SOMETIMES - NO NEED TO CATCH; NO NEED TO CHASE!

 This morning, on my friend Aileen's Facebook page, I saw a photo of a bouquet of Lily of the Valley.  Instant JOY!  My mother's favorite spring flower.  When I moved into my new house, she brought me some plants from her patch and every year I am filled with JOY when their fragrant tiny bells bloom.

After seeing Aileen's beautiful bouquet - as soon as I had a free second - I ran up to my parent's homestead - now their estate - and started picking as many blooms as I could.  I knew this was the last year I would be privileged to do this so I wanted every single one.  I planned to come back in a few weeks to dig more up but for now, I needed this last bouquet.  

The patch is about 4 feet x 2 feet and I was very intent on making a big vase full.  Suddenly, this came into focus.  It was the weirdest thing.  I had been in the patch for a good 5 minutes and never saw it.  I swear, it just "appeared".

How cool is THAT???  It's a Red Tailed Hawk feather.  I'm thinking it's a wee gift from my Mama...

BTW - can someone please explain to me why my family can't THROW THESE AWAY??????  Is there an arts and crafts project looming that I don't know about?  EVERY WEEK?  Just askin'...

Just another day here at JOY central.

Remember - you gotta...

BOOKATION!

At exactly 9:17 this morning I finished a very LONGGGGG 9 week strength and conditioning session.  Normally my classes run for 6 weeks but due to circumstances beyond my control as in - ACTS OF GOD - I had to make up 25 classes starting with the mess of class cancelations that Hurricane Sandy left me with back in October.

Now you may think - what is she bitching about?  9 weeks?  I work 50 weeks in a row every year - 40 hours, 5 days a week.  Yup, I know.  But the universe doesn't revolve around YOUUUUU.  Helllloooooooo.  This is MY blog???

At ANY rate - next week I teach one early morning class every day and I get the rest of the day OFF!  How excited am I?????  EXTREMELY excited!  The kids are in school.  The hubby is at the office.  I'm ALONE for hours!!!  

Now usually that means - catching up on housework, yardwork, grocery shopping, etc. etc. etc.  And that is not so bad.  I still don't have to gear up for the evening classes.  I'm FREE every evening for the next 11 days!!!  And I don't have to get up at 5AM for 11 mornings!!!  In a row!  Life is good.

So - I was at the public library yesterday and I ended up selecting 4 books which I added to 2 library books I was still hoarding at home.  As I'm walking out of the library, I'm all excited because I found a book that one of my favorite authors put out last year and I didn't know it.  Eureka!!  I love Nicholas Evans!  (no!  Not Nicholas Sparks, whose sappy books I just can't get into)

Then I said to myself:

Now how am I going to get all these books read?  Why do I do this?  Check out a sh*tload of great books and then only have time to read 1?  

And then it hit me!  I'm OFF this week!  I don't HAVE to clean, cook, do laundry, grocery shop, blahblahblah.  If I want to - I can read all week!  BOOKATION!!!!!!!  I mean - if I was away on vacation at my beach house, I'd be sitting on the beach all day - reading.  It's what I do!  Why do I have to be away?

BOOKATION!  Here I COME!!!!!
BOOKATION mission? READ READ READ!!!!!

these 6 books: 

The Brave  - Nicholas Evans
The Panther - Nelson DeMille
The Racketeer - John Grisham
The Secret Keeper - Kate Morton
A Week in Winter - Maeve Binchy

What?  That's only 5 books?

That's because I wanted to tell you something.  I am a huge fiction fan but I rarely read memoirs etc.  I'm definitely an info junkie and I read tons of fitness, nutrition and lifestyle material but for some reason memoirs don't do it for me.  

BUT, included in my 6 books, is a memoir called, The Little Way of Ruthie Leming.  I have NO idea who Ruthie is.  None!  But the inside front cover summary was appealing so THAT book got added to the list.  

I'll let you know how I make out!  I  am really looking forward to my BOOKATION!!  Afterall...

  
And to all my Words With Friends  and WordFeud opponents?  If you don't see much action this week - you'll know the reason...  

See you on the other side after my JOY-filled BOOKATION!!!  Adios!!

PS  - Did I tell you about all the books in my personal "library" I need to read?

OY!!!!!

BOOK JOY

TREASURES!

It's a great day when you come home with treasures!  Especially when they are CHEAP!!!

Today, a neighboring town held it's annual townwide tag sale.  What IS that exactly, you ask?  Well a bunch of homeowners have a tag sale at their homes all across the town.  And the frosting on the cake?  The elementary school parking lot... a flea market of sorts with a bunch of junk "booths".  My kind of JOY!

