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A young cat showed up a month ago and I started feeding her.  Since then she has become friendlier and on September 8th we invited her inside.  On the afternoon of September 10th she had 4 kittens!  We’ll be looking for homes for them when the time comes.  We suspect someone had her, noticed she was pregnant, and dropped her off out in the country.  Some people really bother me…
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As I celebrate my 50th birthday, I remember when I was a young mother with my kids and the feeling of hanging on for dear life.  There were some lean, tough years. Back then, I thought fifty meant I’d be living easy, and I was partly right. Some things have gotten easier now that the nest is empty, but I had no idea back then about the haywire hormones, the melancholy silence of our home, or how much easier it is to get out of shape than it is to get in it.  I am celebrating a joyful, hopeful fifty with some reflective insights for my kids to consider:
No matter how old you are, don’t forget to dream.

• Don’t underestimate the power of one small step towards a goal.
• Enjoy the work you’re doing right now rather than just trying to get through it so that you can enjoy life later.
• Don’t take life too seriously.
• Even if it’s just 15 minutes, take time every day for something you enjoy.
• Have more fun with your family.  When you look back, you will never wish you spent more time keeping the house clean.
• Hang in there when the going gets tough and remember that better times are always around the corner.
• Instead of focusing on the one or two things in your life that aren’t going well, remember all your blessings.
• Accept your mate as they are, and let them know every day that you appreciate them.
• Buy yourself a new outfit now and then.  There is nothing more therapeutic than shopping for yourself.
• Buy fresh flowers to brighten your heart.
• Learn to laugh at yourself.

Never miss an opportunity to tell someone you love them. Valentine’s Day gives us just such an opportunity. I am not about the commercialization of the day, but I do try to take time to reflect on how lucky I am to have the love of my family, and especially the unconditional love of a very patient husband. I think every relationship has bumpy times, and we have had our fair share, but a relationship that is grounded in love and mutual respect can sustain anything. I have never felt so much love for my husband, nor have I felt so loved. Every year, it just keeps getting better.

Work has been hectic for us both lately, so for Valentine ’s Day we opted to stay home, have a nice supper and watch TV together. I made some Valentine’s Day carrot cake muffins, and I must say I am really pleased with the result. I took a traditional carrot cake recipe and changed it up to make it gluten free, sugar free, and lower carb. I also played with the traditional icing recipe. I wasn’t sure about turning it into muffins, but that worked out well and provides portion control.

Carrot Cake Love Muffins

• 6 eggs
• 1/2 c oil
• 1/2 c Splenda or powered Stevia
• 2 T vanilla
• 1/2 c coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 c carrots, shredded
• 1/2 c raisins, optional (I just threw in a handful)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with liners, or grease with baking Pam. Combine the eggs, oil, stevia and vanilla in mixer and blend well (whenever you cook with coconut flour, you really need to up the egg content). In smaller bowl, mix coconut flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon, then on slow speed add into the batter until there are no lumps. Add by hand the shredded carrots and raisins. Divide the batter evenly among 12 muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. YUM!

Guilt-Free Cream Cheese Icing
(this makes more than you need for 12, but I just kept piling it on)

• 1 cup whipping cream, whipped with some vanilla and a Splenda packet to stiff peaks
• 1 block cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 to 1/3 cup Splenda or powdered Stevia (to taste)
• 2 T vanilla

Whip the whipping cream and set aside. Whip the cream cheese, sweetener and vanilla until it lightens. Add a bit of unwhipped cream if necessary. Add the whipped cream to the cream cheese on low speed until just mixed, or fold by hand. That’s it! I store these in the fridge because of the whipped icing.

We celebrated a very different Christmas this year.  The biggest difference was that Jillian was not home.  She is working out west and stayed there over the holidays.  As a result, it was very quiet, as Kathryn and Jillian feed off each other, laughing and getting more excited as the morning goes on.  Also, the last two years we spent Christmas in Florida.  This year it was a very snowy Christmas here at home in Nova Scotia.  Kathryn and Scott came over in the afternoon for turkey dinner, and to open socks. I was overwhelmed by the very thoughtful bike Murray got for me.  It is a custom made road racing bike.  I have been talking about doing a triathlon for a while now but have not owned a bike for years.  Now I just need to wait for the snow to leave so I can learn how to ride it.  Murray is already enjoying his new quad copter.

