Author: Patricia Parker

Dear Readers,
First of all, let’s talk about the elephant in the room…Why haven’t I been blogging since September? I’d like to say I was kayaking on the Amazon or Trekking across the Arctic…Sadly, no great adventures. I was tending my family and my mind.

Second, let’s talk about the goals I wrote about in July:

1. I walk at least 5 km everyday. I haven’t hopped on the shuttle across campus once. I feel better and I haven’t had a sniffle (I’m not smug about that, oh universal fates, just noting)

2. I have altered my cooking habits and snuck healthier foods into my children’s lunch sacks.

3. I’ve lost some weight and reduced one pant size. Not gynormous accomplishments, but a nice serendipity.

4. I haven’t started training for a triathlon, as was my secret goal….I think I will have to wait til my children are grown.

Rather than focus on what I haven’t done, lets focus on what I did do…Because I had more zip after 4pm, I enrolled in an evening class. The main assignment was to write a children’s book. Check that off the “to do” as complete. I am meeting with the publisher who taught the course this month to edit the little book and get it to a press somewhere.

I’ve spent time celebrating holidays, growing with my children and getting ready for Christmas.

We promised you “real life” when we started, and I like to think it was real life that we delivered. Thanks for joining in!

Til next time
P

This month I’ve started a new and exciting pursuit…Studying. It’s been a long time since I darkened the door of a classroom…about 8 years to be exact. I decided to take advantage of the best of all benefits at UBC: Tuition Credits. I’m taking a class in creative writing for the pre school set. In the coming weeks, I could be resorting to monosyllabics, but I’m not yet fully immersed in the genre of children’s literature.

I think engaging that muscle between my ears is important to health and well being. Current research (http://www.nia.nih.gov/Alzheimers/Publications/ADPrevented/) points to the advantages of keeping cognitively active. One of the best ways I know to use my head, so to speak, is to try something entirely new. That led me to creative writing. I haven’t written children’s stories since I was a child. I do have a good built in “focus group” with my two sons. I’ve been passing my story ideas by them for the thumb up or thumbs down. I also spent an afternoon recently in the children’s book store to scope the latest trends in books for post millennium cohort. The conclusion: not much has changed. I will take this chance to shamelessly plug my former school mate Sherri Finch. Her books are rhymingly hilarious with great graphics. After a Gov Gen or two, I guess she knows what she’s doing with a pen and a blank page. Oh sigh, “If only I could aspire to such heights”.

The goal of the course I am taking is to have a completed book to send to a publisher by the end of the term. Wish me luck, and kindly accept my apology if I start to speak in limericks.

Finally, I have an astounding recipe to share with you for (get this) low fat brownies that you can actually eat and enjoy!!! They are an incredible 58 calories each (per 1 ½ inch square, not per pan). As usual, I leave out the salt and use 50-50 unbleached white flour and whole wheat flour. My children don’t like walnuts, so I leave those out, too. I’ll share this now because the season of over indulgence is creeping up (67 sleeps, 2 hours, 46 minutes & 18 seconds at the time of this writing). This recipe will definitely satisfy your chocolate craving and your sweet tooth at the same time. I’ve tried many variations of brownies over the years, but this one is the best (well, second best compared to the sublime Hershey’s Brownie recipe http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1910,156180-237196,00.html).
LOWFAT FUDGY BROWNIES
From COOKS.COM

4 oz. unsweetened chocolate
1/2 c. prune puree or prepared prune butter
3 lg. egg whites
1 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 c. flour
1/4 c. chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat an 8-inch square baking pan with vegetable cooking spray; set aside. Cut chocolate into 1 inch pieces and place in heat-proof bowl. Set over low heat in small skillet containing 1/2 inch simmering water. Stir occasionally just until chocolate is melted. Remove from heat; set aside.
In mixer bowl combine all ingredients except flour and walnuts; beat to blend thoroughly. Mix in flour. Spread batter in prepared pan; sprinkle with walnuts. Bake about 30 minutes until springy to the touch about 2 inches around edges. Cool on rack. Cut into 1 1/2 inch squares. Makes 3 dozen brownies.
To make 1 cup of puree: Combine 1 1/3 cups (8 ounces) pitted prunes and 6 tablespoons water in container of a food processor. Pulse on and off until prunes are finely chopped. Makes 1 cup. (I used pureed prunes found in the baby food section of the grocery store.)
Nutrition per serving: 58 calories; 2 g fat; 10 g carbohydrate; 70 mg sodium; 0 cholesterol; 30 percent of total calories comes from fat.

Well, I’ve thought, I’ve plotted, I’ve read fitness articles and still, low motivation. I do walk more around campus and beyond, so I’ve got that going for me. I walked back to the office with Shierly the other day and felt GREAT. I didn’t hit an afternoon slump. What I did determine about my inner workings is “I’m at a cross road in my life!”. How did that manifest during the week? I explain below:

I’ve been spinning my cognitive wheels about how I’m going to put in the next 50 years. The last 50 have been fun, full of adventure, love and loss, triumph and adversity. I won’t trade a second of any of it. Looking ahead seems uncertain. Then, a light bulb went on in my head….get back to school.

I was a fair student until I started to pay tuition. I became a much better student when I was plunking down my hard earned cash to get an education. Going to school and flexing the brain muscle has always given me an energy and creativity that I’ve been missing in the last few years. Don’t get me wrong, raising two active children has taken a lot of time, but they are becoming more independent every day and I find myself home knitting or perhaps going for a stroll around the neighbourhood. What I’ve lacked is purpose. In waltzes the best UBC employee benefit, tuition credits. I’ve signed up for a couple of continuing ed courses that interest me greatly and I start this week.

I’ll see if actually getting back into the classroom inspires me and perhaps cleans the cobwebs out of my cranium. If that goes well, I think I’ll sign on for some credit courses and start working on another undergrad degree or maybe post grad. The possibilities are absolutely endless at UBC. Now I have to decide which direction to take. Just thinking about going to school has given me a new spark. The positive side effect of going back to school is my children can actually see that learning is a life long endeavour. I’ve spent seven years nagging the tribe about getting homework done, I guess now its time to put my pencil where my mouth is!!

Til next time

P

Hi, folks. I’m back. Pardon the furlong from the blog. Sundays at my house were a flurry of activity for the last couple of weeks as the new school year began and the old routines were reestablished.

Speaking of routines, well, my fitness routine has taken a turn for the neglected. Walking 5 k a day is established and reducing fat and salt in my usual recipes has become the new norm. There have been no new revelations or new kinks in my muscles worthy of note. There are some new babies in my world that required some concentrated knitting time, but that is for the other blog. The knitting projects are just about off the sticks and I need an activity that kicks things up a notch before the grey skies of November make me want to hibernate until March.

I’m not sure what new or renewed endeavour will keep me motivated to stick with some sort of fitness routine. Do any of you have ideas? I’d prefer something I could do in my sleep. I’ve tried visualizing a thinner, fitter me…but that hasn’t really taken hold yet. I’m open for suggestions. Keep in mind that I’ve got to overcome a certain degree of inertia, both mentally and physically. I hope I’ll be able to outline a reinvigorated plan next time…

P