Back in the day, when Dad went into the office Saturday mornings and Mom wanted to sell the kids needed to entertain the three little pigs who forever were getting on her last NERVE...

At the first sign of spring, I would give them each a few dollars and off we would go to THE TAG SALES.  It was a blast.  They loved it because - hell - every tag sale has toys!  I loved it because I was bringing home treasures AND we were bonding over junk rather than flipping out over the loud destruction of the house.  Did I mention LOUDDDD destruction?

Today there were only 2 littles with me.  One had her own $$$ and one didn't - OF COURSE - because he spends every last cent on junk in the school cafeteria...or any other place he can find to spend money or how about dropping a $20 on the kitchen floor and the dog chewing it unrecognizable or losing a $10 bill in McDonalds when the wrestling team stopped to eat there after a meet one night...GRRRRRRRRR.  

Wait - where was I?  How did I get off on this tangent?

Anyway, today - after the 2nd stop - getting NAGGED incessantly by him - I handed him $5 and he was on his own.  My, my, my did he become a discriminating shopper...GOD, I LOVE THAT!!!  Life Lessons!!!

So here's some of my finds!  I'm so excited!  Starting with my favorite:

Isn't she a BEAUT?????  Notice she matches my favorite tablecloth in the whole world?!!

Many of you know that I am a RABID reader.  In fact, I track my read books over there on the right side of this blog -  so you always know a good book you can read if you like fiction.  Anyway - I love tag sales because their books are so cheap!  I picked up a few pieces of fiction and then I picked up the coop da gracie (Shhh - I know that's not how you pronounce it.) which I will show you in a sec.

I will set these books aside for vacation.  You recall I only bring like FIFTY books on vacation...

Here's my STEAL!!!  Only FIFTY CENTS!!!!!!!!
  

50 cents!  FIVE - O!

I know.  You're probably like - oh, The Silver Palette Cookbook.  Big Whoop.  Can't she just buy that on-line?

Well - yeaaaaaa.  But not for FIFTY CENTS!!!!!!!!  I LOVE this book!  I make Chicken Marbella at least once a month.  It's a CLASSIC!  I needed to own this cookbook!  

Anyway - I guess I'm a cheap date because I like the cheap thrills. 

Then I picked up these little gems for my shabby chic screened porch.  

They are PERFECT accents for my color scheme which is of course - some form of the blue palette.  Ok - brace yourself!  One dollar EACH!!!!!!!  Who's better than me, I ask??????

And lastly, I scored this baby.  

Do you see how perfect she is?  Not a scar, not a blight, not an anything!!!  She's PERFECT!

Perhaps now, the MEN in my life will throw their dirty clothes inside the basket instead of on the floor next to the basket?  Why would they change now, you ask?  

Ummmm - I don't know!!!!  Cuz she's perfect?  Let me dream, willya!!!!!  Jeez.  

So.   That was my shopping spree today!  You want to see me catch JOY?  Send me out on a Sat. morning  tag sale-ing.  (Apparently, there is no such word as "saleing".  Someone needs to correct that!  Cuz in my world, there is a huge sale-ing going on!)

BTW - in case you are interested in what my middle monster did with his $5?  Well - I told him if he didn't spend it I wanted it back.  So.  Later in the day, knowing he had only spent a dollar, I asked him for the $4 back.  

Ummmmmm - MOM!  I spent it on candy at the store when Dad stopped for milk after the game.

WHAT-DID-I-FREAKING-TELL-YOU???? 

ROLL-MY-EYES!!!

Soothing color JOY

Randomness JOY

T'was a nice day today.  Caught JOY all over the place!  I'm ending my JOYful day with an icy gimlet in hand, writing (finally) a new blog post.  So if it gets a little random...KIDDING!  This is just an eclectic post, so strap in!

I'm in the midst of making up the 25 + classes I had to cancel since Hurricane Sandy back in November (or was it October?  I can't even remember...)  Anyway - it's a long 9 + weeks.  My regular strength and SPIN classes meet in 6 week blocks with a week or 2 in between for me to gas up, renew, re-motivate, clean the gym, get my sparkle back - so 9 weeks is killer.  I can't even count right anymore.  "Ok ladies, drop and give me 20 - 1, 2, 3, 17" -- SEVENTEEN?  Since when does 17 come after 3???  Where did I drift off to?  Yea - that's how it's gone this week.  Momma needs a vacation!!!

Anyway - I DID have a nice day today.  A little Staycation perhaps?  Taught an 8am class, did some working out myself and then headed out with my "friend" Linda, for awesome Fish Tacos in Mexico - I mean - in a Mexican place in Middletown.  They were so YUM!  And it was a beautiful, sunny Spring day to boot.  Speaking of boots...Still not ready to slip into the sexy open toed shoes that my "friend" Linda was sportin' but soon...soon!