Already New Year’s is just around the corner, so here are my New Year’s Resolutions:

New Year’s Resolution #1: Be more awesome than last year.  2013 was a great year.  I accomplished a major bucket list item of running a marathon, Murray and I took several trips together, including South Carolina, Ohio, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Maine, New Hampshire, and we are closer now than we have ever been.  We are both doing very well at work, and both having a lot of fun with our hobbies.

New Year’s Resolution #2: Learn how to ride a big girl bike with racing pedals.  The mere thought of taking my bike on the road terrifies me.  That terror, however, pales in comparison to the dread of riding my bike while my feet are locked in the pedals.  This conjures images of imprisonment and a loss of control, neither of which are on my bucket list.  I have faith though, that once I conquer this anxiety, I’ll enjoy my bike as much as I love running today.

New Year’s Resolution #3: More Prancercise! This started out as a gag with my running team, when one of the regular jokers posted a YouTube video of prancercise (prancing rhythmically like a horse) as a new workout regimen for the group. It caught on though, as team members have been videoed laughing and prancercising across the finish line at races.  It was great to see them having so much fun running.  Sometimes running can become a chore, when the focus is solely on improving time, endurance, and recovering from injury.  In 2014, I will remember to have fun with my running and not make it all about the next goal to reach.

New Year’s Resolution #4: Don’t eat any food that has its own commercial.  I have had ups and downs with my healthy eating, and the results have shown on the scale. When I stick to real, home cooked meals, I not only lose weight, I feel better too.  My goal in 2014 is to stay away from processed food as best possible and opt for organic fresh choices when possible.

New Year’s Resolution #5: Stop hugging my kids so tight.  Murray sums this goal up best, when he recently told me that I would be much happier once I realize that when the kids were young, I had limited influence at best, and as adults, I have virtually none.  I am not sure what it is about modern life that causes so many of us parents to question our parenting and the choices of our children? Why does it seem so difficult to let go?  I have peace in the knowledge that I am lucky to have bright, socially aware children, who have all it takes to be wildly successful in life.

Murray and I just returned from a week in Phoenix.  He was there for work, so we decided to go together for an extra few days and see the Grand Canyon.  Unfortunately, due to the US Federal government shutdown, the Grand Canyon was closed.  Instead, we took the opportunity to visit some lesser known attractions, like the Sedona Red Rock Mountains. There is an old saying in Phoenix that “God created the Grand Canyon, but he lives in Sedona.”  One trip to Sedona and you know it has to be true.  As we drove through the picturesque mountains, we gasped at the view at every turn, always looking for a spot to pull off and take a few pictures.  Eventually, we had to keep driving or it would be dark.  On our way back to Phoenix, we took an inadvertent detour to Jerome, and drove through a very high and windy mountain road.  Once again, the views were spectacular and somewhat daunting as we careened around sharp turns on narrow roads with sheer cliffs.

While in Phoenix we stayed at the Sheraton Wild Horse Pass Resort & Spa, a AAA Four Diamond resort.  I highly recommend this resort and it is now one of my favorites.  It was designed to be an authentic representation of the Gila River Indian Community’s heritage and culture.  The architecture, design, art and legends of the native tribes were included in many details, indoors and out.  Our room had original native art.  The restaurants featured Native American cuisine.  With each meal, we were served a spicy black bean hummus with very thin homemade sesame crackers.  Our waiter was kind enough to share the general ingredients for the hummus.  At home I tried my own version.  It is not exactly the same, but I am pleased with the result, with the exception of chipotle.  I used 1 tablespoon.  Too much heat for my liking, so reduced this recipe to half that.

Sonoran Black Bean Hummus

• 2 cups cooked black beans
• 2 cups cooked garbanzo beans
• ¼ cup finely diced sweet onion
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
• 4 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 2 Tbsp Lime juice
• ½ tablespoon chipotle powder (or less, depending on taste)
• 1 tablespoon cumin (or less, depending on taste)
• 3 or 4 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and pepper