" which they did with great aplomb.

P is for Puppets...

You might know that I am devoted to Spin - indoor cycling classes at a gym- classes. The teacher at the gym I go to is a Wonder. Rona. She is not for everyone. I dig her glasses. I am firing my kiln right now which always leaves me a bit sleepless. Her glass starts at 5:15 and the bikes are filled by 4:55. I am not her only devotee.

For a while I entertained teaching, but my schedule is too chopped up. I am still taking notes. Then I made a puppet while trying to figure out how paper mache works with K. Then, it dawned on me: DO A PUPPET SHOW OF RONA's CLASS. I am devoting a shetchbook to this idea. Here are some of my sketches:


There are several more pages of drawings. She gives almost everyone nick-names. She has big hair, boobs and nails. She is made of steel but can be very nice, well, to new students. She talks a lot about gossip and can be ruthless about people in the spot light.

A while ago C said he wanted to collaborate with me on something... He does amazing shadow puppet shows, this should be fun... once all the dust settles on 2007.

G is for Gnome, ah ah ah.

Since I replaced the little gold balls, with pink and white paper hearts on thin Midori ribbon, on the Christmas tree in the spin room at Gold's Gym, last FEBRUARY, I have been expected to spruce up the place.

Playing with glitter, glue and lights is not hard for me... The gnome entered the scene when Rona, the instructor, "like no other," as S would say, told me (she doesn't ask) to bring in something for Spring. Naturally I brought a lovely fake fake fake flower arrangement, a bright pink watering can and the gnome, with some glitter. Then I added more glitter since he was hard to see in the dark room. Rona went nuts! She really loved it. The echo of her tattoo (a crown); the "Team Rona" shirt, some of her devotees had actual shirts made--the glittered garden gnome, just for Rona, seemed to please her.

Now, after a year of classes, legs of iron and zero weight loss, I realize that all of that is normal. What is not is that someone would bring goofy things into the spin room to decorate. So uncool it's cool? That's a stretch. I try to fly under the radar of the uber-cool advanced riders on Tuesday mornings...spooky gnomes are probably not their idea of cool anywhere, anytime or anyhow, to boot.

At the end of Summer I grew tired of the flowers and took it all away. After I asked, S gave me an American Girl doll-size chalk board to use for the start of school. Then I took all that away for a long while.

Several people were asking about the gnome, including Rona ... so while sweating to Rona's stories of celebrity chasing, gossip and the latest hip-hop-ish/dance music, the evil alter-ego occurred to me. Something like: Dr. Gnome and Mr. Mugwumps...

Since I took the picture the silhouette has been "disappeared." The cape and lights are menacing enough and most importantly distracting from the pain.