On the way home, I impulse shopped.  My "friend" Linda lives a way into the sticks and as I drove down her street I see a sign for "The Plant Your Children Killed Last Year" Bleeding Hearts.  I screeched on the brakes and swung in for a Bleeding Heart.  Lush and lovely!!!

Right???

But of course, I couldn't just buy 1 plant.   Nooooo - I had to come home with 3.  Trust me - this is just the beginning.

So guess what?  I have an "anomoly" vacationing in my yard.  Check him (her?) out!!!  (I'm going with "him".)

How cool is he???  A White Headed Robin!!!!

My "friend" Linda took this shot from the gym last Saturday and googled it.  Here's what she found.

The white head is apparently the result of a condition called leucism, a genetic mutation that prevents feathers from taking their normal color, and fairly rare.

Leucism is a condition that occurs in many different species of animals and differs from albinism. With this condition, the eyes are not pink, although the affected animal can be all white, white in spots or just be paler than its normal coloring.

And he's in MY yard!!!!!  I love him!  His name is Snowdrop.  Here's another view!

Ain't he handsome?!!

So it's quite exciting.

So, my "friend" Linda - she's in this post alot, isn't she?  My "friend" Linda came to a strength class the other day and left some goodies behind.  Killing me.  Here I am avoiding sugar and she leaves a homemade eclair AND a serving of the yummiest Lemon Mousse EVER!!!  I, of course, need this recipe.  

My "friend" Linda sent it to me and I vowed to make it today.  But before I did that, I wanted to check out the number of grams of sugar in the dish.  Ummmm - 225.  NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...snifffffff

But wait a minute.  Ok - I can have 10 grams of sugar a day.  If the recipe makes 22 servings (10 grams/serving), I'm GOOD!!!!  Linda assures me it makes at least 22 GOOD sized servings.  (That's very important - good sized!).

So, I'm all excited.  I print the recipe.  I squeeze the lemon juice.  I grate the zest.  I separate the eggs.  I pull out the unflavored gelatin - SCREECHHHHHHHHHH.  WAITTTTTTTTTTTT!  Unflavored gelatin???  G-damnit.  Who the hell has THAT in their pantry?  Are ya kidding me??????

Quick!  Text the neighbor!  She's a chef!!!!

  

I'm good.  She oughta be pulling in soon!  Here's the recipe:

YUMMY LEMON MOUSSE

• Time -
• Serves 8

Ingredients

---

• 5 eggs separated
• 1-1/4 cup sugar
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
• 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2 cups fresh berries

How to make it

• Beat together egg yolks and sugar.
• Grate rinds of lemons and squeeze 
• out juice measuring 2/3 cup lemon juice.
• Add rind to egg yolks then gradually add lemon juice beating all the while.
• Soften gelatin in 1/2 cup of hot water and beat until it is dissolved.
• Allow to cool slightly.
• Whip cream lightly and stir into lemon mixture then stir in gelatin.
• Continue stirring until mixture begins to thicken.
• Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until stiff but not dry then fold into lemon mixture.
• Spoon soufflé into dish and chill in refrigerator until completely set about two hours.
• Serve with berries if desired.

enJOY my friends.  enJOY!!!!!!

PS - there is an "inside" joke in this post that only my "friend" Linda will get.  So don't think you missed something.  Just sayin'...

Beyond JOYfilled

That's me.  Beyond JOYfilled.  So much so that I will not be able to share it with my words.  Fancy that.  Me?  Wordless...

It's the oddest thing.  I am experiencing only this indescribable golden light.

Yesterday began like most Saturdays.  Up at 6, train a class full of awesome women at 7, head to the skating rink at 9:15 -- WAIT! No skating rink!  Nope.  Not yesterday.  

Because YESTERDAY?  

Yesterday, I made the journey I have waited 34 years a very long time to make.  Yesterday - I traveled into the waiting arms of my college sisters, T and Deb.  I can - quite possibly for the first time - sincerely say I was completely present and in the moment, for 6 hours yesterday.  Filled with...you got it... JOY.  

So much JOY that soft, golden light is all I see when I think of our time together after 34 years.  How can it be that you miss someone(s) so much and you don't even know it?  Until you find them again?  Today I truly ache for those missed years. 

I gained access to the internet about 17, maybe 18 years ago and I have searched for these two soul sisters for at least that long.  I sometimes came close, but there was never an instance when I was positive I had who I was looking for.  

Back in January, (in the middle of the Patriots/Ravens play-off game - sorry I wasn't your good luck charm T!!), I hit gold.  I found T. (Maybe THAT'S why I can only experience this golden filled light!  I hit GOLD!!!)  

Amazing Facebook.  Once again - my connection to more than I could ever imagine - on that amazing Facebook!

I am completely unable to put a voice to what yesterday's 6 golden hours were like and meant to me.  It flew like the wind.  The chatter was endless and we are not done.  And the frosting on the cake was re-uniting with Deb's high school/college boyfriend - now, long time husband, Dave - who I love as dearly as I love T and Deb.

Yesterday was one of the most precious days of my life.  I will not try to describe it any more than this.  Pure, unadulterated, blissful JOY.

Today, I remain wrapped in the golden light of that JOY.  I am so happy.   I am just plain - so happy. 

Quickie!

This here is  a "quickie" post.  Just had to share.  
As you know, I am a 
Foodie:

n.Slang A person who has an ardent or refined interest in food; a gourmet.^[1]

Further, a foodie seeks new food experiences as a hobby rather than simply eating out for convenience or hunger. While gourmet and epicure can be used as synonyms they have fallen out of favor and bring to mind a stodgy or snobbish attitude. 

Yep - that'd be me.  Total food snob.  I-LOVE-FOOD.  BUT - it has to be delicious food.  I would rather starve than eat something unremarkable.

This becomes a real problem when you are on a "restricted" lifestyle program of sorts.  Recall - I am now living a life with very few carbs and even fewer grams of sugar.  Me???  The sweet tooth connoisseur??  Therefore, as a foodie, I am devoted to finding recipes for amazing carbless food.  

One thing has eluded me.  BREAD!  I have tried recipe after recipe for bread using almond flour, coconut flour, egg whites...BLAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

A few days ago I get an email from my kindred foodie Robin. She tells me she made a flaxseed wrap that was pretty darn great.  Well - I've heard THAT before.  But, as always, hope springs eternal and I got the recipe (from the book called Wheat Belly, btw.  You really should read it and get disturbed...)  (And then read The Science of Skinny and really flip out!)

I am here to say, "F'ing awesome wrap!!!"  I ate my first delicious, carbless sandwich and it was the BOMB!!  I spread it with my homemade mayonnaise (regular mayo is made with the deadly canola oil so I won't touch it), and layered it with fresh vegies, sliced roasted chicken and avocado.  O-M-GGG.

Robin?  I LOVE YOU!!!! ♥♥♥♥

(Now Tracy, my dearest friend since you were 15 and I was 21, YES - you were the first to tell me about the awesome flaxseed wrap.  But I wasn't listening real good.  Or I wasn't in a place where I wanted to try making it.  So whatever the reason - I give you the credit for telling me about it and I apologize for not making it and giving you the kudos!!!)

At any rate - here's the recipe.  Note:  I made it very savory. My next trick is to make it "sweet" - stevia perhaps?  With cinnamon?  And then fill with berries and perhaps whipped cream a yogurt topping?


Wheat Belly Flaxseed Wrap

Number of servings: 1


Ingredients


3 Tbsp ground flaxseed (I used Golden Flax seed)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 Tbls. coconut or olive oil
1 large egg
1 Tbsp Water


Mix the flaxseed and baking powder together.  Add the oil and mix well.  Add egg and water and mix well again.  Pour half into the bottom of a greased 10 inch pie plate (the bottom will measure 8 inches) and put in the microwave for 2 minutes.  Let sit for 5 minutes and then turn over the wrap and fill.

NOTE:  I doubled the recipe and made 2 wraps.  Also - I added some garlic powder, onion powder, ground black pepper, cayenne and Sunny Paris from my favorite spice store Penzeys.  You can add anything you want to make it more or less savory. 

As I said above - for the "sweetie", I would add stevia and cinnamon.

The second day I made them, I doubled the recipe and made 3 thinner wraps and I liked the thinner better.  Robin quadrupled the recipe and made 6 wraps and stored them in the fridge.

So - there you have it - SANDWICH JOY!  To this I say...

PS  Trac?  I love you too!!!!!

Random JOY

Ooooooh - I haven't checked in lately.  And then I wonder why I only have 33 followers.

Actually, I have MORE than THAT.  NO - I DOOOO.  LOL.  I know I do because I bug my facebook followers by posting all my new blog posts.  While I am extremely popular on Facebook have 303 friends on Facebook (very unpopular compared to my niece who's in the thousands for friends!  LOL), trust me - only a small fraction read my posts but I can truthfully say I have more than 33!!

So this will be a mish-mosh today.  I already over posted about my Baby Brooke's skating performances this weekend so I don't want to spend a ton of time there.  But know - I'm pretty sure I could not experience much more JOY than watching her perform after all her hard work.

It's hard to believe that an 11 year old can have such a work ethic.  But she does.  Since she first got on "serious" ice 3 years ago this week, she has skated a minimum of 4 hours each week and most recently a minimum of 7 hours each week and most weeks it's 10 hours.  Three years ago she was in Basic 2 which means she was barely able to skate across the ice without falling.  Today - she is working on her Axel and will definitely be working on double jumps before year's end.  

It is a JOY to ride in the car with her each way, freeze my ass buns off 2-3 hours in a rink each day and watch her practice hour after hour without one complaint from her.  She is an A+ student and I have never met a kid who loves fun MORE!  Social butterfly is her name!  I'd say she is a pretty well balanced kid.  

I can take no credit.  She was definitely born this way.  She even puts herself to bed each night on the dot of 8.  Who ARE you and who are your PARENTS!!!  I'd worry that they mixed up the petrie dishes way back when she was "conceived" but she's my mini-me.  Not a chance there was a mix up!!!

So it was a JOYful weekend for both Mom and Baby Brooke.  Oh - and did I forget Dad?  He hadn't seen her skate in months.  He was blown away.  She done good!

Can you believe it's March 11th???  This month came and is going faster than usual for March.  I am not a big fan of March and April because most years, it's the big tease.  You think you've made it through Winter because January and February are over but then it starts to warm up a bit, and RAIN, and MUD, and gray skies that never clear up.  Ughhhhhhh - I HATEEEEE it.  I am hoping for the early Spring we were surprised with a few years back.  It started in early March and I kept expecting the deluge of rainy days and instead we had beautiful, much longed for - Spring!

After all - we just had 2 straight days of a weather event that plopped 16 inches of snow on my yard.  But it's already half gone.  There's hope for that early Spring!  I sat at the St. Patty's Day parade yesterday with the sun beating down on my face, Sam Adams Starbucks in hand, loving the warmth on my skin.  Caught a wee bit o' JOY at that parade!

Now I have the bug!  I'll keep you posted!

I'm getting excited.  Working on phase 533 of my kitchen re-do!  This phase will be done by Easter!  Stay tuned!!!   Only a few more phases to go!

Made this soup today.  Stepped way out of my comfort zone.   It came out REALLYYYYY good!!!  It's called Pho Soup.  I have never had it but my friend Melissa was talking about it a few weeks back and then my friend Linda sent me a recipe for - you got it - Pho soup.  Bizarre!  I discovered that Linda's recipe is not actually traditional Pho Soup.  And I made more changes so it's REALLY not traditional but damn good! 

Faux Pho Soup

Ingredients

Meatballs
1 pound ground pork or any ground meat (I used turkey)
1 Tablespoon Coconut aminos (I didn't use)
1/2-1″ of chopped up ginger (you can use powder, I usually do since its easier)
3 mushrooms chopped. I used cremini, but shiitake would be good too.
1/2 Teaspoon cardomom (didn't have any)
Few sprigs of cilantro chopped (nope - none)
Salt n Pepper to taste

Soup
Olive Oil for sauteing veggies
2 Med. Carrots chopped
3 Celery chopped
5 Mushrooms sliced
1/2 Green Bell Pepper chopped (You could add more, but we aren’t eating a ton of nightshades right now)
1 Zucchini sliced
Handful of green beans chopped
1/2 Teaspoon each of Coriander, Cinnamon, Chili powder and Tumeric
2 Tablespoons Coconut aminos (I used Soy Sauce)
1 Tablespoon Fish Sauce
1 Large Sweet Potato cut on your spiral cutter. I cut mine on the thinnest size. Probably 1/8 inch thick.
8 Cups of Bone Broth.  I used Chicken broth
3 eggs Optional; whisked these up and add at the end like egg drop soup.  (I didn't do)

Toppings
These are all optional
Chopped green onion or shallots
Mint
Basil
Cilantro
Limes
Coconut Aminos

Directions
Mix up all the Meatball ingredients together and form into 1″ meatballs. Saute them in a large pot in coconut oil. Once they are browned on all sides add in all your veggies except the sweet potato noodles. When the veggies are tender add in your spices along with your coconut aminos and fish sauce. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Once its boiling turn it down to simmer and add the sweet potato noodles. Let them sink into your soup then add your whisked eggs in slowly and remove from heat. Serve and top with your choice of toppings.  enJOY!

Ok - gotta go to...where else?  The RINK to catch more JOY.

JOY in 2008